Trend Setting

Until I attended Interiors UK last month at the NEC, I never really gave a lot of thought to who decides what trends will be trends and the importance of colour. I thought each magazine simple took inspiration from collection previews developed by interior design and homeware manufacturers and deciding what they liked best. And when it comes to deciding what colour is ‘in’ this season, I never knew so much discussion and analytics actually take place.

Twice a year, Global Colour Research brings together professionals from all design disciplines and from across the world to discuss what they have been inspired by and to agree a consensus on what common themes were emerging. It seems that ‘choosing a favourite colour’ is actually quite hard work.

According to Global Colour Research, colour is our way of communicating with and understanding the world and different colours have different representations and interpretations. Global Colour Research predict the key trends in colour for the year ahead, creating a colour palette for each trend and advising how to adopt this trend in design. At Interiors UK 2012 identified four distinct colour trends for 2012 / 2013 – Shanty, Ember, Tender and Bleep.

In a nutshell, here’s a guide to the colour concepts that will be shaping interior design this year and next:

SHANTY: Inspired by maritime, Shanty takes its cues from water with dramatic tones of red and indigo through to softy shades of algae and other sun-bleached colours. Think nautical stripes, rough finishes, driftwood, sea-worn glass and stone washed textures. Different washes of denim in particular are identified as a cross-industry trend right now so expect to see more of this within interiors.

EMBER: Influenced by the power of nature, the colours for this trend have been drawn from natural disasters and from the destruction and erosion of materials. There’s an autumnal feel to the colour palette – included tones such as Woodpile, Harvest Green, Carbon, Squash, Ash and a very powerful Red. Ember places emphasis on heavy, saturated colours and when it comes to interiors, Ember is about distressed finishes, raw luxury, after effects, melting materials to create a new effect, tarnished surfaces, scorched wood, lacquered coatings and charred metallics.

TENDER: Inspired by antique and vintage finishes and the Georgian period in particular, Tender’s colour palette includes a range of heritage colours such as mustard, pale green, blush pink and powder blue. Tender is all about handcrafted, beautiful details and draws upon the idea of faded beauty of finishes and materials, and has a very genteel, delicate style to it. Hand-rendered, craftsmanship and ornate details epitomise this look and it will be reflected in gathered silks, engraved jewels and mother of pearl.

BLEEP: The most playful trend of the four, Bleep is inspired by a love for retro technology and bright pop colours. Red alert, pulse yellow, blueprint grey, dark blue, white and mint green all make this a trend for those wanting to make an impact. Using a synthetic spectrum, Bleep encourages people to use the colours to direct people of draw attention to certain elements of design. Think layering colours, tinted acrylic, frosted glass, holograms and kaleidoscopes.

Four very different interior design trends, with a different appeal, but which one will take on in real people’s homes is the question.

Home Sweet Home Magazines

It’s really encouraging to hear that the homes magazine sector is doing well, as discussed by Isobel McKenzie-Price, editorial director at Ideal Home and housetohome.co.uk, in today’s campaignlive.co.uk article.

Only a few weeks ago, I blogged about home interest magazines and how they are as popular as ever since we can no longer afford to move and so want to make the most of what we have.

It’s very encouraging therefore to hear that Isobel believes in homes mags and their role in helping their readers to get what they want when decorating their homes. I love nothing more that flicking through the latest issues and gaining inspiration from the latest trends and clever ideas for getting more for less, particularly as I will probably be in my current home for a few more years yet.

What’s interesting about this interview is the shopping trends of the readers at this time. With consumer confidence at an all time low, we’re spending more time deliberating about our choices before committing – as Isobel says, ‘we’d rather buy once and buy well’.

This ethos will certainly make brands consider how they communicate their differentiation, quality and service as they all vie to be chosen by today’s critical homeowner. We are less loyal to brands than ever before so price and believability will become key.

This latest insight into the home magazine arena proves yet again how PR’s too need to work even harder to get into the good graces of the consumer press as if they buy into a product or service, then their readers are more likely too. However, competition is fierce and PR’s need to do everything they can to convey why their client is exactly what they’re looking for.

Improving Not Moving

It’s a well used term by the home interest magazines but it seems to be truer than ever – people are improving their homes rather than moving, and they are using the web to do their research.

With the recent demise of far too many high street home retailers to mention, and the property market still stuck in the mud, homeowners are sending a clear message; they can’t afford to move house and can’t afford big ticket items for their home.

The home magazines have known this for some time, emphasising ‘quick fix’ and ‘maximise your space’ interior solutions and looking to real readers homes for inspiration on a shoestring. You may wonder who is still buying said magazines in light of this consumer hesitancy but circulations are still up and new titles such as Style At Home, from IPC Media, are appearing on the newsagent’s shelves.

It seems that home magazines give us the best of both worlds; we can indulge our nosy natures and see how other people live whilst maintaining our mental mood boards of what we would like to do to our own homes, one small update at a time.

What’s also great to see is how our favourite reads are really making the most of online, communicating with eager homemakers via their websites, blogs and on Twitter and Facebook. Whilst this might not seem out of the ordinary, it has been a long time coming as just a couple of years ago, it seemed the magazines saw online content as their enemy, resorting to only the most basic of websites.

Times have changed and rather than competing against themselves for readership, the key home interest magazines have their own online plan for engaging their followers and providing them with daily inspiration.

One obvious yet shining example of this is the housetohome network. Bringing together content from the IPC Media stable, including Ideal Home, Homes and Gardens, Country Homes and Interiors, Livingetc, Beautiful Kitchens and 25 Beautiful Homes, this online resource is invaluable to the window shopping homeowner who dreams of a new kitchen but will probably settle for some new cutlery for now. Real Homes and Your Home also offer lots of ideas for home improvement to enjoy over your lunch hour.

With consumer confidence in online shopping at an all time high, the home interest magazines had to evolve if they wanted to compete but there’s no doubt in my mind that our favourite interiors tomes will be around for a long time yet. After all, what else is a coffee table for other than displaying our lifestyle aspirations?

Cool Britannia

Britain’s homes are having a love affair with everything British it seems. The trend has been on the rise since the likes of Cath Kidston tap into our love for all things quaint and pretty for the home and the popularity of 'Keep Calm and Carry On' homewares has well and truly gone off the charts in recent months.

I thought that perhaps the royal wedding might have had something to do with it, as the nation banded together to enjoy some care-free patriotism, flag-waving and all. But it hasn’t come to an end now that Wills and Kate are the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Open any home magazine and you’ll see red, white and blue, Union Jacks and bunting galore.

A certain Mr Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen once said to us that it was because “there’s a huge groundswell of emotion coming through in our homes right now and we want to incorporate things in our homes that connect us to memories of times when we felt more secure.”

Whatever the reason, homeowners of every age seem to be in love with Britishness and I confess, I am one of them. For example, I simple adore this London montage wall art from M&S. A straw poll in the office proved that I’m not the only one.

There’s no end to inspiration in the home press and it really does seem that Cool Britannia is here to stay. God save the high street queen!