Calm Before the Colour – Dulux Launches Its 2024 Colour Forecast

Over the years, interior colours have experienced a golden renaissance, with designers and design aficionados embracing warmer, more experimental palettes. As a global leader in colour forecasting, Dulux has been instrumental in steering this shift, with trend forecasts that have served as a foreshadowing of succeeding design sentiment. The highly anticipated Dulux Colour Forecast for 2024 – the company’s 25th annual edition – presents three novel colour palettes that inspire positivity and upliftment and sow the seeds for the next evolution in colour trends.

The annual Dulux Colour Forecast has long served as a holy grail for interior designers and design enthusiasts, however the forecast for 2024 is significant in more ways than one. It marks the 25th anniversary of the annual Dulux Colour Forecast and brings to the fore three diverse palettes that promise something for everyone. The forecast is informed by year-round research into the global and local interior design landscape and helmed by seasoned members of the Dulux Colour Team, including colour and communications manager Andrea Lucena-Orr, colour forecaster and stylist Bree Leech, and colour manager Lauren Treloar. As colour specialists, the three are noted for their collective insights, gleaned from a plethora of trend reports, editorials, fashion catwalks, product and design launches, engagements with international brands and research through Dulux’s deep networks in the UK, Italy and France.

Underpinned by an intent to inspire joy and positivity, the three palettes, named Solstice, Journey and Muse, are characterised by medium tones, rich golds, olive greens and deep browns, although each is distinct in its identity.

Underpinned by an intent to inspire joy and positivity, the three palettes, named Solstice, Journey and Muse, are characterised by medium tones, rich golds, olive greens and deep browns, although each is distinct in its identity. Dulux Solstice is an uplifting palette of bold browns and sun-soaked neutrals, straddling Scandinavian minimalism and Mediterranean warmth with elan. More eclectic and maximalist are the Dulux Journey and Muse palettes. While the former is defined by a spectrum of rich mid-tone hues such as mustard yellow, dusty blue and rich burgundy, the latter is steeped in the nostalgia of the postmodern era, with warm browns, rich tans, deep blues and restful greens evoking the glamour of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

“This year’s forecast invites colour and texture into the home. We are seeing some lightness in colour but most shades are mid-tone, with darker colours predominantly used for smaller accents. The warmth we’re seeing across each of the 2024 Colour Forecast palettes is ideal for consumers looking to add positivity through colour,” says Andrea.

Bree avers that tactility will be another important design consideration in 2024. “Overall, the 2024 Colour Forecast palettes have become more sophisticated, whilst tonal palettes are still popular and particularly comforting. This year we see a shift towards the use of multi-hued schemes crafted to reflect a balanced interior. The colours are richer and there are fewer pastel and bright hues,” she notes. For designers with a discerning eye, there has never been a better time to reinvent the colour wheel.