I’m fresh off the plane from Bologna, Italy where I had the pleasure of attending the CERSAIE international conference for designers of ceramic and other surface coverings and bathroom furnishings. We saw everything from ceramic, tile, flooring, wallpaper, and bathroom fixtures. It was like a dream, with more than one million square feet of insane viewing and sample exhibits. I’m so excited to share some highlights! The one thing that really stood out to me was the trends in the color world.   

Timeless Traditional

We saw a lot of displayed traditional colors. This included soft white, gray, beige, and a very light gray-brown. Everything was definitely in the realm of a calm color wheel and soothing palette. You can’t go wrong with gray. The exhibits included a lot of gem pearl color undertones. Silver with pink or rose undertones was also prevalent. Some of the samples also weren’t your typical gray. Some grays were upgraded with new textures and shine. That means textured wallpaper, textured tile and linen texture.   

Purple Pallets

One of my favorite colors to come out of this was a dark purple like eggplant. I saw an endless amount of this in the marble and tile. The funny thing is, when purple is that dark, it plays really well as a neutral. My mom growing up had a lilac room (which I endlessly made fun of her for having). I guess mom really does know best, since purple is back in the mix (even though that lilac couch really did need to go).   

Be Bold

Ironically, also in my mom’s lilac room, were very bold flower-print curtains. We did see a lot of bold patterns. But bold in that they were large designs and not in bright colors. The coloring was actually very neutral. This is great because they’re not bold and loud, but just a nice big print, which can play well in certain rooms.