Brentano's 2011 Color Forecast

2011 will see both fresh shades and modern classics

Casual Living Staff -- Casual Living, 12/8/2010 5:37:00 AM

After Brentano Design Director Iris Wang's participation at Toronto's IDS 10 last year, Brentano decided to make a tradition of offering a color forecast for the upcoming year.
For its 2011 annual color forecast, the Brentano design department combined their observations of the design world, looked to their own upcoming collections and consulted their sales team about client requests to come up with a multifaceted prediction for the latest interior design color trends.
This year's color forecast of six shades includes warm hues of Silver, a classic Mocha, the "true white" Paper White, and the rich jewel tones Buttercup, Marine and Violet. Several of these update 2010's predictions, because as Wang points out, color trends don't change as quickly in the design world as they do in fashion. Instead, there are subtle shifts in shades, like last year's darker gray Platinum shifting toward the warmer, lighter gray shades of this year's Silver. Additionally, last year's ivory Heavy Cream will be showing up as a simpler Paper White, while Mocha is a softer take on last year's dark brown Espresso. The growing demand for bold colors led the Brentano design team to select Buttercup, which includes everything from light canary to saturated marigold, Marine, a true navy, and Violet, which sees shades of purple ranging from lavender and amethyst to deep purple.
Because they understand the importance of color to interior design, the Brentano design department is always on the lookout for color inspiration. This year's Silver was inspired the gray shades of the sky after a storm and of clouds at dawn, while rich jewel tones were selected as eye-catching counterparts to earth tones and soft neutrals.
As much as color trends are interesting to discuss, Brentano notes that there are some colors that people just appreciate and like to use in interiors more than others, and that "colors are both very trendy and very personal." Additionally, the team believes the fabrics themselves often "tell you what colors they will look best in," and that the importance of the fibers and construction influence color selections. As a color leader, Brentano introduces fresh colors and modern interpretations of classics, all the while keeping in mind the voice of the textile.