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Adding a splash of colour might brighten up even the most sullen space. But what do you say to turning the whole interior into a lively interplay of colours? From playful apartments to sophisticated mysterious spaces, the rainbow-coloured interiors will definitely linger in your memory contrasting to the dull reality outside.

Big Bit is a holiday retreat in the UK seaside town of Margate owned by interior designer Jim Biddulph and Polly Donger. Designed “to maximize on space and fun,” the two-bedroom apartment allows guests the unique experience of sleeping in a rainbow or immersive cloud. While the first guest room features blue walls and a rainbow ceiling, the latter comprises an all-white fluffy space that will definitely bring sweet dreams.

The unconventional common spaces are also filled with colour: the main space is flooded with natural light from above and includes murals on the walls and artificial grass underfoot, while the bathroom with a walk-in shower encapsulates the ever-uplifting colour of yellow on every single surface, even toilet paper is no exception. The only break of this colourful abode is offered by the black and white polka-dotted kitchen, which evokes the inside of a giant disco ball.

French designer Matali Crasset has renovated an 80-square-meter apartment located on the ninth floor of a typical Parisian building for a person living alternately in the city and in the countryside. The owner is Michèle Monory, founder of Le Buisson, a company that produces jewelry made by artists and designers. The project proves that clear choices can be made to add new logics into an apartment with a conventional floorplan composed of an entryway, two bedrooms and a living room with a kitchennete.

Aptly named Le Rainbow et le Bosquet (“the rainbow and the woods”), this project encompasses a large naturally-lit white open space that serves as the main background and is visually divided by the use of colour. The feeling of vastness is amplified by the use of low-lying furnishings. The same typology weaving from the kitchen to the terrace conjures a woodland thanks to its green colouring.

The rainbow coloured sliding is utilized as the key element of the apartment, its curved blind structure giving dynamism to the space. When rotated, its multi-coloured vertical rhythm can organize the area in different ways: along the wall it offers an open space to host personal meetings; when half-closed it creates several zones; and when completely turned it closes the area off creating a confined space where one can sleep surrounded by colour. This invigorating framework helps one to remain active with a lively mind, going beyond the bourgeois stereotypes and the cocoon status that over-protects and renders us insensitive.

According to the designer, the space has the capacity to meet wishes rather than needs. This modular apartment is also used as a showroom for the jewelry collections of Le Buisson and sometimes hosts yoga courses. “I moved just ‘by changing interiors’,” says the apartment owner.

Zhongshu Bookstore in Suzhou, China by Shanghai-based Wutopia Lab aims to create a colourful new world by endowing each of the four main areas with unique character and symbolism.

The shining white entrance area serves as a space for new arrivals and is called the Sanctuary of Crystal. As its name implies, the area is made of pre-fabricated transparent acrylic shelves, which make the books stand out. Customers are then lured into the Cave of Fireflies, a darker tunnel connecting the entrance and the main hall, which is aptly titled the Xanadu of Rainbows.

Taking advantages of different heights of shelves, steps, and tables, the Xanadu of Rainbows is designed by the team as an abstract landscape of cliffs, valleys, islands, and oases made from thin perforated aluminum sheets in gradient rainbow colours. When fixed together, the multiple panels of different sizes and colours create an ambiguous effect of a veil. The translucent panels not only bring a mysterious and vague atmosphere to the space but also visually divide it into several zones of different functions. Yet, the boundaries between the spaces are blurred. With the use of lights, the colorful sheets can also be seen from outside, making the bookstore an inviting destination.

At the very end of the Xanadu of Rainbows, there is the Castle of Innocence, a children books area surrounded by white ETFE walls which look like a small separate world inside the bookstore.

Colour is life, and a vivid example is a multicoloured transformation of the small village of Kampung Pelangi, Indonesia. Seeking to liven up the village and make a splash in the realm of tourism, 54-year-old junior high principal Slamet Widodo suggested repainting 230 houses into the brightest hued pigments the town could find.

Each house was painted with at least three colors; roofs, benches and bridges were all used as canvas for a world of patterns, textures and motifs. The whole makeover cost just 300 million Indonesia Rupiah (about $22,500 USD) but is already paying off attracting more tourists to the local shops and restaurants.