When you’re renovating or updating the look of your home’s interior, it can be hard to know what’s hot and what’s not. To help make sure your colour schemes and styling are on point in 2018, we spoke to Raelene Lovick from Perth’s Cocoon Interior Decorating and Design about the latest interior design trends. Here’s what we found out.

Colour schemes are warm, and drama is allowed

While white is still popular on interior walls, warmer whites are preferred to the cooler stark versions. We’re not talking yellows and creams, but warmer toned whites with a hint of greyish beige.

For those looking to add drama, using colours on bedrooms or dining rooms walls is becoming more popular. Highlight soft dusty pink walls with soft furnishings that bring in brighter pinks, greens and terracottas.

Feature walls can also add drama in architectural feature zones such as walls behind beds or fireplaces, or partial walls that separate open plan living areas. Have fun with these and add your own sense of style with a dramatic pop of colour or texture.

Indoor/outdoor entertaining areas

With Perth’s outdoor lifestyle it’s not surprising that alfresco dining and entertaining areas continue to be popular and highly sought-after. They are ideally designed to flow on from the interior living spaces making the indoor/outdoor entertaining part of the overall home.

In 2018, many people are choosing smaller dining tables inside, making their outdoor ‘dining room’ the place for a larger dining setting where they can entertain friends and family and make the most of Perth’s balmy evenings.

Outdoor televisions are waning in popularity as people want to spend time talking and interacting with friends. Outdoor kitchens and BBQs with dishwashers and sinks are the way to go if you want to make your outdoor entertaining space a key feature of your home.

Rustic textures and natural influences

Soft furnishings and décor inspired by rustic textures and natural influences are hotter than hot. Think basket weaves and natural fibres in rugs and window dressings, and linens or aged leather in furniture. Sleek and glossy is out, natural textures and rough edges are in.

This turn towards natural and earthy influences creates a calmer colour palette and makes the home feel like a warm, safe and welcoming place for families to escape to at the end of the day.

Matt finishes (they’re washable now)

With the turn away from high gloss and sleek surfaces, wall paints need to have a matt or satin finish to complement the rustic textures of the interiors.

Where previously home owners had to compromise between the look of a matt finish and the washability of a higher sheen paint, with Dulux Wash&Wear Matt you can now have it both ways. Dulux Wash&Wear Matt is the first truly washable matt wall paint. It allows you to wash away the most common marks and scuffs easily while giving you the sophistication of a matt surface.

Dark floors, feature ceilings

Want to bring more drama to your interior style? You could consider the latest trends towards dark timbers on floors. Following the rustic, tribal and natural influences, darker floor timbers are coming back to create elegance and drama in modern homes.

And if high-impact floors are not your thing, feature ceilings are the next big trend. Consider ditching the traditional white for a pop of bright or dramatic colour. Or for something that will get people talking, art-inspired wallpaper prints can be used on the ceiling for a mural effect.

And speaking of ceilings, if your home has a gorgeous raked ceiling with large timber beams, don’t paint them white. Bring them back to life as a rustic feature by exposing and treating the timber to give your room a warm, natural ambiance.

Want more interior design trends?

Knowing the latest interior design trends is vital when you’re planning to repaint, renovate or decorate. As a customer of Perth Premier Painting Contractors, you’ll receive a FREE professional colour consultation with one of our qualified interior designers. They’ll show you how easy it is to transform your home using the latest design and colour trends. If you’d like to know more, feel free to contact us on (08) 6263 4483.