Living Coral: inject some warmth into winter with Pantone's colour of the year

Bright, playful Living Coral is causing a sensation in home décor trends for the year ahead.

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Barbara Chandler11 January 2019

Move over millennial pink. “Living Coral” is the trend for 2019, according to the American colour coding company Pantone, whose meticulously numbered swatches are the reference point for designers worldwide.

A lively shade somewhere between orange and peach, Living Coral is, says Pantone, “sociable, spirited and life-affirming” and will pop up in fashion, beauty, art and interiors throughout the year.

However, it is not a favourite with design TV presenter Michelle Ogundehin, writing on the Dezeen website. “This shade is simply too saccharine, bright and ripe to be remotely relaxing,” she argues.

Instagram, however, loves it — though the posts favour fashion, flowers and make-up rather than walls and sofas. Model Gigi Hadid was an internet sensation when she recently wore coral head to toe in New York in a risqué, bosom-baring outfit.

A robust riposte comes from Marianne Shillingford, creative director at Dulux (dulux.co.uk). “Living Coral is a lovely, arresting colour,” she says. She concedes perhaps it’s better suited to fashion: “It jumps off a magazine page, you might not want that for walls.”

So maybe use it for painted furniture or velvet cushions, “though the brave and confident are using strong, saturated colours more and more.”

Living Coral Reef Pattern Wallpaper, £36 per square metre (muralswallpaper.co.uk)

Also banging the drum for coral is Martin Waller, celebrating his empire’s 40th anniversary with the landmark Andrew Martin shop in Walton Street, Chelsea (andrewmartin.co.uk).

“Living Coral is a celebration of life,” says Waller. “It exudes warmth, energy and playfulness at home but makes us aware of the changing seaworld. Perhaps if we act now we can bring back the colour there.”

His Pelham velvet in 26 shades includes coral and clementine. At £43 a metre it is hard-wearing for upholstery and a good drape for curtains.

Just along Walton Street is the delightful fabric boutique of Nina Campbell, decorating doyenne of London’s high society (shop.ninacampbell.com). Pattern mixing is her forte. “Layer coral in graded shades,” she suggests. “Or use it to warm up greys or to make chocolate smart.”

See how adeptly she works her looks in a new book, Nina Campbell, Interior Decoration: Elegance and Ease, by Country Life interiors editor Giles Kime.

Find flashes of coral in patterns and textured plains on chairs, cushions, curtains and rugs. At John Lewis inventive customers are already using coral with millennial pink and terracotta for a tonal scheme, or to liven up greys. Their designer Melanie Archer suggests Little Greene’s Orange Aurora as a paint shade (johnlewis.com; littlegreene.co.uk).

Shades of the seaside: panelling painted in Inkwood by Sanderson, from £28, at stylelibrary.com

Not surprisingly coral works best on fronded designs of coral itself, where the pattern breaks up the intense colour, for example in a pretty undersea affair from Murals Wallpaper (muralswallpaper.co.uk).

And fashion maestro Matthew Williamson typically adds fantasy to his Coralino wallpaper design, where stems of coral catch treasures from a sunken Spanish galleon (osborneandlittle.com). Use it in a downstairs loo and add vibrant coral towels.

Thanks to Instagram and Pinterest, customers are getting bolder, says Charlie Marshall, founder of Loaf, the London upholstery specialists (loaf.com). He adds: “Living Coral has a pleasant softness, unlike some strident fleeting colours of the moment.”

Ikea is updating its 40-year-old classic Poang armchair with a frame and covers in graded shades of coral, priced £85 (ikea.com).

“Get that tropical Miami vibe,” suggests Clotilde Passalacqua, UK interior design leader. “Use coral with shocking pink, lime, turquoise and lots of white. Or downplay with brass and copper tones for softer glamour.”

Oozing heritage, Bronte by Moon, famous for signature plaids, herringbones and tweeds, has chosen coral mixed with mint and aqua to update its latest cushions and throws (brontebymoon.co.uk).

Parent company Abraham Moon dates back to 1837 and is one of the UK’s last “vertical” mills in Guiseley in Yorkshire, doing all the processes of creating cloth in the same premises. Their fabrics have been specified for 10 Downing Street.