A new season brings with it a new look – and this season there is plenty to engage and arouse your aesthetic palette
Greyscale
Greyscale: Now a firm favourite with those who might previously have gone with beige, this new neutral has plenty of options. Add a splash of blue, green or red and you will immediately see the difference.
Grey does comes in many shades – from silvery toned whites to dark charcoals – and my personal favourite – Payne’s Grey. Use on walls in light rooms, create some drama in your dining room with darker shades and add accessories in primay colours (silver is always a favourite, but can be a little too boudor for my tastes). I do like my grey muted and paired up with a splash of red. Avoid shiny surfaces and go for matt paints and finishes to let the colour sing.
Garish and glorious
The seventies have returned – but that doesn’t mean polyester carpeting and a three-piece suite straight out of Abigail’s Party (although the hostess trolley) has made a bit of a comeback, thanks to the newlook at No. 10). Think sumptuous velvet upholstery, oranges, purples, reds and browns (which began in our wardrobe in the 1960s) and welcome back the sideboard as the thing that has been missing from your living room (or should that be lounge?) for the last four decades. Although our memories tell tails of aubergine bathroom suites and lime green nylon shag pile, the 1970s interiors went from colour, colour, everywhere to earth-toned natural fabrics in the extreme. Thankfully today we can pick a little of what we fancy and reference the whole era with a few well chosen colours and textures.
And, of course, one of its forgotten gems is the introduction of gold into our interiors colour palette. Add a touch of luxury through gold (painted) accessories (we’re back to that hostess trolley) and twinkling textiles in lush fabrics.
Hollywood glamour
No, not the black and white variety, but the 1980s glam that saw flamingo pink enter our interiors lexicon world. The palette is a little more pastel than our 1970s cousins taking Miami sunsets and the aquamarine swimming pools of LA as its starting point, or Al Pacino sitting among all those fake palm trees in Scarface if you want to man-up – but the faint hearted should avoid the garish vulgarity of the Babylon nightclub set complete with ankle deep purple shagpile, black onyx dancefloor and pink and blue neon lighting.
Beachside bliss
Lucky for those of us that live by the sea, we can lovingly incorporate this longstanding favourite colour in all its stunning shades – safe in the knowledge that we are ‘on trend’. Think everything from pastels to Mediterranean blues and team with fabulous olive greens.
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