At the beginning of every year the pundits and style gurus in the interiors world predict the key trends for the coming year. Here are three of my favourites for 2016.
1. SCANDI STYLE
Scandinavian interiors never fail to disappoint and cater for most tastes. The popularity of IKEA is testament to this. Always a perennial favourite, this year the key Scandinavian trend is “ animal skin” ! Reindeer, cowskin, sheepskin are all featured, covering sofas, beds, pouffes and dining chairs. Give your home an instant update by draping reindeer skins over the backs of dining chairs, or if you are on a limited budget buy a small stool or pouffe covered in an interesting skin.
Visit retailers like Skandium and The Conran Shop to find furniture and accessories from Scandinavian Designers such as Hans J Wenger. Or seek out simple furniture from British designers such as Ercol and Eames to complement the style.
2. RICH, DARK, COLOURS
At the end of 2015, there was a strong trend for decorating with dark, rich jewel colours. This trend continues in 2016. Turquoise, emerald green, ruby reds, purple and sapphire blues are all fashionable and can be mixed together when designing your interiors – if you are brave! Or singly to give impact to a room scheme.
Little Greene has recently brought out Blue paint range and the paint card highlights complementary shades of blue to mix together in a room scheme.
If you prefer a neutral backdrop use grey tones with a selection of accessories such as cushions in jewel colours to update a scheme. Or reupholster an old and favourite chair in a bold coloured fabric.
3. MONOCHROME
Black and white is still fashionable for those of us who prefer a less vibrant look and monochrome schemes work well in both modern and traditional settings.
Black and white can make a traditional home look very smart, particularly when mixed with polished, richly coloured wood such as mahogany.
And of course for the minimalists out there, the sharpness of black and white schemes provide the wonderful clean, uncluttered look they are striving to achieve.
To make a monochrome scheme current for 2016, consider mixing black and white with grey, and use monochrome animal skins on furniture and for rugs to provide texture.
Don’t be afraid to introduce pattern and texture into your scheme – it’s difficult to get it wrong, provided you stick to the rules – use only black and white!!