How my screen printing shapes my use of colour at home – it's about balance, layering and intuition, and not knowing how it will turn out is part of the fun!
The layering process is just as important in interiors as it is in my art
Screen printer Hannah Carvell is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on colourful home design for a creative family to live in. See the rest of her articles here.
When I start a new screen print, it almost always begins with a pencil sketch – sometimes drawn by hand, sometimes on my iPad. I might have a vague idea of the colours I want to use, but the real thinking about colour happens once I begin printing. Colour, for me, is something that evolves through the process rather than being fully decided at the start.
I like to experiment. I mix my inks as I go, adjusting and diluting colours mid-print, letting them shift and develop with each layer. That’s why a limited edition run of my prints genuinely means limited – every single print changes slightly as the colours evolve.
Even when I try to recreate one of my best-selling designs after it has sold out, the finished result will never be exactly the same. I might aim for a similar palette, but I’m always mixing fresh inks, tweaking tones and trusting my eye as I go.
I’m a very visual person. I know instinctively which colours I’m drawn to and which combinations should work well together, but I never truly know how a piece will come together until I start printing.
Trial and error is a huge part of my creative process. I often have several test sheets on the go at once, and these can end up revealing some of my favourite colour combinations entirely by accident.
Equally, a print I expect to be magical can simply not work. I adore orange and blue together, but when those two colours overlap they create brown – not always what I’m looking for in a brightly coloured piece of art.
Screen printing is a layered process. Each screen represents one colour, pulled through the mesh with a squeegee and then left to dry before the next layer is printed on top. If a design has multiple colours, it takes time and patience, as every layer must be carefully lined up and printed in turn.
I love layering diluted inks on top of one another because it creates depth and introduces unexpected shades. When it works well, it’s incredibly satisfying. Yellow layered over sky blue can create a beautiful green; pastel pinks over baby blues make soft lilacs. I’m constantly experimenting – diluting inks, adding white, remixing colours – until I find the perfect balance.
I usually start printing with my darkest colours first. That way, as I build up lighter or more translucent layers, the boldest tones remain visible underneath. That said, I also love colour blocking with solid, opaque colour – it’s a great way to draw the eye and anchor a design. I think this same principle works beautifully in interiors.
When decorating my home, I approach colour in much the same way I approach a print. I always begin with one key element and build the palette around it.
In my Somerset kitchen, I knew I had to keep the existing pale blue wall tiles, so that colour had to form the foundation of the scheme. I echoed the blue painting the window woodwork, then introduced an earthy terracotta pink on the cupboards as my contrast.
To bring everything together, I chose a fabric with olive green and deep scarlet flecks, adding depth and small flashes of deeper colour.
Next on my list at home is the living room. My starting point is a green patterned vintage sofa, so green will be central to the palette. From there, I’m thinking about contrast and depth – I keep coming back to deep red vintage Kilim rugs, which I think could add texture and warmth while making the green tones sing even more.
I’ll almost certainly layer in more colour through lamps and soft furnishings, but for now I’m enjoying the planning stage: collecting ideas, ordering fabric swatches and paint samples, and letting them sit in the room to see how they respond to different light throughout the day.
Whether I’m printing or decorating, I always include a neutral. In some of my Hearts and Flowers prints, that neutral might be a pale, almost beige shade. It doesn’t sound exciting, but brighter colours need a neutral base to truly shine. Layer neon on neon and you lose the glow; place a fluorescent pink over a soft pastel and suddenly it sings.
At home, I also prefer neutral walls to allow art and furniture to take centre stage. That doesn’t mean stark white – I’ve spoken before about my love of pink rooms – but I see a light, dusty pink as a neutral that allows stronger colours to shine.
I’m also a big fan of Farrow & Ball’s School House White. Yes, it’s a gentle beige (gasp), but it’s a wonderfully soft neutral that brings warmth without glare, and it allows other brighter colour to really come alive.
For me, whether on paper or in a room, colour is about balance, layering and intuition. You don’t always know how something will turn out – and that’s part of the fun.
