Top trends for spring/summer 2012 from interior designer Naomi Cleaver

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve shared the top colour trends for spring/summer 2012 with you, turning up the heat in your homes with Tangerine Orange and Fire Cracker Red.

Just before Christmas I spent a festive day with interior designer and consultant Naomi Cleaver, nibbling mince pies at the stylish The Refinery restaurant in London and talking trends for 2012.

Hot colour for s/s 2012: Terracotta

Like Pantone and Dulux, Naomi tipped the tones of passion, heat and energy as key shades for spring/summer, but added a slightly Mediterranean, earthen twist to it.

‘I’m fed up of the twee look we had last year with an abundance of pastels and dainty pinks and yellows. I want something with oomph, so terracotta is my colour for 2012,’ Naomi told me.

3D room designed by kiscsitty

Only a couple of days ago mydeco.com community member kiscsitty created this modern living room design using our free 3D Room Planner tool. The terracotta walls add warmth while not being too overpowering. This is always a possibility when using a bold colour, especially on the ceiling too, but here it’s broken up with geometric wall panels and neutral carpet. Terracotta also complements the retro ’70s vibe of this living room, created from the accompanying yellow and orange colour scheme, Orla Kiely sideboard and cushion, geometric wall panels, nesting cube shelving units and red Eames DSR chairs. This is a retro-contemporary living room with playful energy and positive attitude.

Save Versus Spend

Naomi was in London to showcase the brand new steaming hot water tap by InSinkErator which champions style and convenience as well as being energy efficient and ecological.

Initially, I wanted Naomi’s eco-tips and trends advice but I soon found myself quite awestruck by the InSinkErator™ 3300 model which proffers boiling water straight from the spout. I never knew how much energy I waste making my endless cuppas at work, filling the kettle to the derogatory max line (daring me to go past the line, so I always do by a drop or two…) thinking I’m being nice to the next few tea suppers, although deep down I know they’ll press the red button and boil it again, 20 seconds later.

So I asked Naomi how much we, as consumers, are becoming more eco-aware:

‘For 2012 we will, unsurprisingly, be all about how to save money and increase efficiency, using gadgets such as InSinkErator’s hot water tap.

‘Similarly, the simple efficiencies of the well-loved gadgets of previous generations will continue to be affectionately
rediscovered, such as the Tupperware brand, relaunching into the UK and whose products are invaluable in preserving and transporting food. A homemade picnic lunch is, after all, a fraction of the cost of shop bought.

‘My view is that people aren’t focused on being eco and saving the planet by saving money. You can do that though; you can save money and save the planet too by being more energy efficient.

‘Common sense tells you if something is sustainable or not and this common sense will be sustainable on the purse and planet.’

Shelter Chic robust textiles

‘In terms of style, I predict we will begin to see a move away from the rather cloyingly twee, nostalgic crafts we have recently witnessed to those that are rather more robust and honest; those, in fact, with echoes of the 1970s, another period of economic crisis.

‘Macrame, elephant cord, rush mats, heavy weaves, hessian, studio-inspired pottery, terracotta (colour and material) and felting. Also lots of houseplants – this is Shelter Chic.’