I love the mood board we came up with some days ago, with the pastel colors of the Bubble Gum Jelly Bean color palette.
The mood board shows a shabby chic style. However, these colors can be used for other interior styles too, and can be found in fashion as well.
Pastels are the answer to this dismal, uncertain time. Understandable, right? If color is emotion, then we would like to surround ourselves with gentle, subtle hues in our homes so that we can enjoy a calm and relaxing atmosphere. But more than that we want lightness and hope and fun. Yes, FUN!
Pastels in Fashion
Nicola Brognano is the creative director of Blumarine’s Spring Summer Collection 2021 called Bloom. And bloom it is, with the airy, flirty silhouettes, and soft, flowing fabric that skim the body.
Patent leather and bling add shine, and fake fur and applique details add texture.
This Blumarine collection gets its inspiration from the Y2K aesthetic of the late 90s and early 2000. People expected havoc brought about by a computer programming shortcut. In the 60s, programmers took out the first two digits of the year to bring down costs in computer storage. The scare was that computers could not read beyond December 31, 1999 because of these so-called Millenium bug.
Everyone expected a major glitch to occur especially when so many industries relied on computers, like banks, power companies, telecom providers, and even nuclear power plants.
Y2K aesthetics embraced tech optimism and the shine was carried into fashion, product design, and also interior design.
Now it’s back in this Brognano collection but given a modern vibe. Its unabashedly girlish feminine appeal is retro cool. There is a resurgence for this style as seen in streetwear and popular fashion. I am sure if we were not in quarantine, our malls would be carrying this look.
But it’s also good not to see the excesses of the fashion industry. Let’s use this time to re-think our mindless consumption of the past and change our buying habits to be more respectful of our natural resources and environment. Recycle, upcycle, repurpose and support local suppliers.
Pastels during this Pandemic
Here we are again. Another decade, another scare. If you feel the tug for pastels, succumb.
Although pastels are gentle and subtle, there is a quiet power in them. They evoke the feelings of summer, brightness, lightness.
The tones are sweet and refreshing. It is not surprising therefore that product and interior designers use these colors for homes and other living spaces. They have done so for decades now but these colors are gaining popularity again.
Pastels in Interiors
Calile Hotel
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The Calile Hotel in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia uses pastels in their rooms and furnishings. The pink color in the roof terrace is warm and inviting. The blue of the tiles in one of their guest bathrooms is cool and breezy. Surfaces inside the rooms are painted a pale pink. It’s an urban hotel that invites its guests to relax and unwind, to take siestas, dip in the pool, discover the city.
This glam hotel was designed by architecture studio Richards and Spence to “deliver a resort experience in an urban setting”.
Brickyard Farm
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The pink hue casts a warm glow around the whole kitchen, including the dark marble countertop which also has pink “infused” in it.
Whatever the original Victorian farmhouse kitchen looked like before, it has reincarnated into something fab. The kitchen does have a butler sink, cabinet metal pulls and a kitchen mixer tap in gold, which are similar to the copper used long ago.
Dreamy Dining Room
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This dining room has the luminous quality of a beautiful dream. The diffused light streaming in through sheer white curtains gives this space that ethereal look.
With the 60-30-10 rule of interior designers, most of the space is white. White walls. White ceilings. Even the dining table is white. The pastel colors add that warm glow.
Boho Living Room
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Carina @mrscarlissa calls her place her boho abode. For sure, this is a living room you’d love to hang around in with its huge green sectional sofa that looks comfy and soft. An accent pink shell chair has a pretty pink pouf in front of it, which you can use as a foot stool or as a temporary side table.
Finish the look by placing some metallic elements around the room to add texture, hanging some pretty prints or travel photos on your wall, and scattering cute cushions on the sofa.
Tip: Changing some furnishings like prints|posters|pictures, as well as bringing in other cushions, can change the vibe in the room.
Try Pastels for Your Living Spaces
After months of quarantine, a change of scenery is needed. Think about painting your home with pastel colors to bring in a refreshing energy. Children’s rooms, which traditionally are painted in pastel colors, are not the only rooms that can benefit from a light ambience.
Visit a Boysen Mix and Match Station nearest you to look at other color swatches. If you already know what you want, you can have your paint colors mixed right then and there.
It helps if you know the measurements of the surface area you will be painting so make sure you bring that info with you. Find out how much paint you’ll be needing with our paint calculator.