1990s paint colours

The 1990s dreamt of Tuscany and Provence: terracotta and rust (Crayfish Party, Henna), warm yellows such as Pimlico, Walbrook or Cornhill, sage and olive greens (Lamb's Ear, Chester Square, Serpentine), with terracotta tiles, limed wood and Shaker-style kitchens. Then, as the decade closed, minimalism softened everything into taupes, lilacs and warm greys.

For a sunny kitchen, a Tuscan yellow in Marble Matt Emulsion with cabinet doors in sage or taupe in Multi-Surface Satin Paint; for a living room, a muted sage on every wall, woodwork included.

A little history · 1990 – 1999

The 1990s

Tuscany at home, Shaker kitchens, sage green and terracotta, then the great minimalist clear-out: a decade that began Mediterranean and ended pared back.

Pimlico, Lamb's Ear and Butter: the 1995 Tuscan kitchen.

The society

From makeover TV to Cool Britannia

After the recession of the early decade, the home became the first of leisure pursuits: IKEA opened everywhere, and makeover television, Changing Rooms from 1996, transformed a living room in a weekend. Everyone had an opinion about colour.

Holidays in Tuscany and Provence, Peter Mayle's books and Mediterranean cooking brought home a longing for ochre walls, terracotta tiles and sage shutters; in London, lofts and Cool Britannia announced minimalism.

Lamb's Ear, Forest and Butter: the 1994 living room.

The interior

Shaker, limed wood and crumpled linen

The kitchen went Shaker: framed doors, wooden knobs, a butcher's-block island, terracotta or stone underfoot. In the living room, a loose-covered linen sofa, a jute rug, a limed-oak coffee table and terracotta pots; at the windows, muslin instead of festoons.

Around 1997 John Pawson's minimalism and the Clerkenwell lofts cleared the decks: white or taupe walls, pale floors, low furniture and nothing on the surfaces. Lilac and warm grey replaced ochre.

Lavender Garden and Butter: the minimalist bedroom of 1998.

The colours

Terracotta, ochre, sage and lilac

Terracotta and rust, Tuscan yellows, sage and olive greens: the first half of the decade painted British homes in the colours of the South. 'Historic' colours were rediscovered too, and the heritage ranges of the great houses sold as never before.

From us: Crayfish Party and Henna for the terracottas; Pimlico, Walbrook and Cornhill for the yellows; Lamb's Ear, Chester Square and Serpentine for the sages; then, for the end of the decade, Lavender Garden, Early Lavender, Stone Castle and Ionic.

Chester Square and Walbrook: the nineties in 2026.

The legacy

And today?

The 2000s would keep the taupe and the lilac, and invent 'greige'. But the sage-green Shaker kitchen, born in the nineties, has become a classic nobody dates any more, and terracotta is back on the walls.

For a sunny kitchen: Pimlico or Walbrook in Marble Matt Emulsion on the walls, cabinet doors in Lamb's Ear or Stone Castle in Multi-Surface Satin Paint. For a living room: Chester Square on every wall, woodwork included, and linen everywhere.