For my last blog post of the year, I wanted to talk about one of my favourite events that I attended in 2019 and trends for 2020. A few weeks ago, I was extremely excited to be invited along to the Dulux Academy to celebrate the launch of their creativity palette.

When Dulux first announced their Colour of the Year for 2020, Tranquil Dawn, they created several different palettes to create different moods in a room including the Play and Meaning Palette but the Creativity, with its warm burgundy and green tones, was always my favourite.

The wonderfully warm autumnal tones of the creativity palette

An Invite to the Dulux Academy

We were welcomed by the Dulux Creative Director, Marianne Shillingford, where she explained to us why the creativity palette was important as we looked forward to 2020. With the rise of globalisation and our growing need to depend and rely on technology (and our phones) we are increasingly living in a virtual world. There is a need for human beings to become creative again so we can distinguish ourselves from the omnipresent of robotics and reconnect with the world around us.

The Dulux Creativity Palette

The creativity palette gives us the chance to reconnect with nature with its rich earthy tones and forest greens, all pulled together beautifully by Dulux Tranquil Dawn. It allows us to use vintage materials such as the terracotta of old pottery pots, the floral murals of vintage paintings and the greens of blown glass. All these items can sit comfortably next to contemporary pieces of art and modern furniture which help move us into the next decade and I could now visualise why I love this palette so much!

With its earthy tones, vintage floral paintings and warm burgundy textures, I can easily see why this palette is my favourite

After Marianne finished her talk, we were invited into the painting sets of the Dulux Academy where Marianne showed her creative flair and demonstrated a few trends for 2020. These included grid painting, ombre, colour blocking and DIY murals!

All five of us where then handed a paint brush and a set to create our own display using the colours Chocolate Fountain, Heart Wood, Archive Papers, Dark Garnet, Neptune Seas, Forest Shade, Sapphire Splendour, Burnished Brass, Stable Gates and of course Tranquil Dawn. Marianne had brought in some personal effects with vases painted in the creativity palette for inspiration and to help us create our scenes.

Getting ready to paint A hand painted misty morning countryside scene using Tranquil Dawn A perfect display of matt painted vases and pots in the Creativity Palette  Getting ready to paint my set with a backdrop of Tranquil Dawn. Now, which colours?

Colour Blocking

With the new trend of colour blocking looking like it’s going to be the next big thing in 2020, I decided to have a go at creating my own colour blocked wall with the Dulux creativity palette.

First of all, I needed to create the block pattern with frog tape, by using a technique which Marianne taught us to give you perfectly horizontal and vertical lines. Cut a piece of string and pull a piece of chalk along the length of the string. Then, hold the string in place on the wall and pull it towards you so when it springs back onto the wall, it leaves a faint and straight chalk line where you can run your frog tape along.

Another great technique is to paint over the frog tape with the background colour as this will leave less room for the colour you are going to be painting on top to seep under the tape and leave you with perfect straight lines.

Putting the frog tape up and painting Tranquil Dawn over the top  Using the different colours of the Creativity Palette.

Whilst I waited for the Dulux paint to dry, I selected some props and furniture to complete my little corner makeover. Marianne’s personal items complimented the creativity palette beautifully, along with some soft furnishings such as cushions and macrame hangings and an armchair in a Velvet Tranquil Dawn fabric which is going to be released by DFS in January 2020.

After checking on the paint, we were treated to a delicious lunch put on by Dulux HQ.

A selection of old and new, some of the items Marianne brought in for us to use. Wicker, glass, ornaments and faux flowers  Followed by a delicious lunch

Walking back into the studio to find the paint had dried, I then pulled away the frog tape to see that the tips Marianne had given me had worked perfectly. I was left with impeccably straight lines on the colour blocks and was really pleased with the end result. To finish the set off, I added a blush pink round rug, a black stool from Ikea with vases in the various creativity palette colours displayed on top.

I finished this off with lots of textures including the Tranquil Dawn sofa from DFS, a cream throw, a macramé hanging and some cushions. I was extremely pleased with the results and knew this was something I would have to incorporate into my own home.

Just look at those lines! Creating a display of colour on a painted Ikea stool I absolutely love these jewel like colours Adding the Tranquil Dawn Smart Velvet sofa from DFS with a macrame hanging, deep burgundy cushion and throw My finished set! I love how the colours go together perfectly.  You can see on my face how much I enjoyed this afternoon!

I was lucky enough to spend the day with some other bloggers and Instagrammers who also created some amazing sets and gave me lots of inspiration. Kyla Magrath (@kylamagrathinteriors) went for an autumnal palette creating an ombre effect with her paint using Dulux Burnished Brass, Chocolate Fountain and Stable Gates to create a moody dawn. She added vintage pieces, burnt orange throws and a mustard cushion.

Kyla in her familiar autumnal surroundings!

Amy (@harrison_nate_and_me) created a stripe effect wall using Tranquil Dawn as the main paint, Stable Gates as the base colour and Heart Wood cleverly dividing the two colours. She complimented this palette with the DFS green sofa and pink accessories.

Amy’ s stripe effect wall

Agi (@agi_at_59) also used the block colour effect in her set, but softened the harshness of a block by adding curves. She used Heart Wood as a background colour and painted a stripe of Sapphire Splendour and a large block of Archive Papers to break the background colour up. Her styling was impeccable as always with the use of a vintage print, vases and a contemporary white lamp.

The colours work beautifully in Agi ’s set  Beautiful styling pulling the whole room together.

Finally, Hayley (@frockmeimfamous) also went for a stripe effect wall, using Archive Papers at the top and ceiling, Heart Wood to add a border between the colours and Forest Shade as the base colour. This provided the perfect backdrop to the Tranquil Dawn DFS sofa and the wicker side table in her set.

I love the idea of painting the ceiling as well  I love how the props pop against the dark green.

If you could ask me what my perfect day would be, I would absolutely say the day you hand me a paint brush and tell me to create a room! We had so much fun doing this, the only downside was that it didn’t go on longer. It’s made me realise I need to be more creative when using paint in the home and not just putting a paintbrush to the wall! What’s your favourite set?

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mel x