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Bold & Bright, Trends 2009

This summer inject sparkle and colour into your home with the latest jewel-coloured wallpapers, fabrics and zingy paint colours. Here are our top tips to keep your house looking fresh, and for your chance of winning £500 of wallpaper with the decorator to hang it,, check out our competition offer run in conjunction with North East Exclusive magazine!

Colour Blocking involves painting large adjacent sections of colour on either walls or furniture, and once you start you won't be able to stop! Either pick out architectural details and mouldings of a room or furniture, such as door panels or drawers, or ignore it altogether by painting stripes and shapes wherever your imagination takes you. This is a fun look, so use zesty colours such as orange, lime green, turquoise and pink, or bold Union Jack colours for an up-to-date patriotic theme. If you decide to use quite dark colours on your walls, prevent the room from looking cavernous by keep your ceiling white or very light to bounce some light back in.

If you're a bit nervous to start, try painting a band of colour starting at ground level, taking it upwards and beyond the skirting board by a foot or so, or up to chair back level for a new take on the traditional dado rail divison. You can also use the technique to “frame” objects within a room, for example painting a rectangular “bedhead” above a bed, or to break down an expanse of space by blocking panels of colour at intervals.

Use low tack masking tape, spirit level and a chalk line to ensure your lines are straight, unless you feel confident enough to try out biomorphic shapes and curves! Pencil out your design out onto the wall in advance, and always test colours out with a sample pot first.
Alternatively if you fancy some colour but prefer wallpaper, have a look at the new Harlequin Identity collection for some fresh and colourful ideas.

 
Barcode, Harlequin Identity

Suggested Paint Colours:

• Dulux: Lime Zest 2, Moroccan Sands 2, Javan Dawn 3, Easter Morn 3
• Crown: D6454D in green, X0263U in pink, C0724F in yellow and P8224U in blue
• Williamson Colour Mixing Service – have your pick of over 10,000 colours. Williamson also provide a colour matching service – just bring in a sample piece of the item you are trying to match.
• Farrow & Ball: Terre d' Egypte, Drawing Room Blue and Wimborne White

Suggested Fabrics:

• Casamance: Boston and Denver fabrics
• Harlequin: Tamika Checks & Stripes
• Designers Guild: Ruggiero

Indian Summer holidays always seem to come to an end far too soon, so why not recreate some holiday atmosphere back in your own home to enjoy all year round! There is a huge number of patterns available, inspired by a range of natural and cultural environments.

Maharani, Sariskar, Osbourne & Little

Combine sun bleached stripes and chintz using natural textures for a cool, coastal feel – chalky whites, faded blues, greys and coral pinks. Throw in a splash of cobalt blue or bright red for a nautical atmosphere.

If the French Loire Valley is more your style, Toile de Jouy is making a comeback. There are plenty of papers and fabrics to choose from, some with a modern twist on the traditional theme such as Nina Campbell's Perroquet of 1940s park scenes. If a full on Toile de Jouy coordinated look using both fabrics and wallpapers feels too over the top, try combining with checks or gingham in matching colours. Team with furniture painted in ivory tones to follow through the effect.

To conjure up a taste of the exotic, there are some fantastic safari-inspired animal print and faux skin papers available, as well as new ranges of richly coloured patterns and textures inspired by the Indian subcontinent.

Suggested Fabrics:

• Casadeco – Nautic, Amboise wallpaper, Versailles
• Harlequin – Romanie Plains, Tamika, Izna, Bonbon, Tamika and Samira
• Wemyss – Indore
• Designers Guild – Taillandier, Taraz, Naturally II

Suggested Wallpapers:

• Osbourne & Little: Pompadour, Sariskar, Perroquet by Nina Campbell
• Galerie – Safari, Neo
• Brian Yates – Uniroyal
• Harlequin – Tamika, Lucido
• Tektura – Intrigue, Ostrich, Zambezi

Shimmering surfaces on fabrics and furnishings are ideal for giving more depth to neutral colour schemes. Golds and bronzes warm up the pastel greys that are currently in vogue, and add richness to the purples that we will start seeing more of in the autumn.

There is a plethora of stunning textured and metallic wallpapers, which due to their more neutral palette give the Wow factor, but without committing you to a specific colour scheme – just change the colour of your accessories for a different mood. Metallic textures also bounce light back into the room, and so are ideal for darker or north-facing rooms. Due to their reflective nature, the play of light throughout the day will create delightful changes in pattern and texture, so it is worth experimenting with the position of your lighting for the best results.

Limia, Swarkovski Crystal range, Vescom

To give further lift to a scheme, consider hanging a large mirror, or even a group of mirrors to give the illusion of more space, help retain light, as well as adding visual interest. Don't be scared to go for large-scale mirrors or ones in heavily ornate or antique frames. These can look superb, especially in a more modern setting such as a kitchen.

Suggested Fabrics:

• Casamance – St Petersbourg fabric
• Harlequin – Horizon, Arkona, Shimmer, Lucido Plains, Zinc fabric

Suggested Wallpapers:

• Today Interiors: Diplomat, Ultra, La Veneziana
• Osbourne & Little: Onyx and Pompadour
• Vescom: Swarowski crystals, Jordan, Valencia, Saka, Mono and Summer
• Muraspec: Filament, Sequins, Spangles, Allure, Seattle and Breeze
• Tektura: Mirror, Mode, Elemental, Decoupage Quartz & Tubi, Luxe and Sundance
• Dixon Turner: Tessera, Metalique, Viscaya
• Brian Yates: Ulf Moritz Scala, Akoya (grasscloth and mica shells)

Be Ecosmart when you decorate and so kind to both your health and the environment. Check the level of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) in the paint you buy. Many companies are in the process of reducing these to comply with legislation coming into effect in 2010. Farrow & Ball already produce some of the most environmentally friendly paints in the world, using natural ingredients and so avoiding harmful ingredients such as ammonia and formaldehyde. You also don't get the overpowering smell of paint which in synthetic paints can linger for months.

In addition Farrow & Ball produce their wallpapers using their own environmentally friendly water-based paints. Their paper is sourced from forests compliant with the management standards set by the Forestry Stewardship Council.

Lotus paper, by Farrow & Ball

The beauty of Farrow & Ball paper is a timeless look with patterns based on historic archives, as well as the tactile nature of a traditional paint on paper. This can be seen in the “sea-weeding” effect which many papers using printers' inks can only attempt to emulate. The Lotus papers is their latest gorgeous collection, drawn from a 19th century French design with an Arts & Crafts influence, available in two different pattern sizes which can be used in conjunction with one another or separately.

Farrow & Ball also produce a range of exterior paints and their muted palette is especially complementary to the hues of weathered brick and natural stone. It really is worth taking the time to choose a colour that complements the exterior of your property as well as your garden. A common mistake is opting for overly bright colours which end up draining the stonework, or look garish in British light. The outside of your home is the aspect seen by most people, and the right paintwork colour will set your home off to its best effect.

Win a New Look! Williamsons in conjunction with North East Exclusive magazine are offering a lucky reader the chance of £500 worth of designer wallpaper, and the decorator to hang it! For details of how to enter, simply access the North East Exclusive website at www.northeastexclusive.co.uk and see their Promotions section.

Katy Dussart

21 July 2009

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