Design Anatomy
Welcome to Design Anatomy, where we examine the world of interiors and design. With a shared passion for joyful, colour-filled, and lived-in spaces, Bree Banfield and Lauren Li are excited to share their insights and inspiration with you.
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Design Anatomy
Immersive Colour Filled Interiors
Discover the transformative power of color and how it shapes our personal spaces like never before. We're stepping away from the ubiquitous cool grays and venturing into the warmth of browns, beiges, and yellows, colors that not only redefine our palettes but also the very atmosphere of our interiors. Join us as we explore the resurgence of nostalgic hues like chocolate and espresso, bringing comfort and a sense of homeliness. We highlight the importance of harmonious undertones and how they can create those inviting, cohesive environments we all crave.
Reflect on the bold, charismatic colors of the past and their modern-day revival. We journey through the vibrant era of the 1970s, where colors like terracotta and chartreuse are making a bold comeback. Uncover how the transition from cooler to warmer whites has reshaped minimalist spaces into more inviting sanctuaries. We delve into the versatility of red as an accent color and its powerful interaction with warm woods and earthy tones, crafting an interior aesthetic that's both harmonious and strikingly vibrant.
Step into the evolving world of burgundy and pink, as these colors transcend their traditional roots to shape contemporary designs. From the luxurious warmth of burgundy to the cultural evolution of millennial pink, we examine how these colors bring a fresh edge to modern interiors. We discuss the shift from feature walls to immersive color experiences, encouraging vibrant, colorful environments that break away from the starkness of white spaces. Whether you're a seasoned designer or an enthusiast, this episode promises an exciting look at how color continues to revolutionize the world of interior design.
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If you're sitting at your desk about to send a fee proposal and you'd just like to run it by someone else first? Or have you ever had a client dilemma and it just doesn't feel right but no one you know understands (except for the dog)?
And do you wonder why you're not raking it in when you're practically living at your desk, busting your creative chops 'round the clock?
These are the things we're diving into with a small group of designers just like you. And so much more in THE CONVERSATION CIRCLE
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Welcome to Design Anatomy, the interior design podcast hosted by friends and fellow designers me Bree Banfield and me Lauren Li, with some exciting guest appearances along the way. Today we are talking about color. Color that we love, we live with it. The stuff we don't want to live with how do you use it quite successfully in a space and how it's evolved over the years. So what we're kind of seeing now, I think, when it comes to colour, never say never what once looks totally dated and horrible, like a brown, for instance. The next minute we just can't get enough of it, and we also can't think of anything worse than a feature wall right now. So how are we using colour in our interiors today? So that's what we're kind of talking about. Yeah, spot on. And before we dive into all of that fun stuff, if you take a quick look at the show notes, you'll find links to the stuff we do in our real jobs. You'll find a link there to subscribe to a newsletter from me which will keep you updated with the things we've got coming up this year, including some fun short courses and pre-selected furniture collections that we'll be offering so that you can create a bespoke interior on a budget so clever and I'd have to take a guess to say there's some beautiful colourful pieces in there. You, betcha, and if you are an interior designer wanting to elevate your own practice and, you know, live a creative life and be profitable, I have got a couple of groups that I am running this year which are called the Conversation Circle. There's a group for emerging designers and there's a group for established designers and we're kind of doing a group coaching thing and it's yeah, it's going to be so fantastic. So if you want any information, there's a link in the show notes.
Speaker 1:But let's just get started talking about colour Bree, because I mean, literally we can talk underwater about this topic. We sure can have you got a few hours. No, we won't go that long. I guess, like the biggest shift that we've seen and I guess if you're listening and you're a designer like this is not news to you but we've seen this huge big shift from this cool gray being the neutral color for our spaces into a warmer palette of browns, beiges and those yellow undertones. So I would say that's probably the biggest shift that we've seen in interiors, like just generally for a while. Yeah, for sure, other than actual use of colour, we've gone through that period of moving from very cool tones where you know some of the most popular wall colors were lexicon and lexicon quarter, into much warmer tones where now I think you know I've had incidents where a client's come to me and said, well, we pitched this because we just thought, oh well, it's a popular white, but now with the other things that are coming into the interiors, those whites look way too cool. So we've had to. We should be shifting a little bit on our base tones. Even if you're not doing a colourful interior, it's still very affected by what you put in it. So that warmth has been a massive shift. Probably taken 10 years to kind of get there. Really.
