NATURAL BORNE STYLE
One of the big colour trends this season has its origins firmly rooted in nature. The earth, greenery, sea and sky have often inspired the colours we use inside our homes. They are, after all, colours we are innately familiar with and are such easy colours to live with.
Using natural colour provides a digital detox after a day spent looking at screens, being bombarded with bright advertising messages and working in sometimes windowless spaces. The colours invented by nature ground us and calm us.
This year, those colours flow in two directions. One family of natural colours is home to shades of boldness and depth with sharp greens, spicy ochres and untamed terracottas. Think Resene Green Leaf, Resene Hot Toddy and Resene Chelsea Gem.
The other direction is subtle and soothing, with soft sage greens, hempy browns and barely-there peach. Think Resene Bud, Resene Castaway, Resene Egg Sour and Resene Quarter Spanish White.
PUT YOUR PRECONCEPTIONS ASIDE
You may think that using leaves or trees as inspiration for a fresh green scheme makes sense but the true colour of many types of ‘green’ foliage is much muddier and muted than you would think. There are few very clean, clear greens in nature, which is why those who think that painting their fence a grass green will help it blend with the garden can get a rude shock.
The same can be said of many of nature’s colours – aside from the most vibrant flowers, bluest skies or glowing sunsets, natural colours are soft and muted not clear and bright.
Nature-inspired schemes aren’t just brown and green. There are many more aspects of nature from which to take your cue – flowers of any hue, high-country tussock, rivers, clay, grey river pebbles, apple-skin reds, mountains or volcanos with their bright azure crater lakes, sunrises and sunsets. And of course, our vast stretches of coastline offer a wealth of inspiration – white sand, black sand, sea, surf, shells and seaweed. Capture these colours with hues such as Resene Seachange, Resene Seashell or Resene Seaweed.
WORK ON TEXTURE AND TONE
Colours in nature are rarely just one tone. You may see a flower as pink but look closer and there will be variations of pink, from outer older petals through to the pearlescent throat of the flower. The same can be said of bark, rock, earth, leaves… anything really.
And few natural objects are one texture. Think rough earth, knubby bark, smooth river pebbles, glossy leaves, satiny petals, glimmering shells… in fact, include a few found objects as accessories. Twigs in a vase, shells in a bowl or rough stones lined up on the mantelpiece – it’s decorating for free.
If your earthy scheme is looking too drab, check that you have the texture levels right. Try for three different types, say a jute rug, a translucent glass vase and a weathered timber coffee table. Natural schemes don’t have to be rustic and earthy; they can also be elegant or architectural.
Earthy wall colours look particularly good with textural paint-on anaglypta wallpapers. Check out the range at your local Resene ColorShop.
PROPORTIONS AND PLACEMENT
Let nature guide the proportions of colour you use. In nature, the ground plane is often dark (earth), while the middle is lighter (bush, trees, landscape) and the top is light (sky and clouds). These sorts of intensities traditionally translate to your room
– a darker floor covering, mid-toned walls and a pale ceiling. Unless you’re aiming for something unexpected, for most of us having a dark brown ceiling and white floor would feel odd; we’re just not used to it.