Simon Houlding Upholstery
a flat tile of pale grey-lilac paint

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Sanderson

English Lilac

2026 Paint PaintSAP1049-44

English Lilac is a soft, restrained lilac with a clear grey note, so it reads as calm rather than sugary. In Sanderson’s 2026 Paint range, it brings a gentle colour to walls and woodwork without feeling heavy.

soft lilac mauveplainnonerelaxeddrapery
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See this colour on Sanderson's own site, then order it through us.

About this colour

This shade sits between lavender and grey, with enough warmth in the pink-violet base to stop it looking cold, yet enough grey to keep it quiet. On a wall it lifts the room softly and reflects light rather than throwing it back sharply, so the colour stays composed. In a north-facing room, English Lilac will read cooler and a little more silvery, bringing out its grey side. In south-facing light it feels warmer and more lilac, with the pink tone becoming easier to see. It sits well beside pale oak, painted timber, pearl greys and muted florals, and the finish options, Active Emulsion and Waterbased Eggshell, suit both walls and joinery.

How to use it

Use English Lilac in a bedroom, dressing room or sitting room where a light, reflective colour is wanted without brightness. It pairs neatly with cream linen, dove grey upholstery and painted woodwork in off-white or matching lilac tones.

A quiet lilac-grey that keeps a room light and composed.

Sanderson2026 PaintPaint

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Pairs well with

English Lilac is a wall colour, so these are the cloths that sit against it: one of them on the curtains, the paint behind. Mixed across the houses we hold, which is the part a single supplier's book cannot do.

Cream woven ground with irregular berry-plum flecks and fine dark texture

Yves Berry

Mode
Pale lilac and cream woven check fabric with a soft slubby texture

Eaton Check Lilac

Eaton Checks and Stripes
Large peacock and floral print on ivory cotton with amethyst, navy and teal tones

Peacock Amethyst

Animal Kingdom
Pale cotton fabric with trailing grape-purple floral sprigs and grey-green stems

Como Grape

Como
Plum and mauve blossom branches on a softly mottled ivory fabric ground

Salice Plum

Entity Edit
Muted mauve woven fabric with pale botanical silhouettes and fine vertical ribbed texture

Kengai Mauve

Kasuri Fabrics
Pale lilac scenic damask fabric with cream vignettes and floral garlands

Sansha Lilas

Jalore
Cream floral leaves and blossoms on a dusty heather-lilac cotton ground

Holyrood Heather

Digital Prints
Heathered tartan fabric in pale taupe with plum and olive stripes, herringbone weave

Melrose Heather

Misc
Pastel lilac floral wallpaper with sage leaves, blue accents and pink flowers

Dancing Daisies Lilac

Oakham Wallpapers
Painted Pugin Wallpaper Mustard & Purple fabric

Painted Pugin Wallpaper Mustard & Purple

Painted Pugin
Dusty mauve botanical fabric with sage leaves, pale flower sprays and fern motifs

Aileana Heather

Bracken

Other purple fabrics

Across the houses we hold. See all 1,040.

Close-up of deep blackberry plum fabric with a fine, subtly diagonal woven texture

36 Blackberry

Marilyn
Close-up of muted mauve-heather plain weave with fine plum and pink tonal variation

18 Heather

Braemar
Close view of fine woven fabric in a soft dusty lilac mauve-grey shade

21 Lilac haze

Ramblas
Deep iris-purple fabric with dense, irregular nubbled texture and softly shadowed surface

21 Iris

Petunia
Close-up of 23 Rosy Plum fabric showing a soft, nubby plum loop texture

23 Rosy Plum

Petunia
Deep aubergine woven textile with fine horizontal slub and softly mottled texture

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Ballantrae
Belvedere Velvet Pale Iris fabric

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Signature Collection
Wisteria Lavender fabric

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70th Anniversary Collection
Plain deep aubergine velvet swatch showing subtle nap and tonal light variation

Baker House Fr Velvet Aubergine

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G P & J Baker X Kit Kemp Stripes
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Dusty mauve wallpaper with a dense, fine-scale outlined pebble pattern.

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