How we scooped Farrow & Ball.

We have never hidden our admiration of Farrow & Ball’s prowess when it comes to marketing and PR. We believe the way they have used photography has been trailblazing in the modern world of interiors media.

So, we were really excited when they unveiled their top five colour trends for 2022.

Babouche, School House White, Breakfast Room Green, Stone Blue, and Incarnadine are the shades F&B say will define 2022. The colours, they explain, are rooted in a feeling of folk and craftsmanship – with a versatile mix of function, form and comfort – each colour is anchored in a sense of comfortability and simplicity.

And we agree with them about the popularity of these colours. After all… we predicted them all up to a year ago.

Starting with School House White

F&B have chosen this delicate off white because it’s a pared-back shade without the cool undertones of the more contemporary neutral groups.

We couldn’t agree more – we were shouting about this back in February: See our February Trend Update here where we found that searches for white – especially white tiles – were reaching an all-time high. Meaning not only is white an immutable trend, but that it’s growing in popularity.

Stone Blue

It was literally a year ago we were picking up on the growth of blue – as it overtook grey for the first time as the colour of choice for paint and tiles. See our October 2020 Trend Update here. We put this story out to the press and Ideal Home used it pretty much word for word – and included “buy it now” links to a client’s blue tiles. Read that feature in Ideal Home here.

Of course, we can’t take all the credit – Pantone had also identified Classic Blue it as their Colour of The Year in November 2019.

Babouche

This yellowy hue ties right into the trend we identified in June this year – for a massive and surprising growth in consumer interest in beige! See our June Trend report.

Blooming beige. The yellowy, magnolia of school corridors and work canteens has been rediscovered post-pandemic for bringing a sense of calm and tranquillity into our lives.

We spoke to experts for our June Trend Update, and then pitched to the media. Here’s a link to Real Homes who picked up on it – and featured two of our clients.

Breakfast Room Green

We first picked-up on increased interest in green back in June last year, when we saw a 100% increase in consumer interest in green tiles and paint in the 12 months to September. For our report we paired it with another colour of increasing popularity – pink, for a Preppy Trend Update.

It re-emerged in July as the colour of choice for new kitchens (or, ahem, breakfast rooms… if you like). Here is a feature on The Spruce which also features one of our clients.

Incarnadine

One trend we didn’t spot, which F&B have put forward for their 2022 trends list, is Incarnadine, a sumptuous red. The reason for this is that interest in red paint, according to Google, has been in decline since before the pandemic.

We don’t know why. But this is going to be an interesting one for us to watch.

So there we have it. Good work Farrow & Ball. We’ll keep you updated on next years trends via our blog!!

Only joking, it’s nice to know we’re doing things right.