Not So Mellow Yellow

Have just returned from 2 days of the walking marathon that is the biannual trade fair. Buyers flock to 3 venues to see hundreds of wholesalers' wares set out in countless aisles. Sorry if I sound exhausted.

One colour that made the whole process bearable was the odd splash of cheery yellow. I am loving yellow as an accent or teamed with deep grey for a more up-to-date look.

The best use of yellow and grey I've seen lately is in the home of J. Crew's Jenna Lyons. She is not a fan of pastels in kids rooms so painted her son's walls a deep grey and the ceiling in yellow and white stripes.

The kitchen shot shows how you can update a room with coloured accessories.

The Crosby Street Hotel

The coolest new hotel in the worlds right now is the Crosby Street Hotel in downtown Soho, NYC. Part of the London-based Firmdale Hotel group, it was decorated by owner Kit Kemp who has a wonderful touch in mixing classic and modern styles, with a bit of the unexpected thrown in.

I was reminded to check it out recently by a journalist friend who was staying there to write about it for one of the big newspapers.

Dark Mood

Not that I am in a dark mood but am wondering if we are seeing the first signs that the all-white interior has had its day? A recent Living Etc Magazine article devoted a decoration feature to dark colours and now they seem to be popping up everywhere.

London designer Abigail Ahern has been putting it out there for a while now with her deep grey backdrops with punches of bright, often fluoro colours.

Merci, Paris

It's great to be inspired by people doing something well somewhere in the world. MERCI is the store in Paris' 3rd arrondissement which everyone is talking about.

Merci was opened last March by Marie-France Cohen and her husband Bernard, the founders of posh French childrens wear label Bonpoint. After selling Bonpoint they were looking for a new creative outlet but as they no longer needed to work for a living, decided to help the people who had worked for them in Madagascar and the profits from Merci go to help a womens co-op there.

Merci incorporates everything Marie-France loves - décor, fashion, flowers and children and has a cafe lined with bookshelves with books in various languages.

A Fiat Cinqucento piled high with furniture is an iconic installation in the courtyard by fabulous English fashion photographer Tim Walker. (Incidentally Tim did work experience with our team at Harpers Bazaar in Sydney in the late 80s, when I was a fledgling art director myself!)

Colour Trends

Glittering gold, jewel colours, pretty pastels... sounds like the eighties to me!

At the Design & Decoration Fair in Sydney yesterday interior designers and colour forecasters Fiona Barker and Sarah Lahey gave us their crystal ball version of what colours we'll be decorating with in the next year or so.

Here is what they offered plus my interpretations and comments.

Not surprisingly, the natural palette is still big but I particularly liked the animal themes - animal colours and motives. Think owls, bugs, botanical prints, fossils.

The other trend is beautifully made natural furniture in bleached shades. We are seeing this around now but it will only get bigger.

Gold is on its way back but my pick of the shades is pale gold. We are going to be seeing gold jewellery and accessories everywhere soon. I see it creeping back into interiors in gold velvets, rustic gold frames, muted down with shades of charcoal.

Jewel Colours like emerald, sapphire, topaz, garnet, amethyst. Apparently we react to difficult economic times by being drawn to bright colour. How will we see it in interiors? Rich soft furnishings and accessories would be my bet.

Playful pastels? I have visions of tanned Barry Manilow in a mint jacket kicking back in a pastel penthouse in Miami. 

What do you think about these predictions?