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Colour design and the use of colours is a vast and fascinating world that surrounds and influences our everyday world. Whilst fashions come and go, style remains fairly constant with favourite colours largely remaining the same for long periods of time.
Here we review the best-selling colours from our Wall Paint, Wood Paint and Peelable Glass Paint ranges.
New for 2024 is our high performing flat matt Wall Paint, launched with 56 colours from the Wood Paint range. Made with the same VOC free exterior grade colour pigments that we use in all of our paint ranges, the depth of colour is rich and luxuriously enchanting.
Heritage colours remain firm favourites across all paint ranges with the colours of Field Green, Old Sage Green, Bishop Blue and Cavepool Grey being just as popular in the Wall Paint range as they are in Wood Paint.
Off-whites, creams and neutrals were popular within all tin sizes. Brave choices of the warm and sunny Ginger Gold and the vibrant teal of Goblin Blue sit in the charts with fashionable pink shades of Rock Rose, Cheddar Pink and Foxwhelp Red along with the pretty pastel of Purple Orchid.
Favourite colours within the Wood Paint range vary according to pack size as their uses change. 150ml tins are used for anything from samples to test colours for large jobs, to smaller craft and upcycling projects.
The larger 2.5litre tins tend to be used for painting larger objects such as sheds and summerhouses so colours tend to be from a more traditional palette.
A 750ml tin is used on a wider variety of projects from trims and features on large buildings, to doors, furniture, planters, and garden structures such as arches. Hence you see a tendency towards traditional heritage tones all the way down to bright, vibrant, more fun and experimental colours.
The leader across all pack sizes remains RAL 7016 Anthracite Grey and this is the best-seller for specialist RAL internet searches. This colour is widely used in construction and by architects and designers. The cool and classic depth to this shade of grey makes it a very popular choice as it bridges and transcends all fashions, contrasting with pretty much every colour imaginable and working on any object or construction.
However, across our colour ranges greys, neutrals, blues, and greens lead the charts across all pack sizes with natural wood tones such as UV Clear, Birch, Beech and Ash. Cool and contemporary tones definitely lead the way in the 2.5l chart where timber buildings tend to be painted to sit in with and compliment the natural palette of the garden.
In 2024 heritage colours and natural wood tones remained dominant with Old Sage Green taking the top spot from UV Clear in the 2.5 litre tin size and Skylark Blue coming back into the charts.
The fashion for pinks was evident in the smaller pack sizes with the appearance of Rock Rose and Cheddar Pink. Vibrant splashes of Rowan Berry Red, Sundowner Orange and the new entry of Purple Divine added bright and confident colours to the chart.
The chart for 2023 is a beautiful collection of natural heritage tones with greens, greys and blues dominating. Surprisingly the top 3 colours in both 2.5 litre and 750ml tins are the same, with the natural protection of UV Clear at the top and Old Sage Green and Blackdown next.
Gorgeous traditional heritage tones of Field Green, Wetlands Green, Axe Blue and Launcherley Blue are all new in to the charts, with Sundowner Orange remaining as an injection of bright light and warmth.
When thinking of colour trends Caroline Thornborough, Director of Design says;
“In a turbulent and unsettled world people are being drawn to soft neutral tones to surround themselves, providing a sense of calm and comfort.
The need for colour in these dark times is being fulfilled by the good old accent wall where a bolder paint colour or wall paper print is applied. The use of soft furnishings in bold bright colours and prints will be utilised, bridging the gap between the cold minimalist and warm uplifting maximalist styles.”
During 2022 the majority of colours in the top 20 charts remained the same with colours moving up or down the charts, for example in the 750ml pack size Sedge Green moved to the top and Bishop Blue went up. These colours consistently remain strong best-sellers throughout the years but surprisingly there was a burst of colour with Rowan Berry Red moving up the chart and Ginger Gold plus Sundowner Orange bursting onto the scene. Perhaps we all needed a bit of warmth and vitality injected into our lives!
Vibrant colours also increased in 150ml tins and colours from the Somerset Heritage Collection continue to grow in popularity with Old Sage Green, Bullrush Green and Goddess Green becoming firm favourites. Tor Stone also leapt into the 150ml chart at number 11.
In 2021 there was a strong shift back to greys and traditional heritage tones being the most dominant. Cavepool Grey leapt in popularity thanks to TV Carpenter Wayne Perrey using the colour on an arbour he made for the Alan Titchmarsh ITV1 hit series “Spring into Summer“. Viewers fell in love with the colour and it leapt up to the top of the charts.
Colours from the Somerset Heritage Colour Collection also ascended the top 20 chart with Old Sage Green and Cow Parsley White being the most popular. Grey Heron and Bullrush Green were also popular choices with Goddess Green just missing out on the chart at 21.
The fashion for greys is here to stay with black back up at the top of the charts. Yew Green also made a strong return to the top 20 chart in the 2.5l and 750ml pack sizes.
Pops of colour spring up in the smaller sizes with the bright tones of Cheddar Pink, Mudgley Mustard, Rowan Berry Red and Adonis Blue appearing as popular choices. It was a surprise that after the lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic, more bright cheery colours weren’t used more regularly. The thought was that more people would want to brighten up their garden with uplifting colours to help them escape from lockdown.
Firm favourites appear in all sizes with unique and attractive colours such as Greylake, Dormouse Grey, Wispy Willow, Bishop Blue, Zinc Grey and Peregrine Blue appearing in all 3 packs.
Whilst shades and hues vary, popular colours tend to be pretty constant when it comes to decorating and pleasing the eye.
For Peelable Glass Paint the game changes radically between pack sizes with minor variations across the years. The larger 750ml tins are predominantly used for shading in greenhouses, conservatories, balcony screening and commercial properties leading to a palette predominantly built with natural heritage tones.
The 150ml tins are used for smaller shading jobs and in arts & crafts projects, hence a greater mix of heritage tones with the vibrant translucents.
The top of the chart throughout the years is dominated by Bat Black, Swan White and White Witch with a variety of greys, greens and a couple of blues leading the shades. 2024 was no exception apart from the number 2 spot being taken by Dragon Red as an art event in Germany called “Paint the Town Red” saw an installation company covering a large glass entrance to a museum in our Peelable Glass Paint, then dramatically peeling huge sheets off at the end of the event. Muddle Brown made its first entry into the top 20 sitting with regular translucent favourites Goblin Green and Bandit Blue.
In 2022 Dragon Red, Purple Puffin and Wizard Yellow entered into the top charts as people experiment more with large designs incorporating vibrant and rainbow colours. Goblin Green was the only coloured translucent that pops into the Top 20 for 750ml tins from 2019-2021and is due to the fact that plants react well to the colour green, and tend to grow well under its influence.
In the 150ml tin size the more vibrant translucent colours are highly popular in the chart with the rainbow colours of Dragon Red and Wizard Yellow, the fresh and vibrant Goblin Green, ‘Classic Blue’ of Bandit Blue, zingy Ogre Orange and pretty Purple Puffin decorating windows and craft projects up and down the country.
The warm, sunny Griffin Gold is a popular choice along with the aqua teal blue of Mermaid Blue and Clear offering a frosted window look that suits anywhere.
150ml tins go a long way so are used across the full spectrum from shading to arts & crafts. Often a 150ml tin is enough to provide shading on roof panes of a greenhouse to see plants through the summer. This sees a lovely jumble of heritage opaque tones with bright primary translucent colours, but black and white still take the top of the chart.
Favourite colours vary slightly over the years and these charts demonstrate the ups and downs in the world of colour. Natural wood tones, greens, greys and blues remain popular and always work well within the home and garden.
