Living in colour

It can evoke a place, set the mood or reflect a personality. But colour can also become a design material in its own right, bringing architecture, light and furnishings into dialogue. This is the idea behind Kerakoll Colors, explored through eight homes where the same palette takes on eight distinct identities.

From Milan to Puglia, Brescia and the Côte d’Azur, eight Color Charts – Neutral, Blue, Green, Brown, Yellow, Terracotta, Magenta and Purple – offer a vocabulary of 1,500 shades, interpreted according to the character of each home and its occupant.

In Milan, Amelianna’s home brings the freedom of fashion into the interiors. The globetrotting stylist combines lilac, green and pink with timber, velvet, leather and metal, taking an instinctive approach to colour. “When combining colours, I don’t follow any particular rules, just instinct,” she says. “At home, as in fashion, there are no rules.”

For Claudio, a stylist from Calabria, colour is rooted in memory. Deep blues and whites sit alongside parquet, antiques, contemporary design and artworks, creating an eclectic interior shaped by his travels and his southern Italian heritage. “Colour is vitally important to me”: here, it becomes a thread connecting roots, memories and creativity.

In Fabio’s Brescia home, colour takes on a more intimate role. The psychologist uses greens, dusty blues and terracotta to create an environment informed by his understanding of wellbeing. A deep green envelops the entrance hall and study, while the living room combines neutral and blue-green tones. “For me, colour is communication, emotion, a tool for activating and regulating our inner world.”

Greta, a Milan-based set designer, takes a lighter, more understated approach. In her early-20th-century apartment, white provides a luminous backdrop for furniture, books and objects collected over time, while green adds a natural accent to the bedroom ceiling and kitchen.

In Nardò, colour responds instead to history and place. Manuel’s Baroque palazzo combines neutral, terracotta and earthy tones with star-vaulted ceilings, terrazzo and local materials, extending the palette from the interiors to the terrace.

On the Côte d’Azur, Michele’s villa places the relationship with the landscape centre stage. The original brick-red façade is retained through a terracotta shade, while the interiors combine browns, greens and an intense ultramarine blue.

In Milan, meanwhile, Matteo treats colour almost as a piece of furniture, pairing dusty blues, yellows and greens with artworks and collected objects. In Wiliam’s artist’s home and studio, terracotta, purple, yellow and brown provide a backdrop for an ever-evolving collection of art. “Thanks to colour, I have learnt to mix periods and objects, creating unexpected symmetries.”

Eight interpretations, one shared idea: colour is not simply a finishing touch, but a tool for shaping identity, atmosphere and the way we experience a space.