Lifestyle

The colour experts have spoken and the Pantone Colour of the Year 2025 is……Mocha Mousse. This annual choice is described as a colour that ‘captures the global zeitgeist’, and is a shade we expect to see in fashion, advertising and in our homes.

November is when winter really arrived. Dark mornings, dark nights, a touch of frost, even a layer of snow. It is also the month many of us will have fired up the central heating for the first time this season.

The Guardian recently ran an article celebrating the ensuite bathroom. It highlighted the changing requirements of home movers who are, as a minimum, increasingly requesting an ensuite to at least one bedroom.

The annual ‘colour of the year’ announcements are always eagerly awaited by those who follow interior trends. The first to stick its head above the parapet and make an announcement this year is paint specialist Dulux. Its Colour of the Year 2025 is True Joy.

One of the most exciting aspects about moving home is starting afresh with your interior design. A new property is a blank canvas, with the chance to express yourself in line with personal tastes or the latest home fashions.

House building trends in the UK haven’t changed for years and it’s common for homes to have different sized rooms. Not all of the dimensions are, let’s say, generous but we have to work with what we’ve got.

There are different types of keen home stylists. There’s the ones that change their accessories in line with current fashions, those that switch looks with every season and those who only open a tin of paint when their walls desperately need a fresh coat.

No matter what type of property you own or its value, there is one piece of advice that’s almost universal – a fresh coat of paint on the interior walls can improve selling prospects.

Fixing wood to our walls is nothing new. There is evidence wood panelling was used in ancient Greece, Rome, Japan and China, mainly to provide insulation and protection.

Pink? On every wall in the home? That’s exactly what the colour experts at Dulux say is the shortcut to interior design style.

We’re barely into autumn and already the interior design experts are predicting which trends will be big news in 2024. Livingetc – the glossy magazine and style bible – has already published its colour predictions for next year and there are some interesting shades in the spotlight.

After questioning more than 2,300 UK-based homeowners, residents and tradespeople, the Rated People Home Improvement Trends Report 2023 found this year’s most popular home improvement job will be painting and decorating. And why not? It is relatively quick and easy to change the aesthetic inside our homes with a tin of Dulux and some new accessories.