A hotel lobby painted with warm pinks and terracottas

Soft Pastel Colour Schemes for Hospitality Spaces - Colour of the Year 2024

12 September 2023

The positive tones in our uplifting and warm colour stories can help create the kind of settings where people want to gather with friends and family, and relax.

What should hospitality environments aim to do today? Delight – according to the experts. In today’s post-pandemic world, people have a growing appetite for playfulness, optimism, and light relief¹, and public spaces that want to stand out need a wow factor². The joyful, soft pastel colours in the Dulux Trade uplifting colour story are designed to do just that.

As well as making an impact, a hospitality space needs to feel warm and welcoming. Research shows that, today, rather than cool grandeur, people are looking for an elevated but comfortable ‘home-from-home’ feeling. The global earth tones found in the Dulux Trade warm colour story help to bring a cosy ambience to places where people want to come together and relax.

And, of course, Dulux Trade Colour of the Year, Sweet Embrace^TM, works beautifully with all these shades.

¹ _{Constantina Tsoutsikou, Founder, Studio LOST, from Roundtable discussion, hoteldesigns.net, April 2022.}

²_{Brenda Milis, The Future-100-2022 Wunderman Thompson, January 2022.}

Softer exterior colour schemes

A hotel exterior with tree planters painted in different warm, earthy colors – from pink to terracotta.

The earthy shades of soil, sand, clay, and terracotta in the Dulux Trade warm colour story come from the same tonal family and work naturally together. Here, used in combination with Sweet Embrace^TM, they help to soften the profile of a building, giving it an approachable feel.

Which colours?

A warm and welcoming lobby colour combination

A hotel lobby with warm pink walls and furniture.

Our warm colour story is made up of natural shades that feel cosy and embracing. Here, the shades of pink and terracotta of the walls have been picked out in the furniture creating a soft, layered effect that’s inviting and cocooning.

Which colours?

Adding sweetness to functional corridor colour schemes

A hotel corridor painted with a split wall effect.

Uplifting colours can bring energy and positivity to every part of a hospitality space. Clever split wall colour ideas can create a friendly and dynamic atmosphere in a corridor area. Here we’ve combined ochre and Sweet Embrace^TM.

Which colours?

Sandy Shallows

Fragrant Peony

Light hearted exterior colour scheme

A stepped hotel exterior painted in soft pink with accents in yellow and ochre

The shades in our Dulux Trade uplifting colour story can bring personality and light-heartedness to exterior colour schemes. A mix of modern ochres and soft pastel tones create surprising and joyful colour combinations that can be used across exterior elements to bring an energising feel.