New Trend - Pastels - How to do it without looking like a Granny

astel is a new trend in home decor for this year.

Looks like my mom was like 20 years ahead on this one! My mom's house is a plethora of pinks and mauves and minty greens and pastel blues with a creamy white background.

Lots of ladies do that. And there's nothing wrong with it. It just doesn't usually look real trendy or current. But this year the powers that be have decided a new prominent trend is this sort of easter egg of spring time pastels. So I've been on the lookout for rooms where I felt the look was pulled off with some finesse. The trick to this trend is to figure out how to combine yellows, lavenders, pinks, greens, and white or neutral into a pleasing combination and managing to create some drama or to pull it off with some elan. Here are the results of some successful attempts:



This room manages to stay grounded and sophisticated by adding the brown rug and using the gold accent pieces. I like how it borders on granny, but never quite goes there. Like an older lady who always manages to have just enough plastic surgery too keep from looking her age.



This room is very fun! How often do you see a lavender dining room and think it looks cool?


You almost can't tell that one wall in here is pink and one is light light blue. But with all the wood, it really works. And it's totally unexpected and adds a dimension of playfulness to space that could seem too traditional and boring.


Retro-chi-chi. Very clever, that.



I think the artwork in this room is a big part of what prevents it from veering off into the land of Great Aunt Edna.



I really, really love this. Those slip covers are so great!



Ok, seriously ADORE! Those chairs with the black and white! Super genius.


For some reason this reminds me a lot of Easter in the 1960s and I'm not quite sure why - the yellow and purple peeps maybe? But at any rate, I think with the addition of the chrome desk and the tufted bench, it has a hollywood regency air, that is still very popular.



I happen to think that shade of pink and green are delish.




This house was in the color contest on apt. therapy. I really liked the original idea - and they were ahead of the trend, because this was featured last fall.


There's something about this space that makes me feel like I live in a very chic French apartment. It just works.

This is happiness.

Who doesn't want a pastel yellow and green kitchen? I think it's fabulous! The light subway tile and the dark counters really pull it all together so that it does not look dated.

What do you think of the trend?