Summer Colours

Hot Dulux Colours for Summer – a palette rooted in the garden

Garden fresh is taking on a whole new meaning this summer. Once associated with the culinary world, the concept has branched into home décor, infusing outdoor freshness into living spaces.

The summer of 2014’s hottest hues – becoming firmly planted in all areas of the home – include floral pastels, bright reds, yellows and oranges, and field greens.

After a long, cold winter, warm garden-like colours are quickly gaining popularity on Canadian walls as well as in furniture and accessories, trending away from the comfort zone of whites and beiges towards brighter tones that emit a feeling of renewed energy and help lift spirits.

Topping the list of summer favourites by Dulux paint are tomato reds such as Tender Rose (10YR 16/407), spicy oranges such as Pagoda (60YR 36/468), pastel yellows such as May Yellow (50YY 75/254), and meadow greens such as Potpourri Green (50GY 66/111).

Paint is the easiest and least expensive way to bring summer’s warm colours into your home. Start by choosing a main colour for a room and then adding other hues in unequal amounts. A good rule of thumb is to use the dominant tone in about two-thirds of the room and the other colours in lessening quantities. For example, if you select a soft green as the dominant colour, you may want to paint your trim, doors and ceilings in varying shades of that green or another colour of the same concentration.

When painting more than one room, plan your entire colour scheme before starting the job. Paste or tape paint chips of the colours you’ve chosen for each room on a piece of white cardboard to make sure they work well together, and adjust your choices accordingly, keeping in mind that the shades will be much more intense on a large wall.

Our new, online tools make the paint selection process easier, taking the guesswork out of choosing colours. Our paint colour visualizer enables you to virtually paint sample rooms or your own uploaded photos and explore different colour combinations before picking up a paintbrush. You can also upload photos of your favourite sites or vacation hotspots, and our paint software will automatically help  recreate the feeling of the image in a room by suggesting a paint palette based on the colours in the particular photo.

A change of wall colour can freshen up a room like no other decorating tool and this summer’s colours will help bring the beauty of the outdoors inside and keep your home feeling warm even once winter rolls around again.