Pantone Colour of The Year 2020 and How To Use It in Home Decor

Last updated: 04 Apr 2023

American printing company Pantone is famous for producing the definitive colour guide. Printed on little pieces of card, the Pantone colours are the default reference for the printing industry, and for paint and home furnishings too.

Pantone Colour of The Year 2020 and How To Use It in Home Decor

American printing company Pantone is famous for producing the definitive colour guide. Printed on little pieces of card, the Pantone colours are the default reference for the printing industry, and for paint and home furnishings too.

Know the Pantone colour you are looking for, and you can colour match practically anything to that shade. Pantone also has its finger firmly on the pulse of fashion and style, and at the start of each year releases its predictions for the hot colour of the year.

 

Pantone colour guide

Pantone colour guide

Usually, Pantone get it spot on. Last year, Pantone predicted coral as the shade of the year, and for 2018, a deep shade of violet. Right enough, these colour choices were widely reflected in catwalk fashion and home furnishings.

So if you want to be the style setter among your friends and snap up items in the latest shades before they all sell out, here’s what you need to know about this year’s hot shade.

Classic Blue

 

Classic blue fabric chair

Classic blue fabric chair

 

After the vibrant coral and unusual purple of the last two years, the 2020 choice of “Classic Blue” seems a conservative choice. Pantone describe the shade as “reminiscent of the sky at dusk” but it’s probably better described as a shade half way between royal blue and navy blue. Neither dark, nor light.

The good news from a homeowner’s perspective is that this is a really easy shade to use in your home. Although you’ll often hear people saying they don’t like the bolder colour choices of orange, pink or lime green, most people are very comfortable with a deep blue shade. It’s a calming, sophisticated choice and there are lots of ways of incorporating it into your interior design.

Match it With White

Blue and white is a classic colour combination which works perfectly in all styles of houses. One of the best ways of updating your kitchen or bathroom is by using blue as an accent colour. If you’re decorating, opt for a basic white bathroom suite, and get the walls tiled with plain white tiles half way up the walls. Leave the rest of the wall plain, and paint the top half of the wall in whichever accent colour you choose. Paint is one of the cheapest ways of updating any room in the house, and is considerably less expensive than buying a new kitchen every time fashions change. You could even update the paint every year in line with whatever the Pantone shade is for that year.

But Isn’t Blue a Cold Colour?

One of the main reasons why people avoid using blue in their homes is because of blue’s reputation as a cold colour. This all comes back to the colour theory and spectrum that we were all taught at school. Red and yellow are warm colours, blue and green are cold colours. Although there’s some truth to the theory, there is no need to stick to the theory completely. It’s certainly true that blue works well in areas where there is lots of natural light flooding in, preferably in rooms which are south facing. In some homes, blue used in north facing rooms can feel a bit gloomy.

 

Blue kitchen breakfast bar

Blue kitchen breakfast bar - Image courtesy of Ooh Fleur

 

 

A good way of working out whether a colour which looks amazing in the magazines will work in your home is to buy a few tester pots. These pots only cost around £1, and provide enough paint for you to cover an area around 30cm by 30cm. This should provide plenty of coverage to help you decide which particular shade works best.

Soft Furnishings and Blue

If you don’t want to paint or totally redo your entire room, then a good way of using blue in your home is by using it in soft furnishings.

 

Ooh Fleur Blue Kitchen Units

Ooh Fleur Blue Kitchen Units

 

Blue cushions, throws for the sofa, blinds or curtains are widely available, and will help you bring your room up to date with the minimum of effort. This is also a good way to ring the changes if you’re in rented accommodation, and not allowed to make major decorative changes. If you’re on a budget, scour charity shops, car boot sales and local listings sites online to see what other people are getting rid of. As well as saving yourself some money, you’ll find unusual items which you won’t see in all of your friends’ houses too. Don’t rule out customising items to tie in with the new trends either. Natural fabrics such as cotton, linen or wool are easy to dye. Cold water dye isn’t complicated, and all you need is a bucket, some salt and a pair of rubber gloves. For around £5 you could have what looks like totally new cushion covers or sofa throw.

