What's New for 2011 in Interior Design

It's fun to read about the new trends in interior design. For 2011, we're told, the major themes will be eco consciousness, postmodern minimalism, and folkloric influences from traditional cultures. Pale yellow greens and spicy pinks mix it up with warm gold and grey neutrals. Natural materials are big, and this time around we're acknowledging that metal and glass are natural, too.

When we think about our own homes, though, we have to make sure that our plans fit with our lives. We need to consider our families, our entertaining, the way we enter the house when we come home from work and how we like to relax at the weekend.

Some of the biggest themes for interior decorating for 2011 aren't about colours at all:

• Sustainability We need to recognise that natural resources aren't infinite, and that toxic chemicals have no place in decorating. Courtney & Wise always take this position. As us, or your local master Painter, about the safest, healthiest, greenest ways to paint.
• Quality The best way to go green is to buy quality. Quality lasts longer, meaning you'll use fewer resources over the long term. Disposable things that have to be replaced frequently will never be the best choice for the environment. 
• Technology There's no going back. Our home decorating schemes, just as much as our office decorating, have to accommodate computers and media centres. At the same time, technological improvements in paints and papers allow safer, more environmentally responsible decorating. From both directions, we can embrace technology even as we choose natural materials and pared-down shapes.

Courtney & Wise wish you a happy and beautiful new year.

Dulux Colour Forecast for 2011: e-Magine

e-Magine is a neutral palette from Dulux with metallics, suedes, and several shades of white. Dulux desingers were inspired by modern technology, and indeed several of the white shades are almost silver: Lexicon Quarter and Snowy Summit both remind us more of computer housings that of a white picket fence.

Still, these are very livable shades. Your office or your home will look subtly updated with Gardenia Frost or Design Silk White. Then you can bring in the metallics for areas where you want more drama.

Naturally, this palette also gives you the perfect greys and whites to go with the other, brighter palettes for the new year. Plum shades and citron greens are turning up with grey backgrounds in the new work of interior designers around the world.

In some cases, the metallic shades of  the e-Magine palette are even being used as a reaction to the natural materials focus that is defining much of interior design fro 2011. If you just don't want a nature-focused look, the austerity of chrome and glass, supported by colours like these, gives you an out6 of the mainstream look of your own.

Dulux 2011 Colour Forecast

Re-vive is a fresh new palette from Dulux that focuses on the yellow greens that are the darlings of all decorators for the coming season. It's designed to go with our green mindset and the continuing appeal of natural materials.

There's a suede finish Pistachio Mousse, a rich Tibetan Silk,  a pale, pale Spring Fever that could replace white and biscuit as your basic colour for plain walls, and warm golds -- the new neutral.

The challenge with this palette: can you use these shades without completely redecorating?

Since they're designed to suit natural materials, you can certainly use all these shades in rooms with natural leather, rattan, wood, and natural fibers. If your furniture uses these materials, redecorating will simply be a matter of removing the ornaments and artwork you've been using, and bringing pieces back in thoughtfully. This is a good thing to do at the beginning of a new season in any case. Our eyes become accustomed to the objects in our rooms and we can actually stop enjoying them. Clear the room for painting, and then bring back just the elements that work with the new colour, and you'll have a new room.

What about rooms where the upholstery and window treatments make their own strong statement? If you have traditional patterns in your furnishings, you'll have to choose carefully to bring this palette in without having a clash. These shades are showing up in striking new marriages with spicy pinks and oranges, but it may take your eye a bit of time to become accustomed to that combination: paint a good-sized board with your chosen colour and let it spend some time in the room you're thinking about, to make sure the look will work for you.

And remember that you don't have to redo your entire house with the season's new colours to get the freshness of the new palette. Begin with a bedroom, a powder room, or the kitchen if it's visually separate from the living room. Make sure that you carry one colour through into adjoining rooms to avoid a visual shock. For example, if your living room is a traditional bottle green and burgundy and you'd like to do your kitchen in Plaintain and Warm Wollen, you could use a deep, rich brown in both rooms to help the transition.

