Every year, Pantone, among others, chooses the color of the year and thus provides important impetus for the international furniture and design industry. We’ll tell you which trend colors are particularly popular in 2021 – and how you can bring them into your home with custom-made furniture and the right decoration.
The Pantone color of the year
The color experts at the Pantone Color Institute have been tracking the trend for more than 20 years. Each year they look for color influences from around the world, including fashion, film and television, music, art and design. The decision for the color of the year is also influenced by new materials, technologies and surface structures – and shapes them in equal measure. The award of the ” Pantone Color of the Year ” has a major impact on product developments in numerous industries and on customers’ purchasing decisions.
Ultimate Gray and Illuminating Yellow are trend colors for 2021
As in 2016 (then Rose Quartz and Serenity), the color of the year was decided on a duo: Pantone 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and Pantone 13-0647 Illuminating . A color combination that, according to the Pantone Color Institute, represents an “encouraging message of strength and hope.” The optimism of the cheerful yellow meets the solid security of the subtle shade of gray. This choice reflects the cross-border standards that the Pantone experts make of themselves: design trends do not exist in isolation from social developments, but rather actively shape the world in which we live.
Leatrice Eisemann, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains the choice of the gray and yellow combo as follows: “Together the solid Ultimate Gray and the radiant Illuminating convey a positive message of inner strength. Practical and sturdy, yet warming and optimistic – this is a color combination for hope and resilience. Strength and confidence are food for the human soul.”
The fact that colors from nature and pastel shades are a must-have this year is also shown by an outlook from the Association of the German Furniture Industry : solitaire solutions are out, team players are in demand, it should be sustainable. This is what dark living concepts stand for, which enter into a harmony with light tones that will not go out of fashion so quickly. In the following tips we will show you how to bring the current trend colors into your four walls.
Pantone Color of the Year: How to implement the color trend in your interior
Option 1: Gray foundation, yellow accents
Gray comes in different tones and is anything but boring – especially in combination with a bright yellow. Accessories are a good way to set small color highlights. For example, equip your gray bed or sofa with cozy yellow cushions. Are you planning to configure a dining table with a light gray or anthracite decor? Then a table decoration – such as tablecloths or runners, coasters or candles – in a cheerful yellow makes an excellent choice.
In general, you should take a look around your home to discover further potential in the facility. Gray is also a popular wall color. If you want to give your rooms a gray coat of paint, you can use this to create the ideal background for yellow highlights, such as pictures and wall clocks. Or you can choose a matching wallpaper in the appropriate colors. Also see analog wall clocks.
Option 2: Made-to-measure furniture with two-tone decor
In addition, custom-made furniture offers you a whole range of other options for picking up on current color trends. How about, for example, a chest of drawers that impresses with a lemon yellow front and still fits in wonderfully with the light gray body? You can achieve more variation in the color duo with your individual configurations using glass. Select a lacquered frame front for your doors in the “Showcase” category, which you can design in a yellow or gray tone of your choice.
Tip: Order selected decor samples and our color fan to your home. So you can calmly find the perfect combination for your interior and test its effect in your lighting conditions.
Option 3: Take up the trend colors away from the furniture
The yellow-grey trend also means aligning the decoration and other appearance of your home with it – because clever combinations ensure harmony within your four walls. For example, configure a bathroom cabinet with a white body and gray front, which you can equip with yellow accessories such as soap dishes, baskets or aroma lamps. Or you turn the tables and rely on bathroom furniture with a yellow front and gray textiles, such as bath mats, towels and shower curtains.
Or how about this idea: configure shelf cubes with a light gray back wall and a limed pine body, which you place in front of a yellow patterned wallpaper. The wall cubes look particularly dynamic and modern when you configure them in different dimensions. In general, wallpapers offer a great opportunity to combine colors with each other. Choose a wallpaper with a pattern in different shades of yellow or even a combination of yellow and gray that will serve as the background for your custom furniture. Then plan a shelf without a back wall that lets the colors of the wallpaper shine through.