Know Your Complementary Colours

The problem with going all out for one colour in your home is that blue can lose its appeal if there’s too much of it in one room. A good way of breaking up any block of colour is to use complementary colours. Those are the colours which are opposite each other on the colour wheel or spectrum. The complementary colour to mid-blue is orange, and the burnt orange shades work very well when teamed with blue. If you’ve invested in a sumptuous blue sofa and matching blue cushions, think about buying a couple of orange ones too. The orange will break up the blue and make the room feel a bit warmer too.

Feature Walls and Blue

The idea of painting three walls in a room in a plain colour and using a very bright wallpaper on the fourth is a bit dated. However, you can use the same technique if you like the idea of injecting a bit of blue into your home but don’t want to go the whole hog and decorate everything blue. A good wall to choose is one with a fireplace, or just the longest wall in the room. If, once you’ve painted it, it looks a bit stark, then break up the blue with some oversized pieces of artwork, or an enormous mirror.

What About Blue Flooring?

Blue is a trickier colour to use on the floor, but it shouldn’t be discounted if you’re giving your home a makeover. What is probably true though is that if you’ve already chosen blue for the walls, furniture and soft furnishings, then it’s probably best to steer clear of blue on the floor too. If however you’ve gone for a more neutral shade on the walls, then blue flooring is something to think about. Carpet is often the default choice for flooring but can be expensive, especially if you’re looking at it as a short-term investment which you will want to change in a couple of years. A rug may be a better option, as these can be bought off the shelf and just rolled away when you get bored of it. Laminate flooring or tiles is another possibility, and hard flooring which is easy to clean is often the most appropriate choice for bathrooms and kitchens.

Other areas of your home

There's no need to just stick to the traditional areas of your home such as rugs, cushions and curtains to feature classic blue.  There really are no limits on the pieces you choose to go blue with, nor the rooms you feature this style in. From range ovens created in a bespoke classic blue, to kitchen units, to children's bedroom furniture.  Let your creative imagination run wild and experiment.

 

Britannia Delphi Pantone Classic Blue Range Cooker

Delphi Pantone Classic Blue Range Cooker - Image courtesy of Britannia

 

So looking forward, what are likely to be the next big trends?

It’s hardly surprising that blue has been chosen as the stand out colour for 2020 as it’s been gaining in popularity for years. Blue has overtaken grey for the default colour choice for home decoration. Just look through the pages of any interiors magazine and you’ll find no end of dark blue kitchens and comfortable blue velvet sofas. The risk is perhaps that blue has peaked and that it will start to decrease in popularity in 2020 rather than continuing to rise. The trick is always spotting the next big trend and being the trendsetter, not the follower.

 

Blue children's bedroom furniture

Blue children's bedroom furniture - Image courtesy of Ooh Fleur

 

Obviously none of us can look into the future and it’s impossible to predict fashion trends with all certainty. Fashion experts have conflicting ideas about what’s going to be on the catwalks for the 2021 seasons. Rather than predicting an exact shade, it’s more about looking at trends and colour “families” which will feature heavily in interior designs.

Most experts agree that colours inspired by nature are going to be a big feature of 2021 design. As we all start to think a lot more about the environment and out impact on it, we’re going to be filling our homes with greens of all shades, yellow, purples and sky blue. Neutrals aren’t going to disappear either, but grey has definitely peaked and is on the way out. The neutrals on the way up in popularity are warmer sandy or reddish shades, perhaps mixed with stone or off-white shades too. Finally, designers are predicting a return to the types of shades which were popular in the 80s, such as turquoise blue, orange or grape purple. These colours will certainly ad a retro vibe to any home and will draw attention but should be used with care. It’s easy to go overboard with the retro colours and leave your home looking anything but relaxing and co-ordinated.