Timeless
Walls - Whiting
Kitchen - Smalt
Shelf - Lucienne Olive
Chair - Oriental Red
There’s something quite reassuring about a classic blue. In a traditional home, it brings a sense of order where life feels busy, calm where chaos naturally unfolds. Timeless is built around that idea; a palette that feels rooted and dependable, and deeply familiar. Whilst it honours the past, it makes spaces for contemporary living.
Smalt is a deep, heritage rich blue that ground a room both visually and emotionally, it carries a sense of permanence. It brings structure to tongue and groove pannelling, weight to cabinetry, and a composed elegance to woodwork.
Supporting Smalt is a palette of warm and historic neutrals: Whiting, Mallord and Hemp Beige. These are colours that feel lived in from the outset. Rich, gentle white and soft neutrals steeped in traditional character, they create interiors that feel welcoming and elegant. Used generously, they provide comfort and continuity.
Walls - Papyrus
Side table - Smalt
Lamp - Oriental red
Layered in the scheme are deeper, earth led tones: Papyrus, Pentland and Lucienne Olive. Sludgy ochres, muted browns and softened greens add depth and authenticity, reinforcing the palette’s historic mood. These colours being weight and richness without drama, celebrating imperfections of a room where texture tells a story.
For a moment that needs emphasis, the accent palette steps in with confidence: Esterhazy, Oriental Red and Deep Adam Green. They elevate the palette without disrupting its harmony, offering moments of character that feels collected over curated.
Warm, classic and steeped in heritage, the Timeless Palette is designed for homes that value longevity. It works effortlessly in period properties, traditional houses, and modern rustic settings where comfort, character and belonging matter most.
Woodwork + Fireplace - Smalt
Wardrobe - Deep Adam Green
Ceiling and about Picture rail - Pentland
Jan '26
There is a particular kind of joy in taking a room you see every day and making it feel entirely new. It is a feeling that sits at the heart of our Colour Forecast 2026, and one we wanted to explore through a real transformation.
For this bathroom project, we partnered with Matt Hatt, whose playful, hands-on approach captures the pleasure of decorating from first idea to final reveal. Known for his theatrical touch and his instinct for pairings that are daring yet considered, Matt brings real warmth and personality to everything he touches.
His brief was one many will recognise: to bring personality and cohesion to a main bathroom that, while structurally sound with its subway tiles, black grout and classic fittings, felt out of step with the rest of his Victorian home. The space called for a palette that could honour its period character while introducing something confident and true to himself.
From the four curated palettes within Colour Forecast 2026, Matt was drawn to Timeless, a collection that pairs the elegance of heritage tones with the boldness to reinvent a room, grounded throughout by warm, enveloping neutrals
A Lifelong Love of Transformation
Ever since I was young I've enjoyed transforming the environment around me. I was one of those kids that would go up to my room, and spend all day, on my own, listening to music trying out new combinations before inviting my mum in for a 'Changing Room' style reveal. Always had a flair for the dramatics.
That feeling of making something you see everyday feel completely new has stayed with me, through the many flats I've rented over the years, to my first home that I bought 3 years ago with my boyfriend. Playing with colour and pattern and leaning into the joy of decorating.
Expert Knowledge, Distilled
As a self-taught interior 'creator', I'm always looking for tricks or expert knowledge that I can use in my transformations. Craig and Rose's Colour Forecast is just that, the brand's expert knowledge distilled down into 4 feelings you want and need your room to be in 2026.
The Room That Needed Warmth
Our main bathroom had been on my to do list for a while, the core of it was good, subway style tiles with black grout, a giant fitted bathroom cupboard, a classic white sink, but it lacked warmth, felt out of kilter with the rest of the house.
Why Timeless Stood Out
The Timeless immediately stood out, as they felt to me like they combined the elegance of colours that would suit my Victorian home with the boldness to create a whole new look, and the warmth through the neutrals I was craving.
Knowing that Craig and Rose had done all the hard work for me, and that any combination of beautiful colours from the palette would work helped me to be so decisive when choosing my colours.
Making It My Own
It left me more time to add some creativity into application, and use of colour. Paint is a hugely powerful way to change a space entirely, and by using some decorating tape and following the steps of the useful guide on painting the perfect stripes I now have the bathroom my Victorian home deserves. (Painting Perfect Stripes: A Step-by-Step Guide by Craig & Rose) I have achieved a real stand out space that makes me smile everyday. I adore the warmth of Mallord on the walls and ceiling, Papyrus and Oriental Red on the bath and cabinets, and pops of the energising Smalt on skirtings.
Looking Back
I think 12-year old Matt would be quite chuffed with how far we've come in our transformation skills.
Matt Hatt
The Bathroom a Victorian Home Deserves
With the hard work of colour selection already done, Matt was free to focus on the details that make a space personal, using decorating tape and a steady hand to bring striking painted stripes to life. The result is a bathroom that feels warm, characterful and entirely his own, from the depth of Mallord on the walls and ceiling to the pops of energising Smalt along the skirtings. It is a fitting reminder that, with the right palette to guide the way, a considered transformation can be as enjoyable to create as it is to live with.
His brief was one many will recognise: to bring personality and cohesion to a main bathroom that, while structurally sound with its subway tiles, black grout and classic fittings, felt out of step with the rest of his Victorian home. The space called for a palette that could honour its period character while introducing something confident and true to himself.
From the four curated palettes within Colour Forecast 2026, Matt was drawn to Timeless, a collection that pairs the elegance of heritage tones with the boldness to reinvent a room, grounded throughout by warm, enveloping neutrals
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