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Decorating your home and unsure about where and how to use colour? Well, you’re not alone. Colour brightens and adds heaps of interest to any room, bit it’s easy to let self-doubt creep in. Which shade? Where do I use it? How do I match it? What if the colour goes out of style?
But there’s no need to panic. Colours need not be riotous or permanent. We’ll show you how to begin a love affair with colour, using it as the basis for your entire look, or building it into your grey or neutral-tone living spaces through accessories and art…
Pick Your Shade
With a dizzying array of shades available in any local hardware store, you may be torn as to which colour or colours to choose. If you’re starting from scratch, you’re likely to need more than one shade to bring the room to life.
Many interior designers invoke the 60-30-10 rule: 60% of the room is in the base/backdrop colour including the walls and large furnishings, 30% of the room takes the secondary colour, seen in items such as draperies, bed linens, or a single wall, while 10% of the room is in the accent colour, used in cushions, lamps, artful objects or ornaments.
But for as many interior designers who swear by this rule, there are just as many who live to break it. Monochromatic schemes and the choice of multiple accent colours are just two examples of how to do just that. Perhaps it’s more a guideline than a rule then…
The most humming and hawing done during this process is over the accent colour. We recently heard a great tip on how to choose one from excellent décor pro Sophie Robinson, who recommends opening up your wardrobe to see which colours you naturally gravitate towards, and then go from there.
Colour Trends
While you may be hesitant to embrace the latest colour trends, they will still be extremely hard to escape – particularly if you plan on buying accessories from well-known retail environments.
Beyond Scandi, and its various evolutions, you could try emerging interiors trends as compelling as Abstract Energy, which features “bold colours and punchy patterns” (typically in burnished red, navy, mauve and mustard hues) or the cringily named but naturally elegant Japandi, which is populated by elements which are sleek, minimalist and contrasting (with subdued colours including pale blue, muted green and soft grey, accented by teal, indigo, emerald and black).
For the past 20 years, colour experts Pantone have released a Colour of the Year – starting with its first, Cerulean. Since then the company’s annual selection has proved a fairly efficient predictor of the colour trends on their way – which filter through diverse industries and products, spanning everything from clothes to home décor to food and drink packaging and beyond.
While Pantone’s colour choice remains hotly anticipated, the top 2020 colour according to Dulux is a soft green shade called Tranquil Dawn. Generally, colour predictors all seem to agree that shades are moving towards cooler, earthy varieties which help to connect the onlooker with nature. (See our post on Biophilia here.)
The Light Yard is delighted to bring vibrant colour to our offering with our incredible new selection of coloured pendant and wall lights. In our first foray into coloured lights, buyers will have three shades to choose from: Quartz Pink, Emerald Green and Sapphire Blue.
The Kiruna pendant light features an antique bronze lamp holder and a subtle black brass ceiling rose while its wall light counterpart features a dark stain solid bamboo base – ideal for incorporating vibrant colour and distinctive elegance to your living spaces. They’re also IP44-rated, so they are perfect for adding that splash of colour to the bathroom or shower room.
So who’s afraid of colour now? Certainly not you.
For more lighting design tips and trends, follow The Light Yard on our social channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. To speak with a member of TLY’s team, call +44 (0)330 2233 940 or email info@thelightyard.com.