Bar Reviews: St James Bar – Imagination Menu, Sofitel SW1
Cocktails have never been so much fun
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Dulux reveals this is the perfect colour to create a happy home in 2022 – and we can’t get enough of it
The Dulux Colour of the year 2022 is literally a breath of fresh air waiting to be added to your home. While last year’s colour focused on keeping us grounded, this year is all about embracing optimism in your home and looking to the sky.
The paint trend selected by the experts to epitomise our homes in 2022 is Bright Skies, an airy light blue shade designed to capture the hopeful mood of the moment. After the bright and rich shades of the last two years, a return to a light optimistic blue is a welcome change and one the team at Ideal Home can’t wait to embrace in their bedroom colour schemes and beyond.
Dulux Colour of the Year 2022 Bright Skies
Image credit: Dulux
‘As a big fan of the outdoors I’m loving the freshness of Bright Skies. It’s perfect for 2022 with its feeling of optimism,’ says Heather Young, Ideal Home Editor. ‘I’m on the hunt for a wall colour for my bedroom at the moment. Blue wasn’t on the table but now I’m very tempted to give Bright Skies a try.’
‘It’s a lighter, brighter and more refreshing colour than that of last year’s Brave Ground, yet it still has a deep connection to nature,’ adds Tamara Kelly, Ideal Home Digital Editor. ‘It pairs so beautifully with a whole range of accent colours, is this the new alternative to light grey?’
Image credit: Dulux
Many of us have been turning to shades such as blue in our home office ideas and bedroom ideas thanks to its connotations of offering peace and serenity. However, its connection to the outdoors also makes it the perfect colour choice to give your mood a boost at home.
‘Right now, people want to feel revitalised and enjoy the freedoms that are returning to them, to look out and bring in new ideas. What better inspiration can we take than the endless skies around us?’ says Marianne Shillingford, Creative Director of Dulux UK.
Image credit: Dulux
‘It is widely known that nature makes us feel better and taking steps to bring the outside in enhances our sense of wellbeing. So whether we are working or relaxing, creating or exercising, it is essential to have a space that reflects the optimism and desire for a fresh, new start that is top of the agenda for the year ahead.’
‘However, Bright Skies
is not about idle day-dreaming. It is about turning those dreams into reality and forging ahead with the changes that we want to make.’
How to use the Dulux Colour of the Year 2022 in your home
If you are keen to add Bright Skies to your home Marianne Shillingford, Creative Director of Dulux says the best place isn’t on your walls but your ceiling.
Image credit: Dulux
‘If you use this colour on the ceiling you don’t have to commit to the walls. It just makes that ceiling melt away, it just fills a room with a breath of fresh air,’ she says.
‘I absolutely believe when people put it on the ceiling and can see what it can do that’s going to be an amazing revolution.’
‘I’m going to paint it on the ceiling of my bedroom. In fact, I’m going to immerse my bedroom, watch this space,’ she adds.
How is the colour of the year selected?
The Dulux Colour of the Year 2022 Bright Skies was selected by a panel of design, fashion and colour experts. It was heavily influenced by the events of the last few years, homes dealing with the aftermath of three lockdowns and many of us craving freedom and a return to nature.
Even the process by which the colour is usually selected had to be changed due to the pandemic. For the first time in 19 years, rather than attending the Global Aesthetics Centre, where the colour is chosen, the group gathered online for a virtual summit.
Image credit: Dulux
‘Over the past 19 years, we’ve seen a dramatic shift from a concentration on brighter tones to an emphasis on neutrals,’ Heleen van Gent, head of the AkzoNobel Global Aesthetics Centre.
‘This year, however, vibrant colours and light tones are re-emerging – a reflection, perhaps of our need for positivity and a fresh approach. After a spell of feeling shut-in, we crave expansion – the great outdoors. The 37 curated colours in this year’s collection help to make it easy to choose on-trend shades.’
What colours go with Bright Skies?
Four colour palettes have been built around the versatile Bright Skies – Greenhouse, Studio, Workshop and Salon. Each palette is starkly different from each other demonstrating the genius of this year’s colour of the year at adapting to different spaces.
Image credit: Dulux
The Greenhous palette showcases fresh greens, paired with the lovely blues. If you’re a houseplant fan then Bright Skies is the surprising, but perfect backdrop shade to make your green babies pop.
While Salon and workshop feature more muted shades for a grown-up spin on blue, the Studio colour palette really caught our eye. Partnering the pale blue of Bright Skies with reds, oranges and pinks, it is an unexpected and modern colour combination for blue bedroom ideas we can’t get enough of.
Will you be trying Bright Skies in your home?
The post Dulux reveals this is the perfect colour to create a happy home in 2022 – and we can’t get enough of it appeared first on Ideal Home.
Reading time: 4 min
Banister ideas: 11 staircase railing designs to transform hallways
Whether your staircase is large or small, the right banister ideas can totally transform the space. Because you’d be surprised the impact your staircase railings will make to your hallway and landing.
‘A whole staircase can be completely transformed by simply updating and fitting new bannisters, treads, newels and spindles,’ explains James Murray, Senior Staircase Designer at Neville Johnson.’From the raw, industrial effect – ideal for a modern or minimalist space – to rich wood finishes for a traditional home, a new riser adds a different design element to the home.’
For James, attention to detail is key to his banister-centred staircase ideas. ‘Those all-important decorative touches such as twisted oak or wrought iron spindles can be used to introduce a touch of traditional charm. Alternatively, incorporate glass panels to add light to your hallway and create a contemporary feel.’
