TROYTRIBE: Meet Emma & Edward Bulmer, pioneers of natural paint

Meet Edward and Emma Bulmer

With Edward Bulmer's 30 years of experience in designing interiors and his wife Emma's background in renewables and finance, the launch of Edward Bulmer Natural Paint has been an unsurprising success. Rosie met Edward and Emma at the launch of Country and Townhouse's 'Great British Brands', where both TROY London and Edward Bulmer Paint are featured, and they got chatting about their mutual passion for colour and sustainability.

The environmental drive of Edward Bulmer Natural Paint has pushed the boundaries of natural paint by shunning all petrol and plastic components in favour of a plant-based binder. Tell us about the concept of your brand and where it began for you both.

Paint is hugely polluting, but it does not have to be. My clients want healthy air quality; they want their buildings looked after and they want their children to inherit the world in better shape if possible.

This was precisely the brief on a job I did at Goodwood in the early 2000s. I realised then that paint did not have to be made of plastic, and I have never looked back.

It's obvious to us when we buy our clothes, but paint brands don't tell you what their product is made of unlike fashion brands, so we don't realise we are just being pedalled plastic!

We all covet the beautiful palette of your paints. What do you advise your clients when bringing more colour into their homes, and what are some common mistakes?

The key is mastering the tonality and that is why we only use real pigments. The way we make our colours takes into account what they will be living with - the floor, the furniture, the fabrics for instance. The biggest mistake we see is getting the tonality wrong and the contrast too great - particularly in the brightness of the white often used for ceilings - too cold and shouty, when that could be soft and respectful!

When wanting to refresh the interiors of a room, do you believe there is an order to be followed in terms of where to start and progress to?

Start by accepting what you can't change and ensure that your new scheme brings those elements along with it. This is the job of the right tonality but also the weight of colour - I have always aimed for balance in my interior schemes.

Do you have any mantras for pairing colours... and are there two colours that should never been seen together? Pink and green...?!

The old guidance about complimentary opposites still works well - those diagonally across the colour wheel will work together - blue to orange, red to green, yellow to purple.

You can bend the rules, but it is best done by using the underlying tonality to unite colours which is why you can pair pretty much any of our colours!

Tell us about working together as a husband and wife and how you manage the day to day?

We are attracting opposites - Emma runs the business and keeps the momentum up, I mix colours and guide our strategic intent and worry about our impact.

We spark and we smile, and we have a great team behind us who know us in all our shades!

What exciting projects have you coming up in 2025?

We are working on 2026 projects now which are truly exciting but a bit hush hush!

Last year we had some amazing and inspiring pop-ups and collaborations we are hosting in our home from home in Pimlico.

LEARN MORE ABOUT BULMER PAINTS

Emma and Edwards Top Picks

Sale

ENTER NOW

Item added to your cart