Sorry, copper, your time is up: Darren Palmer's guide to interior trends in 2018

The plethora of choices we have in buying products and finishes for our interiors can bamboozle even the savviest shopper, but here’s a guide to what’s likely to make its way into stores and homes in 2018.

Walnut

EuroCucina happens in line with the Salone de Mobile in Milan every second year, this April being the next. Expect to see advancements in benchtop technology and more intelligent appliances. Something the last EuroCucina featured heavily was walnut.

The grain and mid-depth colour of walnut is bound to start coming back into furniture from chairs, entertainment cabinets and tables to decor pieces. Matching walnut tones, including deep, desaturated browns, with neutrals, tobacco colours and olive green will be a trend direction for this year.

Green

While Pantone’s colour of the year for 2017 was a somewhat divisive apple green, dark-toned emerald greens will find a place in designer homes.

The more muted and deeper hue, still with a gemstone lustre, will be a standout colour in soft furnishings and decor. Blue-based greens, like ocean teal, will have a place in the latter part of the year when temperatures rise and we’re looking to visually cool our homes.

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Anthracite metallic

We’re seeing charcoal represented in things like taps, accessories and handles in a dark, anthracite or gunmetal-coloured metallic form, adding weight to the timeless nature of grey interior fittings and finishes.

Coloured metallic

Sorry copper, your time is up, but blending copper tones with blush, red and burgundy metallics could extend its life. Brass and gold tones stay at the fore and all colours can be made metallic. Look for decor objects with a layering of tones of the same colour, or even pearlised metallic finishes that bring to mind oil slicks and mother-of-pearl.

Technology

Home automation gets simpler. Google Home and Amazon Alexa become a simple voice-activated driver like Siri is for your phone. Every appliance speaks to your mobile device wirelessly and functional technology included in new products adds value to the user’s life. 3D printing and digital printed textiles create intricacy. Objects and textiles will be ever more detailed.

Flora

The moody, painterly and graphic approach to florals will continue. Large-scale prints work beautifully in artworks, wall coverings and even bed covers and bring a sensual softness. Palm leaves and tropical motifs will be a continued focus in home textiles, too, bringing life and graphic interest into bedrooms and lounges, with hand-painted designs or juxtaposition with backgrounds.

Handmade

We are looking for things that connect us to simpler times such as artisanal or handmade products. These will embrace fringes, knotting, macrame and interpretation of materials that otherwise might be treated as by-products or waste, such as recycled plastics or leather hides. Added to the desire for handmade or rustic inclusions is the reinterpretation of traditional patterns from across the globe..

Apricot

Blush has come and gone, being replaced last year with millennial pink, which will likely evolve into desaturated apricot in textiles and furniture. This spectrum will encompass saffron, terracotta and burgundy in the cooler months.