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Double drenching, room by room

Double drenching — two confident colours shared between walls and ceiling, woodwork or furniture, with no white — is not composed the same way in a bedroom as in a kitchen. The bedroom wants two calm depths; the dining room accepts opposites; the kitchen puts the second shade on the cabinets; the hall makes it a dado; the bathroom goes up in sheen; the study draws in; the cloakroom dares anything. Eight rooms, eight pairs.

Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team

Sitting room with deep green matt walls, ceiling, cornice and woodwork in a light sage green, linen sofa, gilt picture, window light — Brompton Road No.205 and Hurlingham No.181: the sitting room in two greens

The principle

One technique, different rooms

The guide Double drenching: the combinations explains how to compose a pair; this one explains where to put it. Because a room is not only a surface: it is a use (sleeping, eating, working), a light (north, south, no window) and particular surfaces (kitchen cabinets, tiling, a stair rail). The pair and its distribution follow the use: calm for sleeping, lively for entertaining, tough for cooking.

The finishes too: Marble Matt Emulsion on walls and ceilings everywhere, Eggshell or Satin Multi-Surface on what gets touched and washed, Dead Matt Multi-Surface when you want a single texture from wall to door.

Eight rooms

The pair that suits each room

The bedroom: two calm depths

Walls in a mid grey-green, ceiling and woodwork in the same green, light: the room envelops without weighing, and the light ceiling keeps the morning light. Never vivid opposites where you sleep.

Walls · Beauvais No.195 Ceiling & woodwork · Syon Park No.13

The sitting room: two greens, one accent

Walls in a deep green, ceiling and woodwork in a light sage, a single ochre object. The reception room gains presence in the evening and stays bright by day.

Walls · Brompton Road No.205 Ceiling & woodwork · Hurlingham No.181 Accent · Cornhill No.128

The dining room: the opposites

Walls and woodwork in a midnight blue, ceiling in a soft ochre: the evening room, by candlelight, where the surprise comes from above. Opposites are allowed where you do not spend the day.

Walls & woodwork · Observatory No.34 Ceiling · Haymarket No.47

The kitchen: the second shade on the cabinets

Walls and ceiling in a green-white, cabinets, skirting and doors in an olive green in Satin: the kitchen's double drench puts the confident colour where it gets washed.

Walls & ceiling · Acanthus Leaf No.12 Cabinets & woodwork · Serpentine No.192

The hall: the dado

Upper walls and ceiling in a light greige, lower walls, skirting and doors in a deep red-brown up to dado height: the line protects from coats and bags, and anchors the corridor.

Upper & ceiling · Temple Bar No.70 Dado & doors · Huguenot No.49

The bathroom: up in sheen

Walls in a mid blue-green in Marble Matt Emulsion, ceiling and woodwork in a bluish white, radiator and door in Satin: moisture asks for one step up in sheen on whatever gets touched.

Walls · Burlington No.216 Ceiling & woodwork · Greenwich Time No.8

The study: drawing in

Walls in a mid grey-blue, ceiling, doors and bookcase in a deep blue-grey: the room closes around the work. One light lamp.

Walls · Mid Wedgwood No.113 Ceiling & woodwork · Mayfair Dark No.218

The cloakroom: anything goes

Walls in a plum, ceiling and door in a powder pink: three square metres visited for five minutes accept the boldest pair in the house.

Walls · Plum Tree No.283 Ceiling & door · Threadneedle No.262

Hall with a deep red-brown dado up to rail height, upper walls and ceiling in a light greige, doors in the red-brown, brass coat hooks — The hall as a dado: Huguenot No.49 under Temple Bar No.70

Reference

Distribution and finishes, room by room

Room	Dominant	Supporting role	Finishes
Bedroom	Walls	Ceiling + woodwork, lighter	Marble Matt / Eggshell
Sitting room	Walls	Ceiling + woodwork, lighter	Marble Matt / Eggshell
Dining room	Walls + woodwork	Ceiling, the opposite	Marble Matt / Eggshell
Kitchen	Walls + ceiling	Cabinets + woodwork	Marble Matt / Satin
Hall, corridor	Upper walls + ceiling	Dado + doors	Marble Matt / Satin
Bathroom	Walls	Ceiling + woodwork + radiator	Marble Matt / Satin
Study	Walls	Ceiling + woodwork, darker	Marble Matt / Eggshell
Cloakroom	Walls	Ceiling + door	Dead Matt throughout, or Marble Matt / Eggshell

The dado line is set with a spirit level, 90–110 cm from the floor, or on the line of an existing rail; masking tape, the light shade first.

To avoid

The mistakes, room by room

Vivid opposites in a bedroom. You sleep there; two depths of one family.
A dead matt on kitchen cabinets. It marks at the hands; Satin or Eggshell on what gets washed.
A dark ceiling in a windowless bathroom. The room becomes a box; keep the ceiling light, put the second shade on the door and radiator.
A double drench in an open-plan space. Without a door, the pair dilutes into the next room.
Forgetting the banister and the corridor doors. They are part of the dado; left white, they break the line.

Guest cloakroom with plum matt walls, powder-pink ceiling and door, small basin, round mirror, brass wall light — Plum Tree No.283 and Threadneedle No.262: three square metres of daring

Frequently asked questions

Your questions, our answers

Can the whole house be double-drenched?

Room by room, yes, provided the pairs answer each other: a green from the sitting room picked up in the kitchen, a pink from the cloakroom picked up in the bedroom. See a colour palette for every season for composing a whole house.

How high should a dado be?

Between 90 and 110 cm from the floor, or the line of an existing rail. Lower, it shrinks the room; higher, it becomes a two-tone wall. In a stairwell it follows the slope of the treads.

And a child's room?

Two soft depths of one family — a pale blue and a sky blue, an almond green and a grey-green — or a soft yellow and a tender green. Every Mylands paint complies with the EN 71-3 toy standard; see Painting a nursery.

Can the ceiling of a low room be dark?

In a study or a cloakroom, yes: the room draws in and that is the point. In a low bedroom or sitting room, put the dark shade on the walls and the light one on the ceiling.