Ban Britain's Bland Pads

New research from Dulux shows Britain is turning a boring shade of beige

A new report released today by Dulux highlights that our obsession with making money out of property is turning Britain bland! Homeowners are in danger of becoming ‘officially boring’ with 55% of people now choosing to live in a blandly decorated home, even though 45% acknowledge that their colour selection is lame, tame and neutral.

The study, which involved in-depth interviews with over 1,600 homeowners around Britain, demonstrates that cream and ‘off white’ are now the main schemes of more than 1 in 4 rooms in the UK, with the use of these so-called ‘non-colours’ doubling in the last ten years (cream up to 21% in 2007 from 10% in 1997), making them the most popular of any ‘colour’ used in British homes.

41% of people quizzed as part of the research commissioned by Dulux last painted their homes in cream or ‘off-white’, largely on the advice of property gurus and estate agents, although 45% of the nation claims to think these colours are ‘boring’. A paltry 4% of people believe cream or off-white reflect their true personalities.

However when asked to specify what type of colours homeowners actually liked, they were distinctly more adventurous with 38% claiming to love blue and 32% plumping for pink or red. Only 3% said they actually liked cream or off-white. This love of colour is shown to be associated with favourite childhood colours; in fact 42% claimed red and pink were their favourite colour as a child and 35% highlighted blue. What a shame that there should be such a discord between the colours people actually like and the colours they choose to paint their homes.

This lack of ‘colour’ can largely be attributed to the fact that one in ten householders claims to have decorated, solely with increasing the value of their property in mind. Estate agents and property programmes on TV often advise home owners to paint their homes shades of white and cream to ‘keep them neutral’, maximising the appeal to potential purchasers.

Louise Smith, colour expert at Dulux believes that this is because the British public have had a decade of TV programmes encouraging them to keep their homes ‘neutral’ for a quick and easy sale. Brits are becoming increasingly frightened to express their own personalities through decoration and we have become a nation of subconscious home sellers...in the back of our mind we are thinking of our homes as a commodity and potential sale. We need to paint our way to a happy medium where we can enjoy personalising our homes without fear of devaluing them.

Follow Louise's top tips for injecting some colour back into your home:

* Never use more than three colours in the overall scheme. You can of course use patterns, but by keeping the large areas of your room such as walls, floor and woodwork to a maximum of three colours, you will prevent your scheme from becoming Jack of all trades and master of none, otherwise known as a muddle.

* Always have a dominant colour in your living room scheme. It doesn't have to be darker or brighter, but one colour needs to take the lead. If you want to paint two walls one colour and two walls another, then address the balance by accessorising with one of these chosen colours.

* Reds with deep blue tones such as aubergines, burgundies and plums, give a rich decadent feel to a room. These types of reds and purples look great when used with neutral tones and are versatile enough to look equally good with modern furniture or a more traditional, classic living space.

*Greens are an ideal colour for living rooms. They are set to be a huge up and coming trend colour and with their nurturing and restful nature, provide welcome respite from our busy lives. For a very modern twist on a green and neutral combination try a yellow toned green such as 'Forest Lake' with a cool grey like 'Ebony Mist' (available in Dulux colour mixing).

*Feature walls are a simple way to use colour in your home, so why not try a really bold shade on one wall or even an alcove.

*For a really easy risk-free way to create a toning colour scheme in your room, use on of the colour swatches from Dulux Colour Mixing. These show six shades of one colour, and by selecting two or three shades you will achieve a beautiful graded tonal look.

Visit www.dulux.co.uk for more inspiration.