When you enter a colour drenched room, you’ll know about it, as the walls, ceiling, woodwork and perhaps other features will all be painted in the same hue. For immersive impact, this decorating technique is a popular paint trend and one that stands the test of time.
Whether you’ve visited a stately home with a colour drenched interior, or you’re aware of the cost and effort savings that come with this technique, you may be curious about how to colour drench a room in your own home. After all, as well as simplifying painting, there’s also a design incentive for colour drenching. When done effectively in a suitable space, this technique can add character, impact, and a point of distinction from the rest of the property.
If you’re in need of guidance on how to colour drench your space, find out how I colour drenched my spare room, along with the products I used to achieve the look.
Things to consider before you start
Naturally, the key consideration before colour-drenching a room is deciding which colour you’ll paint it. A light or moderately light shade of paint can make a room feel airy and spacious, while darker tones are often cosy, or even dramatic.
“Colour drenching is one of the most liberating decorating techniques because it simplifies the process,” says Lauren Shaw, head of marketing for DIY at Harris. “Working with a single colour across all surfaces – including walls, ceiling, woodwork, skirting and radiators – removes many of the usual headaches around cutting in between contrasting areas."
However, choosing the right paint colour is key. “Test your colour on every surface before committing,”advises Lauren. “Paint behaves differently on a ceiling versus a flat wall, and versus a primed door, and a shade can look very different once it’s on all surfaces. So, always test samples in situ, in both natural and artificial light.”
You might also consider including a few pops of a different colour in the space using the 'peek-a-boo' paint trend. This arguably detracts a little from the colour drench effect, but in my case, we thought that it broke up the look of the space nicely. Leaning into a contrast colour, we had our radiator powder-coated yellow at a local motorcycle respraying shop (some of these businesses will paint all sorts of metal objects).
It’s also well worth mulling over whether colour drenching is the right approach to decorating a particular room, as it may suit some spaces better than others. “Colour drenching is more powerful in smaller or awkward spaces, like hallways, cloakrooms and compact bedrooms,” Lauren advises.
Patrick O’Donnell, a brand ambassador for Farrow & Ball, recommends using colour drenching in spaces that are rich in architectural detail. “Colour drenching can be a useful tool when your room has a lot of decorative embellishments such as plasterwork detailing or panelling on walls,” he says. “It allows these details to register beautifully, without the need to pick them out in a separate colour to enhance them.”
As Head of Marketing for DIY, Lauren Shaw represents Harris to its vast audience of customers who are decorating and renovating their homes. Leading paintbrush brand Harris also produces decorating accessories such as masking tapes and paint rollers, and will celebrate its centenary in 2028.
Patrick O'Donnell is the online face of premium paint and wallpaper brand, Farrow & Ball. As well as producing social media content, Patrick provides virtual and in-person colour consultations to home renovators.
What I used to colour drench my spare room
We chose this dead flat Farrow & Ball paint finish so that we could paint the walls and woodwork from the same tin
To paint the wide expanses of our walls and ceiling, we used this 'Ultimate' Harris brush. For a quicker job, you might prefer to use a paint roller
You'll need a finer brush to preserve the detail of features such as skirting boards
How to colour-drench a room: step-by-step
1. Select a colour drench-suitable paint
“One area where colour drenching does require extra care is paint finish selection,” says Lauren Shaw. “Using a single flat emulsion on every surface is one approach and works well for a solid, matte look. But for woodwork and high-traffic areas, you may prefer to introduce a slightly different sheen – eggshell or satin – to add durability and a subtle texture, while keeping the colour consistent.”
For our project, we used Farrow & Ball’s ‘Arsenic’ paint colour in a ‘Dead Flat’ finish, which is suitable for coating a wide range of surfaces including walls, woodwork and radiators. This helped to create a consistent look, while minimising cost and hassle.
2. Prep the walls and ceiling with undercoat
Apply one or two coats of primer to the walls and ceilings. If you’re painting over fresh plaster, you might need to decant some of the primer into a bucket and water it down slightly for the first application. This creates a ‘mist coat’ that should adhere successfully to ‘thirsty’ plaster.
Some modern paints are self-priming. If you’re using a self-priming paint to create the final look of your colour-drenched room, you might be able to skip this step.
3. Prep and undercoat the woodwork
First, sand the woodwork throughout the room – including skirting boards and architraves – as this will help paint adhere to the wood. Apply knotting solution to any knots in the wood (this limits sap bleed), and use wood filler to fill any gaps or blemishes.
Using a tube of caulk and a skeleton gun, caulk along edges of woodwork where it meets a wall or ceiling. Remove excess caulk with damp cloth while you work (and before the caulk sets).
Finally, undercoat the woodwork as required. Protect your floor using painter’s tape and/or dust sheets, and try not to overload your paintbrush.
Products to prepare your room for colour drenching
Use painter's tape to ensure clean lines where you may not want to extend your colour drenching, such as onto aluminium window frames or patio doors
Use decorator's caulk to fill gaps and neaten edges so that you can then paint over them
Protect the rest of your room, the floor and any furniture before colour drenching, using this pack of large plastic dust sheets
4. Paint the room with your top colour
It’s then time to bring your colour-drenched vision to life with your top colour. Begin with the corners of the room where walls and ceiling meet, then paint the flat expanses.
“We’d always recommend starting with painting the ceiling, moving to the walls and finishing with woodwork and any smaller details,” says Lauren Shaw. “This way, any paint spatter or drips are painted over as you work down the room.” As you can see in the photos, we used paintbrushes as we like a brushed finish in our house, but you could use a roller to speed up the process.
Use painter’s tape to avoid lapping paint onto protruding features such as plug sockets, switches and light fittings, and take care over painting the detail on woodwork, as this can easily become hard to see in a colour-drenched room. For this, use a finer paintbrush, and avoid loading the bristles with too much paint.
FAQs
Is colour drenching a traditional technique?
“Colour drenching has had an editorial drive for the last three years in the interiors press, but versions of ‘colour drenching’ have been used since the 18th century,” says Patrick O’Donnell.
“Back then, great houses would often paint large halls in versions of stone shades creating very subtle differences, where now, due to the variety of colours available, any colour can be used.”
The term ‘colour drenching’ originated much more recently. Some publications have stated that the term was first used in 2022, but Google Trends data shows that people were researching colour drenching as early as 2021.
Is colour drenching just a trend?
There’s no doubt that colour drenching has been especially popular in recent years. Some homeowners might fairly wonder whether this will turn out to be a short-lived fad, or an approach which stands the test of time.
“Remember, colour drenching as we now call it is an interior design trend, and trends do pass, so think about why you want to do it,” says Patrick O’Donnell. “It does ultimately add a simplicity to a scheme, and also it doesn’t have to be in a strong colour – colour drenching can also be very beautiful in off-whites and neutrals.”
Some would say that colour drenching is a passing fancy, while others might argue that the technique’s centuries-long history suggests otherwise. What really matters is how well the colour drenching fits the room, and how well a colour-drenched space suits your home.
Still need to brush up on your painting and decorating? Read our guides on how to paint over lime plaster, tips for painting skirting boards and sanding walls before painting.
