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Colour guides
Violet is the colour people dare least on a wall — and one of those that age best when chosen greyed. Between the lilac of a girl's bedroom and bishop's purple lies a whole family of mauves, lavender greys, plums and aubergines that make rooms of rare elegance, provided you know which to take.
Here are our ten violets side by side, from the barely mauve grey to the proper violet, with their lean — pinker, bluer, greyer — and the room that suits them.
Updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team
The short answer
Our violets run from the mauve greys, almost neutrals — Early Lavender No.260, Pale Lilac No.246, Sargasso JB.04, Lavender Garden No.30 — to the deep violets — Haar JB.09, Fluorite Violet FTT-020, Empire Violet No.80, Plum Tree No.283, Duke's House No.44 — by way of the range's only proper violet, Ultra Violet FTT-019. The mauve greys go in any bedroom; the deep ones make sumptuous dining rooms, studies and hallways.
At a glance
| Colour | Family | Tone | Light | LRV ≈ | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Lavender™ No.260 | Grey | Pale tone | North | 63 % | Lean: grey. For bedrooms and north-facing rooms; with Osterley on the ceiling. |
| Pale Lilac™ No.246 | Pink | Pale tone | West | 50 % | Lean: pink. For bedrooms, especially west-facing, where the evening turns it golden. |
| Sargasso JB.04 | Grey | Mid tone | North | 33 % | Lean: grey-blue. For sitting rooms, studies and hallways, south- or north-facing. |
| Lavender Garden™ No.30 | Grey | Mid tone | North | 40 % | Lean: balanced. For bedrooms and sitting rooms; graded with Early Lavender. |
| Haar JB.09 | Grey | Dark tone | North | 16 % | Lean: grey-brown. For bedrooms, studies and colour drenching. |
| Fluorite Violet FTT-020 | Neutral | Dark tone | West | 11 % | Lean: blue. For studies, dining rooms and doors; with cool whites. |
| Ultra Violet FTT-019 | Blue | Mid tone | South | 16 % | Lean: blue, saturated. For doors, furniture, alcoves and cloakrooms. |
| Empire Violet™ No.80 | Grey | Dark tone | North | 7 % | Lean: grey, deep. For dining rooms, libraries and colour drenching. |
| Plum Tree™ No.283 | Neutral | Dark tone | West | 7 % | Lean: red-brown. For dining rooms, evening sitting rooms and bedrooms. |
| Duke’s House™ No.44 | Black | Dark tone | North | 5 % | Lean: black. For front doors, bookcases and small evening rooms. |
LRV: light reflectance estimated from the on-screen shade, from 0 (absolute black) to 100 (absolute white). Light: the orientation in which the shade looks its best.
10 colours
Pale · the barely mauve grey
A pale grey shot with mauve, so discreet it passes for a white until a white is set beside it. It is the violet for those who don't want one: the softness of a lilac with nothing candy about it, and the calm of a grey. The colour of a sky at dawn. Bedrooms, sitting rooms, hallways — anywhere a neutral with a soul is wanted.
Our tip — Lean: grey. For bedrooms and north-facing rooms; with Osterley on the ceiling.
Pale · the pinkish lilac
A pale, powdery lilac leaning to pink, the colour of a dried lilac flower. It is warmer than Early Lavender, and more frankly violet — it isn't mistaken for a grey — without ever being sugary, thanks to a good share of grey. It is the lilac of a grown-up bedroom, very handsome with white linen, dark wood and brass.
Our tip — Lean: pink. For bedrooms, especially west-facing, where the evening turns it golden.
Mid · the sea violet grey
A barely violet mid grey, the colour of the Sargasso Sea under an overcast sky — designed by Jinny Blom. It is the greyest of our violets: it only reads as mauve in certain lights, in the morning or by candlelight. A contemporary, slightly mysterious neutral, for a sitting room or study you want sober without being cold.
Our tip — Lean: grey-blue. For sitting rooms, studies and hallways, south- or north-facing.
