We are now just into 2013 and we’ve been taking a look at what people think will be the colours of the year. We stock thousands of different paints, from some of the best manufacturers in the world. From Farrow & Ball, Little Greene, Alcro, Earthborn to name but a few. So we’re surrounded by colour and we can see trends simply by what people are buying.

Looking into the future is a little harder.

A good place to find out what the new colour trends of 2013 will be is at www.pantone.com. Last year they predicted that Tangerine Tango would be the colour of 2012 and we at Paint & Paper certainly saw a lot of bright, vibrant paint colours going out of the door. Perhaps reflecting what an exciting year 2012 was.

This year Pantone have selected Emerald 17-5641 as the colour of 2013, which they describe as “Lively. Radiant. Lush”. It is certainly a modern, bold colour yet rich in heritage and the natural world.

Interestingly our friends at Alcro who also selected a orange as the colour for 2012 have also gone for a colour from nature called Lagoon (or Lagun in Swedish). This is a bluey green. A little retro.

The paint people at Earthborn have opted for something a little more sombre but which again has its sole set in nature. Fuggle is a type of hop. Again this is a green fawn.

Farrow & Ball paints have selected four paint colours that they think will be popular in 2013.

Two off whites in French Gray and Cornforth White and then a blue, Stone Blue and the much darker, Black Blue. These are colours that they feel will be en mode this year and that combine perfectly together to create classic and contemporary interiors. Farrow & Ball are also re introducing their range of wallpapers later in January and are keen to make everyone aware that the paint on their wallpaper is the paint that they supply – so matching is easy.

Whatever the colours of 2013 will be – there are always thousands of different colours to choose from. An almost bewildering array – for example last year we saw a whole range of greys from Alcro. Which was stunning.

It seems that paint manufacturers are creating colours for 2013 that take inspiration from nature, in all its forms – hops, lagoons, stone, emeralds.

Here at Paint & Paper we’ve seen people get more adventurous with their colour choices over the years. Many more people are now creating signature walls either through the use of paint or a striking wallpaper designs.

We think that will continue in 2013 with more use of different tones to create different effects with light that flow through rooms. The housing market doesn’t seem to be picking up so people will be looking to create a new look in their homes – and they won’t be afraid to give a bold emerald a go.

Happy decorating!

Farrow & Ball Colour Card

It’s not always easy to choose the right colours for a room, and sometimes looking online might not give you the full picture.

But help is at hand and you don’t need to hire an expensive interior designer. The help on hand is free and comes in the form of a range of paint colour cards and charts. All the suppliers on our site have colour cards and you can order them here.

Which means you can get Fired Earth colour cards, Farrow & Ball colour cards in fact we stock every colour card for our paint suppliers and we are stockists of some of the finest paint ranges available today.

The beauty of using a colour card is that you can see the colour in your home. Every wall is different. Light plays a large part in that.

Natural light, artificial light. The direction of the light, the differences in light during the day. All have an impact on what the colour actually ends up looking like.

So often the only way to see if the colour works is to bring the colour home.

Little Greene Colour Card

Paint colour cards are arranged in a way that makes matching colours easy. Typically ranging from light through to the darker shades.

For subtle matching of colours use colours that are close to each other on the chart – using one for the walls and the other for the woodwork.

For something more striking use colours further apart but within the same scheme.

By mixing and matching within the same colour scheme – it’s virtually impossible to choose colours that clash horribly.

All of our paint colour cards are available online here and are free bar a bit of postage. So there is no reason why you shouldn’t give them a try.

Happy decorating!

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It’s easily done isn’t it. Google typos. For example, you’re thinking about painting a room and the colour you want to do it in.

You’re thinking that green might be quite nice. Then you remember that rather cool paint manufacturer.

Errr *scratches head* Little Green – that was it!

But it wasn’t. The name of the company you were looking for was actually Little Greene. Or actually ‘The Little Greene Paint Company’ to give them their full name. By the way, they also do wallpaper too. Rather nice wallpaper at that.

But does it really matter that when you went onto Google and typed Little Green paint when you actually meant Little Greene Paint? Not massively because Google is pretty smart and shows you the search results for Little Greene Paint anyway.

