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WEB EXCLUSIVE
Colour trends for 2009
The dawn of a new year has brought new colours and new trends to the
world of home décor. The economy has changed drastically since last
January and this is reflected to a degree in the fashion and decorating
industry.
The dawn of a new year has brought new colours and new trends to the
world of home décor. The economy has changed drastically since last
January and this is reflected to a degree in the fashion and decorating
industry.
Consumers are feeling the pocketbook pinch, are pulling back on their spending and are opting to stay home rather than go out. According to a study by Booz & Co., a global management consulting firm in the U.S., 43 per cent of people surveyed are eating out less and 26 per cent have cut back on activities like concerts and plays. People are choosing to spend their free time at home and as a result, the study found a 27 per cent increase in home entertainment. This means that consumers will be focusing on what’s inside their home more in the coming year. They will be sprucing up home décor for parties and gatherings and looking for quick and simple ways to capitalize on the trends – flowers, anyone? Here’s a look at new trends for 2009.
Shelter Style
The year-end editions of Canada’s shelter magazines showcase many décor and colour trends that consumers will be soon be emulating in their homes. We’ve flipped through the latest magazines in order to research what your customers will be reading about and looking to feature in their home.
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| Green, red and pink form an eye-catching colour combo. |
The December 2008 edition of House & Home is full of decorating ideas
for the winter months. The pages feature rich, warm colours that will warm up any dinner party. One colour combination that stands out on the magazine’s pages is the combination of acid green accents, in the form of orchids and viburnum, with a fuchsia pink and a rich, ruby red.
Turning to popular furnishings, the magazine highlights silver tea trays as an item that’s hot in the land of home décor. The trays are the perfect spot to drop off keys and mail at the front door, can act as a display for perfume and flowers in the bathroom and can also function as the ideal tray for serving tea on. The magazine says that “anyway you use them, silver trays are a designer’s dream, able to add a touch of sparkle, glamour and history.” Another fixture that made it on to the magazine’s pages is the candlestick. “As the centerpiece on a table or mantel, comely candlesticks are a sculptural finishing touch,” writes House & Home. The products featured range from an empirical-styled, silver stick to a Tiffany-type candlestick as well as clear crystal, gold-painted and quartz models, Consider how you can incorporate these items in a shop display to pique your customer’s interest or package them with your designs.
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| The bright yellow and black and white combination is popular. |
The pages of both Style At Home’s December issue and Decorating With Style, a special interest publication by Woman’s Day, were filled with the colour yellow, as well as shades of green and blue. Bright, sunny yellows brighten up the whites, neutrals and the current colour of the moment: grey. Yellow also works as the perfect accent for black and white patterns, a strong design that was found in both magazines as well. Nature inspired prints were also featured in Decorating With Style in cream, orange, brown and burnt red hues in paisley, vine and coral-style designs. Plum is another popular colour according to Decorating With Style: “Somewhere between a misty lavender and a dusty rose, plum-y mauve is a new sort of neutral.” The shade can be matched up with a metallic colour for a glam look, coupled with fresh green or combined with creamy white or smoky grey to create an elegant feel.
Swatch Style
Nobody knows trendy hues like a large paint company. To give consumers a head start on 2009, Sherwin-Williams has already released its own predictions as to what hues will be hot in home décor.
According to the 2009 Colour Forecast by Sherwin-Williams “the bold, saturated hues that have dominated palettes for the past few seasons are yielding to more complex, toned-down shades.” This year’s new colours will feature a dustier appearance with grey starring as the feature colour. While last year was dominated by the deep, rich reds, care of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, the upcoming year will be swayed by the economic downtown, which calls for more conservative and less intense tones.
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| Red/orange family. |
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The company’s 2009 forecast breaks down the colours into four families. Under the red/orange family, the colour red has gone rusty, with a
muted orange-tinged red that emulates Latin American’s tropical flowers and fruit.
Gone are the hot pinks from past years, to be replaced by hues that are now sweeter such as the dusty, romantic pink and a plum grey-tinged purple.
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| Green/yellow family. |
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Yellow remains a strong colour in the yellow/green family, with the soft, pastel flavoured yellow making an appearance as well as gold and a sunny yellow with a hint of mustard.
Greens have also toned down from the bright chartreuse tone that was very popular in 2008 with blue helping to create a grey-influenced aqua colour and yellow combining with green for a mellow shade.
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| Neutrals family. |
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In the neutral family, the hues are inspired by organic materials and yellow has worked its way into wood-tones while metallic browns now have a hint of grey. The colour grey is enjoying the limelight, with both a pewter tone and a warm, deep grey.
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| Blue family. |
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Last but not least in the Sherwin-Williams forecast is the violet/blue family of hues. Inspired by life’s essential natural resource – water – this category features a muted royal blue, a steel aqua and a soothing, light pastel blue. Purples are warm plum colours, with smoky shadings and work well when paired with neon greens, pinks, greys or blacks.
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