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Also, homeowners are moving away from grey interiors

Summer 2022 has officially arrived and with it, new trends that include boho and cottagecore, a lifestyle trend inspired by the tranquility of country life.

Strongly influenced by nostalgia, cottagecore style is a celebration of crafts, vintage pieces and a slower pace of living.

“Cottagecore spaces are defined by their connection to nature and nod to historical inspiration,” says Sharon Grech, Benjamin Moore’s colour and design expert.

Anything vintage goes when it comes to this popular trend, so raid your grandma’s attic, hit up some second-hand shops and check out garage sales. “You can bring this to life through colour, authentic heirloom furniture or even small decorative elements such as period dishware, vases and even plants and dried flowers,” says Grech.

Creating a warm and inviting ambience is key to the “calm and cozy” feeling that cottagecore evokes. For a modern twist, Grech suggests enveloping your space in an all-over colour that feels timeless and minimalistic without feeling cold or bare. Her suggestions: Sunlit Coral 2170-60, Fernwood Green 2145-40 or a neutral like Pashmina AF-100, a neutral that’s perfectly balanced between warm and cool, light and dark.

Cottagecore is inspired by the traditional English countryside, simple living and finding harmony with the natural world. It’s known for bringing the outside in so consider displaying fresh-cut flowers, hanging dried flowers and even incorporating floral fabrics into your furniture to create an organic feel.

Of course, one size hardly fits all when it comes to décor. Pinterest has noticed an uptick in searches focused on making outdoor spaces warm, comfortable and perfect for entertaining. Searches for ‘outdoor rugs patio ideas,’ for instance, are 20 times greater than last year, reports Swasti Sarna, data communications manager.

More than 400 million people around the world turn to the Pinterest platform each month to discover new ideas and bring them to life. The platform leverages that search data to get early insights on what’s next. “

Colour is also making a splash this summer, with searches for orange, mustard and blue all trending up,” Sarna says. Pinners have also been searching for ‘boho patio ideas on a budget,’ ‘big pots for plants ideas outdoor,’ ‘relaxing patio,’ ‘backyard patio designs sunshades’ and ‘outdoor lantern ideas.’

The desire to create a serene, relaxing and inviting outdoor environment at home is a driving force. “Not only are we seeing many returning trends, including an emphasis on textured materials such as rattan and woven rope, but 2022 will also offer fresh colour palettes and shapes inspired by natural outdoor elements, enticing us to relax and stay a while,” says Andrea Rathborne, creative director of product and design at Article, a verified Pinterest merchant.

“That beautiful golden hour of long summer days, casting its glow on everything, has also inspired new hues, including bold terracotta, rich mustard yellow and punchy tangerine – all tones you find in the layers of the sky at sunrise or sunset, the cool, shaded forests, the glowing beaches and the textured gardens.”

The folks at Sico Paint by PPG, meanwhile, are reporting heightened sales of earth tones. “On the other side of the pandemic, people are looking to infuse their homes with soothing colours that emit a sense of both protection and fresh air that they’ve been lacking,” says senior marketing manager Martin Fuchs.

Homeowners are moving away from cool, modern grey interiors and opting for subdued garden-fresh neutrals. Topping the list of best-selling paint colours are muted sage greens, breezy blues and earthy taupes. “There’s a feeling of cautious optimism among consumers as we adapt back to more social lives, with people wanting to add colour to their interiors in the same, considerate way,” Fuchs says.

“They’re looking for subtle, warm and approachable colours that work well in all seasons and can be easily complemented with more expressive accent colours as their mood changes.”

Wondering how to bring trending colours into your home? Sico Paint by PPG offers a few ideas:

• Apply strips of moulding at interesting angles on one wall. Paint both the wall and moulding in the same contemporary neutral colour, such as crisp pale blue. • Add an off-skew, eye-catching geometric design to a wall by drawing angled lines with a pencil, taping off with painter’s tape and applying a soothing earth tone. • Give a chair rail a scalloped edge. Use a jar lid to trace the lines and paint the wall beneath the rail a darker, grounding colour. Use a colour-tinted white hue above. • Define a dedicated work-from-home space by painting a block shape in productivity-inducing sage green. Use the same hue to revive a tired desk and create a harmonious look.

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