Power Palette: GROHE SPA Colours

The development of GROHE’s versatile SPA Colours collection has been a complex process, says GROHE’s Vice President of Design, Michael Seum. Michael and his team have taken inspiration from their fascinating, wide-ranging research into cutting-edge design trends worldwide. ‘We attend major design fairs such as ICFF in New York and Maison & Objet in Paris,’ he says. But their approach to research is lateral, not literal: ‘At fairs, we’re not looking specifically at our industry but at movements within the whole design sector, like the furniture industry.’

Yet the creation of the collection involved making responsible decisions about dreaming up colours with an enduring appeal: ‘We could have gone for colours that were not lasting trends. But when you’re working with bathroom interiors, these are fixtures — once installed, they’re there for a long time.’

Even so, while conducting their research, he and his team identified some long-term, broad-brush trends that informed the development of the SPA Colours range, including its gold-toned shade, Cool Sunrise, and the copper-coloured Warm Sunset: ‘One thing we’re seeing in fairs is that year after year, warm colours come into the home.’ Yet he sees the collection as open-ended not finite: ‘It’s not to say we won’t develop more unique finishes with our next generation of colours.’

Overall Michael feels that how we choose colours and finishes in our homes is entirely subjective. ‘We’re in an age where designers and consumers are more free to do as they please. With our opened-up colour and finish options, there are no rules. As I see it, the collection is an incredibly rich toolbox for the creative mind'.

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