The color of the year 2021 from AkzoNobel
Choosing the color of the year isn’t just the preserve of Pantone’s experts. AkzoNobel ‘s Aesthetic Center has been identifying global color trends for its Sikkens and Dulux brands since 2002 . Every year, international design and trend experts are invited to track down current trends in culture, fashion, business and society. The 2021 favorite here is Brave Ground (E7.10.53), a warm, neutral earth tone.
The earthy Brave Ground is intended to convey strength, stability and balance – even or especially in difficult times. In addition, the color tone is very adaptable and can be combined in many ways due to its neutrality. To accompany this, four complementary color palettes were created, each based on the color of the year.
This is how the trend colors 2021 will come to your home
Tip 1: Use neutral and/or earthy tones as a base
Whether it’s a large wall unit or a cozy living area : you should choose neutral, earthy colors for the dominant pieces of furniture in your home. When configuring furniture, this means for you:
- Plain decors in stone gray or anthracite supermatt
- Wood decors in wild oak or oak Sonoma
- Supermatt lacquered surfaces in gray beige, beige gray or stone gray
- Leather in nutmeg or pebbles, fabrics in nutmeg or espresso
Tip 2: Customize your furniture using the color palettes
Based on the accompanying color palettes from AkzoNobel, we have put together some ideas for you on how you can complement the earthy base with matching surface decors and materials.
Color palette Confidence :
The earthy colors convey an inviting feeling while at the same time exuding a delicate, noble aesthetic. They are suitable for anyone who prefers a classic style. You can create this with plain decors in cream and light gray as well as matt lacquered surfaces in ivory, pearl white, pale brown and reddish brown. Wood decors in Merano brown and wild oak are also possible.
Color palette Expressive :
The tones of the red color family bring liveliness into your home and look very modern in combination with earth tones. If you’re not afraid of colors and a strong statement, you’ll find what you’re looking for in our lacquered surfaces, which are available in around 200 RAL colors. For an expressive design we recommend rose, coral red, salmon red, pastel purple, beige red and creamy white.
Color palette Timeless :
Beige and dark yellow tones are considered timeless and harmonize with natural materials and antique-style decoration. They can often be found in apartments that are furnished in a country house style. Choose oak or beech wood decors, real wood veneers or solid wood furniture for this look. The plain decors white and cream are also suitable, as well as lacquered frame fronts in beige, light ivory, honey yellow, copper brown and papyrus white.
Color Palette Natural :
Blues and greens convey vitality and a connection with nature. In addition to solid wood furniture or with wood decors in oak country, maple and beech, a range of RAL colors also go well with this, for example reed green, pale green, patina green, green blue, water blue and pastel blue. For a maritime flair, we recommend a combination of blue tones and white.
Tip 3: Choose the right decoration
In order to round off the design of your made-to-measure furniture and underline your personal style of living, it depends on the right decoration. You should choose these based on your chosen base tone and color palette. Here we have a few suggestions for you.
| Decorate the color palette trust | • Copper decorations • Lantern lamps, floor lamps, hurricanes • Retro style vases • Pictures and picture frames • Flea market finds • Family heirlooms |
| Deco to the color palette Expressive | • LED Lanterns • Abstract Art • Dolomite Vases • Metal Framed Mirrors • Metal Wire or Smoked Glass Wall Clock • Silver and Glass Decorative Objects |
| Deco to the color palette Timeless | • Bright vases and ceramics • Handicrafts and busts • Simple candlesticks • Gilded elements • Bowls with antique silver finish • Glass figurines |
| Deco to the color palette Natural | • Ceramic vases, wall vases • Plants (also for the wall) • Wicker baskets • Wooden bowls, wooden figures • Tapestries • Twigs , leaves and other things from nature |
Now it’s your turn: Design your home in the trend colors of 2021! Our furnishing experts will be happy to advise you on how best to implement the trendy color and living concepts in your four walls. Simply get in touch with us and – if you wish – plan your custom-made furniture by screen transmission together with your contact person.
