It’s a new year, which means the folks over at Pantone have predicted what the next colour trend is going to be for 2018: Ultra Violet.

(Image credit: Pantone)

Purple is the marmite of the colour world, you either love it or you hate it. I know it is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I couldn’t be more excited about this colour! It is my favourite! Ultra Violet is powerful and luxurious. It symbolises wealth, ambition, creativity, forward thinking, nonconformity, unconventionality, is associated with royalty and idols such as David Bowie, Prince and Jimi Hendrix have worn purple to express their individuality. Purple is a truly magical, dramatic and complex colour.

(Image credit: Pantone)

If you love the colour purple or wanted to try it out and be more colour confident, but aren’t sure where to start, fear not! Below are some ideas on how you can incorporate not only this rich colour, but other shades, tones and hues of purple in to your home.

Statement furniture

(Image credit: The English Room)

You don’t need to go mad with this (unless you want to) and if you are still colour shy or more in to the minimalist look, but want a pop of ultra violet in your living room, why not go for a statement sofa? Keep your walls white or neutral, but also bring in other colours through your artwork, textiles and other decorative items, making sure you’ve got some purple dotted around the room in accessories or wall art to make it flow and cohesive.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

You can use this same trick in the bedroom as well. Why not try reupholstering your headboard with a bold fabric? Use velvet for a luxurious look.

Flooring

(Image credit: Country Living)

Why not be daring and give your flooring a make over? Purple carpet or painted brick or wood flooring can look incredibly stylish and unique!

Monochrome/Tonal

 

(Image credits: ELLE Decor & Bright Bazaar)

This look is for the colour brave and maximalists among us. Explore this colour through it’s different shades and hues to create a monochrome/tonal look in your home. These all-out schemes prove that a copious amount of purple can create stunning spaces.

Go Lighter

(Image credit: House and Garden)

Ultra violet can be quite a dark and masculine, yet vibrant colour, and using a lighter shade in pastel or lilac can create a softer, more feminine look. This will also help make the space light and airy. The colour lilac creates a more relaxing atmosphere, which makes it perfect for living rooms and bedrooms.

Ceiling

(Image credit: This Old House)

Go for something different and paint your ceiling! Painting the ceiling in this dramatic shade can make tall walls seem small and can seem quite heavy, but you could also paint the ceiling in a lighter shade to open the room up some more and give the illusion of higher ceilings. It’s all about intention with this look.

Wallpaper

(Image credit: Anthony Tieutli)

Decorate your walls with a purple patterned wallpaper! A pattern as seen on this wallpaper can help break the colour up and make it look less intense.

Tiles

(Image Credit: House Beautiful)

Why not spruce up your kitchen or bathroom with some purple tiles? Add a pop of colour with tiles for a splash back or a whole wall as soon in this bathroom design, with purple dotted around to carry it around the wall. Keep the room light with white tiles and cabinetry, which gives it a modern look and a more open feeling.

Textiles

(Image credit: Urban Outfitters)

Add a splash of purple to your room in the form of textiles. This is an easy solution and can range from bedding, wall art and lampshades to cushions, throw pillows and blankets, which also means you can change and swap out these textiles for different colours when the next trend comes along or change it depending on what season you’re in. Try mixing up patterns and textures to create contrast and add variety.

Multi-coloured

Here are some visuals I created in Room Styler using Ultra Violet in my home in Cape Town:

(Image credits: Own Roomstyler Visuals)

If you are more colour confident like myself, why not try mixing and matching purple with other colours to create a fun, vibrant and playful interior scheme?  Take inspiration from nature when decorating with other colours. Green works fantastically with purple and you can bring natural elements through indoor plants and flowers such as orchids or lavender.

Feature Walls

(Image credit: Own Roomstyler Visual)

If you’re not too keen on having purple on all four walls, you can have it on one as a feature wall. Paint the other walls in another colour or in neutrals such as grey, beige, magnolia or white, and bring in purple in the accessories and plants to create a balance throughout the room.

Contrasting Complementaries

(Image credit: Own Roomstyler Visual)

Create a contrast in your home by using purple’s complimentary colour that is opposite it on the colour wheel: yellow. You may think these two don’t go together but they really do! Yellow can help brighten up this scheme and add warmth to your colour palette. This is one of my favourite colour combinations, as shown in my second year work at University for a Library cafe design:

(Image credit: Own product board)

(Image credit: Own Vectorworks Visual)

(Image credit: Own Roomstyler Visual)

I love this space. It’s my first home and I have wanted to look at how it could be redecorated for a while now. I think ultra violet suites the layout and shape of the open plan living space really well and makes it look modern and stylish. Believe it or not, when I was a little girl I had ultra violet paint on all four walls of my bedroom in this very house! Perhaps that was a sign of things to come? Maybe I knew as a kid how powerful and fun the colour purple could be? I hope that one day I will get to give the old place the update it deserves!

I hope this has given some of you purple lovers or dabblers out there some ideas on how you can include this rich and experimental colour in to your home. If you despise purple, I hope this has opened your mind to it, even only just a little.

Thank you for reading! And, Happy New Year! (I know, better late than never though, right?)

Danica x