Speaker 1:But it's affecting all the other colour too, like the browns coming back. Actually, that came back pretty quickly, I think, because I feel like brown. The last time we really saw it quite strongly was in the early 2000s, I would say as a bit of a feature color. I know I did it in a bedroom and I loved it at the time. It was kind of very chocolatey and yum, that was the word, wasn't it? Chocolate, brown, yeah, chocolate, yeah, chocolate and eggplant for a purple. You know, chocolate, eggplant kind of came together a bit um, and now that's, I guess, probably two years. It's been kind of coming back in and there's resistance, as we said before. Sometimes we're like hang on, a minute, we've been here and some people are still too over it to even go back. But then it just catches on and maybe it's a slightly different inference. I think what happens is often it's what it's used with too. Like back then in the early 2000s brown still had a white trim and that was quite. I think if you had painted your whole space brown you would have probably been considered a little bit crazy back then. But you know what's weird, isn't it? Because even back then, before the, the 70s, it was mission brown and so you sort of it goes in these cycles and mission brown that sends shivers down people's spine thinking of that color. But then I think there's still a lot of PTSD around that right.
Speaker 1:Totally rebranded to chocolate, and now I don't I've heard the term like espresso. I think yes, most people like the idea of coffee. I agree, the aroma and the warmth and the homeliness that provides. Oh yeah, and we do talk about browns. We often talk about cocooning, like that was a big buzzword back when brown sort of reemerged in those early 2000s. It was all about cocooning and feeling safe, so all of those earthy tones are the ones that make us feel comforted and grounding. So I think espresso and coffee and even tea have those connotations, don't they? Yeah? And chocolate, well, you know it's weird. Cinnamon, oh yummy. Lots of food ones yeah, I'm on board with that. I mean, there's some unpleasant things that are brown too, but we're just going to focus on the good ones. We'll let you think about that. You can imagine, I wrote a story for the Design Files I think it was back in 2018 because I started to notice this brown coming through and folks were not ready.
Speaker 1:They did not like that. They were like, oh my gosh, I don't think I'll like that. But you know, you're just kind of observing on what you're seeing and you know you're picking up on a few things, and I suppose, as you mentioned, we're not talking about paint colors all the time. When we're talking about color, you know it's not about a paint color for brown. I don't really think I see a lot of successful brown rooms painted with, yeah, yeah, that color on the walls, but it's in. So I could show you one that I did and it looked freaking amazing. Uh, color forecast 2024 um did a brown room and had green and orange in it, so I actually had a pretty big 70s influence, but I think we rocked it. I think that room worked really well. No doubt you would do, but I think this is what happens.
Speaker 1:You know how you're saying people are still going in 2018, you could see that happening, but people were pushing back hard against it and I think what changes their mind is the use of it. And yes, outside of it doesn't have to be paint. Obviously that was just my big noting myself on my reference. But when they start to see it more in spaces they love, that's when the lens changes for them. So they have a lens of the PGSD, of the Mission Brown and the oh God, I can't go back to that and then they start to see it in these more modern spaces or spaces that they go oh, that's actually a beautiful space. So the lens changes slightly and they become a little bit more open to it. But it can take some time right Definitely, and I think it was.
Speaker 1:You know, I think in my mind a big turning point was when Sarah Ellison did that collaboration with Pantone. So Sarah's been a guest on our podcast, if you wanted to go back a few episodes. She's so inspiring and she's so creative and clever. But, yeah, I think when was it? It must have been 2021, 2022 or something I was going to say four years ago off the top of my head. I'm just looking online here. It was on Yellow trace in september 2022. She, um, yes, ellison studios, yeah, teamed up with pantone and it's called piccolo. So again back to that espresso coffee sort of reference there. But it's a beautiful, rich, dark brown, but in a velvet. You know, it does have those different dimensions of colour that you see, and it's a beautiful sofa too. So that helps With a definite 70s nod.
Speaker 1:I think for a long time now I don't know that we're going to escape the fact that brown and orange are the kind of hero colours of the 70s and we can't kind of we've got orange and wearing orange, you can't kind of separate them. Yet Brown doesn't have a new home yet that's the era it sits in, I think. What with orange or not with orange? Just, I think if you close your eyes and go think of colors from the 70s, that's probably the top too, do you reckon. Oh, no doubt, yeah, definitely. I mean like orange laminate benchtops and brown sort of cupboards, you know. But I don't know if I'm seeing a lot of brown and orange this time around, do you no, no, no, I don't think so.