Mid · the lavender grey
A mid grey where the mauve shows plainly, the colour of a lavender bush in shade. It is Early Lavender's big brother: same family, one notch of depth more, which gives a bedroom or sitting room an enveloping softness without closing it in. It turns evening light violet, and it is superb with white and dark wood.
Our tip — Lean: balanced. For bedrooms and sitting rooms; graded with Early Lavender.
Deep · the violet mist grey
A deep grey tinted with violet and brown, the colour of a Scottish sea mist — the "haar" — at dusk. It is a violet that doesn't say its name: from afar a warm grey, up close a faded plum. It was made for a bedroom or study colour drench, where it envelops without the slightest coldness. With brass and pale wood it is very elegant.
Our tip — Lean: grey-brown. For bedrooms, studies and colour drenching.
Deep · the mineral violet
A mid-deep violet, greyed and bluish, the colour of a fluorite crystal — from our archive collection. It is the most "violet" of our muted violets: mistaken for nothing else, and yet its share of grey makes it liveable. A wall, a door, a bookcase in Fluorite Violet gives a sober room an unexpected depth.
Our tip — Lean: blue. For studies, dining rooms and doors; with cool whites.
Proper · the one bright violet
A proper, bluish mid violet, the colour of an iris or an ink — the only saturated violet in the range, from the archive collection. It has no grey in it, and therefore asks for nerve: a door, a piece of furniture, an alcove wall, the guest cloakroom. There it has a cheer and an elegance nothing else has. With white, pale yellow and brass.
Our tip — Lean: blue, saturated. For doors, furniture, alcoves and cloakrooms.
Deep · the ink violet
A very dark, greyed violet, almost black, the colour of dried violet ink — the violet of dining rooms and libraries. It does what a black does, with warmth added: at night, under candles, it turns a deep velvety violet that makes brass and gilding extraordinary. Our most sumptuous violet.
Our tip — Lean: grey, deep. For dining rooms, libraries and colour drenching.
Deep · the plum
A deep, greyed brown-plum, neither red nor violet but between the two, like the skin of a damson. It is the warmest of our dark violets — its brown share brings it close to the earths — and therefore the easiest to live with in a dining room, an evening sitting room or a bedroom. Under a pendant it turns to velvet.
Our tip — Lean: red-brown. For dining rooms, evening sitting rooms and bedrooms.
Deep · the aubergine black
A black shot through with aubergine, which reads black from a distance and reveals itself as plum up close. It is the edge of the family: a black for those who want a black, with a secret. On a front door, a bookcase or the walls of a small evening room it is softer than a pure black, and it has a depth black lacks. Sublime with aged brass.
Our tip — Lean: black. For front doors, bookcases and small evening rooms.
Our schemes in which one of this guide's shades plays the lead — or a supporting role.
Violet frightens because people imagine it bright. Ours, with one exception, are greyed — which is what makes them liveable. So the question is not "violet or not" but "what depth, and what lean". Pale and grey (Early Lavender No.260, Pale Lilac No.246): a neutral with a soul, for any bedroom. Mid (Sargasso JB.04, Lavender Garden No.30): a colour that shows, softly, for a sitting room or bedroom. Deep (Haar JB.09, Fluorite Violet FTT-020, Empire Violet No.80, Plum Tree No.283, Duke's House No.44): evening colours, for dining rooms, studies, hallways and colour drenching. Proper (Ultra Violet FTT-019): an accent colour, in touches.
A violet leaning to pink (Pale Lilac No.246, Plum Tree No.283) is warm, and suits north-facing rooms. A violet leaning to blue (Fluorite Violet FTT-020, Ultra Violet FTT-019) is cool, and prefers south. A violet leaning to grey (Early Lavender No.260, Sargasso JB.04, Haar JB.09) goes everywhere. We say more in how light affects colour.
Violets love pinkish whites — Osterley No.25, Holbein Chamber No.7 — rather than pure white, which makes them look cold; golds and brass, which make them sumptuous; pale yellows, their complement; and muted greens. For the mauve greys in detail, see our greys for a bedroom; for pinks, our pinks for a bedroom; for the darks, our blacks compared.
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