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

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

John Lewis Box Stripe Cushion

This eye catching cushion from John Lewis is the perfect colourful piece to add to your neutral home. With the bold orange and subtler pink creating a stunning, easy-to-style pattern, the accessory brings not only a pop of trendy colour to your sofa, but also a fun, geometric pattern that's sure to add interest.

East End Prints Pale Rose Oak Framed Wall Art Print

Featuring a stunning mix of charming pastel pink hues and complimentary green accents, this framed artwork from Anthropologie is an easy-to-style piece that'll add a subtle yet striking pop of colour to any neutral room. With soft undertones in the colour, it won't overwhelm a room but will bring that excitement you're after - and it's simply a lovely piece of art.

Oliver Bonas Pambo Yellow Chequerboard Ceramic Vase

Bringing colour into your home using flowers is a great trick that'll also add some lovely texture and scent to a room. But what about the vase you arrange them in? This stunning yellow ceramic vase has a beautiful handmade feel, with the yellow glaze and matte checkerboard pattern bringing a pop of colour and texture into your neutral home.

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!"