Several of the big-name ceramic design companies have decided to use very bright colours in their collections this year. Maker Rosenthal attended the recent Ambiente consumer goods fair in Frankfurt with a line of ceramic items in neon colours.
Germany-based Rosenthal call the collection Hot Spots. The vase in the collection is so colourful it may be even more eye catching than the flowers inside.
Down the aisle at the German fair, Fatboy had a glass lampshade in bright green and Lambert's Salviato vase comes in light green or pink. Leonardo's Arco collection has drinking glasses in neon colours.
But what do very bright colours do for the rest of the home? Neon tends to limit decorating possibilities and the eye tends to quickly get enough of the look. There are, however, two methods to making neon home friendly.
The first is to selectively choose one or two bright colours contrasted with a plain background. The trend colours for furniture and carpeting at the moment are grey, beige and brown tones.
"The home is a place to relax and you don't want too many colours," says trends expert Gabriela Kaiser.
But no one wants his or her home to be completely without colour. You might want to try picking just one very bright colour and making that the focus of attention in a room. That might be in the form of a vase, a cushion or a clock.
When kept to the minimum, such a bright object won't disturb the eye.
Neon colours were also a big trend at January's IMM furniture fair in Cologne and continued with Ambiente where the small, colourful decorations were in focus.
The secret to the second method to using neon lies in the finishing.
Nicolette Naumann, a manager at Ambiente, has coined the term "pasty neon" to describe these rather muted shades of neon.
"They are neon colours that are not pure but have been toned down with the addition of some white or grey." That means a neon yellow turns into a bright lemon yellow, and squeaky pink takes on a softer tone. "Pasty neon" colours are not so obtrusive to the eye. They are often used on glass or translucent plastics.
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