This week we’re sharing our last Colour Influence for Spring Summer 2012 – Modern Nostalgia. Here, Katie Mackay, member of the Crown Paints Trend Panel and founder of the infamous fashion blog whatkatiewore.co.uk, shares her thoughts.

Modern Nostalgia is a fresh take on mid-century modern styling. At first glance it seems delicate and subdued, but at a closer look it’s much more playful – even for a lover of bright, bold colour-pop like me – it throws up exciting combinations that couldn’t be further from the muted subtlety it seems to initially radiate.

Rather than trying to immediately pull in every colour from the Modern Nostalgia palette, make this one work hard in interiors to reflect your personal decorating style. Start by selecting your preferred palette permutation – whether it’s a feature a wall of Copper Caynon® from Crown’s Earthbalance range combined with the lighter White Pepper® from Crown’s Neutrals range, or simply, a whole room of pink Pashmina® from Crown’s Matt and Silk collection – this palette, creatively, ticks every box.

Like everything, trust your instincts in deciding where to take your paintbrush first. And, if you’re looking for a bit of inspiration, read further as I share my two favourite ways to enter the Modern Nostalgia world.

The first takes me back to country walks on a crisp pre-Spring day; cool blue skies and muddy ground, with woodland and shrubs strikingly bare of leaves. To create this feeling, tie together Evening Shadow® from Sandtex Feature Wall, Gossamer Blue from Sadolin Classic, Gravel Garden® from Sandtex Country Cottage and Culture Cream® from Crown’s Vintage® range – for a grown-up, inviting scheme of tonally complimentary blues and browns. Use these shades on woodwork, walls or furnishings – to create a cool, sophisticated scheme inspired by nature.

Cast your eye further down the shade palette and all of a sudden a retro Neopolitan ice cream bowl presents itself. A mouth-watering, complementary mix that evokes the feeling of a retro sweetshop, from bygone days, while still effusing a modern sense of charm and playful quirk. I’m sure you can see the shades that deliver this one; the enticing combination of Gravel Garden from Sandtex Country Cottage® with Cornish Cream® and Pashima®, all sitting next to each other within a glossy Gossamer Blue china bowl.

Whichever shade combination you choose, I think it’s the pale, crisp beauty of Gossamer Blue that lifts every take on Modern Nostalgia. Be it through breathing new life into old furniture with a lick of blue on the legs of a table or frame of a chair; or simply using it on a feature element in your room, start with this uplifting sky blue shade and build out.

For me, Modern Nostalgia is proof that pastels have punch.

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This week we’re sharing our third exciting new Colour Influence for Spring Summer 2012 – New Direction. Here, Judy Smith, member of the Crown Paints Trend Panels and Crown Colour Consultant, shares her thoughts.

One of my favourite Crown Colour Influences for Spring Summer 2012 is New Direction. It’s an upbeat set of super striking colours – Be brave – combine shocking pinks and lime greens – cleverly used to offset laid back tones of grey and clay.

The inspiration for this trend is the coming together of opposites – it’s like pairing natural stone with manmade plastic, hard architectural design with soft organic materials, and neon colours that shout out next to laid back neutrals.

The newness of this look is due to the fresh way it combines candy colours with more natural earthy tones – helping you create a look that is much edgier.

If you choose to be bold, and paint the vibrant 1977 Lime® from the Crown Paint Originals range, or Free Love® from Crown Paints Vintage – on all four walls, then make sure you get the balance right with floors and furniture to ensure they are kept cool. Try greys and lighter woods to create the perfect contrast.

Alternatively, if you go for the cooler, more natural tone of Wheatgrass, from Crown’s Neutrals range, on walls and ceilings, then bring in flashes of colour in features, accessories or even painted furniture. And with some of the brightest tones available in Satin trim finishes, it’s easy to update old tired furniture.

A great idea to really accentuate the use of this trend palette, is to paint a table top or chair seat in a sleek and glossy colour, leaving the legs raw. Summer Kiss®, a pretty pastel shade from Sadolin Four Seasons is ideal.

