From Habitat plus - decorating and colour trends 2021
If you’re looking to adopt a more optimistic mood in your home, look to rich warm colours, bold patterns, shapes and textures.
Yellows, oranges and reds do the job like no other when it comes to bringing cheeriness and energy to enliven and invigorate a space.
Trend: watercolour effects, see "different strokes"
Trending sunshiny yellows come as a ray of positivity in a world that is increasingly challenging. According to colour experts, no hue expresses hope and reassurance more than yellow. Building a scheme anchored with soft and buttery shades like Resene Mellow Yellow, Resene Chenin, Resene Essential Cream and Resene Chamois is an easy way to add a refreshing burst of brightness to our homes.
Yellow is also known to bring out the best in other colours. If your current scheme could use a pick-me-up, what better way than with a cheerful corn-coloured cushion, art, picture frame or throw? Use softer shades like Resene Sweet Corn and Resene Manuka Honey as accents to duck egg blues, earthy greys or olive greens like Resene Duck Egg Blue, Resene Schooner or Resene Quarter Grey Olive. Or, stick with classic mustards like Resene Cleopatra or Resene Influential with sapphire blues, greyed whites or coffee browns.
Top tip: Yellows intensify more than any other colour when used inside. Consider choosing a lighter shade of your favourite yellow for large areas. Test your colour before you commit by painting the entire contents of a Resene testpot using two coats onto an A2 card, leaving an unpainted border around the edge. Move it around your space at different times of the day and evening to see how it looks in different lighting. Roll the sample with the colour innermost and look down into the tube to see how the colour will look once all four walls are painted.
Trend: tide line, see "tide lines swell"
Another way to instantly inject liveliness in a space is with a few pops of bold brights. The best part is that you’re free to use just about any hue you like, so long as it contrasts with the rest of your space. And, by painting these colours on furniture and accessories instead of on the wall, it’s easy to switch them out if your tastes change or you get tired of a certain shade, or even just to switch furniture pieces to different rooms for a whole new look. Oranges like Resene Tangerine, hot pinks like Resene Glamour Puss and energetic aqua like Resene Java are just the ticket for perking up a dining or living room. Try one of them yourself or head to your nearest Resene ColorShop to view the large A4 colour swatches in the in store colour library to find a colour that speaks to you. Resene staff can help you find the right shades to complement your home’s colour palette. Chances are, you already own a picture frame or plant pot that could be given a sunnier outlook with a lick of paint.
Paint two basecoats of Resene FX Magnetic under your painted wall feature topcoats to turn it into a handy noticeboard capable of holding up strong magnets.
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