2011 Trend Watching – Part Two

By Marica

Yesterday we discussed some style trends we observed in 2011, highlighting our favourites. Today we’ll be looking at our favourite 2011 colour trends…

Colour Trends:

{source: 1 & 2}

At the beginning of 2011 various berry colours did the rounds – luscious shades of purple, red and pink. Pantone’s colour of 2011, Honeysuckle Pink, probably had a large role to play in the berry-coloured trend. Since the trend is to draw our inspiration from nature in terms of colour, it comes as no surprise to find that the rich, warm and comforting colours of berries have unfolded onto the artist’s palette. The colour red hit the stage of fashion and design a number of years ago. And like most things that evolve, so too has the tones of red. This evolution has moved from being bold striking reds, to the more gentle tones of berry, cherry, pink, purple – and the most awesome part of it all, is that these same colours are boldly and effectively, being coupled with teal blue, deep aqua blue, chartreuse yellow, grey and black. Adding exciting and adventurous flavours that allows the man-in-the-street to dabble with colour in a manner not seen for a long time.

{source: 1 & 2}

Another awesome colour trend was the use of sunny yellow. I’m instantly drawn to the warm, friendly colour. We observed a good few beautiful yellow interiors – most often paired with another trending colour – grey. The predominant trend is to use pops of yellow as accent colour and the contrasting grey as a neutral base. Splashes of yellow adds some instant sunshine and statement to an interior as the use of such a bright yellow is quite bold. The combo of warm (yellow) and cool (grey) really complements contemporary interiors.

{source: 1, 2, 3}

A colour trend that is still going strong, is my much-loved shades of blue. Blues of all shades and hues has been trending this past year – strong cobalt, bright ultramarine, deep indigo, sea-foam, aqua, turquoise, robin’s egg. Jeez, thinking of all the beautiful inky blues is making me all excited, lyrical even! Rose also agrees that this blue trend was by far her favourite colour trend of 2011 – lets hope it sticks around for another year or ten…blue is timeless.

{source: 1 & 2}

There is one of the past year’s colour trends that Rose and I really had to get used to – the all-white phenomenon. Hugely popular, we now see it in every other interior – white walls, white floors, splashes of accent colours and textures. Our problem, you see, is that we view walls and floors as an integral part of “layering” – an interior with white walls and floors is therefore missing “layers”. Rose and I have however grown to love this fresh and open style of decorating (when somehow refined) – it must be the Scandinavian influence.

{source: 1, 2, 3, 4}

Towards the end of 2011 we saw gradual migration towards fresh spring colours – especially corals and salmons, usually paired with aqua and turquoise blues. I found the introduction of the coral and salmon hues quite surprising and unexpected. I can remember telling Rose “I will never like those – it’s just another name for shades of (dreadful) peach!” Luckily, I soon changed my mind – I can honestly say that the coral-aqua combo is one of my favourite colour trends of 2011. This pastel-coloured trend is also said to be one of the strong colour trends of 2012.

Stick around for Part 3 of our 2011 Trends report where we discuss the past year’s pattern trends…

So, what colour trends did you notice in 2011? We would love to hear about your favourites colour!