Gender Bender
Howdy doody folks! The world of commercial interior design and fitout is still hip and happening over in Bellfort-land and of course I’ve been meddling and commenting where I probably shouldn’t – as Baxter is inclined to do. I have however been listening to the masses recently (not that I ever ignore them for goodness sakes) and there have been a number of people quizzing me about what this year’s trends may be; what colours should they be using in their commercial interiors and are there any themes that they should be focusing on…how heavy duty is that!?
So, I chose my moment and spoke with our crazy designer who disdainfully informed me in a conversation that went a little bit like this:
Baxter: “So, you mad, misplaced, inventive designer, what gives regarding colour and style for 2016?”
Crazy Designer: “It’s all about gender, Baxter”
Baxter: “Huh?”…with eyebrows raised and a handsomely winsome look on his face
Crazy Designer: “Boys and girls Baxter. Pink and blue and all the in-between hues you can imagine, you nutter.”
And I won’t share my response because RP will tell me off and that’s happened too much recently. However, on a brighter note, the crazy designer did track me down and enlighten me about pink vs blue and how other colours can sit in the middle. So the lightbulb is now flashing and I thought I would share the glow.
Genderising your commercial interior design
Now, I was severely warned by our crazy designer that monochroming any interior in either pink or blue is not going to be that appealing to the masses, so go with a light hand my friends, if you feel the need to wrap yourself in fluff.
And I thought some examples of interior schemes might help explain the sitch for those of you with a diminishing imagination.
Roses are blue, violets are pink – if you think
So, as you can see, it’s not always a straight down the line blue, pink or blue and pink combo. It can in fact introduce many other possibilities such as green, red, white, black, turquoise, etc.….blah, blah, blah. In the end, the gist of the gender bender is how it all goes together and whether you choose to play with gender accents within a neutral interior or go all-out wham-bam, thank-you ma’am.
You can always check out our project gallery to get some further ideas if you like.
You may wish to let lighting set the scene and this can be achieved quite easily with LED’s. The Poohbah was fixated on getting this right for Bellfort HQ and I’ve got to admit, it worked, really well. You may recall seeing photos of it above the Swiss cheese. I don’t think a red light will do the job (people may consider you have a different profession, you know?) but appropriately and tastefully placed lighting within an interior can really help you get the gender trend happening.
And, at the end of the day, if you don’t want to adopt any gender enhancement into your own interior, Baxter says don’t! It’s entirely your choice, or you may decide to wait a few more months. No doubt, during this time, a new trend may tickle your interior design fancy more. Personally, I’m all for promoting the re-birth of Wonkaville. Candy canes, chocolate rivers and bubble gum that when chewed by obnoxious people, blows them up and out of your life. Y’all get what I mean?
Cheers big Ears…
Baxter from Bellfort!
79 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000, Australia
