What’s the color of the year for 2010? Well, as always, there isn’t one. It depends on what works best for you. Whether you need to pick one shade to paint a room or a coordinated color scheme for your whole house, 2010’s colors are ready to revitalize your living space.
Influencing the 2010 interior color trends are the economic climate, the wish to return to simpler times, an increasing desire to connect with and protect the planet and a search for clarity and joy. Colors are coming together in new combinations, and you can use all the colors in a palette or just one or two of them to freshen and personalize your rooms.
If you are looking for a single color for your bedroom or living room, blue is next year’s go-to hue. Blue is the background of nature, the color of the sky and sea. You will probably love an ethereal blue: Painting your walls this heavenly color can open up a space and make it feel larger, as the walls seem to disappear. The deep water blues are also immensely appealing. Sherwin-Williams Oceanside (SW6496) looks amazing in a contemporary setting.
If you seek the best neutral for 2010, consider going gray instead of beige. Grays are versatile. Both gray-blues and gray-greens are fashionable wall colors for the coming year. Subtle grays are enhanced by white and cream in translucent, layered fabrics with a frosty or pearlized look.
Gray is structural and modern; it’s the color of technology and it looks great with laser cuts and in geometric forms. But the carbon grays also look dreamy with feminine tones. Benjamin Moore is showing gray with sheer, cosmetic colors, peach and pink. Fashions of the 1950s and ’60s are influencing this trend. Think of the women’s clothes on “Mad Men.”
Dark, sophisticated taupes, which are grays mixed with browns, are also on the docket for 2010, found on upholstered furniture and even tiles. Taupe can add luxury and warmth to a bathroom, creating the perfect contrast with white fixtures.
Taupes also appear as earth tones in next year’s tribal color palettes. Influenced by ancient African, Native American and Aboriginal cultures, these rich colors will come to home décor in the coming year. Besides the dusty taupes of the landscape, look for amber and ochre pigments, berry reds, dark teal and charred black. Include animal prints and handmade crafts in rooms with these deep colors, along with bronze and copper metals.
