NEON BRIGHTS
How to make this season’s neon shades work for you
THIS year, the playful trend of punchy colour — and in particular, neons — has been widely celebrated in the world of interiors, especially among those living in apartments and first-time buyers. To get the look, cherry-pick a small selection of fun, zingy pops of colour that will energise your home.
For a gentle introduction to the trend, choose soft furnishings, with the emphasis on ‘soft’. Meadows & Byrne’s spring collection features linen pillowcases and knitted cushions that make for an ideal pop of chartreuse in the bedroom. For the living room, Marks & Spencer’s velvet cushions — with which you’re getting two trends for one — will revive your sofa.
And as for the more daring pink, head to DETAIL in Arnotts, where designer Rachel McCann offers vibrant lampshades in a soft wool mix fabric. Textures such as this will soften the look.
She says: “I use beautiful wool mixes in a shocking pink; they bring such life to a room but in a soft, tactile way.”
Such a vivid and bold colour palette might have shocked your grandparents in their day, but the trend can still remain sophisticated and subtle. Try a lone neon cushion on a grey sofa or a set of quirky coasters on a solid oak table.
Diving in at the deep-end, you’ll find a huge rise in the popularity of vintage-style neon wall signs; think Tom Cruise in Cocktail and you’ll get the idea. Pop one up where you keep your fancy drinks and you’ll have a contemporary update on an old-school idea.
McCann says: “I love light airy spaces and use a lot of greys and soft tones in my rooms.
“To me, nothing ever finishes a room quite like an element of fun and colour. How strong you can handle it is up to you, but ultimately, you need to live with it. I say, keep it mostly neutral and just add a pop, especially when it comes to lighting.”
The most popular hues right now are an electric pink and chartreuse (a mustardy colour that sits between lemon and lime). The former will add a very youthful edge to your home, the latter you’ll find in every SS17 interiors lookbook. It’s a shade pioneered by Pantone — the foremost authority on colour trends — who recently announced their colour of the year as ‘greenery’, referring to this family of particularly zesty and refreshing hues.
However, a word of advice from an expert. “When using colour make it your focal point,” says McCann, “so don’t have it everywhere, or it’s too matchy or staged, generally one or two pieces has way more impact. Don’t be afraid of colour, there’s a term ‘colour me happy’ for a reason”.
Failing that, you can never go wrong with a neon wall print against a plain white wall. For this, look no further than JamArt Factory. Their vibrant selection of A4 prints work wonderfully on their own or grouped together in the style of a gallery wall. Choose inexpensive, black wooden frames from IKEA (go for A3 with a thick white border) and you’ll have one funky hallway.
The future is bright.