Summer colours paint a picture of inspired interiors

Want to decorate your home like a professional and impress friends with your knowledge of the freshest interior colour trends?

Here Crown Decorating Centres’ interiors specialist Kathryn Lloyd shares her wealth of knowledge fresh from the decorating equivalent of the fashion catwalk.

Kathryn is a member of Crown’s Colour Influences Panel which each year brings together professionals from across the UK to set the trends that shape professional interior design schemes.

This season sees bold statement colours and designs sitting alongside muted pastels which mean there is a look to suit all tastes, and to enable you to zone your home according to mood and use.

Explains Kathryn: “Nothing makes a bigger impact upon our mood, feelings and behaviour than colour. Colour schemes set the back drop to your homes; reflecting personal taste, personality, culture and interests. Colour is quite simply one of the most important elements in home design.

Here are the Colour Influences Panel’s interior design recommendations to be right on trend over the coming summer.

‘Stillness’ is the first palette in the collection intended to induce a relaxed mood. Here the graduation of colour mimics a hazy sunrise and creates a serene space, perfect for reflection. The soothing shade of yellow fades into architectural greys, with a clever ombre effect reflecting the subtlety of water colours.

Says Kathryn: “If you’re looking to create a serene, sophisticated space in the home, the colours in this palette will combine in a room to relax the mood and cocoon you in a welcome break from a hectic day. Perhaps ideal for a lounge, dining room or even bedroom to create that watercolour painting feeling on a grand scale.

“Our panel took their inspiration from ethereal scenes of breathtakingly beautiful landscapes, aiming for a scheme of colours to anchor us in the moment, where daily distractions and are forgotten and our worries melt away. What could be better?”

The second palette, ‘Fusion’ is not for the faint-hearted. It is for those who want to embrace a boldness of brushstrokes and personality into their home. It showcases rich, vibrant hues in a complex, ornamented design.

Inspiration for this trend comes from marrying traditional ethnic design with bold colour, with on trend multi-layering for a contemporary look.

Advises Kathryn: “Fusion drenches walls in vivid colour, using a patchwork of stencils to give an almost distressed feel – a strong look that works best when confined to one area of a room, like a statement wall, to add individuality.

“Colour is exciting and the fusion trend is all about a mix and clash of colours to create something new and vibrant in your home. It works at its optimum in a lounge or dining room setting and even combining just two of the colours from this trend would create a very vivid living space.”

The third and final palette ‘Free Spirit’ is a fun trend evoking a faded 80s Miami glamour. Combining coral, orange and aqua tones against a backdrop of luxury details, it includes the use of quirky shapes to punctuate walls.

“Free Spirit is non-conforming and is all about choosing things that you love to please yourself. With this trend, you can really celebrate your individuality; there are no rules – glamorous accessories will only add to the look,” says Kathryn.

“These bright clear colours are full of energy and combine to create a playful look that would work particularly well in a bedroom or even a child’s room.”

Creating a new look for your home can be daunting, so there are more than 135 Crown Decorating Centres across the UK where staff are trained to advise on the trends and palettes from the Colour Influences Panel, as well as how to create these individual looks.

Finally, adds Kathryn: “The staff can also help you to create your own looks or even tailor your existing colour schemes to incorporate elements of the new styles.

“What’s also great is that staff in store can colour match anything – so if you want to incorporate new wall colours that match accessories in your home, we can match the paint to minimise the expense of a fresh new look.”

For further inspiration, you can visit www.crowndecoratorcentre.co.uk/services/inspiration/ and even trial colours and looks with the ‘My Room Painter’ app available free from the App Store or Google Play.

Crown Decorating Centre staff pride themselves on offering great customer service, so call into your local store for a cuppa and a chat (www.crowndecoratorcentre.co.uk/find-a-store/).