When you see a growing, changing and developing direction of color, patterns and textures among the masses in home decor’, home magazines, among home bloggers, all over posts on social media as the latest “fashion or style” for the home, that is the definition of “trend.”
trend – noun
1. a general direction in which something is developing or changing; a fashion2. a topic that is the subject of many posts on a social media website within a short period of time.
And one of the trends we are seeing fade into the sunset here at the launch of 2017 is the all white palette.
As beautiful as it may be to see the softness of all white, (as it trended into 2016 with so much social media attention), it is quickly being replaced with a new trend for 2017 … actually, there is a combination of trends that are on the horizon for home decor’ —
1) blues
2) lots of texture
3) very eclectic
4) patterns
5) personal touches (placing ‘personality’ on purpose in the home).
It’s all in fun, but what I’d love to do is share with you my personal thoughts, one blog at a time, on each of these 5 areas where I predict a growing trend.
Let’s start with the color blue – in all shades, it is an anchor color. Why? Because blues are timeless. Blue is a color that is soothing and inviting. For 2017, we are seeing dark rich tones of blue, as well as the traditional gray-blues and fresh / light blues.
When considering adding blue to your space, it’s important to keep the 60 – 30 – 10 rule in mind.
Take a look at some rooms in magazines or in Designers’ Portfolio. You’ll notice that the rooms you like the most are almost invariably divided into percentages of 60-30-10. Why this works is anybody’s guess. Perhaps it is the human tendency to see an overall theme in the 60 percent hue, unifying the coloration. The 30 percent provides visual interest and the 10 percent, not unlike jewelry, provides that little spark of sparkle.
So, when decorating a particular room, divide the colors into percentages:
60% of a dominant color
30% of a secondary color
10% of an accent colorWhen you think about it, this color breakdown is similar to a man’s business suit:
60% of the outfit’s color is the slacks and jacket
30% of the outfit’s color is the shirt
10% of the outfit’s color is the tieTranslated to a room setting, it typically means:
60% of the room’s color is the walls
30% of the room’s color is the upholstery
10% of the room’s color is, say, an accent piece or a floral arrangement
My personal favorite shade of blue is what you see here… Coastline Blue by Benjamin Moore.
In a dining room, this warm gray-blue brings all the whites and woods and trim to look clean, and gives such an inviting backdrop for each accessory to be seen.
This shade of blue makes decorating with whites and taupes and golds so easy. It all just works so well together. And when you decorate with stronger rich tones of blue, just keep in mind they typically need to be paired with comparable contrasts (tobaccos, deep browns, rich reds, etc.)
Notice the finish on the cabinets when they are contrasting with such a strong and rich blue. They are not stark white, but have been intentionally “stroked” to show some soft texture and the lines and architecture of the wood has been defined subtly with dark glaze or either a wax.
