COLOR TRENDS FOR 2020

As I wrote in my post about the new trends that were presented in the last Milan Design Week 2019, color was certainly one of the main one.

We saw pastel hues, colors like mustard and dark green inspired by the 70s but also fluorescent and vivid colors like fuchsia inspired by the 80s. And then the new neutrals, like beige and champagne, which are taking the place of pure white.

So let’s see what the trend colors of 2020 will be. I will also give you some advices on how to use and combine this new colors.

DARK RED/COPPER

In my opinion this is the color of the last Milan Design Week 2019, we saw it everywhere. It is an evolution of the terracotta color, one of the trendiest colors of the last three years. This new shade is a darker red or copper red, which is also a reference to the 1970s.

I love it combined with brown and dark pink so with little contrast. Very nice it is also the combination of the copper color and light blue (they are almost complementary colors and this creates a perfect balance of that satisfies the eye). Or you can combined it with mustard, brown and green, in full 70s style.

Coedition – Saba

Photo credits: Normann Copenhagen

Photocredits: Coedition

Cassina

Arper

YELLOW

Yellow was one of the most used colors at the last Milan Design Week 2019. Both pastel/lemon yellow and mustard yellow (a trend that had already begun to emerge this winter).

How did we see it combined during Design Week? Mustard yellow tends to be combined, following the mood of the 70s, with browns and dark red/copper red, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere. But the combination with dark blue is also nice, creating a contrast between a warm color and a cold one. The light yellow is instead often matched with other pastel colors.

SabaCoedition

FOREST GREEN

Green was another trend color in this last Milan Design Week 2019 and therefore we can expect to see a lot of green next year. Do you remember that I had already talked about green forest in this post last August and that I told you it would become one of the trend colors? Well, it looks like I got it right! Next year the green forest will become more desaturated (let’s say less bright) and slightly lighter, at least this seems to be the trend.

How to use it? You can combine different shades of green together, always with the same saturation. Or you can combine it with mustard, brown and dark red to obtain some 70s vibes (like we saw before for yellow).

Swedese

Muuto

Normann Copenhagen

BLUE – LIGHT BLUE

The color that represents elegance and balance, it had disappeared for a while but it definitely came back in this last Milan Design Week 2019. I saw a lot of dark blue or a desaturated light blue that I really like.

We have seen it used in different ways: different shades of blue combined together, matched with yellow as seen above or again, especially in the shade of light blue, combined with dark red/copper.

Photo credits: Pedrali

Masquespacio

Normann Copenhagen

Photo credits: Saba – Normann Copenhagen

Petite Friture

PASTEL COLORS

Ice cream colors are already popular this season but it seems like we will see them also in 2020, even if to a lesser extent. The new pastel colors are used like neutral hues, so expect to see walls, kitchens and also bathroom in these colors.

How to combine them? Pastel colors can be freely combined together, creating a fresh and fun atmosphere.

Photo credits: Pedrali

Normann Copenhagen – Arper

Studio Pepe

Ex-T

NEUTRAL COLORS LIKE BEIGE AND CHAMPAGNE

Neutral shades like beige, light grey and champagne take the place of pure white, which almost seems to have disappeared in this Milan Design Week 2019.

Photo credits: Normann Copenhagen

Photo credits: Normann Copenhagen – Saba

FUCSIA AND BRIGHT COLORS

A minor trend but which I believe will grow in the coming years, also considering that these colors have been missing for some time in the catalogs of the design brands.

How to combine them? You can combine them together, such as fuchsia with lemon yellow, or you can combine them with pastel colors (creating an interesting contrast) or you can just them as an accent of color.

Normann Copenhagen