If I was to sum this palette up in five words, I would say it’s strong, modern, edgy, playful and thought provoking.

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This week we’re sharing our second exciting new Colour Influence for Spring Summer 2012 – Surreal Botanicals. Here, Philippa Pearson, member of the Crown Paints Trend Panels, Garden Designer and Journalist, shares her thoughts on.

The rich colours in this palette offers a combination of lush spring greens and zingy summer hues – that really help to bring out the botanical explorer in you. After the long dark winter, the palette wakes up your senses, with refreshing flashes of natural colour – a ‘must have’ to brighten up any homes interior or exterior this year.

Don’t restrict the use of colour in your garden to the flower borders. You’ll be surprised how a feature wall painted in a bright colour creates a whole new dimension.

Personally, I love the bright Barrier Reef® blue from Sandtex – it reminds me of holidays in sunny places – brightening up a corner of the garden making it a perfect place to sit and chill out.

In the garden, nature’s colours don’t clash and this blue is the perfect backdrop for plants as it blends perfectly with foliage and flowers – breathtaking.

Inside your home, try the unexpected and don’t be afraid to use splashes of colour. For a look that just screams style, combine vibrant pops of natural colour with more industrial greys – collide the gentle lilac of Blue-Mid® from the Ultimate® range with the subtle of Smoky Mist® grey from Crown’s Neutrals collection for an enviable on-trend interior colour scheme.

With a palette that has strength, depth and versatility, a painted wall here and a piece of painted furniture there, will create a warming and welcoming ambience that you and your visitors will love – a true colour statement that will appeal to anyone’s eclectic sense of style.

Back outside, you don’t need to paint your fences and garden buildings in brown, either – try Pea Green® from Sadolin – a warming green, reminiscent of plants growing in the vegetable garden – and the perfect way to for breathe new life into garden features. Similarly, the strong vibrant green of Seclusion® from Sandtex’s Exterior Satin range, is a stunning colour ideal for window frames and garden furniture – think of it as exterior botanical glamour for your outdoor space.

If I was to sum this palette up in five words I would say it’s: warm, zingy, fresh, flowery and breathtaking!

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This month we’re sharing our exciting new Colour Influences for Spring Summer 2012, starting this week Joanna Feeley, member of the Crown Paints trend panels and Founder and Creative Director of the Trend Bible, shares her thoughts on the first colour palette – Summer Jewels.

Joanna, who has 13 years of experience in trend forecasting for fashion, home interiors and lifestyle brands, was a key influence in pulling the Summer Jewel colour palette together. Here are her thoughts on the trend and how it’s beautiful colours can be used in the home.

What I love personally about this palette is that it’s so versatile; it’s vibrant and optimistic, with its shocking colour clash between the pink (Scan® T9372X)* and yellow (Scan® B8573X)*.

If you look at our story behind the mood for this trend, it’s inspired by 1950s Palm Springs, where architecture helps create an outdoor lifestyle, with sliding glass walls and furniture that performs indoors and out. We’re starting to see this type of design used more frequently here in the UK, where outdoor heaters and lighting are facilitating our use of outdoor space, despite our somewhat unpredictable weather.

Using some of the bolder colours in this palette, like the pink and yellow, for feature walls or woodwork adds drama. These shades can even be used in the garden, on plant pots and garden furniture – adding a pop of colour which sits beautifully against a backdrop of lush green foliage.

If you consider the wonderful blues and greens – you can create a really relaxing, aquatic colour harmony – reminiscent of a Palm Springs swimming pool. Cool Stepping Stone® on walls and Deep Ivy Solo® Gloss on woodwork is an ideal solution for updating any hall or lounge.

These colours are really sophisticated despite the intrusion of brights. The dark moody green and teal shades add drama and depth to any room, while the bright pink looks fantastic when against a lush tropical backdrop – even if this is only house plant ferns!

If I was to sum up this palette in five words I would say it’s: tropical, aquatic, vibrant, energetic and sophisticated.

*Pink (Scan® T9372X) and yellow (Scan® B8573X) are tinted colours available from Crown Decorating Centre.

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