Green is a popular colour for interiors this season

Taking its cue from nature, our national colour is trending this season in home interiors, writes Carol O’Callaghan.

The sun may yet not have its hat on, although Beasts from the East and sliced-pan hysteria are behind us — we hope! However, the central heating is still cranked up, making it unlikely the lawn mower will get an airing anytime soon. So, let’s focus on bringing the feel of nature and springtime to home interiors with a splash of seasonal green and a nod to our national colour for the day that’s in it.

Pantone announced a shade of green they called simply ‘Greenery’ as their colour of the year for 2017, and while we already know it to be the most successful interior colour, (which works in its myriad hues and shades in every room of the house), the influence of Pantone’s pronouncement has it trending spectacularly for 2018.

Not only that, but green has particular significance among the feng shui community, just in case the recent weather kept you housebound and channelling your latent inner housekeeper into a spot of spring cleaning and cupboard tidying.

It’s the colour associated with renewal, fresh energy and new beginnings, so it belongs to the wood element of feng shui, which is hardly surprising, as wood and green are garden bed-fellows and together have helped to inspire another interior trend for green and natural materials being used together. It’s all part of a look touting mod-con living, alongside conscious sustainability.

Just in case feng shui is a bit too ‘out there’ for you, take note that psychologists say the reason green works so well in

interiors is connected to how we feel being out and about in the fresh air, seeing gardens and the countryside coming alive.

Manuel Canova’s Tara curtain fabric (€239 p/m ) offers spring and summer themed tropical prints. The Ibiza chair upholstery (€161 p/m) follows the look with an added pop of pink. Available at Ken Jackson Interiors.

Unlike its tricky spring partner yellow, green is such an easy colour on which to base an interior design scheme. With at least 40 shades of it available, choosing the right one ought to be a doddle, but it’s the trick of layering which makes its application truly successful.

Start by picking three versions which work together — paint colour charts are an excellent tool to deploy here. Something like a sage green wall colour which is light and calming can be used as an all-over room colour without shrinking the space. Choose accessories such as rugs, throws, cushions and tinted glass in your two complementary hues.

The result can be incredibly easy on the eye, especially when your graduating shades are introduced in patterns of delicate garden foliage, florals and out-sized jungle prints. Don’t go overboard, and do heed the old styling advice of less is more.

Pale green kitchen units are the perfect accent for dark grey wall paint and tiling to create a lightsome but sophisticated finish (Kallarp kitchen units from €46 at Ikea).

For an eye-catching colour contrast, bring in a little detail in yellow. Similarly, consider an addition of blue, ignoring the advice that blue and green should never be seen — it’s outdated and irrelevant as they actually work very well together. Again, colour charts will help with gradations of hue when comparing the colours together.

If the spring revamp budget doesn’t stretch to big painting projects and accenting walls, or buying new furniture or floors, then resort to the fallback position of accessorising.

Kitchen and dining room tables can be reinvigorated with green wares or napery. All white bed linens come to life with a green throw and a decorative cushion to update the room, and to benefit from green’s association with calm and relaxation.

With so many modern interiors continuing to opt for at least some features in grey, the need for colour has become essential to mitigate the possibility of a bland, flat look, especially in a country like Ireland, which is challenged by cloudy, rain-filled days and a colder northern light. Green just happens to be the one accent which offers a warm, but delicate touch, without taking from the sophistication of darker greys.

Dusky apple velvet upholstery brings luxury, comfort and style to the Scott statement sofa from EZ Living (€1,799 sale price).

By the end of today, you just might have had your fill of green, but to nod to the trend without decorating or accessorising, introduce green with another trend — the revival of pot plants.

Large palms and Swiss cheese plants are proving multi-functional by countering the hard straight lines of walls and wooden furniture, filling a blank corner or simply providing a touch of natural beauty. They also purify the air indoors for a health benefit. Feng shui followers will certainly approve of that.