Living With Living Coral
(L) Apartment in Stockholm by Note Design Studio, (R) Apartment in Spain by Colombo and Serboli Architects
Pantone - the colour oracle - named Living Coral the Colour of the Year; an enchantingly warm tone, perfect for summer. This annual announcement has been influencing purchasing decisions and product development across industries, for 20 years. Hence the choice is not plucked from the sky (or sea) - they undergo extensive research. You may expect this to entail visiting the design houses and catwalks - our kind of research. But it is so much more than this - their winner represents the global culture. And the process begins long before the 'colour trend' takes shape on the consumer platforms.
Coral nourishes and enriches sea life. In the same breath, today’s society has a destructive effect on it. London’s public awareness towards such effects has recently escalated. We’ve seen Extinction Rebellion protests, David Attenborough’s Climate Change documentary, and Greta Thunberg is a regular on the news. This year’s title thankfully promotes a love for nature.
It is also a response to digital tech and social media, and its lack of authentic intimacy. The preface being that Living Coral is sociable, engaging and joyful - qualities that are lost behind screens. Side note: try not to get stuck on how vividly instagrammable it is, and how the campaign is largely spread through such mediums…
Living Coral is a specify colour (16-1546) but alas, the trend acknowledgment application has vast variety. They all have a golden undertone, so work with brassy or gold touches. Peachy, pinky, orangey, coraly, it is all divine when worked subtlety. Enrich the palette with earthy brown tones. Then, everything ceramic and coral is of course a huge yes, this includes tiles. Off-set the heat with a fresh green - permission for this to be in the form of plants, plants and more plants.
Committing fully to a colour trend is always scary so perhaps purchase cushions and/or decorative accessories. Zara Home is on board with the coral and summer vibes, so head there if you’re on a budget. They also have some wildly appropriate scene shots here.
No doubt you will spot coral everywhere, if hadn't already. Here are some of our favourites -
1 Doris Leslie Blau 2 Zara Home 3 Max Ernst (print) 4 Gubi 5 Graham & Green 6 Tommy Bahama Home 7 Sofa.com 8 Trouva 9 LaRedoute 10 Little Greene 11 Gan 12 Crosley Crusier 13 Henri Matisse (print)