HOME DECOR
Retro-inspired trends, colours
If you grew up in the 1980s, it’s probably been difficult to ignore
— and accept — the return of such fashion don’ts as hair scrunchies, neon clothes, mom jeans, and white sneakers. Given fashion’s undeniable influence on interior design, it was only a matter of time before our homes started reflecting our clothes — and the time, it seems, is nigh.
“It’s true that everything is related and one thing ends up influencing many others, especially in fashion and design,” said Annie Legault, the founder and creator of Amulette, an evolving collection of handmade rugs, lamps, throws and hanging planters that look suspiciously similar to macramé, the 1970s craze that saw everything from jewelry to wall hangings being handwoven and knotted.
“What I do isn’t macramé but it’s definitely influenced by it, because I only work with my hands as well as natural fibres like cotton, jute and sisal, which I dye myself. It’s a method I developed while I was working on my bachelor’s degree in university,” she explained.
Legault, who graduated from Concordia’s fine arts program with a specialization in fibres and material practices and worked as a fashion buyer for 10 years before starting Amulette, is most inspired by the shapes and forms of the Sixties and Seventies.
“It’s the organic shapes from that time period that influence me a lot. They aren’t full of hard lines, the way design is today,” she said. “What I especially like is pairing those shapes with a modern, contemporary look; it’s the clash that’s most interesting to me.”
That clash is something with which Paule Bourbonnais is all too familiar, especially after a recent trip to Milan for its Salone del Mobile EuroCucina.
“We saw more colours and more mixing of patterns to create a purposefully over-decorated look; it was almost psychedelic,” said the senior associate designer behind Paule Bourbonnais Design.
“In terms of the colours, neutral tones are definitely giving way to more vibrant hues and the result is very Seventies and Eighties, even in the kitchen. The appliances almost looked like ceramic because of the bright colours they were covered in, and they’re even making olive green kitchens in Italy — the counters and everything.”
Perhaps taking their cue from Pantone’s Colour of The Year for 2018 — Ultra Violet 18-3838, which was another trending shade back in the day — paint companies like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams have been coming out with a cornucopia of bright, retro-inspired shades like olive green, terracotta, mustard yellow and navy blue lately.
“It’s funny because those colours are exactly the same as the ones I used in my first condo: terracotta and navy blue. These days, people want colour and they want change, that’s for sure,” Bourbonnais said.
Another thing people want is texture, whether it’s in the form of bamboo and rattan furniture, terrazzo tiling or — you heard it here first — wallpaper and carpeting.
“It’s all about texture and natural fibres,” Bourbonnais said. “In wallpaper, what we’re seeing is big floral prints as well as lots of foliage, which is very vintage-inspired. I even think carpeting is going to make a comeback in the next few years; I have that feeling.”
While Bourbonnais hasn’t seen the retro trend affect furniture too much — yet — she definitely sees it in lighting, where designers are mixing metals like brass, nickel and oil-rubbed bronze, as well as textures and sheens to recreate the quintessential look of the Sixties and Seventies.
“From the materials that are being used, especially brass, to the shapes and forms that are being created, lighting designers are pretty much reproducing what was popular back then; they’re creating replicas,” she said. “And they aren’t just being inspired by old trends like ’80s neon lighting, they’re copying them.”
Other replicas that are coming out of the woodwork, sometimes quite literally, are vintage furnishings like the Benson and Bubble chairs, as well as beanbags.
“What’s interesting is that the models are almost exactly the same,” she said. “It’s a copy-and-paste formula.”
The final trend that’s making a comeback this fall is a living one that revolves around wellness and greenery, which was also the Pantone Colour of The Year for 2017 (Greenery 15-0343)
“Plants used to be everywhere when I was a kid, even in the bathroom. It’s almost as if it was the only way people knew how to decorate back then,” Bourbonnais said with a laugh. “Then they disappeared for a while, and now they’re coming back.”
In the end, it seems as though the season’s trends, though heavily influenced by the past, also have a lot to do with comfort and cocooning
— which isn’t surprising, given the frigid temperatures that will soon be coming our way.
“Round shapes bring a lot of warmth and natural materials are very comforting, which is actually where the name of my business comes from,” Legault said. “An amulet is an object that brings protection.
“It allows you to feel safe and enveloped in the most comforting way possible.”