Sophie Robinson: 'I want to liberate homeowners from all things beige or boring'

Eve Kelliher talks to the colour expert about designing a living space and interiors collection she loves

Interior designer Sophie Robinson.

Does beige make you blissful or does grey give you an inner glow? Well, fear not.

The interior design world’s queen of colour is not about to set her sights on you. Yet.

I’m talking to Sophie Robinson on her visit to Dublin and I’m keen to hear her golden rule first. “Block your ears to any outside noise — to trends, to magazines, to Instagram — and just go with a colour you love. Feel it,” she tells me.

“I believe in the emotion of colour. You know when it makes you feel good. Is there a colour you like to wear, the one when you pop it on that makes you feel a million dollars? These are the little clues.

"And that’s the great thing about your home — you don’t have to worry about fitting into it, dieting into it!” Sophie is in Ireland to speak at the Ideal Home Show and unveil her new collection for DFS, which includes sofas, chairs, footstools and — her favourite item — scatter cushions.

The designer is all about “next-level colour confidence”.

The TV presenter and podcast host who has been leading a colour revolution has often spoken of her mission to “liberate” homeowners from neutrals or “all things beige or boring”.

But what about those happiest not in zesty lemons, hot pinks, or cobalt blues but instead feel confident in taupes, creams and — whisper it — beiges?

“I’m speaking to the people who are just decorating in neutrals because they just don’t know what to do — if you love greys and neutrals don’t worry, I’m not coming after you!” says Sophie.

“But if you’re sitting in your house and feeling a bit flat, let’s have a chat!” So, what is Sophie’s own place like?

“My home is very bright and colour-saturated. I’ve really nailed my colour,” she says.

The designer uses colour throughout her living space “depending on the mood I want to create”. “I have dark moody purple aubergines in my TV snug, all the way through to pretty pastels in my conservatory,” says Sophie.

Sophie transformed a disused conservatory and living room into a kitchen and dining room/lounge space.

Her Shaker kitchen — in shades of yellow, aubergine and pink — features fabric and wallpaper from her own collection with Harlequin across walls, sofas, cushions, and curtains.

Her hallway, familiar to her Instagram followers, features shades of blue and her home office (a transformed dining room) also showcases her flair for blending colour and pattern.

Sophie also loves to mix the old and new and all price points — she has a vintage Bergère suite inherited from her grandmother and an affordable Oliver Bonas dressing table in a vivid lacquered green, as well as the upcycled bedside tables she found in a charity shop.

The designer describes herself as “bonkers for colour” and says she is grateful for having been able to “eat, sleep and breathe” all things interior design for over two decades. “And I married a builder so I’m keeping it in the family too,” adds Sophie.

She believes her parents’ attitude inspired her confidence.

“I was always encouraged to be very creative as a child,” says Sophie. “I’m really against parents who force their own tastes on their children. It’s really important to set a child up to feel confident and in their personal spaces are they grow up. I was very lucky my parents allowed me to fully indulge my passion for colour and design. I was allowed to choose the colour palette for my room when we moved house. It was a seminal moment in my life. I was so excited, picking the wallpaper border and my duvet cover.”

Sophie, who went on to pursue a career in art and design, adds: “I think something happens to people as they grow up — they lose their connection to colour,” she says.

The designer also believes we are naturally drawn to certain colour groups. “There is a significant group of people who are drawn to muted tones like lavenders, sea blues and lovely sage greens, which are very relaxing. And there are certain people who will feel the best version of themselves with these colours. The problem is it’s not the 90%.”

The Standen sofa by Sophie Robinson at DFS.

The DFS collection includes three sofas (€1,949 for a four-seater), footstools (from €750), and an accent chair (€1,359). Sophie collaborated in the furniture design as well as selecting fabrics and colours. “Comfort always comes first,” she says. “There are nine different upholstery choices and further different patterns. It brings together my love of pattern, textiles and colour, but really using my 25 years’ experience of colour to really try and help people express their love of patterns — but in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming,” she says.

This is Sophie’s second brand collaboration. In September 2023, Sanderson Design Group launched the Harlequin x Sophie Robinson collection of fabrics (eight prints and seven weaves from around €55 per metre) and wallpapers.

The Wakehurst sofa by Sophie Robinson for DFS.

Many people fear investing in colour because they think they might “go off” it, says Sophie. “They think down the line they may not like the colour choice,” she adds.

But Sophie has designed her approach as a “whole-room recipe”, she says.

“These are expensive choices. This is important stuff. And it can make people default to beige and it’s like — oh my heart! — colour is emotion. It makes you feel something. And it can have a very profound and positive effect. It needs tapping into. And arguably grey or beige does not do a lot for us.

“That’s why I care about it. And that’s why I love doing these brand collaborations.” To this end, Sophie has created a palette of colours that work together. “They don’t have to match — I prefer if they didn’t. They all work together so it gives you confidence,” she says.

Then comes layering — which brings us to scatter cushions.

By her own admission, Sophie owns “far too many” cushions. “This is the biggest scatter cushion collection that DFS has done,” she says.

“Again, these give people an opportunity to be playful. I love my job. It’s fun. I want to take away the overwhelm for everyone else — that decision paralysis. I hope others will get to have a bit of fun too.” See dfs.ietarget="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> and sophierobinson.co.uk