Trend Tuesday: Passionate Purples

The “it” color, the “hot” hue, it’s how we’ve referred to purple for more than a year now. So I’m confident when I say purple continues to reign supreme as the go-to color for fall. Purple has proven itself as a true color trend through longevity in the market along with its ability to change and create unique color combinations. It’s the perfect mix of both the warm stimulating qualities of red and the cool calming effect of blue. It can be subtle and sophisticated, or powerful and punchy.

Often when looking to nature for color inspiration we lean to green, blue, yellow, or even brown. Purple is typically the forgotten color, but when we describe different hues within the purple family we use natural associations. So why not use them as our inspiration for interiors.

One determining trend factor I look for are colors that can break down barriers. When a color usually connected with one industry, group, or gender begins showing up across the board and changes how someone from another area perceives the color, then you’ve got a successful color direction. Purple has successfully achieved this status, especially influencing men’s fashion. Because of its sensual and spiritual connotations, purple has feminine appeal and women are most attracted to this hue. However, the popularity of purple has also gained attention by the male sex, who are growing more comfortable with wearing the color as an accessory or even an entire outfit. Along with this new found apparel acceptance comes a refined attitude for using purple in other areas of their lives, including interior décor! 

And this goes for women too!

So where is purple going next…well as blue gains popularity, purple begins to shift more and more towards the warmer red-violets making the range of purple more passionate, powerful, and hot. When it comes to interiors we will continue to use purple mixed with gray to create a grounded balance, and we will still see purples done in a complementary scheme (paired with it’s opposite), but what is really driving the purple trend forward is pairing this color in analogous (with colors that sit next to purple on the color wheel) or even diad palettes (purple plus another color two steps away).  Let’s take a look at those combinations through some visual inspiration.

Monochromatic

Complementary

And now for the freshest look for purple…

Analogous and Diad color combinations. The idea here is to pair purple with the warm color that sits near it on the wheel, especially purples with reds and oranges, HOT!

And if those spaces aren’t quite colorful enough for you. Try expanding your color palette beyond just 2 or 3 colors and go for an Analogous scheme with 5 or even 6 colors. Beware: these are tricky, but when done with the right color proportion, temperature control, and addition of neutrals for balance, they can be really beautiful and in both of these rooms (below) the purple is what ties everything together. When using multiple colors like these two shots (below) from Rohm and Haas, don’t forget to give special attention to that inspiration color!