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My home
Colour
Colour trends
2018
Essential
My home
Colour
Colour trends
2018
Essential
interior grey lounge room with grey couch and chair.
Ceiling Terrace White
Walls Spanish Olive
Colour Forecast 2018

Essential

It’s the simple pleasures that remind us that life need not be so complicated. The familiar comfort of a cup of tea, the warm kiss of the sun on your face – beauty can exist in the most humble and quietest of moments. Showy status symbols begin to lose their shine, replaced by the Nordic tradition of Hygge.

Kinship
Essential
Escapade
Reflect

Bring life back to basics

Time is no longer an elusive and fleeting luxury, rather a series of moments to be savoured and shared. Our search for a more authentic existence inspires a new-found appreciation for natural and recycled materials. As we embrace the old as new, we move towards a more genuine and conscious way of living.

interior decor. Grey table with books and plant.
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Dulux Colour Trends 2018 – Essential Palette. Styled by Bree Leech. Photographer: Lisa Cohen
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Colour tip

Combine naturals such as soft brown, sand and grey green for a relaxing scheme conducive to taking time out.

Charm of imperfections

Liven up a neutral look with different textures. Imperfect edges on textiles, handmade details and a mix of materials will give your space character and ensure your neutral colour scheme is never dull.

Paler colours create a calming and nurturing palette. The simple charm and raw honesty of imperfect finishes help to make your room feel comfortable and inviting. Start with hand-crafted ornaments and natural linens.

interior pink chair with warm tones.

Door

Spanish Olive

Spanish Olive is a silvery-grey with beautiful green undertones is a perfect colour for living spaces and bedrooms. It is ideal for creating a lovely neutral scheme and pairs well with warm whites such as White Exchange Half and reddish-brown Clay Court.

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Door
Spanish Olive
Wall
Gnu Tan
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Spanish Olive is a silvery-grey with beautiful green undertones is a perfect colour for living spaces and bedrooms. It is ideal for creating a lovely neutral scheme and pairs well with warm whites such as White Exchange Half and reddish-brown Clay Court.
Dulux Colour Trends 2018 – Essential Palette. Styled by Bree Leech. Photographer: Lisa Cohen
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Sophisticated colour twists

Adding a rich, warm colour such as Clay Court to your grey scheme can create a focal point within a space or highlight architectural detail. It can be the colour twist that elevates your colour scheme from simple to sophisticated.

interior decor, table with pot and bowl.

Wall

Dieskau

Dieskau is a welcoming greige with a warm, slightly mauve undertone. Soft and subtle, Dieskau is perfect for any space inside the home and ideal if you're wanting to achieve the Hamptons look with trim in crisp white such as Lexicon® Half or Vivid White™. For exteriors, Dieskau can be used for walls or trims when using darker greige/greys. This tranquil colour also schemes beautifully with the warm dark grey of Klavier and warm mid-based greiges of Teahouse and Stepney.

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Wall
Dieskau
Table & chair
Clay Court
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Dieskau is a welcoming greige with a warm, slightly mauve undertone. Soft and subtle, Dieskau is perfect for any space inside the home and ideal if you're wanting to achieve the Hamptons look with trim in crisp white such as Lexicon® Half or Vivid White™. For exteriors, Dieskau can be used for walls or trims when using darker greige/greys. This tranquil colour also schemes beautifully with the warm dark grey of Klavier and warm mid-based greiges of Teahouse and Stepney.
Dulux Colour Trends 2018 – Essential Palette. Styled by Bree Leech. Photographer: Lisa Cohen
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Sleeping sanctuary

Dulux Flooded Gum is the perfect mid-grey to pair with light timber tones such as oak and ash. Contrast the subtle warmth in Flooded Gum with soft denim-style blues.

interior bedroom with blue and grey details.

Wall

Flooded Gum

Flooded Gum is a beautiful warm greige that is perfect inside on main walls, accent walls and trim as well as a stunning option for exterior weatherboard and render surfaces. The softness of Flooded Gum pairs well with cool and neutral whites and charcoals.

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Wall
Flooded Gum
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Flooded Gum is a beautiful warm greige that is perfect inside on main walls, accent walls and trim as well as a stunning option for exterior weatherboard and render surfaces. The softness of Flooded Gum pairs well with cool and neutral whites and charcoals.
Dulux Colour Trends 2018 – Essential Palette. Styled by Bree Leech. Photographer: Lisa Cohen
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Want to see more of the Essential trend?

For more details on the products and colours featured in our 2018 colour trends, read our digital magazine.

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interior lounge essential magazine cover image.

