Black is back

Colour trends are influenced by many factors environment, climate, world events, and even fashion. When the bohemian look was popular, it found its way into interior design. Now that black has made a comeback in fashion circles, the black and white look for interiors is likely to be a recurring theme this year and next.

This is one of the colour trends noticed by Marcelle Waugh, colour consultant for Aalto Colour. She says an entirely different trend is a move towards vibrant colours in part, as a reaction to the political climate.

"The outlook worldwide has been a bit gloomy lately, so some people are wanting more vibrancy in their colour choices," says Waugh.

Some of the colours making a comeback are rich purples, royal blues and muted blues.

Colour preferences are also a reaction to the environment and climate, so this means that trends are likely to be different in Melbourne than in Sydney and Brisbane.

"Melbourne is cooler than Sydney, and has more grey days. This means colours are likely to be saturated and bright much clearer than the murkier colours used in Sydney.

"Sydney has a lot of old, heritage sandstone buildings, so brown, ochre-based colours are popular," Waugh says.

Even the car industry influences colour trends.

"We're seeing colours from the car industry appear as accent colours in interiors burnt orange, acidy, pistachio greens, and greeny yellows rather than the warmer ochre-based yellows," she says.

People are still a little nervous about introducing colour, so it's common to have a neutral palette of whites and off-whites for walls, and to introduce small amounts of colour. This can be achieved by wallpapering just one wall in a room, Waugh says.

"And of course, colourful accessories remain a popular way to use colour, as they can be moved around or replaced easily."

Story by: Trendsideas