If you’re wanting to spice up your life by injecting some colour into your living room - here’s 10 schemes, and when to use them.

1. Dark moody grey

If your requirements for a living room are to feel cosy and cocooning, then a deep cave-like grey would definitely tick the box. With dark colours like these I like to pull them down onto the skirting and trims for a seamless look.

Best suited to: South facing rooms, or rooms which are small, dark and dull where no amount of white is going to make it feel lighter. Embrace it!

2. Greige and natural tones

Greige, or grey-beige, is a timeless and relaxing colour and pairs beautifully with light wood tones and soft textures.

Best suited to: North or East facing rooms - North facing rooms tend to get cooler light throughout the day, and East facing rooms are cooler in the evenings (when you’re likely to be spending time in the living room).

3. Olive green and dark wood

To me, this colour feels like a hug. It’s warm and deep and works beautifully with other natural colours and tones like wood. If you like mid-century style, this colour fits great with mid-century furniture.

Best suited to: North or East facing rooms - olive is a warm colour and will help fight the cooler light.

4. Blue-grey

A little tricky to get right, but far better than using boring grey! Using grey with a blue tint brings some really beautiful and subtle colour onto the walls without making too much of a statement.

Best suited to: South facing rooms which get a lot of light, or West facing rooms which get the ‘golden light’ in the afternoon and evening. Using this colour in a room which gets cool light (North or East facing) can make it feel colder.

5. Dark and sophisticated green

This colour feels really luxurious to me, and cosy at the same time. As with other dark colours, I love the look of colour drenching with dark green - bringing it onto the woodwork.

Best suited to: Either dark and dingy rooms (embrace it…) or those which get a lot of South or West facing light.

6. Grown-up pink

Pink has been popular for some time and isn’t going away! The trick to get a mature (and not “child’s bedroom”) pink is to find one with a brown undertone.

Best suited to: North or East facing rooms - a browny, warm under-toned pink will bring some warmth to these spaces.

7. Warm white

Going for a white on the walls will make your furniture and other decor pop. A nice, subtle warm white will make a room feel light and airy, and not too cold.

Best suited to: North or East facing rooms which get a bit of light, which you want to make feel as bright as possible. Using a warmer white in a South or West facing room can make the colour come across as too yellow.

8. Grey-green

Something that I love about grey-greens is that they can change colour quite dramatically in the light. Another really great way of bringing a bit of subtle colour.

Best suited to: South or West facing rooms - because grey is the undertone, a North/East facing space might make this colour feel a little too cold.

9. Smooth and silky brown

One for the chocolate lovers. You probably have to be feeling a bit brave to paint your living room dark brown, but if you think of it as a rich and warm alternative to black, you’ll find it has a really lovely cocooning effect.

Best suited to: North or East facing rooms, where this colour will bring some warmth to the otherwise cooler light.