Spiced Honey is the Dulux Colour of the Year 2019

6 ways to use this warm and welcoming shade in your home

Dulux has announced its Colour of the Year for 2019 – and it already has us reaching for the nearest paint brush.

According to an expert panel of colour designers, architects, trend forecasters, design specialists and editors, Spiced Honey is the colour we all need in our homes next year.

This illustrious group of pigment professionals came together as part of the global ColourFutures™ annual trend forecast from Dulux. Now in its 16th year, the colour they choose aims to capture the global mood and predict what we will want on our walls over the next 12 months.

In 2018 Heart Wood was named as the shade of the year, a sort of dusky mauve that aimed to bring a sense of comfort to our homes in what were deemed troubling times. Thankfully, this year the panel can see a little optimism on the horizon. A new year means a new start, with a brighter palette and sense of purpose.

Heleen van Gent, Head of the Global Aesthetic Centre, who chairs the panel, says of Spiced Honey: “It can be both calming and nourishing or stimulating and energising, depending on the palettes and light surrounding it.”

Marianne Shillingford, Creative Director for the Dulux brand in the UK, agrees: “Spiced Honey has a raw, natural quality that works like a warm neutral, which makes it so adaptable to pairing with different materials and styles of decoration. Its rich caramel tones visually turn up the thermostat a few degrees and so it’s perfect for creating a relaxed cosy atmosphere in places where we like to think, dream, love and act.”

Alongside Spiced Honey, Dulux has also produced a set of colour palettes (all featuring the hero colour) that shows how it can be used in different ways in the home to create different themes, from gentle pastels to help us dream to bold brights to encourage us to act.

We can already see it now: shades of golden brown will work perfectly in our 1970s-inspired living rooms and it looks surprisingly stylish with pale pinks and greys.

So bold decorators listen up: here are six ways you can weave Spiced Honey into your home.

Spiced Honey from Dulux - Living room scheme

Scandi candi

The warm near-butterscotch tones seem like they were made for our Scandi-style living rooms

Pale pink and Spiced Honey warm tan walls

Sweetly does it

Soft pinks against the wood of mid-century pieces make for inspiring creative spaces

Think palette from Dulux featuring Spiced Honey - the colour of the year for 2019

Pack a punch

A black border gives these walls a bit more bite, for when you want to make a statement

Dulux Spiced Honey bedroom ideas

Day dreaming

Who knew colour-clashing could be so romantic? You know where to find us.

Dulux Spiced Wood colour ideas

All play, no work

We love the retro feel of this room and the little pop of yellow gives a nod to the 1970s too.

Dulux Colour of the Year - Spiced Honey living room palette

Minimal effort

Contrasted against white woodwork and furniture, Spiced Honey has a very cool contemporary feel.