Dulux "Mirage" Palette for 2011

In a year when yellow is the colour to watch -- yellow greens, acidic citrus shades, old gold for the favored neutral, oranges and orange reds for the favoured warm shades -- what do you do with blue?

You paint your walls with it, in many cases. Blue is literally the most popular colour in the world, with 40% of people worldwide choosing it as their favourite colour.

What's more, blue is soothing and restful on walls. In a child's room, it helps the little ones settle down from an exciting day. In your bedroom, it helps you sleep. In an office, it encourages calm, focused work. Blue will be one of the colours people ask for most at Courtney & Wise in 2011, we're sure.

So if you love blue, does that mean that you have to ignore the colour trends and go with the same shade you've always used? By no means.

This year's blues are warmer than they have been for some time. With more yellow in them, so they'll look well with the old golds and spice shades that you'll find tempting you in artwork and decorative accents this fall.

A soft shade like Pauley will provide a backdrop for a living room that can handle either the antique chic look you're seeing in magazines now, or a traditional or contemporary living room suite that asks you to put your feet up and relax.

Clear tones like Gondolier or True Blue are welcoming in a kitchen or bath, while Wild Clary is a sweet colour for a nursery or playroom.

Don't miss the green blues, either. Trail Blazer or Go Alpha will look fresh and new with the berries and spice colours designers love this year, but they're also dramatic with neutrals.

You can have your blue, and be trendy, too.

Dulux "Momentary" Palette

Momentary is all about texture. With effects reminiscent of everything from stone and clay to leather and metals, this neutral palette is far from dull. Momentary combines the many shades of grey that have been the favorite neutral for the past several years with the golds that are the focus for the coming year. The result is an upscale look that will be attractive in homes and businesses.

Mix and match these tones with abandon; since they're all neutrals, they can work together anywhere. If you redo your home in this palette, visitors walking from one room to another will find the transitions smooth regardless of how you implement the look.

You may be drawn to this palette if your furnishings are all in luggage leather colours and natural wood and rattan, but don't dismiss it if you have brighter furnishings. That bright red sofa can look completely new against a background of Natural Wheat, and Mocha Pearl can make a child's bright coloured furnishings stand out more than they would against a brighter background.

But this palette is also perfectly suited for the office. In a room filled with grey metal or flat black furniture, these sophisticated textures will make the office furnishings more interesting without distracting the eye.

Duluxe "Forbidden" Palette for 2011

Dulux calls this rich palette "Forbidden," and we have to admit that an entire room painted in these deep purple reds might be a bit dramatic if your typical evening involves supervising the children's homework and then relaxing in front of the telly.

Think about Berry Crush in a bedroom with a good dose of white, though. Plum Temptation in a study with a paler grey. Jules up to the chair rail with a floral paper above it.

The palettes are meant to give us a jolt and help us think of colours in new ways, but that doesn't mean that they have to be used all together. We can see Midnight Secret as an accent colour with olive or eucalyptus green, Lady in Red looking smashing with warm, deep browns, and Sultry Glance with one of this year's beautiful old gold shades.

If drama works for you, go ahead and pull several shades from this palette. A powder room in Clary and Jewel would be stunning. Enchantress with Carmen in a dining room would make a strong statement for your dinner parties. And if your typical evening is far from quiet, then Ripening Grape could be just the ticket for your living room, with Self Powered as the accent colour.

The point is, a dramatic palette like this is intended to make a point, but the colours themselves can work individually even if they're not going to work for you as a whole look. Fashion designers make their point on the runway, but you don't wear those outfits to the garden centre. You pull out elements that will update your own style and give you a fresh look. Do the same with the decorating forecasts.

Dulux Lost Memoirs

Dulux Paints has brought out six new colour palettes for 2011, and it's hard to choose one to consider first, but we've picked "Lost Memoirs."