Speaker 1:Maybe there's a hint of orange there, but particularly in Australia too, we've never really been hugely embracive God, that's definitely not a word. We haven't really embraced orange very much. I think it's our light here. So little bits of orange are good for us. But orange as a bigger trend, it doesn't normally take off, even if you see it happening elsewhere. It's just not our vibe. I just cannot picture orange without it looking 70s. It must have been such a huge, big colour in the 70s that it's still stuck there. Yeah, that's right. I can't see it in a fresh way unless it's like a peach. I think the closest yes, well, the closest we'll get is the variants of terracotta that we've seen, which I think we still quite love. Right, when we can kind of bring the terracotta stays and works with the browns and works with the yellow undertones, yes, but it never quite becomes orange. It sort of stays in that softer, pinker, earthier colour base, totally. So big shift from grey to the browns is what we've seen and actually, just before we move on, even the paint colours.
Speaker 1:I remember when I first was studying and everything. The colours were Berkshire white, which is a very yellow. Is that a very yellow white? It is, yeah, chalk USA, chalk USA, which is a warm white, which I think is a great white. Still, I think that was probably the most popular when I was starting, all day long. That was the go-to. It was the go-to. Now I think this, maybe natural white would be. Natural white is definitely my go-to and I think you can safely use that when you have other warm colours. And it doesn't feel too. It's not a yellow white. It's got warmth, but it's not. It's still a white. It kind of works with everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's still definitely a white, and there was hogsbristle back then Hogs, hogs bristle back then, and that hog bristle, hog bristle thinks it's hogs bristle. Yeah, okay, funny, I was gonna say hogs breath. But that's the cafe, that's where you go for your. That's where I am. Yeah, pork all the time, bacon, and I don't even know what, I don't even know where it is. We should definitely go there. Sounds like it would have pork and bacon, I don't know. So, yeah, all of those colors, I guess they do. They're coming around again, aren't they? So enough of those cool lexicons which I cannot stand that color, to be frank with you, it's too cold, yeah, yeah, I'm not a big fan either, but I know.
Speaker 1:I mean I guess it definitely had its moment in that minimalism era where people really wanted that very clean look and they wanted no inference in the white, even though that is a cool white, it's not really a neutral white, but oh gee, it's just conjures up not very nice interiors for me. Well, it just feels very builder's play. It's how the liquid is Like. It seems like. You know, it's going to sound bad, but this is a rental. We sprayed everything this colour. Yes, ceiling walls, everything. Yeah, it's just very pedestrian.
Speaker 1:Okay, what about this feature colour so red? I would never, ever dream I would say that I like red in interiors because it has just been again. It popped up, was it in the 2000s? It was like a red splashback or a red cushion on the sofa, but it was with those cool whites, yeah. So it was really grating and I never liked it then, even when it was popular.
Speaker 1:I just those spaces. They were like black white with a bit of red, and then, like my heart would feel crushed when I saw them, like I just it's very aggressive, whereas I think now what we're seeing is it's very aggressive. Yeah, it's like a stop sign, but now we are matching it with, or toning it in with, warm woods and those I don't know what else are we mixing with it? I think it's just wood's the key. Yeah, yep, definitely, because there's more materiality in the space, so it can be quite earthy colour-wise and you can still bring a red in as quite a clean pop of colour. And you can still bring a red in as quite a clean pop of colour. But also, even against those, I guess, less immersive spaces that have the terracotta or the warm pinks, the red works beautifully there too, in those little amounts. I think it works really beautifully with some of the cooler colours too, like greens, like I've got a beautiful colour in my room now in the background.
Speaker 1:I love that colour. You'll have to get online to see that it is. I'm having a mental blank about it, which is why I didn't say the colour. It's a deep turquoise colour, is it? Yeah, it's way more muted than a turquoise it's called. I'm going to have to come back to you because it'll pop up in my head in about five minutes. But red against those colors, like that background color, really is a very energizing combination. Yes, so just a bit of it. Just a bit of red is quite nice, like a lamp or a side table. Yes, yes, even just a book I don't know A performative red book. Yes, so it's this term called the unexpected red theory, and I mean, obviously, that just speaks for itself and it is quite unexpected because we just have not seen red in interiors for years. But yes, it's about that. Oh, that's cool.
