Decor trends: Brighten the corners, get ahead of the curve

PANTONE LIVING CORAL
Pantone 16-1546 Living Coral burst onto the scene just weeks ago as the 20th Pantone Colour of the Year. It is juicy, energetic and uplifting, a blend of orange and pink with a golden undertone. Living Coral is playful, effervescent and cheery but has a humanising, warm and life-affirming side too, says the brand. Either throw caution to the wind and splash it onto a wall as a feature and a shot to the arm, or introduce it in accessories that are high on texture. Living Coral is an ideal partner for cosier, heavier textures such as wool, upholstery and velvet.
PALLADIANA TERRAZZO
You’ve seen terrazzo flourish from its roots as a traditional Venetian type of flooring to its current manifestations in product design and digital graphics. Just look to Ferm Living’s Terrazzo wallpaper and product range with its muted shades and frivolous pattern to see how far it has been abstracted.
But the next gen of this marble chip product is palladiana terrazzo. In this incarnation, you’ll see much larger pieces of marble slab broken up, arranged by hand and then filled in with poured terrazzo. It’s redolent of crazy paving but has more glamour and major retro appeal. Already ahead of the curve, Tashas laid a palladiana floor in their new Marc outlet in Sandton.
ART DECO
Having taken its cue from a mix of styles and movements, one being Cubism, another Mayan, the Art Deco style of the 1920s and 1930s is an opulent aesthetic that packs a punch. Who could forget Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby?
Glamorous and full of rich details, this luxe look hits all the right notes. While the revival of Art Deco is more subdued than its predecessor, you’ll still notice the style’s use of metallics (particularly brass), black accents, mirror, decorative lights and simple geometry.
CURVES
Ovals, ellipses, circles, crescents: they’ll be everywhere this year, especially in furniture. Look to Wiener GTV Design’s Targa Lounge chair and the Allegory Desk, both of which hit the nail on the head with their generous curves in bent beech. Not only is this trend reminiscent of classical design and architecture, but of the 1970s too.
Think dining chairs with upholstered crescent-shaped backs, lamps with two-dimensional circular bases and shades, arched door frames and gently curved silhouettes on larger furniture pieces.
Even the humble dot will return to design, this time up-scaled for a more graphic result, a la Popham Design’s Arch tiles, which give different geometric effects depending on how they’re arranged.
MAXIMALISM
More is more, says this year’s maxi trend. But be warned, it’s a case of embracing personality and character in a space, not quantity. Layering is key, be it patterning (think Ardmore), texture or a collection of treasured travel finds.
Decorator Liam Mooney has mastered this approach. “Having a lot of stuff that you don't love makes you a hoarder, not a maximalist. Constantly edit and refine your eye, forget about interior design and rather focus on populating your life with objects that turn you on.”