Gimme some sugar

From the Resene decorating blog

Interior design trend seekers are sweetening up to candy coloured pastels. Learn how to bring these scrumptious hues into your own home.

We all want candy, but do we want its colour counterparts on our walls? Lately, it seems as if the answer to that question is a resounding ‘yes’. Sugary pastel shades are trending again, and this time the look is more sophisticated than saccharine.

Uplifting but not overpowering, these sorts of colours are a no-brainer for nurseries and children’s bedrooms, though it’s becoming more and more apparent that the grown-ups can have it their way too. Pastels are very soothing by nature and can be a visual shortcut to relaxation in any room. Although there’s an undeniable femininity to them, they’re actually extremely flexible and some can be viewed as neutrals. You might choose to play up their retro appeal or offset it by keeping your selection simple and your interior lines clean for a more modern look.

“Using pastels in your interior is not just confined to the realm of retro,” agrees Christchurch interior designer Becky Lee of Becky Lee Interiors. “These beautiful tones can add colour and interest without the eye-watering side effect of brights. Channelling the vibe of mid-century Palm Springs, they can act as fabulous accent colours in achromatic contemporary interiors and are equally at home in character houses. They combine effortlessly with most neutrals, and can add a real sense of softness, romanticism, freshness and optimism to an interior.”

Pastel fantastic

So what’s now? “Dusty pinks continue to be as popular as ever in interiors; however, the new kids on the pastel block are neo mint and cantaloupe,” says Becky. “Neo mint is a soft turquoise and green that has a fresh, oxygenating tone – a personal favourite of mine is Resene Summer Green. Popular in the 1950s, it’s now appearing in contemporary kitchens and bathrooms. A soft undertone of orange, cantaloupe is a cross between pastel and earthy that’s currently on trend for living spaces; think Resene Wax Flower. It’s a favourite of boho-chic lovers and combines well with neutrals and warm honey-toned timber, cane and jute, plus the greens of houseplants.”

To help you determine which sweet-as shades are for you, home in on the look you love by considering whether you prefer:

• lolly-bright pastels
• cool ice-cream-pale pastels
• warmer dusky and dusty pastels.

For some, sticking to a palette of all bright (like violet Resene Biloba Flower and pink Resene Ballerina), all cool (like fresh green Resene Peppermint and baby blue Resene Pattens Blue) or all warm pastels (like cherry pink Resene Gelato and hazy blue Resene Half Kumutoto) may be the most pleasing.

Becky says, “A good trick to keep a consistent feel when adding colour to your home is to choose paints of similar depth and tone. Use the LRV (Light Reflectance Value) on the back of each colour on Resene charts to check how close in depth colours are. You can add bold colours to a pastel scheme; however they will work best as accents in soft furnishings and artworks.”

Ways to play

“As always, it’s important to have a clear design direction when you start adding colour into a space,” says Becky. “Think about how your rooms relate to each other and make sure there are connecting threads throughout your home. For example, a wall colour in one room might be an accent colour in the next.”

• Combine pale blues (such as early-morning sky blue Resene Half Sail) and greens with white or light grey for an almost-monochromatic effect. “Pale blue is beautiful in living areas and north-facing bedrooms,” suggests Becky, while “mint looks fab with crisp white, so works particularly well in bathrooms.” Another of her top greens is fresh-apple mint Resene Kandinsky, which would perform equally well in the kitchen teamed with light timber finished in Resene Colorwood Whitewash, stainless steel, marble and pastel appliances such as a fridge or kitchen mixer.

• “Being versatile enough to last into the teenage years, lilac is a lovely colour for a girl’s bedroom,” says Becky. Opt for an ombre paint effect with hues graduating from mid-toned violet Resene Dancing Girl to lilac Resene Half Fog.

• Let the sunshine into a space that doesn't get much through the window with an energetic, sugary yellow such as Resene Sweet Corn – which is on the brighter shade of pale, so it doesn't feel insipid, then enhance the glow with creamy white like Resene Quarter Spanish White, gold accents painted in Resene Solid Gold metallic and finish it off with warm lighting.

• Adopt a Scandinavian style by teaming a true white like Resene Half Alabaster, blonde wood in Resene Colorwood Rock Salt and grey marled textiles with a pastel orange such as milky mango Resene Tacao. Peach Resene Consuela is modern with jewel-like greens such as Resene Deep Teal, a mix of metallics and Resene All Black. Plus, the look works well with bricks, too.

• Darker hues can be the savoury to pastel’s sweet. In a living area, light coral pink Resene Paper Doll with school-blazer navy Resene Bunting and dense grey Resene Half Jumbo is a feminine/masculine match made in heaven.

• Use pastels to tone down a bolder colour – pale whiskey gold Resene Manhattan as the supporting act for a feature wall in caramel Resene Chelsea Gem, for instance.

• Colour block with neutrals and a pastel feature wall; or with a half-neutral, half-pastel wall. Try hazy grey blue Resene Smokescreen with dusty neutral Resene Soothe.

• Go graphic by using painter’s tape to mask triangular wedges on a wall that you can paint in several pastel shades: try pastel mauve Resene Sonique with muted grey purple Resene Deluge, placid green Resene Envy and cool green Resene Edgewater.

• If the cottagey effect of pastels is too twee for thee, don’t sugar-coat it. Instead, go for a dusky version of the hue you’re drawn to – swapping snowy green-blue Resene Cut Glass for soft, warm blue Resene Ziggurat, perhaps – or give the look an edge by painting industrial-style furniture with pastels to harden them up.

Top tips:

• Ease into candy colours by using Resene testpots to paint your furniture or accessories: your dining table or chairs, a stool, a coffee table or plant pots.

• If you really want to have some fun, paint the risers of your staircase with a rainbow of pastels, or paint an actual pastel rainbow mural on a child’s bedroom wall.

• Physical and visual texture makes pastels feel even more welcoming, so incorporate them in the form of tactile textiles or a graphic wallpaper design such as Resene Wallpaper Collection 90860 or Resene Wallpaper Collection 90220.

July 30, 2020

For more ideas and inspiration use the room and colour filter to search for the colour inspiration for your home and view the huge colour and wallpaper library at your local Resene ColorShop.

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