In the fall of 2019 coatings companies were caught out when they issued their usual annual forecasts for color trends in the following year. The companies’ color and design experts, as well as the many specialists they consulted, had no idea that within a few months COVID-19 would be threatening the world, casting gloom and anxiety across much of Europe and other regions.

The choice of colors in the 2020 trends based on the expected hopes and bright prospects of the new decade jarred with the public mood.

This year companies are much better positioned to select colors that reflect the COVID-influenced feelings of consumers.

With Europe now being hit by a second surge of the pandemic, worries about the disease have become even more deeply embedded among large sections of the region’s population amidst the realization that COVID-19 could be around for much longer than many people initially expected.

The 2021 color trends reports issued in recent months by European coatings companies, as well as the U.S.-based international players active in the region, have been fortunate to be able to exploit the traditional focus of their trends publications on the decorative and architectural coatings market.

This is the sector showing the strongest current demand and the most promising short to medium-term outlook. The 2-3 month lockdown imposed by European governments in the first wave of the pandemic starting in March prompted a sudden rise in people painting their homes and doing other DIY jobs.

In their second-quarter financial results, coatings companies recorded a steep rise in decorative sales in June.

Retail data has shown that the strong increase in home improvement sales, of which decorative paints account for a large proportion, continued into the third quarter.

Furthermore the move evident during the lockdown for more consumers shopping online has continued.

“It’s clear that the convenience of the (online shopping) channel is so well ingrained into the consumer’s psyche now and is therefore here to stay,” said Paul Martin, UK head of retail at management consultants KPMG.

With consumers shopping online coatings producers have more opportunities to persuade people to use their advice on choice of colors.

It is particularly important that coatings companies now project themselves as sources of guidance not only to decorators, both DIY and professionals, but also to designers and interior decor specialists.

With COVID-19 looking like it will not be going away soon, householders are having to adjust to the prospect of spending most of their day-to-day lives at home, including during working hours.

As a result, they are wanting to redecorate, even redesign, their homes.

IKEA, the Swedish international home furnishing and products retailer, called the phenomenon “the big home reboot.”

This followed a survey commissioned by the company on the impact of COVID-19 on more than 38,000 adults in 37 countries, most of them in Europe.

“For almost everyone, everywhere and all at once, home became the center of our worlds,’’ IKEA said in a report on the survey, carried out in July and August of this year.

Home turned into multi-purposes residences.

“Practically overnight, the spaces in which we live transformed into offices, schools, playgrounds and social spaces,” according to IKEA.

A Swedish consumer quoted in the report explained, “If I was to make a post-2020 resolution it would be to treat home as a place to live rather than a hotel to sleep before my next day at work.”

Most people, according to the report, wanted their homes to satisfy five fundamental emotional requirements: privacy, comfort, sense of ownership, belonging and security.

To meet current emotional needs, many coatings companies have opted for colors giving warmth, comfort, calmness
and equanimity.

These include neutral colors and muted pastels or colors which will fit well together to give a sense of unity, balance
and aesthetics.

“Our needs can vary from day to day, and from room to room,” said Lisbeth Larson, global color manager at Jotun of Norway for whom Scandinavia is its main decorative paints market in Europe. “With beautiful colors and contemporary color combinations, a complete home is created, with room for both aesthetics and everyday life.”

Coatings companies have developed different color palettes to broaden the scope of their 2021 selection to embrace qualities like security and comfort, nostalgia which looks to the future, connections with nature, and optimism.

Johnstone’s Trade, a UK-based subsidiary of PPG Industries, is introducing a “Be True” palette combining nature and modern colors to bridge the old and new.

Its “Be Well” selection brings together warm neutrals with the earthiness of terracotta while its “Be Wild” palette offers optimism through an explosion of brights colors to inspire energy and a positive attitude.

AkzoNobel has chosen a beige shade called Brave Ground as a foundation for four palettes of complementary colors for creating safe spaces for confronting changes in the world outside.

Its “Trust” colors comprise soft neutrals of greys and browns providing a supportive and balanced feel.

A “Timeless” palette marries heritage and contemporary shades of yellows, ochres and neutrals which will work with a mix of furniture.

“Earth” colors bring together blues, greens and browns to echo shades of the natural world while an “Expressive” palette of varying shades of pinks and reds aims to empower people through encouraging creativity and expression of personality.

Although AkzoNobel’s selections are aimed mainly at the decorative market in which it is the European market leader, they are also being focused on the company’s other markets.

Experts from the company’s serving these markets have been involved in the choice of colors, based on research into trends prevalent in their sectors. These markets include consumer electronics, automotive, architecture, domestic appliances, furniture and flooring.

However, picking color combinations that reflect the variations in public mood across Europe in the next few years could be challenging.

Even if COVID recedes into the background over the next 1-2 years the economic effects of the pandemic could be felt in the region for much longer.

Differences in the way people are affected by prolonged economic slowdown will result in varying levels of importance attached to home improvement.

These in turn will lead to fluctuations in demand for decorative paints and interest in such issues as color trends. CW