Paint Color Trends

Blue is back!

The 2008 color of the year is Blue Iris, says Pantone Inc., a company that does standardized pallets for the design industries. Every year Pantone selects a color that they believe reflects the strongest trend in color for the upcoming year.

Lawyer turned interior decorator Kelly Driscoll agrees with Pantone. Driscoll has been decorating homes for the last three years and is even starting her own bed linen company in the spring called Les Jours Fine Linens. She got into the business because she decorated her own home and liked helping out her friends with their home decorating needs.

"Fashion, graphics and interior design have all moved toward brighter colors and blue has been the leader of the pack," she said.

Driscoll said that Blue Iris does not translate to an exact paint color, but is reflective of a trend towards blue in the fashion and design industries noted by Pantone. 

"You will see many jewel tones on the fashion runways, of which sapphire blue has been very prevalent and it is migrating to graphic and interior design," she said.

Driscoll believes that blue is a great compliment to the dark espresso furniture that has been popular over the last few years. 

"The blue really pops against the brown," she says.

So where should you use blue paint in your home and which blue should you use?

Driscoll suggests that people could use a grey blue in the guest room or in the living room. She recommends Benjamin Moore's Mount Saint Anne CC-710 and ICI's Spa Blue A1950. ICI paints are available at Color Your World.

For powder rooms and dining rooms Driscoll suggests deep navy colors, especially if you have a modern room with chrome and glass. She recommends Benjamin Moore's Hudson Bay CC-810 and ICI's Old World Blue A1428.

What other colors continue to be popular?

Driscoll explained that for the last couple of years, green has been popular; she believes this is because of the focus on the environment and "green" products.  This also translated into the design world. She also said that greens are still popular, but they are more of a yellow green or an olive green. Driscoll likes Golden Kiwi A0886 and Courtyard Stone A1874 both by ICI.

Silver greys are also making a comeback and look fabulous in elegant living rooms, according to her.  

"There is a lot of mid-century modern furniture out there and they have a lot of metallic accents which looks great with the silver greys," she said.

Some suggestions are ICI's Fine Silver A1997 and Designer Grey A1856.

So how do you pick paint from all of these swatches?

Driscoll said that generally paint should be one of the last decisions you make when decorating. There are thousands of paint swatches so you will always find color that will compliment your design scheme.

"You might start with a rug, a piece of art or a fantastic new sofa that you have just purchased," she said. "Pick your paint color to compliment the rug, painting or sofa. Paint colors can also be used to try and tone down that rug or floral sofa you can afford to replace right now."

Driscoll also advises that you make sure you actually like the color that complements your design scheme because you will have to look at it for a long time.

She recommends either purchasing the $5-painted squares at the paint store or a pint of the potential paint colors and painting a Bristol board of that color, then moving it around the room to help you decide on which color to paint.

To make sure that her clients are happy with their color selections, Driscoll looks at what upholstery and rugs are selected, asks the clients to tell her what colors they like and determines their color threshold. 

She finds out if they like deep saturated color or more muted tones, and then provides her clients with no more than two or three different options. 

So what if you are a bit color phobic, but want to add a little more color to your home? 

Driscoll advises using color as an accent with throw pillows, art work or vases, etc. 

"The wall color is the least labour intensive part of a paint job, so changing your walls can be a fast and inexpensive decorating fix and can really change the look and feel of your room," she said.