Colour expert Sophie Robinson shares her secret to breaking free from '50 shades of beige'

Colour expert and interior design guru, Sophie Robinson, shares her game-changing tip for breaking out of the beige barrier and learning how to slowly, but surely embrace colour and bolder paint trends in your home.

Colour is something that feels like a constant back and forth. With what feels like so many rules, regulations, and mantras to stick to, many people just end up sticking to neutral living room colour schemes in an attempt to 'play it safe'. However, it doesn't always have to be that way.

After a study surfaced of 69% of Brits admitting their entire home is painted either grey, white, or beige, interior experts at Taskrabbit are calling for this reign of 'basic beige' to be over. However, almost one-fifth of Brits (18%) do admit that they wish they were brave enough to inject more colour into their homes, describing colourful pads as cheerful, fun, and energising.

However, as we know, the hardest part is always figuring out how to start – especially when you're launched head-first into unknown colour theories, like the 60-30-10 rule and knowing how to choose the perfect paint colour.

Well, get your colour wheel out because we've got you covered on the very first thing to get stuck into, as a complete beginner.

Sophie Robinson's secret to learning how to embrace colour in your home

In an exclusive interview with Ideal Home, we asked Sophie Robinson what her first piece of advice would be to somebody looking to step away from '50 shades of beige', despite being an intimidating thought for someone who's only known neutral all their interior lives.

Sophie Robinson

Sophie is an undisputed colour queen and tour de force in the interior design industry with over 20 years of experience in all things interiors. She is also a guest judge on BBC2's The Great Interior Design Challenge and has joined Taskrabbit as a tasker for a limited time to offer colour consultations to help guide the nation on how to banish the beige.

'You've got to get connected with what you love,' starts Sophie. 'Get out in the world, have an opinion, go to an art gallery. Ask yourself which paintings you like, which ones you don't like; what colours you're drawn to, and which ones not so much.'

Everything we see around us is intrinsically connected to the way we would also shape our interior choices, so seeing the best colour combinations come into play in the real world will help ease you into bringing it into your own home.

'Look at fashion shop window displays,' she continues. 'They're a brilliant place to see colour palettes put together – and again, have an opinion.'

'Do you like the black, white, and grey kind of Armani window displays? Are you moved towards the COS window displays which have lots of colours? Or is it all the pattern in Anthropologie's window?'

'I think people need to engage in colour and design and start working out what it is that they like,' urges Sophie. 'You can't just go out and get a paint chart and go, okay, what colour should we paint our walls then? That's not how design works.'

'So, for anybody who's in the beige trap and needs to get started, start getting emotionally connected to colour and have an opinion,' reiterates Sophie.

'Then, when you work out what colours you like – you might be wearing them, it may be the colour of the car you're driving, your favourite gemstone – decorate your home in those colours because they are your happy colours.'

For a limited time only, Sophie Robinson is bookable as a Tasker on the Taskrabbit platform, for anyone needing a helping hand introducing colour into their home. To book a colour consultation with her, visit the Taskrabbit website.