Ward off the January blues….

Spruce up your home after Christmas with our Alternative guide to what’s in the wind for 2013.

We kick off with ‘Made in Britain’, which continues to draw cachet and has become the shorthand for a certain kind of luxury and design longevity.  This trend chimes with our love of craft. In a major new partnership, the V&A and BBC Four present ‘Handmade in Britain’, an ambitious season exploring the history of British decorative arts. The season continues in January 2013 with a three-part series about British woodwork – ‘Carved with Wood’. If you can, grab a copy of ‘Handmade in Britain by Joanna Norman (V&A Publishing).

Materials

At Alternative we like to be natural with our fine and chunky wools, and naturally tactile sisals for flooring.

Home accessories follow a pick ‘n’ mix approach combining materials such as metal, marble, wood and glass. Ochre beautifully marries unusual materials such as cast bronze with solid oak.

Dig up inspiration from archeological excavations with stone and terracotta in earthy tones. This handmade terracotta light from the Hand and Eye Studio is a fusion between old and new. The warm hues of kiln-fired terracotta, combined with the subtle white glaze.

Pattern

Think around the grid with bold geometrics, graphic shapes and outlines as Grecian, Egyptian and Moorish motifs abound.

Another trend that continues from last season is ‘going wild’ inspired by African craft and watch out for the Navajo textiles trend. Catwalk and fashion for the home seem to go round-and-round like some sort of style merry-go-round. Soon after Navajo colours and materials began influencing fashion designers, those same designs and similar hues began showing up in the home. Navajo style consists of bold patterns and can be married with warm brown tones and bright reds. It’s quite a Native Indian effect so you can expect a natural palette but mix it up with splashes of colour.

Palette

Early indications tell us that black and white will be the most persuasive non-colour combination of 2013.  It’s accessible, strikingly simple and one of the easiest looks for your wardrobe and home.

Livingetc magazine eases us into spring with Powder Blue, a refreshing and uplifting shade that looks ahead to the blue skies of spring. Pantone looks to the whole year ahead and predicts that Emerald is the fashion shade for 2013, which will gradually filter through to our homes. It’s a lively, radiant, lush green and Pantone’s Colour of the Year because it’s a shade that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony.

Colours go in cycles and like hemlines follow the ups and downs of our economy. According to the legendary trend goddess Lidewij Edelkoort, yellow is the new pink –  ‘the colour will dominate with vibrancy making for lively and stimulating colour palettes, fabrics and fittings.’ Also watch out for Tangerine and other citrus shades.

And thinking of mellow yellow we leave you on a cheery note. Stay tuned as our next celebrity guest blogger is international interior stylist and creator of The Colour Field Melinda Ashton-Turner who next month will reveal the new season’s shades for interiors and how they influence flooring.