Bi-annually, thousands of global manufacturers and designers converge on the otherwise mildly active town of High Point, North Carolina, to show new designs and innovations at the International Home Furnishings Market. Three to six months after a market, the latest of which was in April, consumers can expect purchasable products. In High Point, as well as a few other spots around the country like Atlanta, New York City and Las Vegas, interior trends are born.
Of late, millennials have been a driving force in the decorating arena. “Millennial pink” is an actual trend. But Pantone Institute, the world’s authority on color direction, named “Ultra Violet” as 2018’s color. Jackie Hirschhaut of the American Home Furnishings Alliance points out that it is a royal color — ideal to fit with the current Prince Harry/Duchess Meghan fixation — and variations of purple shades from plum to a softer neutral hue are currently paired with popular grays: charcoal to dove.
“Softer gray-based purples provide soothing shades for bedrooms and offer a calming effect,” Hirschhaut says.
Gray goes mainstream
Gray, in fact, is no longer considered a trendy home fashion color but has been adopted into the neutral spectrum.
“We are definitely seeing a trend towards mineral gray as the base color of a room, and away from the eggshell walls of years past,” says Suzanne Henson, merchandising and marketing for North Carolina upholstery maker Craftmaster Furniture.
Millennial pink is a sought-after accent to neutral grays. Plus, adds Henson, “Soft green and blush seem to be the next colors moving into the spectrum of upholstery fabrics.”
And, gray works well with various shades of blue.
“Navy, powder blue and teal are especially strong right now,” she says.
Update with pops of color
“People react emotionally to color,” says Hirschhaut, declaring a resurgence of color “in all style categories” this year.
“Sometimes all it takes is a burst of color to reignite your interior,” says Holly Blalock, merchandising and marketing for CR Laine, another North Carolina upholstery producer.
Adding fresh colors to traditional is key.
“From shades of raspberry, papaya orange and lemongrass to indigo blue — as far as color, nothing is off limits,” she says.
On the street
For the home’s exterior, color trends are generally more subdued and less experimental. Consumer Reports shared in April three considerations: neighborhood, lighting and existing hue of roof, stone, brick, etc.
Gray is also a top exterior home color. The magazine suggests gray-blue for colonial style homes, griege (a mix of light gray and beige) for contemporary designs, pale gray for Tudor revival, and charcoal for a mid-century ranch.
Pick no more than two accent colors — for elements such as doors, shutters and trim — or the facade “starts to look chaotic,” the magazine suggests. For a mid-century ranch home, for example, white trim and a teal door work.