So what does Little Greene’s Green paint look like?

Naturally there is not just one shade of green. There are quite a few.

Here they are. These are all the ones in their range that have ‘green’ in their name.

Quite a lot of variation as you’ll see. Not sure about what ‘Invisible Green’ means but the green is certainly invisible to most.

Little Green

But it is still a wonderful range of paint colours  ranging from the the 70s Phthalo through to the intriguing Invisible Green and the almost blue Obsidian Green.

And as we’ve said before, each will have a little bit of history behind them having been inspired by the historic colours from key periods of Britain’s interior design.

Remember Paint and Paper are stockists of all Little Greene’s paint and wallpaper and you can browse and buy online.

Happy decorating!

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If you think you’re a massive fan of Manchester United, Norwich City, Arsenal or just about any other club in the Premier League – then the colour gurus here at Paint and Paper have been working hard on something pretty special for you.

Over the cold Winter months we’ve been beavering away with our clever colour mixing machines creating an entire new range of paints that are the colours of the football teams you support and love.

Each colour has been specially created for each team.

There are reds for Liverpool, Manchester United, Sunderland, Stoke and Southampton all that match the kits they play in.

Blues for Chelsea, Manchester City, Everton, QPR, Reading and Wigan.

Whites for Swansea and Spurs and of course a brilliant yellow for Norwich City.

The range is absolutely exclusive to Paint and Paper and what is also great about this range of paint is that we have used Little Greene’s innovative Intelligent Matt to create the shades, which means it is not only water-based and environmentally friendly but its also completely washable and super tough.

And if you only fancy doing a single wall, we can supply the paint in small 1 litre pots, which is very economical and saves waste.

No matter which team you support, there should be at least one wall in your house dedicated to your team and with the football fixtures being released earlier this week now is the time t0 check to see whether your team has been included in the range.

If it hasn’t let us know and we’ll create it for you. You can even bring your football shirt into our shop and we’ll use our colour scanning machines to get you a colour match.

We thought this would be a great idea for decorating a kids room but we just know there are quite a few adults out there who would love to decorate a room or wall in the colour of their favourite team.

It is a great way to get kids involved in a bit of painting and decorating. But leave them to themselves to do it or you might end up with the whole house being Canary Yellow.

Happy painting and bring on August 18th!

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I have been aware of Alcro paints for few years now and know firsthand how good they are on exterior wood. My garden bench looks like new despite a harsh winter and what seems like relentless rainfall.  Founded in 1906 in Stockholm, their last collection was a collaboration with Dutch trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort and is entitled ‘Birds’. Despite its outdoor name it is aimed at the interior.

It is a brave bunch of colours and perhaps not entirely suited to the British market but perfectly apt for its ‘oh so cool’ Scandinavian origins. It is made up of 31 colours broken down into 7 main Bird inspired sections with four colours in each, and then 3 Accent colours. The promotional video features Edelkoort talking about how the collection was developed and shows how the groups and individual paints work together. It is a fascinating insight into the design process, detailing just how much thought goes into the creation of the collection.

Despite the vast, almost infinite, array of paint colours available on the market, I can still find it hard to find the exact shade I want. Most people can’t understand this, or even spot the subtleties between shades ( and I won’t name and shame here!) so it was great to see some shades I haven’t seen before, particularly the yellows and reds. Whilst these colours sound strong they are in fact very gentle and inviting – not brash primary shades – which could be so easy to use.

I personally love this collection – it isn’t huge but it screams quality and modernism without being faddish. As I said before, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea and it won’t suit every style of home, but it does have some beautiful new shades which would sit happily alongside everyone’s favourite Farrow and Ball.  I really like the four shades of Black – very daring and dramatic – which would provide the perfect foil to feature wallpaper. I also like the metallic gold and super shiny Black lacquer effect which are both great for statement pieces of furniture. You could so easily breathe new life into an old lamp stand or frame with these.  But my favourite is Chicken Coop, a deep shade of green I’ve not seen before in paint but would love to use in a snug or games room.

And finally, speaking of Green, did I mention they are Eco Friendly? What more could we ask for?

See you all soon!

Holly Pagani,

Interior Designer and Owner of Salt Interiors, Norwich

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