Classic Blue Makes a Comeback in Interior Design

Interior design by JSB Designs

Pantone Color of the Year 2020If you would have asked me when I was a little girl what the color of the year would be in 2020 I likely would have picked something radical – maybe magenta or lime green.

To 12-year-old me, the future featured lots of bright colors and high tech things like I saw on The Jetsons. I fully expected to glide from room to room on a moving walkway and have a refrigerator that spits out fully prepared meals.

I have to say, I’m mildly disappointed that we don’t have flying cars.

While The Jetsons didn’t exactly paint a reliable picture of 2020 would look like, I’m still pretty happy with the design aesthetics of the world we’re living in.

The Pantone Color of the Year for 2020 is 19-4052 Classic Blue, what they call a “familiar, calming shade of azure.”

Unlike the bright colors of 1980s’ cartoons, interior design in 2020 is all about reflecting calm cool colors like blues, greens and earth tones. Home decor is focusing on our desire to “live simply” and treat our homes as an oasis from the outside world.

Interior design by JSB DesignsThe modern farmhouse trend remains strong. In their home design, many people seem more interested in expressing a connection to the past than in zooming towards the future.

According to pantone.com, this particular color was chosen for “instilling calm, confidence, and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.”

Blue really is a shade that has long been known to invoke feelings of calm and restfulness and I’m so glad to see it as a “hot” color popping up everywhere.

Adding Finishing Touches to Blue Design

At the end of last year, we worked with a client who chose blue to be the dominant color in their space. After living in the home for several years, the owners just didn’t feel that their home was fully finished.

They reached out to JSB Designs looking for help with some window treatments in the living room. I met with them and discovered that they needed a professional to pull together their “look” and add some finishing touches to make their house exactly as they had imagined.

As we talked and walked through the home I was able to get a feel for their particular style.

Interior design by JSB DesignsThe leather sofas and furniture with rustic wood finishings gave the home a modern farmhouse feel. Some of their paint choices and details, like the rug in their kitchen, gave me ideas about their favorite colors. Because the family had relocated to the Midwest from a southern state I knew I wanted to give the space just a touch of southern flair.

Picking up on details like this got the wheels turning and the ideas flowing. Once a vision starts to take shape I go shopping for accent pieces, accessories and wall art that will compliment the furniture and existing decor.

One of the most striking details in this particular home was a gorgeous blue wall in the kitchen. I really loved the drama of the dark blue contrasted with white cabinets.

I chose to match this shade of blue in the living room window treatments to bring the blue into the rest of the living space.

Then I set about filling in with decor items I picked up at Home Goods and Hobby Lobby and then accentuated those with some great finds from Metro Lighting.

The home owners really gave me free reign and it was fun finding pieces, such as the abstract blue and green art in the living room, that I knew they’d love.

Interior design by JSB DesignsBecause of the layout of the home, the hallway is highly visible. I really wanted an accent piece to spice up this area. I just love how the white cabinet placed there turned out! The sconce lighting above it and family photos arranged on the chest, my personal favorite touch in any home, just create the perfect focal point.

I’m so pleased with how this project turned out and I loved getting to know this wonderful family. Feel free to leave me a comment letting me know which detail is your favorite!

In my next blog, I’ll show off a gallery wall in the same house. I’m constantly getting questions about how to pull together gallery walls so be on the lookout for my tips and tricks. Until then, I’ll just be lamenting the fact that my family doesn’t have a Rosie the robot to clean up after them. Those Jetsons really did have it made!