JOHN BIDDELL “ ONE MAN’ S MEAT . . .


Is another man’s poison,” as the old saying goes. Of course, these days it would probably be re-written as something like “One person’s Big Mac is another person’s Greggs vegan sausage roll.” As an aside, my younger daughter and I tried one once when Greggs had run out of the real thing, thinking “How different can it be???” Oh my goodness . . . it’s different !!!


Those of you familiar with our wonder ful industry will know about Decorex. It’s one of the two major shows each year where manufacturers and design houses launch their new ranges. Decorex takes place in the autumn, while London Design Week (or whatever they decide it’s to be called next) is held in the spring. By way of publicity, Decorex periodically sends out newsletters to us designers and interested members of the public. I was reading their latest offer ing the other day, and came across a couple of related articles that grabbed my interest.


The first was from Homes & Gardens, entitled “Summer colour trends for 2025” and subtitled “8 shades interior designers can’t get enough of.” Well, I thought, I’d better have a look at this to make sure I’m getting enough of whatever they’re talk ing about.


It turns out I’m ok, as, with a few caveats and one notable exception, we at John Charles Interiors are singing from the same hymn sheet as the designers that were interviewed for the ar ticle.


Bold, vivid and unapologetic colour cer tainly seems to be this summer ’s trend. Red and yellow are heralded as the colour combination of the season, bringing bold, energetic


statements with warmth, immediate impact.


Blue greys are replacing the sometimes colder greys that were ubiquitous for the last 15 years or so. And while decorating with blue has been a go-to for several centuries (and I’m sure will be for many years to come), soft baby blues are currently coming to the fore. These fresh, serene shades look great in a host of locations, and are par ticularly good against brown antique furniture.


Now for the first of the two caveats: apparently beige is out and plaster pink is in. Well, while we would agree that plaster pink is definitely fabulous (we’ve just had a complete re-fit in the office of our showroom and colour drenched it in Little Greene’s Castell Pink ), beige is cer tainly not out. Warm stoney hues, such as Little Greene’s Por tland Stone and Travertine, which could be interpreted as beige, continue to supersede the cooler greys, and are successfully used in abundance.


And secondly, orange is supposedly the new neutral for summer 2025. So yes, while the ter racottas that have blossomed in the last year or so are still enjoying popularity, and I quote the article “Their louder and bubblier sister muted orange is being seen in all the most coveted interiors across the country.” Well, the writer clearly hasn’t been to Edgbaston !!! Having said that, as par t of our aforementioned re-fit we’ve painted the walls of our


LIVE24-SEVEN.COM vibrancy, and


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HOMES & INTERIORS J OH N B I DDE L L -


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