Dulux Authentic Colour®

Don't risk tinting your favourite colours with other paint brands. Only Dulux pigments mixed into Dulux Wash&Wear® and Dulux Weathershield® are designed to create our iconic colours shown here every time. Colours featured: Dulux Teahouse (exterior) and Dulux Domino (trim and verandah).

Find out more
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Essential Palette

The Essential trend is a calm and nurturing palette draws on the soft warmth of leathers, a pop of bold blue, and the beautiful imperfections of aging materials in rusted tones.

Terrace White

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Dieskau

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Spanish Olive

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Flooded Gum

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Mornington Half

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Crystal Palace

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Gnu Tan

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Clay Court

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Elusive Blue

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Knight Of The Realm

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Timeless

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Noble Knight

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Essential gallery

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Most Loved Whites + Essential

Dulux has been crafting some of Australia’s most iconic paint colours for nearly a century. Here’s how our Most Loved Whites and Neutrals can work in harmony with the Essential palette.

Dulux Casper White Quarter

Dulux Casper White Quarter is a soft white that teams beautifully with the soft grey-green of Dulux Spanish Olive and Mornington Half of the Essential palette. Subtle in warmth with grey undertones, it’s the secret ingredient to a harmonious colour scheme.

interior white lounge with blue chair and painting.

Walls

Casper White Quarter

A slightly warmer white, Casper White Quarter is a great neutral white that can be used as a main wall colour, trim or an exterior colour. This soft and flexible white works well with many colours including bold dark and lighter shades.

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Walls
Casper White Quarter
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A slightly warmer white, Casper White Quarter is a great neutral white that can be used as a main wall colour, trim or an exterior colour. This soft and flexible white works well with many colours including bold dark and lighter shades.
Stylists: Bree Leech & Heather Nette King. Photographer: Mark Roper
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Dulux Snowy Mountains Half

The warmth of Dulux Snowy Mountains Half creates a perfect counterbalance to the cool hue of Dulux Noble Knight. For a contemporary scheme team with Dulux Dieskau – this natural tone brings together the striking contrast between white and deeper blue.

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Interior lounge

Wall

Snowy Mountains Half

Snowy Mountains Half is a slightly neutral white that can be used with warmer and cooler colours. It can easily be used for the main colour both inside and out.

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Wall
Snowy Mountains Half
Door
Noble Knight
Wall
Dieskau
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Snowy Mountains Half is a slightly neutral white that can be used with warmer and cooler colours. It can easily be used for the main colour both inside and out.
Dulux Colour Trends 2018 – Essential Palette. Styled by Bree Leech. Photographer: Lisa Cohen
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interior labelled closeup of table and books.
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Dulux Colour Trends 2018 – Essential Palette. Styled by Bree Leech. Photographer: Lisa Cohen
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Suppliers

1. Reuber Henning Shibori Dots Rug in Earth, Halcyon Lake 2. Fogia Bowl Side Tables, Fred International 3. White pot & books, Stylist’s own
interior labelled closeup of table with pot and plate.
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Dulux Colour Trends 2018 – Essential Palette. Styled by Bree Leech. Photographer: Lisa Cohen
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Suppliers

1. Table and chair, Stylist’s own 2. Lume Small Vase, Country Road 3. Zanat Touch Tray, Hub Furniture 4. Blume Timber knife & spoon, Country Road

Create the look: Essential

"The colour palette works perfectly with raw timber, leather and brass allowing the materiality to be the hero. I have balanced clean lines with the exaggerated and simple woven textiles including a rug and upholstery fabric. Incorporating elements of nature can really finish a space. I selected a juvenile eucalyptus tree that works against Dulux Flooded Gum or Spanish Olive." – Bruce Summers, Interior Stylist.

Learn how
portrait of bruce summers.
Dulux Colour Trends 2018 Supplier Information

View the Dulux Colour Trends 2018 digital magazine for full supplier and colour details.

View Suppliers

More 2018 Colour Trends

Pip Brett
Escapade

Pip Brett of Jumbled re-imagines the Escapade look with bold block colours and clashing patterns.

Learn more-->
Heather Nette King
Reflect

Heather Nette King shows us how to create a modern take on an elegant space taking cues from the Reflect trend.

Learn more-->
michelle halford kinship
Kinship

Interior stylist and writer of The Design Chaser, Michelle Halford, creates a warm, cosy space with the Kinship trend.

Learn more-->
Disclaimer

Colours displayed should be used as a guide for your colour selection. To ensure best accuracy, test your colour choice at home by ordering Dulux sample pots, stickers and A4 colour swatches.

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