1980s paint colours

The 1980s had two faces. On one side, the 'country' look and its powdery pastels: peach (Peach Flesh Pink, Mormor Zaza), dusky pink (Soho Pink, Bloomsbury), mint and teal, with chintz, stencilled borders and festoon blinds. On the other, the decade's rich, confident tones: navy, burgundy and hunter green, in dado-railed dining rooms and panelled studies.

Pick a side, or mix the two: a soft pastel in Marble Matt Emulsion on the walls, a dado rail and panelling in a deep tone in Multi-Surface Satin Paint, for a calmer, current take on eighties elegance.

A little history · 1980 – 1989

The 1980s

Chintz and festoons on one side, navy and burgundy on the other: the decade of the country-house look, paint effects and home ownership.

Peach Flesh Pink, Proper Blue and Kensington Rose: the 1986 bedroom.

The society

Homeowners and the country-house look

The right to buy council housing, passed in 1980, and the property boom made the house an investment as much as a home. People renovated, added conservatories and put dado rails back. Decorating magazines multiplied and the English country house became everyone's model.

Colefax & Fowler, Laura Ashley and the Chelsea decorators carried chintz, festoon blinds and collections of blue-and-white china all the way into the new housing estates.

Huguenot and Kensington Rose: the 1988 'power' dining room.

The interior

Dado rails, festoons and paint effects

Rooms were dressed up the old way: dado rails, wallpaper borders, tie-back curtains with pelmets, frilled cushions. In 1981 Jocasta Innes's Paint Magic launched the craze for paint effects: sponging, ragging, faux marble and stencils on every wall.

The kitchen went farmhouse: pine cabinets, a dresser, quarry tiles. Across the hall, the decade's other face: a reproduction-mahogany dining room, a navy study, leather and brass, the 'power' look.

Glass and Pleasure Gardens Green: the 1985 country kitchen.

The colours

Peach and dusky pink, navy and burgundy

Peach, apricot, dusky pink, mint and teal: powdery pastels ruled bedrooms and living rooms, often softened with ragging or a stencil. Magnolia, the all-purpose pinkish white, covered millions of estate walls.

As a counterpoint, the rich tones of power dressing: navy, burgundy, hunter green. From us, Peach Flesh Pink, Mormor Zaza and Soho Pink for the powdery ones; Proper Blue, Huguenot and Pleasure Gardens Green for the deep ones; Kensington Rose and Marble Arch for magnolia.

Soho Pink and Proper Blue: the eighties in 2026.

The legacy

And today?

The 1990 recession deflated the festoons; the nineties preferred Tuscany, sage and minimalism. But the powdery eighties tones, peach, dusky pink, mint, have come back through the front door, without the frills.

Pick a side, or marry the two: a pastel in Marble Matt Emulsion on the walls, a deep dado rail and panelling, Proper Blue or Huguenot, in Multi-Surface Satin Paint. No paint effects, no border: the colour is enough.