By Melissa Rayworth
Associated Press
With a new year come new trends in home design and decorating. Among them: paler walls contrasted with colorful furniture, and plenty of personal expression, design experts say.
Coolest colors
Whisper-soft, ultra-pale shades of pink ādescribed by designers as āblush tonesā ā are back. But the ā80s havenāt returned, says designer Brian Patrick Flynn says, at least not entirely.
āWhatās different about blush this time around is what itās paired with. In 1985, youād find it paired with mauve and black with tons of shiny brass accents. Flash forward to today and blush is likely to be paired with preppy, masculine tones,ā says Flynn, founder of Flynnside Out Productions.
His favorite blush paint is Barely Blush from Glidden, which he contrasts with navy blue: āThe deep, rich personality of the navy actually washes out the blush, almost causing it to look white, and the overall effect is fresh and gorgeous.ā
But while wall colors are getting softer and paler, the opposite seems to be happening with furniture.
āStrong colors on upholstery are becoming more of the norm,ā says Kyle Schuneman, founder of Live Well Designs, who spent a chunk of 2013 designing his first line of furniture, in collaboration with retailer Apt2B.
He opted to create sofas in bright blues and shades of orange because āa bright sofa is no longer just for a creative office waiting room,ā he says. āPeople are bringing them into their homes.ā
One bold color to approach carefully this year: red-violet. āRed-violet is the Pantone color of the year for 2014,ā Flynn says. āAs a designer whose specialty is using color, let me tell you something: Red-violet is about as complex as it gets.ā
āMy trick for using it right is pairing it with black, white and brass,ā he says. āItās not all that overwhelming, since itās balanced by the neutrality of the black and white, and made a bit more chic and regal with the brass.ā
Top textures
āFor accessories, the trend seems to be getting away from color and going more into rich textures like horn, aged metallics and linens,ā Schuneman says. āThe absence of color is becoming chic for smaller items.ā
One texture Flynn says will have a big moment in 2014: felt.
āHave you looked at Pinterest lately? Itās like every fifth photo you see involves felt! Ever since the handmade movement kicked in back in 2010, felt has been used in unexpected ways and in a modern fashion,ā Flynn says. āWhat makes it such a favorite for designers is how easy it is to work with. Itās amazing for door upholstery due to its stiffness. It makes for awesome craft material, since itās easy to cut and stitch, and itās awesome for kids.ā
Fresh inspirations
āThe idea of personalization is becoming stronger and stronger,ā Schuneman says. āPeople are wanting their homes to reflect a more unique perspective.ā
So rather than assuming that everyone will be buying the same popular items, āstores are doing limited runs on items more often, like art in series or a special brand collaboration for just a season,ā he says.
Burnham agrees. Homeowners are increasingly looking to ālarge-scale wall hangingsā and other pieces of art to express themselves, she says, rather than doing it with bold wall color.
āBoy, am I sick of accent walls. I really believe that trend is out! I vote for art every time,ā Burnham says. āIf youāre looking for something to cover big, blank areas, shop on Etsy for macrame pieces. They add such wonderful texture to your walls, and artists like Sally England have brought them back into vogue.ā
She also recommends hunting for vintage posters that speak to you. Find them through online dealers and auction houses, and then frame them in a group.
āWhile the vintage ones are a bit of an investment,ā Burnham says, āthey can be a lot more reasonably priced than large-scale paintings and photographs.ā
Another way Americans are increasingly customizing their space, according to Flynn: Western-inspired dƩcor.
āFor years Iāve seen taxidermy make its way into mainstream design, yet reinvented in new ways. Lately, Iāve been looking to Ralph Lauren-like cabins of the Western United States for inspiration in my own home. I think a lot of cabin-inspired colors such as pea greens, hunter greens and camouflage-inspired prints will become super popular.ā
Flynnās cabin in the north Georgia mountains is currently decorated in pea green and accented with heavy, masculine fabrics, Western hats and antlers.
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