While the bold and bright hues influencing color trends deliver decor drama all on their own, applying them using a technique called color drenching raises the impact significantly. Color drenching is a decor method that is very much like it sounds: a room (or a space) is completely drenched in a single color, or slight variations on that color.
Picture a can of paint pouring over top of a room, coating everything it touches. Everything is covered, including walls, floors, ceilings, furnishings, fixtures and accents.
Why is Color Drenching so Popular?
Color drenching feeds into the maximalist trend that is currently characterizing much of interior design, where saturated colors and intricate patterns reign.
It also taps into color psychology to create a sense of comfort and coziness in a space. This is an important feature, as homeowners are designing their spaces to support emotional needs, as well as aesthetic goals. In using a single color, there are minimal visual transitions, which is innately calming.
Color drenching proves that monochromatic does not mean monotone. The key is to mix and layer different textures and paint finishes to create visual interest. Here is what you need to know to DIY color drenching in your home.
Are Light or Dark Colors Better Suited for Color Drenching?
Which color you choose for color drenching really depends on your personal preference.
If you are looking for inspiration, a quick scroll through design media shows room after room enveloped in dark, moody colors, indicating that bold colors are leading the trend.
However, industry experts are split on which colors offer the most visual value and remind homeowners to consider the other variables that will influence the overall look.
Determine what your aesthetic goal is, the size of the space and how the room or space in question fits into the palette of the rest of the home, for continuity’s sake. Also gauge your comfort level with powerful colors.
“Medium to dark colors are generally better for color drenching, because the whole purpose of color drenching is to make a big impact. It’s a design statement,” says interior designer Heather Mastrangeli, with Innovatus Design.
Ensure that there is enough light, natural or artificial, in the room or space you plan to drench.
“The biggest mistake homeowners make is to pick a color that is too dark for the light conditions. Then the room can feel oppressive and uncomfortable,” says Michelle Marceny, principal color designer with The Color Concierge
While dark colors undeniably pack a punch, it doesn't mean lighter shades are off the table. For example, drenching a room in white, “is the easiest and safest way to get trim and wall white color combinations right,” she says.
An all-white color drench is a good transition for homeowners who favor the clean lines of the application technique, but are not sold on dark, saturated colors.
Choose The Proper Paint Finish
As important as the color choice is the paint finish, or sheen, because this creates (or takes away from) levels of visual texture, which is a key component of a successful color drench.
For example, Farrow & Balls’s Dead Flat offers an ultra-flat finish. Marceny likes how a flatter sheen helps create just the right balance with color.
“Rougher surfaces such as walls will look flatter, and smoother surfaces such as trim will look shinier,” says Marceny.
She adds that flat sheen is best suited for dark colors, and for white or light neutrals, she recommends “a satin sheen for the trim, eggshell for the walls, and flat for the ceilings. Because of the different formulations for the sheens, you can still see a subtle difference for every surface.”
Further, “don’t use eggshell or shinier sheens with very dark colors. It can make the colors harder to see when the light is reflecting off the walls,” she says.
What Rooms Are Best Suited For Color Drenching?
It’s possible to have too much of a good thing with color drenching, which is why it’s not recommended to color drench large rooms, or open-concept areas. The success of this technique relies on compact, enclosed spaces where the focus is sharper on the impact.
“Generally, medium-to-small rooms are the best candidates for color drenching,” says Mastrangeli.
“I prefer to drench single rooms, or accent rooms such as dining rooms, studies or bedrooms,” says Marceny.
“I prefer not to drench large open concept areas because it can honestly be too much. A drenched living room can be lovely if it is a single isolated room, but not if it is connected to several other rooms,” she says.
If you are thinking about doing color drenching in an open concept, pick a focal point or a corner, rather than applying color everywhere, advises Mastrangeli.
“Think about areas that would be really impactful,” she says, such as a fireplace, or an accent wall.
Tips and Tricks for Color Drenching
Ready to try your hand at color drenching? Here are some guidelines to make a colorful statement while striking the right balance.
Keep Color Choices Consistent
While you may be limiting color drenching to a smaller room, such as a powder room or dining room, ensure that color choices work with the palette of the rest of your home.
“Consider the color drench room as part of your total home palette. Make sure the color flows well with the other colors and decor in your home,” says Marceny.
Test Colors Out Before You Commit
There is risk and reward with color drenching, but you can mitigate the risk by trying out options before you drench.
“Always test your paint colors to make sure that you pick a paint color that is not too dark for the room. You can tell if the color is too dark if it looks black when you test it. Test with the light on and the light off,” says Marceny..
And if the color doesn’t look quite right, “Consider lighter versions of the color you would like to use. Colors can look much darker than you expect inside, depending on the amount of natural light in the room,” she says.
Nervous About Too Much of One Color? Go For Tonal Variations And Use Layers
While pure color drenching involves using a single color, you can get much of the same effect by choosing a dominant color and then choosing similar, slightly different variations in the same color family.
These tonal variations add visual layers, and break up the space aesthetically.
Or, choosing specific pieces and arranging them strategically within a space can offer some of the color cohesiveness that comes with color drenching, without committing to a full drench.
Let’s say your color of choice is a vibrant blue, and you’d like to do your living room.
Apply that shade of blue to the “fireplace, artwork, bookcase and combine with blue furniture and blue accents,” says Mastrangeli, confining the dominant color to the background.
“You can easily pay homage to the concept of color drenching without being all in,” she says. “The space takes on some of those characteristics of color drenching, without feeling like it's too risky.”
