In 2021, the global pandemic saw us craving ‘sanctuary’ palettes of calming colours that offered a sense of safety and serenity: warm shades of grey, white stone and taupe. But 2022 colour trends are bolder and braver, featuring more saturated shades and a tone-on-tone approach. The interest in biophilic design also continues as we understand more about the impact of interior design on wellbeing.

‘Now is the time for us all to emerge into a bright and glorious interior design future that is above and beyond grey,’ said Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen during a talk at Ideal Home Show 2022.

Crown colour expert Chrissi Baldwin echoed this sentiment during her Ideal Home Show talk: ‘Feature walls are still really fashionable, but this year you want to think out of the box a little bit. Instead of white skirting boards and coving, take the colour right from the floor up the ceiling and over.’

Crown’s 2022 colour trends explore tonal schemes, blurring the edges of blocks of colour by playing with deeper and lighter shades from the same family of colours – a blush pink through to a muted amethyst, for example.

‘People ask me, “where do I start?”, continued Chrissi during her talk. ‘I would look at the items that are staying in the room, that’s usually the most expensive items like furniture or your flooring. We can then work with those colours to pull the scheme together.

‘Your home is a reflection of who you are, if there’s a colour that you love, work that into your decor scheme.’

5 key colour trends from Ideal Home Show 2022

1. Teal and soft pink

Pink and green colour schemes keep cropping up in contemporary interior design. We’ve seen forest green and baby pink in bathrooms, olive and blush in kitchens and now, teal and dusky pink in the Good Homes Updated Heritage roomset at Ideal Home Show 2022.

The roomset features walls painted in Genuine by Crafted by Crown – a quiet, low-intensity dark teal – with panelling picked out in dusky Cross Stitch, also Crafted by Crown. The same pink is used to highlight the Crittall-style windows, in a bold contemporary-classic decor scheme that also features heritage print William Morris Compton curtains from Blinds 2go.

The bold paint shades are mirrored in the sumptuous furniture and stylish accessories from eBay, creating a cocoon-like maximalist scheme that refers back to our decorating heritage without dating the look.

2. Raspberry coulis

Searches for ‘fuchsia’ are up 160% from January 2021, according to Google search data, perhaps because pops of pink are the perfect way to encapsulate that post-pandemic desire for bolder, braver decor that is upbeat and playful.

‘This trend is for the bold, the sensual and those who pursue fun,’ said Martin Waller, founder of Andrew Martin, who sees echoes of sun-drenched Miami vibes in this resurgence of fuchsia. ‘It is the exuberant Miami nightlife that defines its architectural and interiors style. Elaborate Art Deco shapes meet sunset oranges, pinks and the flash of neon lights.’

Crown has picked up on this desire for playful pinks, but applied a softer, more tonal feel in its 2022 colour trend named ‘Illusory‘. Here, deeper pinks meet blush tones and muted amethyst, while curved furnishings and free-flowing wall mural designs keep the look soft and welcoming. Pops of neon citrus add an element of surprise that echo that neon vibe.

‘Romantic hues of blush rose and raspberry swirl and layer colour upon colour,’ says Jemma Saunders, a Crown colour specialist. ‘Inspiration is drawn from the free-flowing Surrealism art movement and the cute, stylised culture of kawaii [the Japanese youth culture of cuteness].’

3. Aqua shades

Our desire to relax and reset after a couple of turbulent years is manifesting itself in 2022 colour trends. Crown has identified ‘Reset’ as another of its key influences for the year. Relaxing watercolour shades of blue offer a sense of calm, so it’s hardly surprising that Google search data revealed a 250% increase in ‘blue bathroom suite ideas’ over the past year.

‘Immersing ourselves in the big blue with all our senses can have therapeutic properties. Use this calming colour palette of soothing blues and gentle warm neutrals to reset yourself back to balance,’ said Crown colour consultant Justyna Korczynska.

‘Light blues reflects beautifully in water emulating parts of nature such as a clear sky or tranquil lake,’ adds Abbey Hesketh of Graham & Brown. ‘This creates an environment that is perfect to relax and unwind in.’

This trend presented itself in soft olive hues and duck-egg blue in the Good Homes Wellness Retreat roomset at Ideal Home Show 2022. The calming colours create a spa-like space for relaxing and boosting wellbeing, paired with furnishings in warm, natural woods, bamboo and rattan, alongside an abundance of houseplants for enhanced air quality.

4. Aubergine dream

Purple décor is back in a big way. Shades from fig to plum and dusky mauves are perfect for creating a cosy, welcoming home, and it’s also ideal for those pursuing Regencycore or Royalcore trends. Pantone even took the bold move of naming Veri Peri – a periwinkle blue hue with a vivifying violet-red undertone – as its Colour of the Year 2022.

But it’s those deeper, more sumptuous tones that have peaked the interest of home decor enthusiasts, and it seems it’s the ideal shade for snoozing – or seduction – with a 22% increase in searches for ‘purple bedroom’ over the past year, according to Google search data.

‘Dark aubergine is very much here to stay as we see rich purple shades begin to pop up again,’ says Alysha Alli, group interior designer of homebuilder Redrow. ‘Plums and aubergines are deep and indulgent, perfect for any room you want to cocoon in, such as the bedroom.’

If this is a 2022 colour trend you’d like to explore but are worried about going too bold, take a tonal approach and try lighter shades like lilac and Veri Peri, picking out a few key pieces in bolder, deeper hues.

5. Moroccan sunset

Warm, explosive, sunset shades are also hot for 2022. Use them to create feature walls or contemporary murals in tonal colours, where the rich golds and burnt oranges of a Moroccan sunset collide in a bold, graphic decor scheme.

‘Where once shades of grey dominated the interior design palette, 2022 will continue the growing trend for mood-boosting colours,’ says Alysha Alli of Redrow. ‘Bolder shades, such as rich mustard yellows and deep fiery oranges, work well for providing permanent visual reminders of happiness.

If fiery wall colours are too bold for you, Alysha advises you ‘choose these colours for soft furnishings, in the form of accent cushions or a leading edge to a curtain’.

This colour scheme works particularly well in multifunctional spaces like the Good Homes Flexible Living roomset at Ideal Home Show 2022, where the graphic wall mural works to delineate zones for work, rest and play, so go wild with the masking tape (just ensure those lines are perfectly crisp!).

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