Speaker 1:Stepping into a space and seeing something, your eye is drawn to red because it's a color that it comes forward. That's why it's dropped signs of red, because they come forward. But I've also seen them, and it's a colour with a lot of energy too. So you can have quite a simple room that maybe didn't have a lot going on, and when you add that one red thing and you make that a feature, it actually changes the energy in the room too. Oh, it does. And I feel like, yeah, you just explained that so well. It's sort of a bit daring, because to add something so bold in a room. It sort of shows you've got the confidence to go. Oh, I see this. You know this deep turquoise room. That is quite a. It's more of a receding color that goes in the background, but then you put red in front of it and you're like, oh, wow, that's so unexpected and it's so cool and you know what you're doing and it's really like that's quite cool. Um, have you been to the standard x hotel? Yes, yeah. And how cool is the use of red? Yeah, that whole, that, that sort of um.
Speaker 1:When you walk through the eating area and sit in the lounge space like the, that's just so beautiful and they also have quite a bit of chrome or stainless steel in there, but in a way that I don't know, sort of just breaks through all the warmth in like the right kind of way, so it doesn't feel cold at all. And then they've got some beautiful materiality going on in there, even, just like the little ottomans and the different shapes and the different materials that they've got in that space. Yeah, it's very easy to sit there and probably spend a day reading, drinking some wine. Amazing, yeah, it's got this. Um. So Heka Guthrie did the fit out.
Speaker 1:It's got a revolving door that you walk through which is all bathed in red. It's just like this red in, like stepping through this kind of portal. It's really beautifully done, and yet, as you say that kind of portal, it's really beautifully done. And yet, as you say that kind of, is it like a library? There's like an open fire place there. Yeah, I think they call it sort of the cocktail lounge and it's literally a lounge. So it's all just like low seats, um, like a really big long sofa. There's a fireplace, there's a um, yeah, there's like a couple of bookshelves on the wall which are are beautifully done. The joinery is actually quite delicious and the details are really beautiful. And then when you're sitting there, you're looking out onto where the eating space is, where they probably you know they do their dinners and breakfast and things.
Speaker 1:But that space is also quite casual. It's definitely got a very homely feel to it, I would say, but in an elevated way way, and I think that the color has a lot to do with that. People wish they hadn't looked that cool, yes, please. But I think the thing is with a hotel foyer, when you walk in, you can feel like, oh gosh, where do I go? You feel like you're walking into this space that you don't know. Are people kind of looking at me? You know, some of them can be very open and you're sort of on display, whereas this there's lots of little nooks to sit. But, um, I think the color story is so beautifully done. And did you go to the rooftop? No, because they weren't letting people up. I think that you have to be staying there, or a guest of someone staying there, and I just dropped in so I couldn't. I guess, for interstates, we did like a little design tour and we we got to go up there. But yeah, if you're interested, stay at the standard x. It looks, yeah, it looks really cool.
Speaker 1:Um, and I suppose, like, leading on from red is burgundy. So I feel like it's a little easier to use in a space, would you say in bigger amounts, for sure, but I think it's still. It like it's a little easier to use in a space, would you say In bigger amounts, for sure, but I think it's still. It's probably easier to use, but it's still a colour maybe people aren't super confident with yet, because it does feel quite new and if it's used the wrong way, I think it can also kind of throw a bit of a traditional vibe and I don't know that that's the right feeling. People would be going for bringing it into a space in 2025. So it's about, I guess, the colour combinations you use it with all the materials or where it's used. That makes it right, because it can kind of vary. You know, that colour group, I would say, moves from, like you know, merlot and sort of wine tones into sort of a more kind of traditional burgundy, which still works quite well. Yeah, so even burgundy with a little unexpected red would probably help too. Yeah, you're right, and I think you're so right Like it could look very traditional, very royal velvety, like you know, again back in the early 2000s Is I remember, you know, one of my first assignments was how would you decorate your bedroom?
Speaker 1:I still think they do that assignment as well, and it was burgundy and I had gold tassels on things and oh yes, burgundy and gold is kind of not. They actually are so beautiful together like brass, brass, burgundy, and I think you can still pull it off, but it does have that connotation of potentially pulling a bit of a dated look if you don't quite get it right, doesn't it Too? Yeah, burgundy and gold is not what we're looking for this time around. Don't you think what we've seen is that richness that you get in a gloss cabinet tree, that reflective and that richness, that depth that you get in a gloss cabinet tree, that reflective and that richness, that depth that you get.
