Repair & Improve

Paint Color Trends for Interiors

Freshen up a room with one of the year’s most popular palettes

by Tom Kraeutler, AOL Home Improvement Editor

Tom Kraeutler is the Home Improvement Editor for AOL.  In this column, Tom offers tips on paint color trends.

If you’ve got a room that’s due for an update, bring out the brushes and look to this year’s popular paint colors for inspiration. A fresh coat of color can easily and affordably transform a space, and thanks to a new wave of design awareness among DIY decorators, there’s no shortage of bold, statement-creating colors from which to choose.

“Over the course of the past decade, consumers have shown a desire to bring new hues into their living space,” says Debbie Zimmer, paint color and decorating expert for the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute and member of the prestigious Color Marketing Group, an international organization that helps shape the latest color trends. “They’re so much more color confident today, especially since they’ve had the opportunity to visualize color through examples on home improvement shows, magazines, and radio shows.”

If you’ve collected a few of those design ideas yourself, take the next step with this tour of the leading color palettes identified by Zimmer and her fellow trendwatchers.

Back to Nature
Consumer interests in green building and earth-friendly living have found a literal outlet in natural tones reflecting the world outdoors. Yellows and blues, leaf-like greens, and organic browns all star on consumers’ wish lists, something to which the folks at BEHR Paints can attest. Such natural green shades as “Rejuvenate,” “Sagey” and “Restful” are among the top ten tones viewed on BEHR.com, and the fresh “Asparagus” and warm “Medieval Gold” are also among their hottest hues. Bedrooms, bathrooms and rooms including an accent wall are ideal destinations for these shades, and Zimmer suggests accenting such natural color schemes with rust or copper-like metallics.

Comfort Colors 
Stress-free shades that wrap a room in warmth continue to be popular, especially when it comes to kitchens and family rooms. To create a welcoming refuge from the rough-and-tumble world, choose colors that sound as delicious as they look, including pumpkin orange, cinnamon apple pie, cocoa brown, and biscuit and wheat neutrals.

Stark Contrast
This palette pairs sophisticated black and white with such dramatic tones as deep plums and clean, clear reds, the latter of which will be popping up more and more as a certain global sporting event draws near. “We’ll see the use of red grow tremendously as we head toward the 2008 Beijing Olympics,” says Zimmer, noting the increase in consumer confidence with this dynamic color. Whether red or another bold shade is in the mix, polished brass metallics are great complements to Stark Contrast schemes, and mix to great effect in dining, living and powder rooms.

In addition to color considerations, Zimmer recommends using texture to add interest and style to a room. One approach is incorporating different paint sheen levels to lend translucency and a glass-like quality to surfaces, including unexpected and dramatic applications on ceilings.

And don’t discount the power of metallics as highlights, undercoats and surface textures in any color scheme. “Over the last 12 to 24 months it’s been more about subdued metallic finishes, but we’re going to be seeing a return to more bold, brassy metallics as we get closer to fall and the holiday season. From silver to brass, metallics are again going to be on the rise.”

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