Banister ideas for stairways
1. Choose contemporary curved design
Image credit: Future PLC/ Katie Lee
Rethink the wooden banister by reshaping the design, choosing a curvaceous rail to guide you along the stairway. A sleek polished wooden banister rounded at the edges helps to soften the presence of such a solid structure. The fluid shape takes the edge off, especially when teamed with contemporary glass panels.
This look is perfect for a modern interior or if you’re looking for small hallways ideas that offer a sense of space.
2. Refresh banisters with a splash of colour
Image credit: Future PLC/ David Giles
If your stairs and existing banister are in good shape and simply just need an update paint can go a long way. Define the banister on a white staircase by picking it out in an accent colour. To make the colour a practical choice select a shade that won’t show up signs of wear and tear as easily as the white perhaps.
To enhance the overall staircase further, choose to paint the wall beside the stars in a coordinating colour to define the rise of the staircase.
3. Paint around the handrail
Image credit: Future PLC/ Brent Darby
For a more traditional approach to decorating the stairs, leave the banister natural and paint all the elements around it. Use your chosen hallway colour scheme, brilliant white in this case, to carefully paint the walls, wall panelling and stair spindles leaving only the handrail unpainted. This helps to create a serene backdrop against which the banister can shine.
4. Create a contrast by mixing materials
Image credit: Bisca
This house conversion beautifully mixes materials to fuse the old with the new. The bespoke Bisca design fuses natural materials to celebrate the heritage of the building while taking into consideration modern design.
The main structure is a steel ribbon of with kiln-dried oak treads and tapered steel spindles. The banister is made of an oval solid oak handrail that sits on top of the hand-forged balustrade below. The handrail sweeps up the staircase, inviting you to journey up.
5. Wow with a wire design
Image credit: Neville Johnson
This Neville Johnson staircase demonstrates beautifully how alternative materials can really make an impact when designing a banister. If you’re designing a stairway from scratch you have the freedom to explore different forms and finishes.
This striking metal staircase feels like a piece of art, making a highly functional element of your home feel more impactful and well throughout rather than just ‘there’.
6. Source sustainable materials
Image credit: Bisca
This new staircase in a refurbished property is made using locally sourced, sustainable materials. ‘The client was remodelling and modernising a brick and stone farmhouse near Hartlepool’ explains a member of the Bisca design team.
‘Local materials reclaimed by the homeowner were the inspiration for the design of a new staircase to be located in a newly created triple-height entrance space providing a link between old and new.’
7. Embrace the natural beauty of wood
Image credit: Future PLC/ David Merewether
On a painted staircase choose to leave the banister bare, stripped back to the natural grain to give it prominence and celebrate its natural beauty. By keeping the banister and spindles bare against a painted backdrop it helps to define the structure of the staircase.
8. Seek a sensitive design in a new build
Image credit: Bisca
If renovating or building your staircase from new, be sensitive to the surroundings when planning the design. ‘For a new-build home in Derbyshire which replaced the owner’s previous house on the same site, Bisca designed and built a staircase for the main entrance hallway’ explains a representative of the design team.
‘The property was inspired by Arts and Crafts architecture, and the brief for the new staircase was to include distinctive features associated with the movement – a simple, utilitarian design where the beauty of natural materials is allowed to shine. Bisca’s sensitivity to ‘the right design for the right place’ really comes in to its own in this project, where the finished staircase is a beautiful, stylish addition to the new build.’
9. Break up the framework with a fractured design
Image credit: Neville Johnson
Create interest by breaking away from a traditional continuous banister design. Go for a more contemporary look, such as this example by Neville Johnson. Break the flow of one piece of material with separate sections, adjoined by fastenings in the same material.
9. Wall mount a handrail in a narrow stairway
Image credit: Future PLC/ Polly Eltes
In a narrow hallway where the stairs are framed by walls, as opposed to open spindles, it’s best to wall-mount a slim handrail. To save valuable space choose one dominant wall to place the banister on. Making sure it’s positioned practically to assist journeys both up and down the stairs.
Incidentally, we’re massive fans of this smart staircase runner idea, which draws the eye up. If you wanted to make the staircase appear wider, you could opt for a horizontal stripe instead.
10. Add interest with curved steel
Image credit: Future PLC/ Jake Curtis
This banister ideas contrasts a wooden staircase with a sleek alternative steel handrail. In this curved stairway, the banister curves round to add a stylish finish to a modern stairway design.
11. Make it monochrome
Image credit: Future PLC/ David Giles
Refresh an existing, perhaps dated, staircase and banister with a coat of wood paint. This creative take on decorating offers a monochrome finish, providing a great base for a colourful hallway scheme. To unify the scheme, paint a staircase in the same colour continuing on door frames and skirting boards within the hallway.
How much does it cost to replace a banister?
Costs for replacing a banister depends on the material you choose to do the job, but can range from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands.
A carpenter will replace a banister for a reasonable price, dependant on the work involved and the size of the staircase. You’re looking in the hundreds, rather than thousands. But as with any interior design element there’s a high end option, if you have the budget.
Bespoke staircase specialist Bisca designs and makes award-winning staircases all over the UK, built entirely in the North Yorkshire workshop. ‘Each commission is the handiwork of a dedicated team of multi-skilled craftspeople who combine traditional disciplines, including metal work, blacksmithing, cabinetry and leather. Working with precision-engineered designs and modern materials.’
Prices for this level of expertise, for a full staircase, start from £25k.
The post Banister ideas: 11 staircase railing designs to transform hallways appeared first on Ideal Home.
Reading time: 6 min
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