Looking at a palette of so many colours, it's easy to get caught up in the overall look. Lost memoirs has a beautiful combination of colours, and would lend itself to the Victorian style of using half a dozen colours to pick out all the architectural details of a room.

Another way to look at it, though, is to think about how you might use these colours throughout your home.

Imagine Hot Chillie as an accent wall in a room painted in Lemon Delicious. For a bedroom, living room, or study, this will be a vibrant yet rich combination.

Look at Lemon Delicious as an accent for trim in a room painted in Orange Squash. This would make a young, yet masculine look for a bedroom or a bright background for a kitchen.

With a kitchen painted in Lemon Delicious and Orange Squash, a Sunset Blaze dining room would carry the theme through the house and look lovely, while also having an air of drama that would set it apart from the food preparation areas.

For a bedroom, Rapunzel is as romantic as the name. Soft white trim would create an elegant look.

Butter Ridge is just enough of a contrast to make an adjoining bath stand out while toning in with the bedroom. Bring towels and window treatments in rich shades like Hot Chillie in to tie everything together.

That's one way to use a number of different colours in the house with the old "Blue Room" and "Yellow Room" effect. The view into other rooms always is in keeping with the room you're in, but the colours are different enough to maintain interest.

Dulux Colour Forecast for 2011

The Dulux Colour Forecast for fall 2011 is out! This is one of the most influential showcases for painting and decorating. As Dulux Accredited painters, we at Courtney & Wise are naturally familiar with their paints and will be able to help you not only in choosing the best shades for your home or workplace, but also the best formulations for the specific activities and functions of each room.

We'll be looking in greater depth at each of the palettes in a series next week, but for now, let's meet the new looks:

We were expecting the yellow greens, but in the palette called "Re-vive" we're seeing them in  combination with soft and restful neutrals that remind us of wood, stone, and of skin tones, too. A bedroom in this palette could come across as sweetly autumnal or richly earthy, but it would also make an elegant neutral look for an office building.

We haven't heard as much about the blues, except that, along with everything else for 2011, the fashionable blue shades would be warmer than what we've been seeing. Let's face it, though, blue will never be out of fashion. "Mirage" is this year's water-toned palette. These aquas and rich blues aren't self-effacing shades, but they mirror our oceans and beaches beautifully. We see them a bright and happy for summer or crisp and jewel-like in winter.  

Even in a year of warm colours, we need some neutral shades. "e-Magine" steps up with white and grey, from deep charcoal to Design Silk White, an unusually clear white. We're seeing these for workplaces, certainly, but also for a restful to the eyes room in your home: with so many rich tones in style, this might be the year you'll want a very neutral kitchen or bath.


"Forbidden" has the complex purples and reds we've been looking forward to. These lush fruit shades are being paired with acid greens in designer's showrooms, but they'll be beautiful for an accent wall with a great neutral, too. Some are dark enough to serve as interesting neutrals. Daring decorators will mix them up together.

"Momentary" is as much about texture as it is colour. Here we're seeing the old golds we're hearing so much about, and also the warmer grey tones. We're also seeing suede and stone finishes, metallic impressions, and an overall sense of solid luxury.

Orange is another big colour for 2011. In "Lost Memoirs," we're seeing every take on the hue, from buttery and skin tone shades to saturated citrus and brick. Wonderful autumn colours, of course, but they mix wonderfully with the yellow greens for a hot look.

We're excited to see the new palettes; it's like a little vacation for your eyes! Call Courtney & Wise if you're in Sydney, or your local Master Painter if you're not, and plan a new look for the new year.

Colour of the Year 2011

Here it is: the Colour of the Year for 2011!

A soft yellow green, muted and paled from last year's favorite greens, this year's trendiest colour will serve as a neutral backdrop for warm hues or as a focal point against the warmer neutrals predicted to be the favorites: old gold, peach, terra cottta, and golden brown.

We'll still see the deeper shades of this colour, which lends itself equally to bright citrus mixes or to calm earth toned rooms. With chocolate brown and white, this shade looks both fashionable and friendly. With hot pinks and blues, it looks feminine and fun.

