Colour me beautiful
Latest Interiors on the new paint craze
Purple is a key colour trend for walls and furnishings in 2010. Furnishings: Nia chaise longue, now £699, www.barker-stonehouse.co.uk
Every decade has its style. And according to a recent survey by paint manufacturers Crown (www.crownpaint.co.uk), their Chocolate Comtesse was the defining shade of the noughties. What made this rich, sable brown their top seller? Well, it made a great, bold feature wall (one of the noughties signature styles), and toned with the natural materials – wood, stone, leather and grasses – that we used more and more in our homes. This week, Latest Interiors takes a look at colours for the new decade.
Colours
Colour will be a major feature for interiors in 2010, as entertaining at home becomes more popular. We still love our rich chocolates, plums and crimsons, but with the spring comes a lighter palette – chartreuse, saffron, blue, and tangerine. We’ll continue to use natural and reclaimed products to furnish our homes, so the palette we choose will still need to tone with wood, aged leather, natural textiles and stone. Shades of ivory, parchment and bone tone well with bolder highlights, creating a soothing environment.
Effects
Metallics are a big trend in the US right now, and looks set to cross the pond this year. We love antique gold, pewter and mica shades. Look out, too, for pearlised, metallic or shimmer varnishes or ‘lustre’ paints, applied over a base colour, to give a subtle, shimmering finish. You can also use paint to add texture to walls. There are some fantastic new paints that give a suede or velvet-like finish. Feature walls will continue to be popular into 2010, with stripes, colour-blocks and even trompe l’oeil getting a look-in.
Bold is beautiful: keep the kitchen bright with a bold green colour scheme. Furnishings: Hannover breakfast table, now £199, and stools, now £69 each, www.barker-stonehouse.co.uk
What paint where?
Most people choose a simple emulsion (relatively low-odour and quick drying) in a matt or – less commonly – silk (slight sheen) finish for walls. Woodwork and doors are usually treated with gloss (usually solvent-based, tough-wearing) or eggshell. There are also specialised ceiling, kitchen and bathroom paints, designed to be non-drip (ceilings), or mould and damp resistant. Environmentally-friendly paints are no longer the unstylish alternatives; there are eco-friendly versions of all the paints described above. Solvent-free, organic paints contain none of the chemical nasties likely to cause or exacerbate asthma, allergies or other chemical sensitivities, and are kinder to the environment, too. Look for brands that contain no – rather than low-solvent – in any colour, so long as it’s green!
