What do your wall colours have to do with global politics? Everything

The Age

3 days ago

One of Lucena-Orr's first tasks when she transferred to the newly created role – she previously worked in IT and finance in the parent company – was updating the Dulux colour palette, known as the atlas.
'When we first brought out the specifier we had a few whites in it but not that many,' she says. 'Then when we did the second edition, we incorporated a lot of whites because in the '90s going into the 2000s whites became a much more popular main colour.
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'It expanded exponentially, not just into the warm whites which we had been using for a number of years – people were using other whites going into the latter part of the 2000s into those greyer whites.'
As every shade of grey dominated walls both inside and out well into the 2010s, Lucena-Orr says the ground shifted away from whites and pale greys towards more colourful palettes. And not just for walls.
'I'm not saying the whites are not still the biggest thing we make, because they certainly are, but people are getting a bit more adventurous in the way they use colour, especially colour drenching,' she says.
The rising popularity of colour drenching, in which the same or similar colour is used on the walls and ceiling, is a sign of the times, says Lucena-Orr.
'You would never think of doing ceilings and walls in the same colour even 10 years ago,' she says. 'That would have been quite a risqué approach, whereas now I would not hesitate recommending that to people because it envelops you and cocoons you in a space.'
In contrast to the 2010s when the international outlook was one of general optimism and stability, Lucena-Orr says our concerns about the state of world affairs, exacerbated during COVID-19, have fuelled a desire to be 'nurtured' by our homes leading to a stronger interest in warm, inviting spaces in natural tones.
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'It is always around consumer sentiment. A lot of our research is around macro and micro trends and certainly looking at the zeitgeist and how people are feeling overseas, but also the cost-of-living crisis and what is affecting people globally, that uncertainty does make us crave those more nurturing hues,' she says.
'I think that is why brown came back as a base three or fours years ago. It was the start of that period. We started to see that in the trends just prior to COVID and COVID increased that massively overnight.'
Whatever the design trends or theories about the role of different colours, Lucena-Orr says the way each of us responds to various shades is very personal.
'Often we are drawn to colours that have given us some positive interaction when we were a child but that also tells us what we don't like. If we lived in a home we don't have fond memories of, often the colour will be part of the trauma. It goes very deep.'
In terms of choosing your own colours, Lucena-Orr says there are a couple of rules to follow. First, choose something you love and, wherever possible, look at the colour swatch in the room where it will be used. Indoor and outdoor light can have a significant effect on colour. Secondly, make sure your swatch is vertical, not horizontal.
'Have it on a vertical axis – that's something a lot of people get wrong,' she says. 'They put colour on a flat surface like their dining table or their coffee table and look at all the other elements they might be placing, but walls tend to be on a vertical axis.'
And if you want to know what a colour expert's favourite colour is, prepare for disappointment.
'It is like asking who is my favourite child,' she says.