TL;DR
In an interview published by Livingetc, interior designer Róisín Lafferty outlined five principles for using color intentionally in interiors. Her approach focuses on a room’s intended mood, committing to color, and considering its relationship with architecture, materials and light—not following fixed rules about which shades go together.
Interior designer Róisín Lafferty has shared five principles for using color in interiors, arguing that choices should start with a room’s intended atmosphere rather than a paint chart. In an interview published by Livingetc, she described color as an architectural tool that can shape how a space feels, guide the eye and affect the perceived relationship between rooms.
Lafferty’s central principle is not to follow fixed rules about which colors can sit together. Instead, she said, each color choice should have a reason. A clear intention, in her view, can make a bold palette feel balanced rather than arbitrary. She said her palettes may begin with a piece of stone, a landscape, artwork, travel or memory, and develop through the relationships among color, material, light and texture.
Her first two rules are to decide how people should feel in a room before choosing a palette, and to commit to a color once it has been chosen. That commitment can extend beyond the walls to ceilings, doors and joinery, creating what designers often call color drenching. Lafferty said her studio has used deep burgundy across hallways and cobalt blue on staircases; she described the results as more enveloping and refined than the initial color choices might suggest.
The remaining principles in the source material are to use color to manipulate the perception of space, consider how it carries between rooms, and build palettes through relationships rather than exact matching. Lafferty said color can alter perceived proportions, emphasize or dissolve boundaries, and direct attention. The supplied report ends partway through the discussion of the third rule, however, and does not include the full explanations of the final two.
Color as a Tool for Shaping Rooms
Lafferty’s advice offers a way to make color decisions that goes beyond choosing a popular shade. For homeowners and designers, starting with a room’s purpose and desired mood can help connect paint, furnishings and finishes into a coherent plan. It also shifts attention from individual colors to how they work with light, texture and materials.
Her emphasis on carrying color across architectural surfaces has practical implications: painting a ceiling or joinery can change how a room reads, not just add decoration. That does not mean every space needs a bold or fully saturated treatment. Lafferty’s stated test is whether the choice has a clear intention and suits the experience the room is meant to create.
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From Paint Charts to Atmosphere
In the Livingetc interview, Lafferty said she experiences color as an instinctive and emotional part of design, rather than a finishing touch. She described it as something that can energize, ground or envelop people, and said it can affect how one room relates to another. Her approach connects color planning to interior architecture, not solely to paint selection.
The article gives examples of different starting points for a palette: veined stone, colored glass, rugs and artwork, as well as landscapes and travel. It also distinguishes the mood a room may call for: a bedroom might be designed to feel restorative, while a dining room could support a richer or more theatrical treatment. Hallways, experienced while moving through them, may accommodate a stronger color choice, Lafferty said.
“There needs to be a reason for every choice.”
— Róisín Lafferty, speaking to Livingetc
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The Final Rules Need More Detail
The source supplied for this article cuts off during Lafferty’s explanation of using color to manipulate a space. It identifies five rules in its headline, but the full text of the fourth and fifth rules and their supporting examples are not included. The principles described here therefore reflect the available material, not a complete account of the original interview.
The source also does not identify a publication date, give project-specific measurements or provide evidence that a particular color treatment will produce the same effect in every room. Lafferty’s descriptions of how her own studio projects feel are her design judgments, not claims of a universal result.
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More Detail Depends on the Full Interview
The reported development is the publication of Lafferty’s color advice by Livingetc; the supplied material does not announce a follow-up, product launch or other next event. Readers seeking the complete five-rule list can consult the original Livingetc report, which may contain the sections omitted from the source text provided here.
For anyone applying the advice, the next step is to identify the intended mood of a room and consider how color interacts with its surfaces, materials and adjoining spaces. Lafferty’s comments support testing a palette in the actual setting, but the source does not prescribe a specific testing method or guarantee an outcome.
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Key Questions
What is Róisín Lafferty’s main rule for using color?
Lafferty says every color choice should have a reason. She recommends deciding what a room should feel like before choosing its palette.
What does committing to a color mean?
In Lafferty’s account, it means giving a chosen color enough presence to shape the room, potentially carrying it across walls, ceilings, doors or joinery. It does not require every surface to be the exact same shade.
Does Lafferty say certain colors should never be combined?
No. She said she does not believe in fixed rules about which colors should or should not sit together. Her emphasis is on having a clear intention behind the combination.
What can inspire a color palette?
Lafferty said palettes can begin with stone, landscapes, artwork, travel or memory. Materials, lighting and texture can then help shape the resulting scheme.
Are all five rules fully available in the supplied report?
No. The supplied text stops partway through the third rule. It does not include the complete explanations of the fourth and fifth principles, so their details cannot be confirmed from the material provided.
Source: rss
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