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Interior design color trends often follow fashion trends, so colors that you see on the runways in the spring will soon be seen in trendy home stores and maybe even in your office. Since colors influence interior design, this will lead to complementing and coordination of the furnishings. Thankfully, more and more people selecting furnishings for call center and office spaces look to current design trends and outside of the traditional (and slightly boring) all gray color schemes of the past.

Pantone, Inc. is the world-renowned authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries. Recently Pantone announced Turquoise as their 2010 color of the year. Turquoise is equated with soothing thoughts of tropical waters, leading us to an escape from the troubles of the everyday world, which many of us need with the events of the last year.

Sherwin-Williams is another leading color authority in interior design, and according to Jackie Jordan, the director of color marketing for Sherwin-Williams, one color trend of 2010 will be a “Refreshed” theme, which is an aesthetic of bright, energized floral colors that evoke optimism and exuberance. These 1960’s vintage colors include coordinating colors to turquoise, such as lemonade yellow, crisp green, and vivacious violet.

Jordan also notes that the rise of these vibrant colors comes partly as a response to the challenging times and a need for something positive to balance out the stress many are facing. This echoes what was seen at NeoCon, (The National Exposition of Contract Furnishings) last July, where showrooms and furniture were filled with black, white, brown and gray as the timeless centerpieces. These classics were accented with silver and brighter pops of color.

This doesn’t mean that floor to ceiling turquoise or violet will be the trend, but these colors will be used to accent popular earth tones. Mixing these vibrant colors and earth tones will actually be quite complimentary to one another. For example, expect to see browns, greens and other neutrals in combination with pinks, blues and yellows or purples.

Woodgrains continue to have staying power in 2010, both for vertical surfaces and work surfaces. Manufactured woodgrains have come a long way in the past few years because of both the environmental friendly nature of their products and the advances in printing technology. Some of the most popular woodgrains have been maple, cherry, and even darker walnut colors have made a resurgence. And now instead of matching real woodgrains, a new trend is manufactured grains that do not exist in nature, for a funky constructed look.

When selecting colors for the interior of a building, there is a concern for the longevity of a given color, and people have a tendency to 'play it safe' with neutrals. But that concern generally applies to the color of big-ticket items like carpeting, window coverings and larger furnishings. A space can be accented with color by selecting changeable items with a smaller cost to upgrade in the future such as paint, seating, tackboards, and accessories to make your space look great for 2010 and beyond.

With Interior Concepts call center cubicles, panels can be swapped out for color updates over the years without disrupting or having to replace the entire panel system. Interior Concepts also has a lifetime warranty, complimentary space planning, no minimum order size, a four-week lead-time, and green certification for a healthy indoor environment. Have a question about your space? They are your design and call center furniture experts. Give them a call at 800-678-5550 or visit their website at www.interiorconcepts.com/call-center-furniture.

Color resources:

www.pantone.com

www.panolam.com

 www.wilsonartcontract.com