Cool interior colours for 2006

Feature

Interior design, like haute couture, has cycles of colour trends. While catwalk fashion designers might be keen to champion one single colour as the new black, the reality of interior design is that a number of colour combinations set the trend each season.

To accommodate personal tastes, varied room sizes and aspects and room uses, there are always a number of hot and trendy colour combinations in vogue. Like fish and chips or strawberries and cream, these colour combinations go together like a horse and carriage.

Pale blue and a neutral: Soft, pale blues offer a soothing look for any room. It’s a colour that works well with white, cream, tan, black and brown, as well as sparkling accents of silver and glass.

Pink and chocolate brown: Straight from fashion runways to your home, pink continues to be popular in shades of lightest sunrise to brightest watermelon. A secondary hue in deep brown gives pink new sophistication and sets it off with style.

Tan and black: Neutral tans, anything from barely-there taupe to a deep golden beige, gain added punch as a background for trendy black furnishings. Lighten things up with creamy ivory trimming and lots of gleaming accents in ivory, silver or gold.

Golden yellow and white: Wake yourself up in a bathroom or kitchen coloured with a sunny golden yellow liberally matched with plenty of white. A few darker accents in aged bronze, dark wood or even a bit of black add a note of elegance.

Pale sage green and walnut: Soft greens can range from dusty to yellow-based to a bit on the blue-green side. Choose your favourite shade and pair it with furnishings in deep walnut brown. Crisp white trim and accents of a warm golden yellow or tan will be all you need to create a restful retreat.

Navy blue and white: Classical but trendy nautical blue and white schemes can work with a surprising number of looks. Try the colours paired with zesty orange in a contemporary living room, with yellow in a kitchen or with soft green in a bedroom.

Pale tan and any pastel: Start with your favourite pastel colour, light pink, peach, butter, blue or green, and accent with doses of light camel tan and whites. This scheme can be a good compromise when one person wants colour and one wants neutrals.

Golden yellow and red: This combination is a warm welcoming one. Pretty yellow walls bring sunshine to any room, while reds contribute a strong punch of colour in fabrics, rugs and furnishings. Keep the look fresh by painting trim a bright white.

Brights with brights: Punch up your fresh, white interiors with shots of summer colour such as kiwi green, ocean aqua, hot pink and fresh-squeezed orange.

Tone-on-tone: Any colour can be used in a tone-on-tone scheme. It could be wall stripes in identical colours but in two paint finishes or a fabric or wallpaper that shows off a damask pattern over a similarly coloured background. The effect is soothing, elegant and versatile. Also try playing with textures in the same tone for soft furnishing colour accents.

Picture caption: Instant impact – colour contrasts and highlights give a room vibrancy.