Where do Colour Trends come from?

In a word.... everywhere.

Colour comes from our favourite movies, fashion, street trends and  last but not least…Colour Forecasters. Probably the most well known is Pantone.  But the interesting part about colour trends is the masses don’t necessarily fall in love with the predictions. At the very least, we as conservative Canadian, are wary about embracing new and possibly wild colours. Maybe that is why the grey appealed to us so much- even though when it first came on the scene predictors were saying we would not use it because of our climate. So much for that! 
 If you have ever painted anything artistic you begin to have a new appreciations for the nuances of colour and how they interact with each other. I’ve taken workshops with Leatrice Eiseman (executive director at the Pantone Color Institute) and it has expanded my understanding of colour incredibly, even beyond what I knew as an artist.

I get excited about new trends - they can build on ones that have already been accepted. This can take us to a new level of interest in our surroundings. As a decorator I have to be open to all of it-to be able to if not embrace it,  to at least know how to interpret it. 

Some motives behind trend following:

• Guidance: may apply to people who don't pay much attention to their personal style and therefore don't know what suits them. They want an instant solution in the era of instant everything because they're either not interested in decor (but they feel the need to stay current) or they don't have time to think about it. "If it's trendy, surely it'll look good in my house." This is often not true and ends up leaving our homes in discord with itself. 
• Smoke and mirrors: Sometimes we just want to impress others. Some believe they can prove to others that they are the same as their “decor idols". The world can be a fake-it-till-you-make-it place  and that is not always a bad thing when taken lightly and perhaps a little tongue-in-cheek.
• Fitting in: When we were kids there was exactly one right pair of jeans & the music everyone listened to. High school is so freaking traumatic that we often fall in to that trap with our homes and lives as adults. 
• Playing with trends: Creative types can embrace a trend just because it's there. If you are savvy and it doesn't work for you, you just let it go. Sometimes we have to understand that new isn’t always better. But change can be exciting or terrifying depending on who you are.​