Dulux’s Colour of the Year – Denim Drift

Every year paint experts Dulux announce their Colour of the Year.

Designers, decorators, stylists, photographers, journalists etc all wait with anticipation for the colour giants to make their announcement. Letting us know what they have in store for the coming year. Well, now we know, 2017 will be the year of –

Denim Drift

I love the fact that they chose this shade of blue! It just goes to show that it doesn’t need to be an all singing, all dancing, bright colour or even a deep moody tone. This is a fabulous choice and says everything about where we are with the world right now. Months of preparation has been going on behind the scenes at Dulux HQ, whilst we all sit tight and wait for the colour to be announced.

In other words, the colour experts at Dulux don’t just blindfold themselves, stick a pin in the colour wheel and say ‘this year will be mostly Denim Drift!’. Noooo! The process for deciding the Colour of the Year begins about 18 months prior to the announcement. Which means it’s a progressive decision based on many factors, and not a random decision made by one person.

What is Denim Drift?

Marianne Shillingford, Dulux’s creative director explains that “Paint colour trends go in three- to five-year cycles, so we have to choose one we think will be relevant for the next few years.” Every year a colour-forecasting team of design experts from all over the world are brought together by Dulux’s Global Aesthetics Centre to decide what the colour will be and all sorts of factors are  considered when the panel determine not just the colour but also the tone.

“Faded denim blue kept cropping up” explains Marianne Shillingford.

The reason they settled on the colour was because its ‘ restful shade is relaxing in our increasingly hectic, technology-dominated lives where there is no dividing line between our work and personal life”. This coupled with the denim shade being appealing to all generations from all backgrounds. The word ‘drift’ in the title was chosen to reflect that the colour drifts from definite blue to blue-grey depending on the light and area it is being used in.

Get the Look:

So, there you have how the colour choice was made and why. Now, here’s the exciting bit! At Danetti, we are always striving to predict and forecast colours and styles ahead of time. True to form, we also started introducing cool grey and blue grey tones into our ranges over a year ago! So it is no accident that the colour has featured heavily in our Look Book.

Let’s take a look at some of our images and see how ‘on trend’ the look and colours are. See how they blend with other finishes and ultimately what products you can use to recreate these looks in your home.

Here we see the blue-grey tones that Dulux were talking about working in full force. It’s that lovely faded look you get with Denim. It feels worn, subtle and comfortable – like your favourite pair of old Levi’s. Our gorgeous combination of the Wing Leather Occasional Armchair in Soft Grey, alongside the Dice Dove Grey Gloss Side Tables are the perfect match set against this soft blue wall. Here we’re seeing it working as a seamless combination of blues and greys, whilst still feeling fresh. 

Denim Drift isn’t all about being faded, weather worn and nostalgic.

What else would go with the Denim Drift paint colour?

Well, funnily enough, we’ve made a lot of our new products in blues and greys. The Denim Drift colour is a great chameleon, as it changes depending on what other colours it is put with. So, you can go down the ‘true blue’ route and team it will deeper blues like Cobalt blue, or you can blend your Denim Drift with more neutral colours and natural textures. This will create a more tactile feel. Or perhaps try using it with brighter colours for a more playful feel. The colour wheel is your oyster (well almost)…

So, there we have the Dulux Colour of the Year. All we need to do now is to wait until December for the Colour of the Year to be announced from Pantone! In the meantime, we may make our own predictions… watch this space!

Published Date: September 2016