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In an interview published by Livingetc, Irish interior designer Róisín Lafferty outlined five principles for using color with intention, from setting a room’s mood to treating color as an architectural tool. Her advice favors clear purpose and considered combinations over fixed rules about which colors belong together.
Irish interior designer Róisín Lafferty has shared five principles for using color in residential interiors, arguing that a palette should start with the feeling a room is meant to create and have a clear reason behind each choice. In an interview with Livingetc, she describes color as a way to shape mood and the perception of space, rather than a decorative finish added at the end.
Lafferty’s first principle is to decide how a room should feel before choosing its colors. A bedroom might call for a soft, restorative atmosphere, she says, while a dining room could support a richer, more theatrical palette. A hallway, experienced while moving through it, may suit a more unexpected treatment. The same mood can begin with stone, glass, a rug or artwork rather than paint.
Her second principle is to commit to a color instead of limiting it to a small accent. Lafferty says this can mean carrying a color across walls, ceilings, doors and joinery. The surfaces need not all be an identical shade: tonal variation and contrast can create a unified effect without precise matching. She gives examples from her studio’s work, including a burgundy-painted hallway and a cobalt-blue staircase, and says the more immersive applications felt refined in the finished spaces.
The third principle treats color as an architectural tool. Lafferty says it can affect how people perceive a room’s proportions, guide the eye and shape the experience of moving between spaces. The supplied Livingetc report introduces two further principles in its headline but does not include their full explanations in the material provided. The article’s broader account of her method points to palettes developed from materials, light and texture, rather than selected only from a paint chart.
Color Choices Shape Room Experience
Lafferty’s advice matters to readers planning a renovation or redecorating because it shifts the starting point from choosing a fashionable shade to defining the intended experience of a room. That gives homeowners a practical way to compare options: does a color support the atmosphere they want, and does it work with the room’s materials and light?
Her approach also challenges the assumption that strong color must be confined to a feature wall or accessory. Carrying a color across several surfaces can make it feel more integrated, though her examples are design guidance rather than evidence that one treatment will work in every home. Room size, daylight, existing finishes and personal preference still affect the result. The central point is that boldness alone is not the goal; the color needs a clear purpose.
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Lafferty’s Material-Led Method
In the Livingetc interview, Lafferty says she does not generally begin with a paint chart. A palette may instead take shape from the veining in stone, a landscape, artwork, a travel experience or a memory. She then considers how colors relate to material, light and texture. This places paint among several elements that can establish a room’s visual character, rather than treating it as the sole starting point.
Lafferty also says she does not believe in fixed rules about which colors should or should not be paired. Her stated rule is that each choice needs a reason. She describes her practice as using color almost architecturally: it can emphasize or dissolve boundaries, draw attention through a space and influence how adjoining rooms relate. The interview supplies examples from her projects but does not provide independent evaluation of their outcomes.
“I think we feel color before we consciously register it.”
— Róisín Lafferty, speaking to Livingetc
Two Principles Not Detailed Here
The source material provided for this report fully describes the first three principles but cuts off during the discussion of the third. Although the Livingetc headline says Lafferty shares five rules, the remaining two are not included in the supplied text, so their precise content cannot be reported here. The supplied material also gives no publication date, project budgets, client responses or independent assessment of how the featured color schemes perform in different conditions.
Lafferty’s examples and recommendations are attributed design advice, not universal findings. The interview does not set out a technical method for testing paint colors under different lighting or say that color-drenching is suitable for every room. Readers would need to assess their own space, finishes and desired atmosphere before applying the approach.
Full Five-Rule Account Needed
The next step for readers seeking all five principles is to consult the complete Livingetc interview, where the source material says the remaining rules are discussed. Anyone considering a substantial color change can use Lafferty’s stated starting point—define the desired mood, then build a palette around relevant materials and light—while testing choices in the actual room before committing across multiple surfaces. No additional announcement or project milestone is identified in the supplied report.
Key Questions
What is Róisín Lafferty’s main rule for using color?
Lafferty says every color choice should have a reason. She recommends beginning with the feeling a room should create, rather than choosing a shade without considering its purpose.
Does Lafferty say bold colors should be used only as accents?
No. She says a color can be carried across walls, ceilings, doors and joinery so it becomes part of the room’s overall environment. Her examples include a burgundy hallway and a cobalt-blue staircase.
Where can a room’s color palette start?
In Lafferty’s account, inspiration may come from stone, a landscape, artwork, travel or memory, as well as paint. She then considers how the colors relate to materials, light and texture.
Are all five of Lafferty’s rules available in this report?
No. The supplied source text details the first three principles but ends before describing the final two. The full Livingetc interview is needed for the complete five-rule account.
Source: rss
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