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Autumn Style & Colour Trends by Neale Whitaker
In case you didn’t know, I’m a Brit who’s called Australia home for many years. There aren’t too many things I miss about life in the old country, except perhaps English chocolate, crumbly cheese … and the changing of the seasons.
My Aussie partner laughs when I talk about how I could smell the arrival of each season, but it’s true. Autumn – my favourite time of year – always arrived with a nip in the air and a barely-there trace of fragrant woodsmoke. Australian seasons don’t smell quite the same, but there are plenty of other ways to mark the transition from long, hot summer to the cooler, shorter days of autumn. Like styling and accessorising your home.
Interior design is still in love with the Nordic tradition of hygge, an enigmatic Danish word used to convey conviviality, warmth and enjoying the moment (that quality we sometimes refer to as ‘soul’ in Australia), but this autumn we’re also feeling the influence of wabi-sabi, a Japanese concept that translates most easily as the opposite of perfection. An appreciation of all things aged and weathered, raw and imperfect. It must be a reaction against the crazy, fast-paced, social media-obsessed lives we all lead, and I’m seeing wabi-sabi touches in ceramics, metalware and timber furnishings in particular.
One thing I always do when the nights start drawing in is light candles for pleasure, not just to keep the mozzies at bay.
Scented candles – especially ones with my favourite top notes of musk, sandalwood or patchouli – are a great way to welcome autumn, as is the layering of texture and colour. Pantone’s 2018 Colour of the Year is ‘Ultra Violet’, a deep and powerful purple (I love it, but a little goes a long way), and autumn’s palette definitely favours dramatic shades like plum, burgundy, russet, mustard and emerald green. They’re regal, jewel-box colours (ideal for our Netflix obsession with The Crown and the year of a royal birth and a royal wedding) that work perfectly as accent colours with creams, neutrals and pale greys.
When it comes to home accessories, think big and BIGGER. My mantra is always ‘if in doubt, oversize’, and it seems this autumn I’m totally on trend. Cushions should be upsized (generally referred to as ‘Eurosize’), and throws and blankets generously proportioned in loose, open weaves. And while style continues to plunder the 80s for inspiration, we’ll also be seeing lots of black and white, graffiti-style prints, classical motifs, dog- and houndstooth, chevrons, velvet, chrome, leather, brass … the play of tone and texture is autumn’s strongest style statement. And if you only remember one thing this autumn, make it this: minimalism is OUT.
