Peach Fuzz might be Pantone's Color of the Year for 2024, but we predict that ochre will steal the show. Mood-lifting and warm, ochre brings energy, confidence, and optimism to a space.
Rich turmeric and ochre have a Seventies feel and pair beautifully with neutral, as epitomized in American actress, Mandy Moore's living room. It can be used anywhere in the home but is particularly effective in busy spaces, such as living rooms, or north-facing rooms that lack light.
Ochre is a welcoming, joyful, vibrant room color idea, agrees Dominic Myland of Mylands. Similar to when decorating with yellow, it works well as an accent color or as the main color within the room. It welcomes a touch of nostalgia, too.
'Ochre hues are ideal for adding a burst of intense golden warmth,' says Laura O'Connell, product manager, Thomas Sanderson. 'A palette of rich mustard with white or off-white creates a well-balanced look.'
We love a shade with history and it would seem the fashion and design world agrees – you don't get much more original than ochre. One of the earliest pigments known to man, it appeared as an accent color when cave dwellers used it to decorate their walls 32,000 years ago. Earthy and mellow, it last found favor in the Sixties, but now, with the popularity of quiet luxury color schemes, more and more interior designers are looking for ways to make a home look expensive using just clever color choices.
‘To use ochre, yellow or gold, you need to think of it as the “neutral” in the scheme; as a foil to set off other colors, not to overpower everything else,' says Susan Deliss, textile designer and interior decorator. 'Avoid anything that says canary or banana and go for something that sets off the architecture or warms up a cooler space.’
Not only that, vibrant ochre has warm, sunny associations, so it's no surprise that it works both as an eye-catching accent color, as well as lends itself to, say, brightening up a narrow, long living room or a formal living room.
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