Summer

Ah, summer! What do you enjoy most about this season — long, light evenings, picnics, ice creams, day trips or holidays, or seeing roses, lavender, and hydrangeas in bloom?

Over the past year, I’ve shared post about the different seasons and how they relate to our personalities, and the colours, patterns and textures we are drawn to. The final instalment is all about the summer.

First, let’s clear something up: the summer seasonal palette isn’t about the vibrant, bright colours that you might see on beach towels or picnic ware, lovely as they are. Rather, the summer palette conjures up images of long, lazy days, hazy sunshine, faded, blousy florals, washed out hues and an overall feeling of being cool, calm and collected.

The colours in the summer palette are soft and muted. They are cool colours - blues, greens and purples - but in the mid-tone range, softened with grey. So where as adding white would make theses colours fresh and bright (like in the spring palette), and adding black makes them deeper and richer (hello autumn palette!) adding grey gives them a gentle, low energy quality that’s easy to look at.

As for patterns and textures for the summer palette, think watercolour patterns, faded florals, linen and silk. Nothing too busy or showy. Interiors tend to be understated, well organised and balanced. There is an elegance and stillness to them.

If this sounds like your kind of colour palette, your personality probably falls into the ‘summer’ category too. Are you gentle, reserved, graceful, efficient, calm and understated? It’s easy to see how those traits align with the colours and textures of summer.

So, if this describes someone you know – or if it’s you – then surrounding yourselves with these colours, patterns and textures can positively impact how you feel in your space. If not, one of the other seasonal palettes will resonate more with you. You can find details on spring, autumn and winter by looking through my earlier posts.

Enjoy your summer!