Create Natural Calm with the Grounded Trend

One of four key trends in Dulux Colour Forecast 2020, Grounded combines warm colours, authentic textures and beautiful simplicity.

Dulux has been charting global design trends through their annual colour forecast for more than two decades. They’re also a valued partner of Carlisle Homes, supplying the high-quality paints that adorn the walls of every one of our homes. We spoke recently with Dulux Colour and Communications Manager Andrea Lucena-Orr about the first major trend in the 2020 forecast – beautiful, relaxing Grounded – to get inspiration for how you can bring it to life in your own home.

Embrace the raw tactility of nature

Grounded is curated around a warm, brown-based, neutral palette that evokes a sense of calm and serenity. A response to the relentless pace of work and life, it’s inspired by the wellness movement and the growing desire that so many of us feel for greater simplicity and connection to nature.

“The Grounded theme is about doing more with less. It’s about paring designs back to their basic form, valuing craftsmanship, longevity, authenticity and understated beauty,” Lucena-Orr explains. “The palette also reflects the desire for sustainability rather than disposability of furniture and homewares, and there’s a raw tactility to surfaces, which is the opposite feeling of smooth, shiny smartphones.”

To achieve the look – and just as importantly, feel – in your home, she recommends layering colour and texture, and introducing key, high-quality design pieces that will stand the test of time.

Choose warm colour combinations

Brown is associated with stability and strength, and it underpins most of the tones in the Grounded trend. “We’re moving away from grey tones,” says Lucena-Orr. “Colours in the Grounded palette run from pale biscuit and caramel through to muddy lavender and hints of terracotta.”

When choosing wall colours, she recommends swapping bright white for an earthier neutral white and adding warmth and colour with muted accents. “All of the colours in the palette are quite light, and there are beautiful tonal schemes to create in a room, such as Ghost Town Quarter for walls she says. “Casper White Half is also a beautiful neutral, warm colour for any space including bathrooms.”

Build layers of texture

Natural textures provide an antidote to the smooth coldness of technology. And in a neutral palette like we see with Grounded, which relies on subtle shifts in tone more than strong colour, they provide contrast and visual interest. “Add textural woven cushions and a woollen throw to a rich leather sofa in natural tonal hues,” Lucena-Orr suggests. “Go for tactile raw linen in the bedroom, a timber stool in the bathroom and lounge chairs in beautiful suede upholstery.”

Texture can also be added to your walls with paint such as Embellished Stone from the Dulux Design Stone Effect range. “It has texture of stone, which emphasises that connection to nature and adds an extra layer of earthiness,” says Lucena-Orr. Use it in a study nook or on a feature wall in an entertaining area, or for an entire room.

Emphasise craftsmanship and authenticity

The authenticity of Grounded is also evoked by the furniture, lighting, homewares and other objects you choose for your home. “Furniture in the Grounded theme has a simple form that is enhanced through authentic materials like rattan and leather,” says Lucena-Orr. She also suggests looking for objects made from “high-quality materials like marble, rich leather and textural ceramics with a Japanese aesthetic that evokes timeless craftsmanship.”

Curved shapes, prominent in recent global furniture exhibitions, are the perfect fit for this aesthetic. They provide relief from the square forms of TVs and laptops, and create a sense of relaxation. Choose chairs with rounded arms or backs, and tables with subtle curved edges. And prioritise timbers in blonde or honey tones, for their natural warmth. “Timber just doesn’t date,” says Lucena-Orr. “It’s the material that emphasises both craftsmanship and the natural world, and these elements are central to the Grounded theme.”

Curved shapes are the perfect fit for this aesthetic. Choose chairs with rounded arms or backs, and tables with subtle curved edges

The Grounded theme is about doing more with less. It’s about paring designs back to their basic form, valuing craftsmanship, longevity, authenticity and understated beauty,”