Does the Colour of the Year have a place in your home decorating scheme? Contact Courtney & Wise to discuss your plans.

Home Decorating Colour Trends for 2011

We're getting warmer!

The new colour trends for 2011 are beginning to emerge, and we're seeing a return to warmth. The yellow greens and spicy red, orange, and pink tones we saw as trendy last year have settled in as our eyes have gotten used to them. Putting the two groups of colours together will still be a dramatic look -- and great for Christmas entertaining.

But grey, the favored neutral for some years now, will be giving place to golden browns. Shades of toffee, antique gold, and cordovan will join skin tones as the most fashionable neutrals for next year's decorating.
Orange and yellow are coming in as accent colours, too. A sunny yellow kitchen will never be out of style, and we're seeing bright exotic tones all with that yellow, instead of the blue and yellow or yellow and white you may think of first.

Even blues and purples will be warmer this year, with red undertones.

You don't have to follow the trends, of course. Cool grey with white accents will continue to be an elegant and appealing colour scheme, no matter what the designers say. But sometimes our eyes want something fresh to look at, so we're glad the paint companies offer us fresh new palettes every year.

We'll keep you up to date on the colour trends as the news breaks!

Should You Care About the Colour Trends?

We're going to be writing a lot about the colour trends for 2011 -- it's that time of year -- so I guess it's fair to ask: should we care about that as much as we do? Should you even think about the trendy colours when you make decisions about painting and decorating your house?

If you've worked with Courtney & Wise, or if you read our blog often, you know that we believe that there area  lot of factors influencing good colour decisions: the history of your home or building, the architectural style, your lifestyle, the use or purpose of the room or building you're planning to paint, the natural setting and the neighborhood... There are so many issues, in fact, that we favour using a professional colour consultant to make those final decisions.

We've probably never said, "The Colour of the Year is citrus yellow, so that's what we'll be painting everybody's offices in this year."

Should you consider the colour trends then? Would your life in 2010 have been very different if you were still sporting the clear turquoise of 2004 than if you had switched to the softer blue of 2010?

Here are some reasons that you might care:

• If you're fashion conscious, then you're going to find that your new duvet cover, the smashing new draperies you admire, and the new dishes you decide you must have for your autumn parties will all go better with this year's reds and yellows than they will with last year's reds and yellows.
• If you've been craving a change, updating your walls to some of the new shades will give you a feeling of freshness for an economical price. Since the new colours are chosen with the idea of refreshing eyes that have gotten used to the palettes of recent years, all your furnishings will look a little bit different and more interesting with that new backdrop.
• If your business positions itself as a cutting edge leader in your field, you will be more convincing in that role if your office, lobby, or even your hallway uses some colours from the new palette.

Contact us right now to make your appointments for the new year, and then come back for the next few weeks as we share the details of the new decorating trends of 2011.

Should You Paint Over Wallpaper?

You're not mad about that wallpaper, and you think you might like a nice plain colour instead. Can you slap a coat of paint over the paper and let it go at that?

Probably not. Here's why:

• Wallpaper has texture, including not only the texture of the paper itself but also the seams. It doesn't show much in a pattern but a flat coat of paint will make all those lines obvious.
• Preparing a papered wall to accept paint well can be extremely difficult. Cleaning and sanding the wallpaper to create a surface with the cleanliness and tooth needed for good coverage is likely to be a challenge.
• The paint may soften the adhesive keeping the paper on the wall. If the paper begins to slip, so does the paint -- it's the paper that's painted, after all, not the wall. Alternatively, the paint may interact with the chemicals in the wallpaper adhesive to create a stiff substance that can't be removed from the wall without damaging the wall itself. Chances are, you don't know the precise chemical composition of the wallpaper or the adhesive, so you can't predict which of these might happen.

In general, the wisest move is to remove old wallpaper and prepare the surface correctly before painting. If this seems like too big a job, call professional painters.