Strong and powerful yet soothing and understated, navy is a cocooning shade that works with any scheme. Our colour guru, Amelia, shares why and how to make it work
Navy blue gets its name from the colour of the uniforms worn by navy officers around the world. And with this comes natural associations to authority, power and safety, but also to the calmness of the sea. ‘It symbolises trust and authority, and projects that an individual is understated but confident. As a colour, it holds elements of nobility and ties with the sea, giving it a reverence and an affinity to nature,’ says colour psychologist Lee Chambers, (leechambers.org).
When it comes to design, navy blue is one of the few colours that can be used as both a background shade and an accent colour, depending on the look you’re going for. Dark and deep in nature, when used on a whole wall, or even all four walls, it creates a cosy, cave-like, even mysterious feel. While many people assume that dark walls will make a room feel smaller, in most cases, the opposite is true. ‘It’s a misconception that dark walls make a room shrink. Using a cool, darker hue, like navy blue, tends to make wall colours recede, so they appear farther away,’ says Cathryn Sanders, head of creative at Earthborn paints (earthbornpaints.co.uk).
It’s the colour for you if:
1 You want to create a cosy space
2 You’d like a strong and authoritative feel
3 You want to make your space look bigger 4 You’re less confident combining colours
‘A deep navy hue can create an impression of depth and make a space feel dramatic and stately.’
Another reason why navy is a great shade for your base colour, is that it combines well with nearly every colour out there. Navy and pink is one of my favourite colour pairings, but from yellow to red and orange to purple, you’ll struggle to get it wrong when cho
