The trend
It will come as no surprise that the pandemic has paved the way for the serial decorator. According to research from the wallpaper and paint company Graham & Brown, a third of people decorated more than usual over the past year and nearly half of them will be doing it again this year.
As a result, we’ve become much less risk averse when it comes to paint. “In the past year, we have seen our customers become more brave and creative when decorating their homes,” says Paula Taylor, trend and colour specialist at Graham & Brown. “They are exploring ways they can work with their homes and move beyond just painting and wallpapering the walls.”
If the latest releases from paint companies are anything to go by, this courage has rubbed off on the colours we’re choosing. Often reserved for crèches and children’s rooms, primary colours are creeping into grown-up spaces.
Take American interior designer Kelly Wearstler’s new collaboration with Farrow & Ball. The palette includes Citrona, an in-your-face yellow that’s inspired by the lemon trees synonymous with California’s warmer climes.
The bestselling paint at Graham & Brown is Benjamin Blue, a grey-blue with red undertones. The company found that 20 per cent of people chose a shade of blue at some point on their serial-decorating journey. However, the fact remains that blue is a notoriously difficult to use primary colour.
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Along with colour consultation, augmented reality is offered by some paint companies. The Dulux Visualizer and Graham & Brown Decorating apps use technology to help us to envision a colour on our walls before we even open a sample pot.
Red daring
Roger Red is a new member of the Graham & Brown paint family. It’s a terracotta hue designed to bring warmth to a room. For maximum effect, use it in a north-facing space. €60 for 2.5 litres of matt emulsion; grahambrown.com/ie/
https://www.grahambrown.com/ie/roger-red-resistance-ultra-matt-emulsion-2.5l/CT-090-013-107039.html California gleaming
The California Collection is a palette of eight fresh hues created by Kelly Wearstler for Farrow & Ball. This is the first palette produced for the paint company by an outside designer. Pictured here is Citrona, a brave and bright lemon yellow. €60 per 2.5 litres estate emulsion; farrowball.com
https://www.farrow-ball.com/paint-colours/California-Collection-Citrona Age of beige
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It’s not all red, yellow and blue. Using something more subdued can be a leap of faith because of the fear of being unimaginative. Here, Dulux’s Colour of the Year for 2021, Brave Ground, sits comfortably alongside Tranquil Dawn, a light green. €72.95 for 5 litres; dulux.ie
Outdoor coat
The Irish paint company Colourtrend is pulling us outdoors with its exterior paint range. It offers a more than 1,500 shades that are prepared for anything the Irish weather decides to do next. Prices for the Weather Collection range from €75 to €82.50 per 5 litres. colourtrend.ie
Positive reinforcement
Research from Graham & Brown shows that decorating improves wellbeing, with more than half of people agreeing that it cheered them up. Crown Paints has reflected this in a trend it calls “Witty”. The aim is to evoke fun using bright and bold primary colours for a feeling of positivity. Pictured here are Enchanted Ivy and Satin Lining, both flat matt emulsion, from €39.99 for 2.5 litres while English Fire, Mustard Jar and Powder Blue, all matt emulsion, cost from €25.73 for 2.5 litres. crownpaints.ie
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https://www.crownpaints.ie/colours The edit
Pizza the action
Summer’s arrival will give us the chance to escape the kitchen and take our culinary skills outside, and pizza ovens are reaching peak popularity. This Ooni Fyra 12 is fuelled by hardwood pellets and is capable of cooking a stone-baked in 60 seconds. €299; eu.ooni.com
Night cap
Nude is an Istanbul-based design brand that specialises in modern glass homewares. Its vast portfolio of collections is designed by a pool of leading creatives, including Space Copenhagen and British architect Nigel Coates. You can expect quirky handcrafted decorative objects and statement tableware and lighting. The collections are available online or in shops, including John Lewis and The Conran Shop. This Mr & Mrs night water set by Turkish designer Erdem Akan costs €68. nudeglass.com
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https://eu.nudeglass.com/products/mr-mrs-night-water-set-short?_pos=1&_sid=bcf2b9e20&_ss=r Spray away
Fueguia 1833, an artisanal fragrance company, has launched a new home collection consisting of a wax candle, a reed diffuser and this skin and textile spray, which contains a compound used in Japan to kill germs safely. It was in development before the pandemic, but it has the dual function of fragrancing skin and textiles while protecting against infection. It also contains natural botanicals, some from Patagonia, which is where the company’s founder Julian Bedel is from. From €85; fueguia.eu
https://fueguia.eu/collections/skin-textile Light metal
More versatile than a pendant and less clunky than a table lamp, an arched floor lamp is a great addition to a space that’s used for different activities. This Pekin floor lamp has a glass-fibre and metal structure with a lampshade made from woven saguran. It’s 225cm long and 218cm high. €1,380; roche-bobois.com