Randi Wagner, interior designer for Cardel Homes, says the trend is moving towards fewer colours throughout the home. “We’re seeing a lot more consistency,” she says. “Maybe one or two colours standard.”

Calgary is a more conservative market, according to Wagner, so warmer tones such as brown, reds, and oranges are seen more regularly.

Greg Jarmula, senior manager of Walls Alive, says due to the higher altitude Calgarians seems to want darker walls. The rule is, as Wagner puts it, typically darker colours or too many different colours make a room look smaller. Jarmula warns that blue is the only colour hard to work with in Calgary. “The harshness of our light makes blue colder and depressive,” he says. “People go to the Caribbean and want the same blue they saw there, but because of our altitude, Calgary doesn’t get as many filters and the blue is not as pure.”

But any colour can be used on the walls when incorporated with the right colour scheme. “There are no ugly colours,” Jarmula says. “Just colour used in the wrong context.” The two forces pushing colour trends these days are fashion runways and events on a global scale, according to Jarmula. “What women wear today will be put on walls tomorrow.”
He also saw the return of taupes, browns, and yellows after September 11, speaking of themes of family, safety, peace and “let us survive.” The one colour still going strong though, especially in furniture, is red. Jarmula says red speaks of resolve and boldness; that we are moving forward.

For both Wagner and Jarmula, they hope to see cooler tones in the future.

“We have been living with taupe or as I like to call it, the mud era, for about 10 years,” says Jarmula. “I think we are in the season where one era ends and another begins.”
With furniture pushing back towards black and white, Jarmula says the paint industry will respond by having colours that will be a good backdrop. He forecasts a lighter palette of “beefed up pastels” and saturated colours with less grey undertones emerging.

As far as colour psychology is concerned, Wagner doesn’t buy into it much.

“Choose what actually makes you happy, not what is said to make you happy,” she says.

Jarmula says colours are relational. “You can’t expect a colour to evoke a certain mood, especially not just the paint colour.” Colours in nature are safe to work with and he says some designers use a prairie theme because of our location. “It brings the outside in,” he says. Both are in favour of personality and personal taste.

“Homes can speak to ‘this is where I am in life’ and can always be changed afterwards,” says Jarmula. With wall colour being the easiest element in a home to change, Wagner says to experiment.

For those wanting to see a bit of colour or texture while keeping the flow of a home, faux finishing and wallpaper can play a role. “When people think of wallpaper they think of outdated floral patterns,” says Wagner.

However, Walls Alive offers a number of classical and contemporary options. Jarmula says grass cloth is very popular these days. Grass cloth is a type of wallpaper that has woven strands of “grass” together, available in many different colour choices.

Faux finishing can be useful in rooms to make a statement. “A wine cellar, for example, can look much bolder with faux-finished walls imitating older style rather than one solid colour,” says Jarmula.

Accent walls can be fun to play with, but Wagner suggests putting thought into which walls to highlight first. “Don’t just pick and choose randomly,” she says. “You’re actually trying to accent something, say a fireplace or windows.”

Self-enclosed rooms such as the powder room or kids’ bedrooms can have separate themes and call for personal touches. Ensuite bathrooms should avoid intense colours like orange, as it will affect the lighting on your face. Most people go for a lighter spa look in ensuites, according to Wagner. Jarmula says it’s definitely worth it to energize particular rooms.

While people are reluctant to change other more permanent finishes such as flooring because of costs, paint can be the economic answer. “The paint colour can make or break a room,” says Jarmula.

Even though paint colour is a vital element in design, the paint industry will never lead home trends because it depends on the other materials in the home to co-ordinate within the colour scheme. Wagner recommends picking paint last in the home because it is never really permanent. CL