Speaker 1:There's a velvet upholstery, but I haven't really seen a lot of velvet in just like a paint or a matte finish. But maybe I haven't got it on my radar. I don't know it needs to. I think if you just did the burgundy just on a velvet element probably is not quite right. It's got to work, I think, on other things, because on a velvet maybe feels that traditional aspect it doesn't really pull through into a more modern one. But I think what you hit on before is also what works so well is seeing it in a full gloss, because I don't think that's very traditional. I think that kind of brings a really edgy element to burgundy. Don't you think, yeah, that's key, isn't it? Yeah, in a new way, in a fresh way.
Speaker 1:You know it's so weird how these cycles go around, because when we first moved out, well, second time, when we moved into this little apartment in South Yarra you know you're trying to decorate it on a shoestring and I worked in a bed linen store. They saw they sold tab curtains there and I bought burgundy tab curtains and so we lived with them for years and that was, you know, I don't even know if it was really trending so much then 2005 or something like that, but I've always obviously liked that color. Yeah, yeah, burgundy girl, I don't know, maybe. And I had this um artwork as well Edward Hopper, is that the artist? Anyway, it had burgundy and stuff in it and, um, it was just a print. But yeah, it's funny, and you see it again and you're like, oh, okay, I actually still like that color. Um, yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 1:I think it's a quite. It does have nostalgia attached to it, but it's such a warm, cozy, immersive tone. That is it, and it's something I think you can live really comfortably with too. If you choose to even do it on all the walls, I think the key with that is making sure you don't have white trims and a white ceiling with burgundy walls. You're right, it would have to be timber or just the whole thing.
Speaker 1:Yep, yeah, you know like something tonal, or yeah, with you know, some beautiful drapes or something. I'm looking at my white shutters. I know I'm just thinking I would love a burgundy rug. I think that would be so nice. To inject that depth in the room would be so nice. Yeah, maybe really shaggy shaggy. Yes, I think also what makes it modern is the use of black and white, maybe material so like, imagine a black and white pattern with burgundy, like on a fabric, on a beautiful textured fabric. I think that also kind of works quite well. Yeah, yeah, it feels contemporary with it.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, what I love with burgundy is light blue, and I think that, again, it's a bit of an unexpected pairing. Definitely, um, and also, light blue is a color we're seeing a lot in spaces because it pairs so well with timber, and I I have my old color wheel here, which is hilarious, and I was looking at it the other day and I was like, well, that's actually complementary on the color wheel. Blue and orange are opposite each other on the color wheel and, um, you know, I feel like timbers come into that orange category which is obviously adding the gray, which gives it the brown, and I just think it's, it's such a no-brainer, it's such a successful pairing. You, just when you, when you notice it, you see it everywhere. Yeah, yeah, and that blue sort of emerged that almost feels like it's being used as a bit of a neutral. So it's not too green, it's not too strong, it's lovely and soft in a space. So that's kind of where we're seeing the cool tones come in, but definitely balanced back with things like timber, which is bringing the warmth back again. So it's not just like white and blue, and although white and white and blue and silver at the moment, I'm quite digging but, um, yes, yeah, I think the warmth still needs to be there in some way. Yeah, I agree, it's. Yeah, it is uh kind of nice to see that.
Speaker 1:And I've seen, you know, light blue used on a kitchen stool, like a painted wooden stool. It's like, oh, that looks really fresh and cool, um, but again, you know, it could be entire sofas. Well, what about tiles? I mean light blue tiles in a bathroom. It's not the most original idea for the kitchen, I guess, but yeah, but if you had the, the blue tiles with beautiful timber cabinet, um, then you're sort of like creating that beautiful contrast. I've got a blue dining table. I just did that last year. So in that light blue, that's cool, love it. Well, it also reminds me of Jono. Remember we had Jono as our first guest. Jono Fleming, yeah, and he did a beautiful bathroom with light blue tile, with this cherry or burgundy trim yes, with the burgundy. There you go. So cool.
Speaker 1:So what other colours are we seeing? So I think the other one I'm seeing is chartreuse, so like that stronger olive green. If you don't know what chartreuse is, it's actually a drink, it's actually an alcoholic drink, so it has a bit of luminance to it. Yeah, don't drink it. It has a real yellow undertone and a bit of sort of luminance and I think that also works really beautifully with burgundy and those red tones and earthy tones. So that sort of it has. It is a bit 70s, if you really think about it, like that sort of greeny kind of. I think it was probably a bit more lurid in the 70s and a bit cleaner and now it's just a bit murkier and that's kind of what's making it more modern.
