I don’t know if everyone has pockets deep enough to change their furniture and décor with each annual colour vogue, but there are some that do, and sometimes a minor change can make a home look on trend and is easy to do.

Colour trends for 2024 are all about being bold and confident with colour co-ordination. Experts are predicting an elevated, fresh look for interiors with bright pinks, lively blues, and rich jewel tones leading the way.

Pink

Pink is a timeless colour and never seems to go out of fashion. Several versions of this colour have been used in interiors over time; be it dark pink, coral, dusty salmon pink, or rosy tones, and pink is the colour most often associated with – amongst other things - charm, politeness, sensitivity, tenderness, and of course, romance. Many colours go with pink, making it an easy-to-use, versatile shade - even variants of terracotta, which play well with muted shades of white, cream, pink, red, mustard, green and bright blues. Adding terracotta-toned textiles to timber furniture or woven homewares gives a timeless effect, and can enhance floor tiles of the same hues.

Select a dominant pink for walls and large items, complement it with a contrasting shade for accents, incorporate neutral tones for balance, and add texture and accessories to create a harmonious and visually pleasing space.

Blues

Soft, mid-blue is a classic and beautiful colour, easy to live with, and can remind you of calm, blue waters. When paired with deeper, darker tones, the combination can look arresting and statement-making. Add blue with more muted tones, and you have a classy-looking space. Many colours go with blue and can inspire you with the perfect interior palette. They say blue and green should never be seen, but greens in the same colour range as blues go well together, and in fact any colours that sit closely together on the colour wheel will work beautifully in partnership. Greens and blues can complement each other and create harmonious colour schemes as they are sister colours - even turquoise will blend in too.

Blue is a colour often found in nature, such as the blue of a daytime sky or the rich dark blue of a deep pool of water. It is for this reason, perhaps, that people often describe the colour blue as calm and serene. Yet beware, of using too much blue, as it could give a room a cold, even icy, feel.

Rich Jewel Tones

While muted pastels and soothing neutrals have been all the rage in colour trends these days, there's another group of colours that are preparing to take over: jewel tones. These are colours and tones that are derived from gemstones such as emeralds, sapphires, and rubies, and typically have a high level of colour saturation, which makes them dynamic and eye-catching, adding a bold pop of colour to your décor.

Credits: envato elements;

For those who believe that colour is therapeutic, jewel tones could be just what you need to give your home a lift-me-up. Their regal, deep hues are striking yet comforting and, used in the right way, can make your space feel cosy. With a little bit of colour courage, the results are well worth it.

One potential pitfall is that decorating with jewel tones is that they have the capacity to make a space look too dark or powerful, so it's important to pay attention to balance when using these deep tones in larger spaces.

Thoughtfully, this year’s colours will liven up the shades of grey that are currently everywhere. Grey helps you feel calm and relaxed, a colour we associate with peace, and because it's neutral, looking at it stabilises thoughts and gives a feeling of stillness, but can also – to my mind – be a depressingly dull colour that deserves brightening up.

Before you start ordering samples or buying anything, have a think about your current furniture and what will work well with it, by using a colour wheel, or even better, a 21st century digital alternative. If you are starting from scratch, you have a blank canvas, so almost anything goes!

Author

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan