Is it just ME?

Or is the new colour of the year way too depressing?

LAST week, paint brand Dulux unveiled its colour of the year for 2021 — an earthy beige hue called Brave Ground to take us past Covid uncertainty.

Meanwhile, my inbox is full of trend forecasters rhapsodising about home furnishings in muted sage green, broccoli brown and that crime against humanity ‘greige’.

How can painting your home shades of sludge make anyone feel better about living through a pandemic?

The Dulux people argue that Brave Ground is an ‘elemental’ hue to reflect ‘the strength we can draw from nature and a growing desire to align with the planet and look to the future’. They claim it will empower us to create ‘subtly responsive environments’ where we can reflect, recharge and recalibrate.

But, frankly, we need bright colours to cheer us. I understand that people are desperate for peace and comfort. But earthy natural colours are a downer.

Our living rooms may be the closest we get to live theatre this winter, so let’s add some wit and drama. Ditch hues of elephant brown with pondweed accessories and go for Technicolor instead.

Speaking as a woman with a purple garden (Cuprinol Garden Shades in Lavender) and a red kitchen (B&Q matched it to my Ruby Woo lipstick), I’ll not go quietly.

When you’re feeling sad and anxious, nothing beats getting out the sample pots — whether your budget runs to Farrow & Ball (from £47.95) or Frenchic’s Lazy Range (£6.95).

So I’m torn between zingy pink and arsenic green. If we are all going to be locked down again for winter, then I want my front door to deliver a huge blast of vulgar joy.

If we’re going to be locked down, I want my front door to deliver a huge blast of vulgar joy