How to decorate with Pantone's colour of the year 2017: Greenery

How do you incorporate Pantone's bold shade of Greenery into your home? Let us show you how.

Because greens are all around us in nature, it is easy to take them for granted, and to assume that they will always wherever they are used. But a colour of such subtlety needs decorative care and much thought. Not many other colours present so many variations on a theme as green; on its own combined or contrasted with other colours, its decorative applications are infinite.

To decide the colours of the year, Pantone colourists take into account influences in the worlds of entertainment, new art, architecture, fashion, interior design, travel destinations, and even look at current socio-economic conditions and political influences.

‘Greenery bursts forth in 2017 to provide us with the reassurance we yearn for amid a tumultuous social and political environment. Satisfying our growing desire to rejuvenate and revitalise, Greenry symbolises the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose,' says Executive Director of the Pantone Colour Institute, Leatrice Eiseman.

Pantone has chosen greens in the past for Colour of the Year, but never one as bright and fresh as Greenery, which is meant to evoke thoughts of nature in full bloom. It is a refreshing colour that aims to reassure, rejuvenate and revitalise. So whether you're ready for a complete overhaul in 2017, or you just want to invite tranquility and peace into you home, this harmonious hue might just provide the inspiration you need.

Calming, natural, fresh, Greenery offers a wealth of decorating options for the entire home. Ideal Home walks you through its favourite green interior ideas...

1/10 Reconnect with nature

A life-affirming shade, Greenery also symbolises passion and vitality - perfect for the bedroom. Try to replicate the colours of fresh botanicals - steal inspiration from ferns in British forests or lush country hedgerows. For a strong scheme like this, it’s important to begin with a simple backdrop. Paint walls white and stick to wooden flooring or painted floorboards to allow paint effects to stand out.

Bed
Habitat
Ladder shelf
John Lewis

2/10 Adorn walls with beautiful botanicals

Nature awakens the senses, so bring a touch of that inspirational style to your home office. Fresh botanicals are a wonderful way to uplift your home, but if you don't want to keep plants, you can introduce colour through accessories with beautiful, vibrant glassware, rich green fabrics and marvellous motif wallpaper. Go for a bold look in your home office by teaming an invigorating black-and-green patterned wallpaper with standout white modern furniture. This unique fern print wallpaper inspires creativity and adds an energising feel to the study space. Choose dark wood-effect flooring - it will echo the darkness in the walls - and add a few modern accessories to complete the look.

Wallpaper
Ferns wallpaper from Wallpaper Direct

3/10 Satisfy your cravings for Cactuses

Because of its inherently neutral traits, Greenery can be used in large doses, or in smaller measures as an accent for other neutral colour schemes. Not ready to go all-out Greenery? Try touches of this colour in soft furnishings or by adding lush foliage to your scheme.
Cactuses strong structure and rich vibrant tones make them a fabulous visual addition to modern room schemes and let's not forget they are probably the easiest plant to look after as they are very used to drought conditions with leaves that retain water for long periods. Incorporate your cactus into a scheme by using it as your starting colour point. Keep the rest of the scheme pared-down so as not to distract from the Greenery tones.

4/10 Bring the outdoors in

Not a fan of loud botanical prints? There’s another way to do the Greenery trend – simply bring a pared-back scheme to life with blocks of bold green colour and interesting displays of real (or fake) plants. If you don't want to use such a dramatic colour on a whole wall, stick up some masking tape and use it as a guide to paint a large horizontal panel across one wall. Bring the outdoors into your home with displays of foliage. When it comes to choosing the right shade of green, be brave. Make life easy for yourself by choosing low-maintenance house plants, such as succulents, cacti and aloe vera.

Living wall art
The Urban Botanist
Table
Heal's

5/10 Spruce up a living room with vibrant soft furnishings

Green is so relaxing and when paired with complementary colours, will create a warm and inviting environment in any room. Now is the perfect time to give this on-trend colour a go and brighten your home with some bold accents. If you don't fancy painting your walls or carpeting your floor in this vivid hue, then consider introducing accents of Greenery on fabric and through artwork.

6/10 Merge colours from the same palette

Greenery is nature's neutral, so why not combine complementary colours from the same palette for a visually pleasing scheme? It's easier to mix patterns when they are drawn from the same colour palette. Try experimenting with scale, combining florals and geometrics. A combination of smaller prints and larger motifs in shades of mint, jade and lime have an uplifting effect.

Sofa
William Yeoward
Wallpaper
Rousseau wallpaper at Cole & Son

7/10 Invite a summery feel into your space

Soften strong stone walls with lush garden greens. The historic features of this stately hallway have been complemented by a distinctive and unique wallpaper. Lush, digitally printed wisteria flowers make a stunning statement, framing the room beautifully. Grass green curtains pick out the ombre effect while plenty of lush house plants and wicker furniture complete the Georgian conservatory style.

Wallpaper
Summer Palace at Designer Wallpapers

8/10 Dare to try something different

If you think this energetic colour can't be used in the kitchen, think again. Elevated from a purely practical role - it is, after all, about protecting the walls from hob and sink splashes - these days, the kitchen splashback is also more of a statement piece. Use your splashback to make a statement that will sing out in a neutral scheme. Ideal for contemporary kitchens where a shot of colour is needed, it looks sophisticated and modern without being overwhelming.

Similar splashback
Topps Tiles

9/10 Pick a perfect colour combination

When you're talking about decorating with greens, you can't ignore the classic combination of white and green. Light, airy and clean in look and feel, this combination is a perpetual winner. The key for nailing this trend is balance. A piece of furniture in an on-trend colour will provide the focal point, while white walls provide the perfect backdrop. Finally, temper your scheme with accents of green for a relaxed look.

10/10 Nod to nature

Some say that blue and green should never be seen but it works spectacularly well here. The trick is to choose two colours that mimic nature. Here, the calming effect of green comes into its own as a background for a bold fabric canvas. The remainder of the décor is kept simple – just green and white – but a little pattern on the bed brings enough of a clash to ensure the overall effect is vibrant and a little quirky, yet still sophisticated and relaxing.

Walls
Painted in Soft Moss 2 emulsion, Dulux
Headboard
Linen headboard linen printed with an image by Surface View

How will you incorporate greenery into your home? Let us know in the comments box below...