Róisín Lafferty’s Five Rules For Intentional Color

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Interior designer Róisín Lafferty shared five principles for using color with intention, arguing that each choice should have a clear purpose rather than follow fixed rules about which colors go together. Her advice includes setting a room’s mood first, committing to color across multiple surfaces, and using it to affect how a space is perceived.

Interior designer Róisín Lafferty has shared five principles for using color in interiors, in an interview published by Livingetc. She says designers should start with the feeling they want a room to create, then make color choices with a clear purpose—an approach that treats color as part of a space’s architecture, not just a finishing decoration.

Lafferty says she does not follow fixed rules about which colors should or should not be paired. Instead, she looks for a reason behind each decision. In her view, a bold palette can still feel balanced when its intention is clear. She also says color choices can start with sources beyond paint charts, including stone, landscapes, artwork, travel and memory.

Her first principle is to decide how a room should make someone feel before settling on a palette. She suggests that a bedroom might call for a soft, restorative mood, while a dining room could support a richer or more theatrical treatment. Hallways, experienced while moving through them, can take a stronger or less expected color approach.

Her second principle is to commit to a chosen color rather than confining it to a small accent. Lafferty describes extending color across walls, ceilings, doors and joinery to create an enveloping effect. She says her studio has used a deep burgundy in hallways and cobalt blue on staircases. Her third principle, as described in the available source material, is to use color as an architectural tool: it can change perceived proportions, direct the eye and shape the experience of moving between rooms.

Color as a Tool for Shaping Rooms

Lafferty’s advice matters to readers planning a renovation or choosing finishes because it offers a way to make color decisions before buying paint. Starting with the desired mood can help homeowners compare a wall color with other elements already in a room, such as a rug, stone surface or light fitting. It also reframes color as a choice that affects how a room is experienced, not simply how it looks in isolation.

Her emphasis on commitment offers a different approach from using a strong shade only in small accents. Extending a color across several surfaces may make it feel more integrated, she says, while tonal variation can keep the result from becoming an exact match throughout. These are design recommendations, not measured claims about how every color or room will affect its occupants; results depend on the materials, lighting and proportions of a particular space.

How Lafferty Approaches Color

In the Livingetc interview, Lafferty describes her own color decisions as instinctive and says she considers emotional response before visual selection. She says color can energize, ground or envelop a person, and can alter the perceived boundaries and proportions of an interior. Her practice includes considering color across surfaces such as ceilings, doors and built-in joinery, rather than treating walls as the only place for it.

The source material introduces a five-rule framework, but the text provided here gives detail for only the first three principles. It describes the first as choosing a room’s intended feeling, the second as committing to color, and the third as using color to influence spatial perception. It does not provide the full wording or supporting examples for rules four and five, so those principles cannot be reported here.

“There needs to be a reason for every choice.”

— Róisín Lafferty, in an interview with Livingetc

Two Color Rules Not Detailed

The supplied Livingetc report excerpt does not include the full explanation of rules four and five. It also does not specify a publication date, identify a particular project as the subject of a new announcement, or report testing of Lafferty’s recommendations. The available material presents her professional opinions and examples; it does not establish that a color treatment will produce the same effect in every home.

Further Advice Depends on the Full Interview

No follow-up announcement or next milestone is identified in the source material. Readers seeking the complete five-rule list can consult the full Livingetc interview, which is cited as the original report. Until the remaining details are available, the confirmed advice is limited to setting a room’s intended mood, committing to color across the environment, and using color to influence the perception of space.

Key Questions

What is Róisín Lafferty’s main rule for choosing colors?

She says every color choice should have a reason. Rather than follow fixed rules about which shades belong together, she recommends starting with the intended feeling or purpose of a room.

What does it mean to commit to a color?

Lafferty describes allowing a color to shape more of the environment, potentially extending it across walls, ceilings, doors and joinery. She says this does not require every surface to be exactly the same shade.

Can color affect how large or connected a room feels?

Lafferty says color can change perceived proportions, guide the eye and influence how one room connects to the next. The effect will depend on the specific space and its materials and lighting.

Where does Lafferty find color inspiration?

She says palettes can begin with veined stone, landscapes, artwork, travel or memory, rather than a paint chart alone.

What are all five of Lafferty’s color rules?

The source material supplied here explains only the first three: set the desired mood, commit to color, and use color to shape the perception of space. The remaining two rules are not included in the excerpt.

Source: rss