Speaker 1:Um, but even that with like a gloss on it, I think is kind of a cool way to introduce that color. Um, and it actually works. Like you know, when you go, oh, that colour's crazy, but then you start putting it with other colours and it works so well with different things. Like you could have it with lots of timber and make it very earthy, but with an edge, because it's got that kind of I don't know, I think it's luminance that I'm trying to say. I think you just described it perfectly. It cuts through a little bit. You've described it perfectly. And also the fact that when you show, if you were to show a client, we're going to use this colour in your space, I would go no way. That is revolting Right on its own. Yeah, on its own.
Speaker 1:But when you inject something chartreuse in a room like I think about our other guest, nicole from ND Atelier ND. She's so dear with colour. Her office space is a bit like that, isn't it? Yeah, or is it in an artwork? I can't remember. It's a bit.
Speaker 1:I think I was just repainting my office, even though I only did it last year, because I did it in the blue, in the light blue, but something about it isn't working for me and I think it's because I've had to keep the white trims and I've got a bit of white in there and it doesn't. It's not, I don't know. It's not hitting the way I wanted it to. So I was, um, looking at sort of not quite a chartreuse. It's probably a lot more yellow than that. What I'm looking at, um, but it sort of falls into that category and I think her office is a similar kind of tone, that sort of yellow-green or green-yellow.
Speaker 1:It's sitting right in the in-between and then she has, like so many great colors with it Magic, it's just yeah. Whereas I feel like, yes, you pull that color out and just go, we're going to do this and everyone would go. What? No, I don't think so, but in a scheme with the right things around it. I guess that's the same with most things. But yeah, there are some colours you would just immediately go. I don't know about that one. Oh, I think with chartreuse, most people would be a hard no on that, but you know it could be. Yeah, I love that wall colour and it's layering all those things on top of it, but even if it was something like a side table, it's just something that's really.
Speaker 1:It is unexpected and I think that's why some of these colors, you know they feel so jarring. You know the red chartreuse, it feels so jarring. You need to have like a bit of guts, like gumption, to kind of pull it off and be like no, this is the choice I've made and it really electrifies the space. It's got something dynamic in it and it can just lift and elevate just a nice space to something that actually feels quite amazing. So that's exciting, chitrus, I would love to see that in some beautiful upholstery as well, even an ottoman or something like that, or some cushions. Yeah, for sure, I definitely think that's something that I'm leaning into at the moment. Yeah, I'll probably bring some into even this space. I think it could work well. Oh, that's exciting. Um, yeah, so what?
Speaker 1:I guess those are the things that we think we're seeing more of. What do we think we're not seeing anything of now or less than I don't think we're seeing that many pastel colors actually, agree, agree, yeah, I think any of those lighter tones are much more earthy or they I don't know they have a bit more character to them. We're not saying that's the wishy-washy, pale, fun pastel. No way, I don't think that's hair. We're in our serious mode, I know.
Speaker 1:I think it's about richness and warmth and in this point in time, and even history a little bit. You know, there's a bit of history through vintage and antiques we sort of talked about that before, and pastels just does not gel in that way. They do feel very new, don't they? Isn't that interesting? Because I think, you know, if we delved right back we'd obviously find them, particularly in, you know, paintwork and things like that, in really traditional spaces, yeah, but they were quite, you know, they were used more extensively with lots of other colours and not extensively on their own. And I guess the last time we would have really seen that was in the sort of Scandi era when we had the pink tones and even sort of those pale aquas and stuff coming through against that Scandinavian look which really didn't have a lot of colour in it, and then that's kind of became like the modern Scandi look, right, definitely. And I guess before that, you know, if I think about pastel colours, I think of the 1950s and you know like jukebox or something like you know pastel, yeah, something cute like that. And then you see those smeg appliances all in those pastel colours. Yeah, that very 50s yeah, yeah, the kind of very lolly candy Exactly. And I feel like that's something that we're just not in this moment. We're not seeing that in this moment so much.
