Commercial Color Trends for 2007

Paint color is an inexpensive and easy way to make a statement in the interior of any building. A new coat of the appropriate color can finish the look of a newly constructed building or bring new life to an older structure. The colors you choose for your facility speak volumes to your tenants and customers. What are the colors in your building saying now? If you don't know, or are afraid of the answer, 2007 might be the perfect time to give your building's interior an updated look.

The Alexandria, VA-based Color Marketing Group can help you choose the right colors for your facility, depending on its function, size, and tenant base. The international association of color design professionals gathered in Atlanta recently to pool their expertise, review societal and economic forces currently impacting the marketplace, and predict key color trends for commercial properties in 2007. Savvy building owners know that color is a good way to create the right impression. Here, these seasoned color professionals predict future color styles ...

Buildings will Look and Feel More Like Home. There will be a strong trend toward the use of colors that provide a sense of comfort and a home-like atmosphere in commercial spaces. Retail spaces, public spaces, and commercial interiors will increasingly reflect the comforting colors that make our homes feel like a refuge from the pressures of the outside world. The most compelling building interiors will be painted and covered in colors that feel truly warm, but never hot.

"Green" Rules! The most powerful trend for the coming year is the environment. While terms like "green" and "sustainability" may have seemed marginal in past years, they have now gone mainstream in America. A nation increasingly concerned about global warming, preserving the environment, and rising energy costs is responding very positively to buildings that may or may not use environmentally friendly materials, but literally suggest the idea by using environmentally inspired colors:

• Greens definitely mean the color green, too. Look for softer, more botanical greens, inspired by gardens and nature.
  
  

• Blues are taken directly from the environment - the color of the sky and the color of water.
  
  

• Neutrals will rise to new prominence in 2007 (especially the medium to dark browns). The new neutrals are not the drab, faded institutional neutrals of years past. Instead, beiges, browns, and tans will all be more earthy, grounded, and natural, reflecting the colors of rocks, stones, and soil. These lighter colors work now in high-use interior spaces because of the tremendous advancement in performance finishes.
  
  

• Bright accents will punctuate lighter, neutral walls, especially deep, rich, ethnic reds, which are showing up everywhere. Rich reds and warm, glowing oranges will be the punch colors of choice for 2007, accenting interior commercial and public spaces that increasingly feel like the warmest, most comforting room in the house or the softest landscape on the horizon.
  
  

This information was provided by the Alexandria, VA-based Color Marketing Group (www.colormarketing.org). The Color Marketing Group forecasts color trends for up to 3 years into the future for its members, many of whom must plan years ahead for product, space, and materials introductions. For more information, contact Amy Larrabee, director of communications ([email protected]).