Choosing colours for a small hotel

When the owners of Saltwind Guesthouse asked us for “something that feels like the sea, but not blue and white”, we knew the palette would be the hardest part of the project. A hotel’s colours do not live only on a screen. They end up on towels, room keys, a sign by the road and the cover of a breakfast menu.

Start outside, not on the screen

We spent a morning photographing the building, the shore and the garden at different times of day. The colours we kept coming back to were the grey-green of the water in the early morning, the warm clay of the old roof tiles and the pale sand of the path.

Test on real materials

Before showing anything to the client, we printed swatches on three paper stocks, ordered fabric samples in the closest available shades and painted a small board for the outdoor sign. Two of our favourite screen colours looked muddy on linen, so they were replaced early, before anyone fell in love with them.

Keep the system small

The final palette has three main colours and two neutrals. That is enough to build a website, a menu and signage, and small enough that the owners remember it without opening a guideline document.

• Harbour green — main brand colour, signage and website buttons.
• Roof clay — accents, room numbers, small details.
• Sea grass — seasonal materials and garden events.
• Sand and ink — backgrounds and text.

A year later the colours are still in use everywhere, including places we never designed for — the owners repainted the garden benches to match. That is usually the best sign that a palette works.