2011-2012 Top Color Palettes

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Color tends shift with economical, environmental, political, and historical movements in society.  They act almost like a barometer for the state of society at that time.  For 2011/2012's trends, there are 6 different collections that are affecting fashion, home design, and more.

Neutrals:

These are the classic colors that create a perfect canvas for other colors in a palette to work off of: browns, beiges, blacks, greys, and whites.

They also work well together to create soothing color palettes on their own.

Grey is actually becoming increasingly popular as a canvas color for the home, especially the warmer tones.  It's even starting to surpass beiges as the favorite wall and carpet color family.

Naturals:

Natural colors have remained popular for so long that they are becoming classic colors, especially the softer tones as they are increasingly being used in the place of the standard neutrals as a canvas color.  A perfect example of this is sage green, one of the top colors for 2011/2012.

Other popular natural colors include linen white, stone grey, rustic reddish brown, and various shades of blue.  These all work well with natural textures such as hand-scraped hardwood and tumbled stone.

Metallics:

These are highly popular as accent colors by adding a little sheen to a space.  Metallics are currently preferred in matte and pearl finishes, especially bronze, brass, and pewter.

Brass

Pewter

Bronze

Soft silvers, titaniums, and golds remain popular in home decor accents.  Utilize metallics in accent tiles, wall hangings, lamps, and other accessories to help brighten a space.

Blues:

Yes, blue is so popular that it deserves a category all to itself.  With popular shades such as violet-blues, icy-blues, electric blues, mellow blues, and even teal and turquoise the options are limitless.  Try layering various shades of blue together to create visual depth in a design or pair with a crisp white to add contrasting interest.

Urban Elements:

This palette uses a mix of cool neutrals such as industrial darks, green greys, and industrial blue-greys that are paired well with metallics or accents brighter colors.  To add interest to this masculine color palette, try playing with texture with tone-on-tone patterns.

Retro is Back:

More and more people are reaching for the worn, comforting colors of the past like honey golds, wheat, charcoal, steel grey, reds, and chartreuse.  These vintage colors work well with other palettes.  They add femininity to the industrial colors and add some pop to the natural colors.

And of course, with these colors comes a reawakening of the popularity of patterns such as paisley, damask, and florals.

Playful Optimism:

The colors in this palette are bright, cheery, and dynamic.  Either as an entire palette or as accent colors, they work together to create an air of spirited sophistication with a hint of the unexpected.  This palette includes oranges, reds, plums, lemons, and greens.

Cultural Colors:

With our global economy and the tools of the world wide web, we are including bold and eclectic colors into our homes.  And we're starting to combine them to create unique designs. 

For example: Latin American color palettes with chili pepper red, turquoise, and sapphire are being used in the same space as African animal prints.  Also, tropical island colors such as coral, sandy pink, and sea green are being used in traditional Asian and Indian prints.

Brights:

We're also increasingly using bright colors as accents in otherwise neutral rooms.  Combinations like orange with silver grey are a great way to add visual interest. Bright yellow combined with rich plum is also popular.

In fact, the Pantone color of the year falls within this category: honeysuckle a cheery pink.

What is your favorite color palette mentioned above?  Or do you have a preferred color palette of your own?