Decorating
10 New Ways With Neon
Add a flash of fluoro to your home for a mood-enhancing colour fix
If you’ve had enough of neutrals and long for a house filled with hyper colour that stirs the senses, then neon is your décor dream. Fluorescent colours appear particularly intense due to the way the pigment absorbs and reflects more light than conventional colours.
However, despite their inherent brightness, if overused, dayglow shades can make a scheme appear cold. To keep your home feeling cosy and contemporary, pair luminous colours with a plain base and use in moderation. Here are 10 tips to help you find your fluoro fix.
However, despite their inherent brightness, if overused, dayglow shades can make a scheme appear cold. To keep your home feeling cosy and contemporary, pair luminous colours with a plain base and use in moderation. Here are 10 tips to help you find your fluoro fix.
Give your garden a lift
Acid brights work brilliantly in the garden, where a backdrop of foliage and flowers naturally tempers luminous colours. These neon yellow Acapulco chairs, designed in the 1950s, offer rapid colour and a stylish, sculptural shape.
Get ideas for prepping your patio for entertaining
Acid brights work brilliantly in the garden, where a backdrop of foliage and flowers naturally tempers luminous colours. These neon yellow Acapulco chairs, designed in the 1950s, offer rapid colour and a stylish, sculptural shape.
Get ideas for prepping your patio for entertaining
Fire up a feature wall
Are you brave enough to blitz your bathroom with a neon feature wall? Wash spaces are surprisingly conducive to bright colours, as sanitaryware is so often white.
This pop of fluoro pink gives a colour-blocked effect, thanks to the contrasting teal floor and tangerine wall visible in the background.
Are you brave enough to blitz your bathroom with a neon feature wall? Wash spaces are surprisingly conducive to bright colours, as sanitaryware is so often white.
This pop of fluoro pink gives a colour-blocked effect, thanks to the contrasting teal floor and tangerine wall visible in the background.
Play off neutrals
Swap sedate furniture for a lively blast of acid green at the breakfast bar. These lime-coloured bar stools would work with any neutral scheme, providing quick colour without the need for redecoration.
For an easy update on existing chairs, try re-covering fabric seat pads in a hedonistic neon hue.
Swap sedate furniture for a lively blast of acid green at the breakfast bar. These lime-coloured bar stools would work with any neutral scheme, providing quick colour without the need for redecoration.
For an easy update on existing chairs, try re-covering fabric seat pads in a hedonistic neon hue.
Amp up artwork
Too timid to try colour? Use white walls as a backdrop for fluorescent artwork, such as this iconic Andy Warhol print. You could also make your own creative displays using found pieces: keep an eye out for neon wallpaper samples or vinyl records to frame for your space.
Too timid to try colour? Use white walls as a backdrop for fluorescent artwork, such as this iconic Andy Warhol print. You could also make your own creative displays using found pieces: keep an eye out for neon wallpaper samples or vinyl records to frame for your space.
Enhance your entryway
Illuminate the hallway with love-it-or-hate-it neon yellow. Paired with white woodwork and oak flooring, the colour is lucent and liveable. This zesty shade is from Dulux, or try Little Greene’s Trumpet for a similarly incandescent tone.
See inside a very colourful family home in London
Illuminate the hallway with love-it-or-hate-it neon yellow. Paired with white woodwork and oak flooring, the colour is lucent and liveable. This zesty shade is from Dulux, or try Little Greene’s Trumpet for a similarly incandescent tone.
See inside a very colourful family home in London
Skip greying grout
We’ve all got to grips with the idea of contrasting grout, but how about this twist on kitchen colour convention? Take a simple metro tile splashback to novel new heights with neon pink grout lines and clashing kitchenware.
We’ve all got to grips with the idea of contrasting grout, but how about this twist on kitchen colour convention? Take a simple metro tile splashback to novel new heights with neon pink grout lines and clashing kitchenware.
Create a kitsch cloakroom
The smallest room in the house is a good place to test out wild ideas that might not work elsewhere. Here, a grey base paint is used to offset the fluoro fun of rainbow-effect coving.
The smallest room in the house is a good place to test out wild ideas that might not work elsewhere. Here, a grey base paint is used to offset the fluoro fun of rainbow-effect coving.
Ditch dull hardware
Who says handles have to be plain metal? Give an all-white office space a youthful boost with fluorescent pink hardware. Look for fun, rubberised finishes or DIY with a speedy spray-paint session.
Who says handles have to be plain metal? Give an all-white office space a youthful boost with fluorescent pink hardware. Look for fun, rubberised finishes or DIY with a speedy spray-paint session.
Welcome washroom brights
An ornate, French-style vanity unit is given the fluorescent treatment in this quirky bathroom, putting a twist on tradition. Neon novices can try out the trend via towels, accessories or a super-shouty shower curtain.
TELL US…
How would you use a splash of neon in your home? Share your tips or photos in the Comments below.
An ornate, French-style vanity unit is given the fluorescent treatment in this quirky bathroom, putting a twist on tradition. Neon novices can try out the trend via towels, accessories or a super-shouty shower curtain.
TELL US…
How would you use a splash of neon in your home? Share your tips or photos in the Comments below.
In this sweet sleep space, juicy shades of coral and mint are energised via neon accents. Bright bedding is a fresh way to bring extra colour into kids’ rooms, while a timber-topped table provides surface space without adding weight to the fun, fruity scheme.
Browse photos of children’s rooms decorated with bold colours