Kelly Hoppen reveals how to easily add colour to a neutral room - plus her simplest design hack

Add a pop of colour to your neutral colour palette this autumn with Kelly's expert advice

Kelly Hoppen
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Interior designer Kelly Hoppen has revealed her simple top tip for adding bright colour into any neutral room for an elevated and stylish touch.

Interior design trends may come and go, but neutrals are forever. And when it comes to decorating your home, timelessness is key. This love for neutrals is something we can see clearly through the many interior paint colour trends of 2024, with timeless neutral shades and creative magnolia paint colours taking centre stage.

But with all that said, we still want a pop of colour here and there to bring life and excitement into our homes. And especially with 2025's Dulux Colour of the Year, 'True Joy', being a bright and bold yellow shade, it's clear colour is in. But it doesn't have to be difficult to incorporate colour into your home. There's no need for accent walls or elaborate plans to repaint. Instead, interior design expert Kelly Hoppen has a top tip to easily add colour to any neutral room.

Answering questions from M&S shoppers about her interior design tips, Kelly revealed that it is 'easy' to bring colour into a neutral palette and all you need are a few small and colourful decor items. "Flowers, art, cushions, throws and all of those items you can move from one room to another," she says. "It gives them a longer life."

Shop Colourful Home Accessories

Those items can fit anywhere into your home, with bold cushions brightening up a neutral sofa or a wild flower bouquet bringing life to the coffee table.

Lining shelves with colourful decor pieces is a great way to add pops of colour to a room and using books to do this is a great option. Not only can they bring in colourful accents, but Kelly revealed that it's her simplest design hack to use books to create a stunning layered look on large shelves with very minimal effort. It's a trick that can transform a room and it also plays into one of this year's standout design trends ‘Bookshelf Wealth.’

"Books are your best friend when you're layering and putting items onto a shelf," Kelly said. "Having your books will give it [the shelf] different heights and make it look fabulous!"

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse
Freelance news writer

Charlie Elizabeth Culverhouse is a freelance royal news, entertainment and fashion writer. She began her journalism career after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with an MA in Magazine Journalism, receiving an NCTJ diploma, and earning a First Class BA (Hons) in Journalism at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. She has also worked with Good To, BBC Good Food, The Independent, The Big Issue and The Metro.