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The 2018 Colour of the Year reveals a growing need for interiors to serve as sanctuaries in which to recharge. Discover your perfect palette with Dulux

Much like any creative industry the design world is driven by trends. The key lies in identifying the drivers behind those trends and applying that information to create interiors that capture and nurture our collective mood. Enter the panel of experts who recently came together at Akzonobel’s Global Aesthetic Centre to identify 2018’s Colour of the Year (COTY) for interior wall paint.

Established 15 years ago as part of Akzonobel Colour Futures – which monitors and analyses social and design trends and translates them into colours for interior paints – the COTY serves to distil the ‘mood of the moment’ into a single colour and related paint palettes for our homes. It will come as no surprise that recent uncertainties in global events had a large influence on this year’s selections. A subtle, warm, ‘grown-up’ pink, Dulux ‘Heart Wood’ reflects the growing desire for individuals and families to see their homes as places to retreat to and revitalise; to create spaces that feel both safe and embracing.

It’s time to ‘press pause’, explains Heleen van Gent, the Global Aesthetic Centre’s creative director. ‘Our home needs to be a place where we can recharge. Colour can play a significant role in addressing the balance between outside clamour and inner calm.’

The ‘Heart Wood Home’ palette (featured here) achieves this by blending harmoniously with the natural, tactile materials that serve as inspiration to its hero paint colour. Three supporting paint palettes – ‘Comforting Home’, ‘Inviting Home’ and ‘Playful Home’ – offer variations on the calming, restorative ‘Heart Wood’ tone to ensure that, in 2018, every home can be a welcome home. Discover ‘Heart Wood’ and the four ‘Heart Wood’ colour palettes at dulux.co.uk/ colourfutures 2018

Walls painted in ‘10YR 28/072’ (main), ‘60YR 20/117’ (column) and skirting boards in ‘46RB 06/074’. All part of the ‘Heart Wood Home’ palette, Dulux (dulux.co.uk) From left Blue velvet ‘Swoon’ armchair by Space Copenhagen, £2,307, Viaduct (viaduct.co.uk). ‘Primitive Wave’ silk rug by Cc-tapis, £4,970, Silvera (silveraltd.co.uk). ‘Billy BL’ floor lamp by Ilse Crawford for Kalmar, £1,686, Kalmar ( kalmarlighting.com). Brown velvet ‘Clarence’ sofa and rectangular linen twill cushion cover in ‘Lipstick’, £45, both The Conran Shop (conranshop.co.uk). Bronze ‘Loren’ coffee table by Baxter, £4,030; black ceramic bottle by Living Divani, £235, both Silvera (as before). ‘Small Rimmed Plate 2’ handmade ceramic plate by Kasper Wurtz, £35, Sigmar (sigmarlondon.com). Wooden bowl, £450, Quindry (quindry.net). Wooden wall sculpture (on back wall), £125, Tilde Grynnerup (tildegrynnerup@gmail.com). Double-sided linen throw in ‘Salmon’ and ‘Bark’, £160, Larusi ( larusi.com). African Kamba wooden stool, £650, Quindry (as before)