For The Love Of Lilac: The Big Interior Colour Trend For 2020
Parma Violet sweets, Care Bears and My Little Pony toys are all reminiscent of the colour lilac from my childhood. The soft, light-purple hue has historically adorned children’s goods rather than take centre stage in our homes - yet lilac and lavender shades are set to be huge within interior design for 2020. The recent popularity of lilac started in the fashion industry - and as is often the case - has now filtered down into home decor and accessories, meaning you’ll find it everywhere this summer.
Designers Guild Paint in ‘Lilac Bud’, £23 for 1L, Designer Paint.
With blush pinks having dominated interiors for the past 3 years, the colour trend for lilac is a natural move forward as it is part of the same colour palette. Lilac works particularly well as part of a scheme featuring light blues or soft greens, pinks, sorbet yellows and shaded whites.
Lilac works best in an accompanying palette of muted pastel shades, expertly demonstrated here via Gudrun Designs.
This dusky lilac sofa works perfectly with the soft, muted green wall colour in the home of Interior Designer Michelle Kelly. Image credit: Living Etc.
While lilac and lavender tones are pretty, aesthetically pleasing shades, beware of veering towards strong tones of purple which can be quite garish. Instead, take inspiration from the below lilac and lavender decor schemes, which show just how great this colour can be if used correctly:
This lilac sofa makes a dramatic style statement in this light and airy home. It’s used on the sofa only and not anywhere else in the room, so the sofa becomes the focal point and the scheme avoids being overly feminine. image credit: Homes To Love AU
This lilac-coloured grass-cloth wallpaper creates a soft, relaxing scheme in this bedroom. Wallpaper sold via Dering Hall.
If you’d rather not use lilac as a block colour, this Wisteria wallpaper by Sanderson adds lilac into the home via pattern. Sanderson ‘Wisteria Falls’ Wallpaper, £59 per metre, Wallpaper Direct.
A perfect example of using lilac in a ‘modern traditional’ setting. I particularly love the luxurious, heavy lilac curtains. Image via AD.
A young and modern take on lilac - this lilac backdrop works perfectly with the burnt mustard sofa sold via Sofa Company dk.
Interior wonder-woman Lisa Dawson updated her kitchen units with lilac paint.
If you want to add lilac into your home with paint - look no further than Designers Guild. Their paint palette of soft mauve’s, lilac’s and violet shades are the perfect hues for this colour trend.
Designers Guild Matt Emulsion in ‘Allium’, £23 for 1L, Designer Paint
I absolutely love the lilac doors in the inspirational image below. If you do not want to paint your walls in lilac - but do want to add it into your room scheme somehow - painting the woodwork lilac is a great option. If this is of interest to you, I wrote all about the painted interior door trend here.
Image taken from the cover of the book: Interior Style: How to Use Color Throughout Your Home by Lesley Riva.
I’ve been slowly adding lilac into my home in recent weeks via the accessories and styling. My living area below features lilac cushions, a lilac lampshade, plus some lilac floral Genista to just add a touch of the colour into the room scheme:
Convinced by lilac? If like me you just want to add it into your home in small doses, below I’ve picked out some of my favourite lilac accessories currently available in-store and online:
Hay Matin Table Lamp / 2. Geometric Tumbler - £5 - John Lewis / 3. Aquanova Lilac Bath Mat - £40 - Amara / 4. Marimekko 20cm plate - £20 - Amara / 5. Lund London Bottle - £30 / 6. Kartell AHA stool - £72 - Made In Design / 7. Driade Stackable Chair - £168 / 8. Little Greene Paint - ‘Hortense’ - Designer Paint Company / 9. Bud Vase - Jonathan Adler / 10. Tapered Candle - £2.50 - Cloudberry Living / 11. Lilac Cushion - £6 - Dunelm