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| Colour Predictions |
Keep your home decorating colours fashionable.
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You may be choosing which colours to use to decorate your home but want to make sure the finished result doesn’t date too quickly. Kathy Demos from Colourways Australia, has more than 15 years experience as an interior designer. She shows us what colours will be in vogue in the year 2000 and beyond.
The Design Institute of Australia established Colourways Australia in 1995, forming Australia's largest colour forecast group. The most important aspect of forecasting colour is to first understand the developing trends in the marketplace and their influence on colour and design. This includes an understanding of trend drivers such as social issues, lifestyles, demographics, environment and the economy.
Colourways brings together a diverse range of people and industries that are involved with colour to exchange information and views on colour. They include manufacturers of building products, furniture and fittings, homewares, fashion and textile design, interior designers, architects, graphic designers and colour marketers. Colourways keeps abreast of international trends and has links with
international colour forecast groups in the US and Europe.
By creating a forum for the exchange of this information, Colourways is able to co-ordinate an objective view of consumers’ changing colour preferences in the marketplace and arrive at a view of colour trends today and for approximately two years ahead.
Future Colour Trends
1
Exterior: Darker blues and even deep, purple blues are coming through in exterior details such as fencing and letterboxes - a change from the
heritage Caulfield greens.
2
Walls: Warm whites will become popular on interior walls. Different coloured skirting and cornices (such as those blue and yellow combinations) won’t be popular, so everything will end up consistently neutral. Pearlescent type finishes will also become popular on curtains and screens. Texture and pearlescent finishes will become more of a focus rather than relying on different colours to create a focus. Because of this, wallpaper will be making a bit of a comeback as well as other texture type finishes.
3
Furniture: Lighter timbers tend to be fading out of fashion and darker timbers like Wenge, are making a comeback. This is an Asian influence. These dark timbers will be combined with charcoal grey, chocolate browns and aubergine coloured upholstery.
4
Homewares: Metallic finishes will appear on a lot more homeware items. The hard edge contemporary interiors will become a lot softer by using natural colours and materials such as wood, stone and glass.
Key influences
Colourways has identified water as an influence on the forecast colours. The softer colours are achieved by a watering down process rather than by adding white. These will be mainly seen in bathrooms, particularly bluey green colours that have a watery effect.
Technology is another influence - the capacity to produce translucent and pearlescent effects and to liquify metal for a metallic finish. Our homes will pick up on subtle forms of this and it is likely to be more evident in the range of paint finishes available.
Neutrals will still dominate the housing sector. There is a stronger emphasis on creating a calm and relaxed environment to live in - a balance with the more frantic aspects of life. Colourways calls this the Zen factor, or our need for harmony, and it is represented in the neutral palette with translucent finishes and calming neutrals.
These neutrals are contrasted with accent colours. In contemporary homes
these are stronger and darker than before and include dark timbers, dark blue, charcoal and aubergine. There is less emphasis on the combinations of yellows and blues - a more Mediterranean theme that is still strong in the market today.
Colourways feels that there’s a move away from the traditional heritage colours of dark red and green to shades of terracotta and teal green that are more appropriate to Australian light and conditions.
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More Info
Contact Kathy Demos at Colourways Australia,
Level 2, 167 Flinders Lane,
Melbourne VIC 8009.
Postal Address:
P.O. Box 21, Flinders Lane VIC 8009.
Ph: (03) 9654 6335 Fax: (03) 9654 6430.
Email: Demos@interdomain.net.au
Featured furniture from:
Orson & Blake, 83-85 Queen St,
Woollahra NSW 2025. Ph: (02) 9326 1155.
Empire Homewares,
18-20 Oxford St, Paddington NSW 2021.
Ph: (02) 9380 8877.
Ke Zu,
179 Harris Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009.
Ph: (02) 9571 8200.
Metallic homewares: Fink And Co., Ph: (02) 6298 1884.
Metallic fabric: Roylston House, Ph: (02) 9331 3033.
Blue bathroom from Medusa Hotel,
267 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Ph: (02) 9331 1000.
Tiles from Urban Edge Ceramics,
17-21 Swan St, Richmond VIC 3121.
Ph: (03) 9429 2122.
Thanks also to Leopa Designs, (for furniture used as props),
Ph: 0412 310 006 or 014 686 599.
Philips (for wide screen TV),
Haymes computer paint program
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Disclaimer
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