Speaker 1:And even you know millennial pink, I mean, that was the colour to add to your Scandi space. You know, I had the grey sofa, had a black and white sort of uh. Well, I had the black and white Stockholm rug from Ikea, which is, I think is actually pretty classical. That is a staple. I would hold on to that and never let go. It's actually one of my favorite rugs. Well, I was actually saying that too. I was actually talking to someone about that, saying should I sell it or should I keep it? And it's so. I don't need it right in this mode, but I've kept it. It's ginormous as well. But yeah, we had that.
Speaker 1:Or we had a rug that was almost like a bit of a not a chevron, but a bit of a zigzag. Remember that whole chevron. It was a grey sofa, it was a pink cushion. I forgot about chevron. Yeah, it was a pink cushion.
Speaker 1:So that millennial pinker was quite a cooler sort of pink. I'm sitting in my pink task chair at the moment, which I still love, but that's got warmth to it, I can see. Yeah, I wouldn't say it's not a cool pink, is it? Or is it just the lighting? It's a fleshy pink. It's softer. You know that sounds gross. Yeah, fleshy, fleshy, fleshy. Yeah, that's such a bad word, isn't it? Yeah, it's, and that's where it's moved to, I think. I think we're still seeing pink quite a bit. I don't think it's gone, but it's not millennial pink, right, it's not that cooler tone it's moved in to almost towards terracotta is probably a good way to describe it and towards those, um, you know what traditionally were called that sort of, I guess, fleshier, fleshier colour? I know Well, I just wanted to remember the Pantone colour, mocca Moose, because I mean that does have a little pinky undertone to it.
Speaker 1:Am I right A tiny bit? Yeah, it does. Yeah, yeah, it does go towards those those. It's a reddish brown. So I suppose, yeah, the pink, it's not a pastel pink like what we've seen, it's more going into the browns. Okay, yeah, so I think let's do.
Speaker 1:I think you're still safe. If you're I mean not safe, it's a terrible word um, I think you, you can still use pink in your interiors, in particular if you already have it. I think it still has a place. I think it's just not from. You know, millennial 10, 20 years ago, was that 20 years ago? No, that's frightening. Um, I'm just thinking of millennial would be 2000, but that's not when it really was, but anyway, um, yes, um, don't frighten me, I know um, that couldn't be that long ago Because, you know, I always think about millennial pink in terms of this is probably not the best reference, but Kanye West wore like a pink polo colour.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh yeah, in fashion. You're right, that's really where it started. Yeah, and menswear I actually remember someone buying a pink top for my ex and him looking at me going, what the hell, why would someone buy me this? And it became one of his favourite tops, like in a short period of time. Yeah, because he realised hang on a minute, other people are doing that this looks cool and it looks really great on men. I love pink on men, it does. And I mean that was from 20 years ago, that graduation album era, which I love that album, graduation album era, which I love that album.
Speaker 1:I think it actually took a bit longer for it to come into interiors because, you're right, when I think about that particular moment in fashion, that was literally the beginning of the 2000s when that started to happen, but I think it sort of was a slow burn into into the Scandinavian looks and definitely, yeah, I could have been like more, like the I don't know, 2008, yeah, 2010. I mean, it was such a big, it lasted a long time. Yeah, it was, and people were just were so, um, disbelieving that it would. They thought it was going to be more like a fad, how others will be in and out, and it hung around. And it hung around and it evolved and I still got pink, yeah, yeah, oh, that's so interesting.
Speaker 1:So I guess, when we think about how are we using these colors? And you know, we can talk about back at, you know, 20 years ago, where it was a feature wall, it was a eggplant colored feature wall, maybe in straight effect oh yes, pretty wall. It was a eggplant colored feature wall, maybe in straight effect, oh yes, pretty. But now it's really not about that, and I think that is because a feature wall doesn't give you that immersive yes, it's not as rich sort of feeling, yes and also because we've moved away from white.
Speaker 1:I think feature walls were the beginning of us embracing colour. So when that started to happen, we'd been living with a lot of very white interiors for some time and the introduction of the feature wall was like dipping the toe into the water and going, oh, come on, look, I've got a feature wall. How cool I am to do this, you know, like, how brave am I. And now it's well, actually we don't. We're not really living with white as much, so there's no reason to just have one wall and a whole heap of white.
