Room of the Week: Colour for Grown-ups

Or more of a reminder that colourful rooms aren't just child's play

Photos by Vincent Leroux.

This living room by Fleur Delesalle definitely qualifies as colourful. Yet unlike “dopamine decorating,” there’s nothing giddy or naive here. It’s colour for grown-ups, or rather, colour for grown-ups who think they should have outgrown colour.

The hues themselves are complex, with depth: burnt orange rather than sunny tangerine for the sofa, olive rather than Kelly green and golden mustard rather than pure yellow for the chairs. The saturation of the colours accentuate the boldness of the silhouettes. So do the gold and black of the cocktail tables and the self-assured snowiness of the remaining chair.

I’m making the room seem rather sombre and self-important, aren’t I? But it’s not. The graphic rug (designed, like the lower cocktail table, by Delesalle) ensures that. So does the slyly playful lighting pendant hanging in the corner. In fact, several of the furniture shapes are playful as well. I’m sure that anyone who sits in the ivory bouclé chair immediately wants to spin around like a child climbing onto a swivel chair for the first time. And certainly settling into the green chair must be like sinking into a giant marshmallow.

Also, let’s admire the textures for a moment. The layering of the plush rug atop the sleek oak floors is perfection.

Perhaps the best thing about this room is that it can accommodate both a chic soirée and story time with little ones. It’s simultaneously of the moment and timeless (aided in large part by the stunning arched French doors, the herringbone-pattern floor, and the classic pleated curtains). If ever there was a room for anyone, anywhere, it’s this.