Glad to be grey

Having been in trend exile at various points over recent decades, black and grey interiors are enjoying a resurgence and are my first choice for a monochrome interior that delivers simple and subtle sophistication.

The key to single colour scheme success is to consider your room to be like an old black and white movie.

While watching these, you still feel that the actors, costumes and sets are somehow colourful. This is simply the impact of texture and tone.

The way a surface looks and feels can enhance a feeling of warmth or coolness in exactly the same way that the introduction of colour does.

When designing your scheme, be careful to ensure that the blacks and greys you choose read visually. This may sound odd, but not all shades of black are complementary (as anyone who has tried to match a new dinner jacket to an old pair of black trousers can vouch).

Tonal link is an important factor for all items in your scheme and you need to ensure there is an inter-relationship between everything in your room (from the curtains to an objet d’art).

The best way to guarantee the success of your scheme is to plan things out in advance. Take time to get samples and swatches of the surfaces you will incorporate, paste these on to a piece of card to create a design board and experiment with the interplay of your finishes.

Remember that to create interest you should also consider the very subtle contrast that can be achieved in a room by combining hard and soft surfaces or shiny and matt finishes. Using a variety of textures in the same colour adds intrigue and stimulus to your scheme.

Carefully designed artificial lighting can give emphasis to interesting textures within certain pieces by spotlighting them. In addition, the interplay of natural light upon a textured surface (such as rough cut velvet) means the look of your room will change throughout the day as shadows shift to highlight new features.

In a monochrome interior, touch is as important a sense as sight, so introduce a few diverse textures to provide variety, but keep the change logical to avoid confusing the senses. For instance, add cushions with different textures to a sofa, rather than having multiple textures on the sofa itself.

Size, proportion and symmetry are also key to creating a successful interior, particularly with a single colour scheme. By symmetry I do not mean drawing a mental line down the middle of a room and slavishly creating a mirror image either side, but more creating a feeling of balance. So, in a sitting room, designate a physical piece as the effective centre of your design and then plan the room around it so all elements relate to it, creating balance in the form of use and size (for example, using contrasting comfy chairs based around a coffee table, rather than a three piece suite).

The effect that the space between objects has on the feel of a room can be as important as the objects themselves; consider how hectic an over fussy Victorian interior looks against the calm restfulness of a spacious 21st century minimalist interior.

In the scheme pictured on the left, our design was centred on the main sofa. The grained texture of the velvet ensured that the straight edge design did not look hard. This was contrasted by the linen look and feel of the chesterfield and oversize easy chair that were symmetrically grouped. We then added other fabrics in contrasting tones of grey and black in a variety of textures on the cushions.

The large, comfortable furniture provided an ideal base for adult relaxing and entertaining, while bespoke side tables were designed to provide space for lighting and family photos, plus the odd G&T.

The spatial relationship between seating and occasional furniture also meant that the room continued to feel welcoming and comfortable, but at the same time calm and restful.

The large windows were dressed with silk curtains and grey linen finish voiles. These react wonderfully to the natural light streaming through during the day, with the folds of the silk beautifully reflecting artificial light at other times.

In the evenings, the lighting in this room which comprises recess ceiling spots (on three dimmer circuits) and art deco inspired statement lamps on a remote control lamp circuit provide flexible options to highlight the various textures. To lift the overall scheme, we contrasted black and grey with distressed silver and eglomisé mirrored finishes which avoid the brash bravado of full mirrored surfaces to add understated glamour.