Speaker 1:We can kind of like dive right in into the immersive world of color drenching. Now is the word right. Yeah, I know, it's you. Just it is actually. We can shower in color. Oh, it's wild to think that. You know, we really have seen that really flip from white walls everywhere to colored walls everywhere. Walls, trims, doors, ceiling, it's all this one color. Yeah, and it's actually like you see it a lot, you really do. I mean even talking about standard X. I mean, a hotel is a bit different to a home, but it is drenched in that red, it's really surrounding and it's like you're covering yourself in this blanket of color over the whole space.
Speaker 1:And the great thing about it, unlike the feature wall, because the feature wall here I go straight to that. But it's this stop start effect. You know, you've got a feature wall which is the main wall, which probably doesn't have doors or windows on it. That was usually chosen as the feature wall. Yeah, you've got another wall which has the doors and windows on it, then that's white. Yeah, exactly Behind the TV. Yeah, it's not. It doesn't feel good, it feels very jarring. So you know, if you're wallpapering which is, I guess, pattern drenching or material drenching, it's about all of the walls and, to be honest with you, I can't stand anything. You've got to do it right. You've got to go all in Just having one wall. Unless it's like a mural of a wallpaper, maybe that's okay, but otherwise go in.
Speaker 1:I think the only other way to do it without putting the same colour everywhere is to potentially do tonal colour. So maybe you've got a deeper colour on one area and then it moves to a more tonal, softer tone in other spaces, which can work really well. And the other issue we have, particularly in Australia, is you know the amount of open plan homes. So sometimes it's hard to work out where to stop and start colour if you're not doing one colour everywhere. So you've got to work out how to make that sort of soften. So you might want to call out a particular space or an alcove or something that's part of an open plan. So having that against white doesn't work so well. But bringing in maybe a tonal version of whatever you're doing or, if it's wallpaper, bringing out colour from that and then adding that to the wall to kind of transition from that area to another area.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's really an important note with Definitely, yeah, you don't have to choose one color and do it everywhere in an open plan. That can be tricky, yeah, and I mean, you know this is just like not one rule applies to all because every space is different. So, true, absolutely, absolutely, yeah. And I guess the other thing is, you know we've talked a lot about walls but, as we said before, really we're seeing colour come through in investment pieces now, like I just said about my dining table, not everyone's going to do that potentially, but sofas aren't just grey or beige. We've got an array of colours to choose from now in standard. Sofas aren't just grey or beige. We've got an array of colours to choose from now in standard sofas, and I think people are leaning into that a lot more too and seeing how that can make or break a room by having a little bit more character in your sofa and your furniture.
Speaker 1:I agree and I think that if you've had, if 10 or 20 years ago you bought a grey sofa. Now you're just like I am so over that I really need color, and you're like I'm going to buy a colored sofa. It could be like a deep terracotta color, like I love your sofa beautiful. Yeah, it's a great color actually, that terracotta, because it works so well. I could imagine that working in a lot of different spaces quite well, definitely, and it has a little something to say. You know, it's just easy to live with but has something to say.
Speaker 1:Um, and I think if you are going to do more neutral or or beige tones, make it like patterned and textured or give it some life in some other way. Don't just go like I'm just going to do like beige linen or you know something really. Or beige, what is it? Macro suede oh yeah, linen, or you know something really. Or beige, what is it? Macro suede? Never say never. You know, give it some life. I know actually I can swear by macro suede in terms of it was probably the most durable fabric ever to have on a sofa when you have children. My mum had an eggplant coloured one, oh nice, so of the moment, okay, well, I think we've covered, like the colors that we're loving, that we're seeing, and also some ways on how to use them. So fun, yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, as you said before, we could keep going on and on and on. Alrighty, well, until next time we'll, yeah, see you later. Thanks, lauren. Thanks for the chat, bree. See you. See you soon. So thank you guys for listening in.
Speaker 1:And just a quick reminder if you would like some help with the interiors for your own home, I can help you in a course called the Style Studies Essentials, or for designers out there, come into the Design Society for business and marketing and all of the things. Come into the Design Society for business and marketing and all of the things. Yeah, and in the same show notes you'll find a link to sign up for my soon-to-be-released furniture collections, pre-selected furniture collections and cool trend information, and then, in the future, some short courses on styling and trends as well. So good, bree, we've got the utmost respect for the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. They're the OG custodians of this unceded land and its waters, where we set up shop, create and call home and come to you. From this podcast today, a big shout out to all of the amazing elders who have walked before us, those leading the way in the present and the emerging leaders who will carry the torch into the future. We're just lucky to be on this journey together.