Color Trends | Neutral Navy

Color trends often begin in the worlds of home decor and fashion before migrating to crafts. The latest color trend making its way to the papercrafting world, neutral navy, is no exception.

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Color purists may argue that navy is not a neutral, but it is increasingly used as one, especially in fashion. Darkwash denim may be the ultimate in neutral navy - it goes with everything and can go almost anywhere. But in the last two years we've seen its influence spread beyond the basic in both fashion and home decor.

In the fashion world, navy has found popularity as a slightly softer alternative to black. It's a trendy option for replacing everything from your "little black dress" to those black leggings. It's even become a popular color for bridesmaids' dresses!

The home decor world has seized on to the neutral navy trend as well. Best used in small doses due to its eye-catching drama, navy is being used for everything from accent chairs to kitchen islands to throw pillows. To see a few examples, visit Freshome.

Navy is perhaps most often associated with a nautical style in fashion and home decor. Last year we did see navy invade the scrapbooking world as a nautical trend. But this year, navy is back on its own - and trendier than ever.

Neutral navy nurseries are quite trendy in home decor, and BoBunny has seized on that trend for their newest baby themed line "Little Wonders". The collection has two parts, one that pairs navy with pink and one that pairs navy with mint and dusky blue.

BoBunny Little Wonders

BoBunny Little Wonders

I bought a few sheets of the navy and pink part of the "Little Wonders" collection to try out on some baby pictures of my daughter. (Let's not talk about the fact that she just turned 15 and there were still baby pictures to be scrapped, alright?)

Baby smiles neutral navy trend layout

Baby smiles neutral navy trend layout

Supplies Needed:

This star background paper was perfect for a crib picture of my daughter when she was a baby! The very light picture pops nicely off of the dark background too! It would get lost on a lighter background like a kraft or pale pink.

A big strip of the striped paper across the middle of the page anchors most of my elements. But the layout needed something at the bottom to balance out the large photo at the top. The solution was to cut some big stars from glitter paper with my Cricut. I love that Cricut glitter paper - it truly cuts like butter on my machine!

Neutral Navy color trend scrapbook layout

Neutral Navy color trend scrapbook layout

The stars looked a bit plain by themselves so I decided to add a sprinkling of sequins and beads for a bit of color. Initially I had planned to do clusters of color in the middles of the stars. But when I poured out the bottle it spread all over and I liked the effect!

I also added some buttons and sequins to the corner of the journaling tag that I made. These are a mix of coral (which matches the tag's paper) and bright pink (which matches the pink in the rest of the layout). Combining these embellishments in one cluster helps tie the coral tag into the color scheme!

To see another layout made with this collection, visit my quick & easy baby layout..

Would you like to make a neutral navy layout? Here's some other recent paper collections to inspire you!

Kaisercraft Stargazer

Kaisercraft Stargazer

Kaisercraft Stargazer

The bright florals on dark paper look was popularized by Rifle Paper, and is popping up everywhere now with neutral navy backgrounds.

Graphic 45 Floral Shoppe collection

Graphic 45 Floral Shoppe collection

Graphic 45 Floral Shoppe

(Click here to see my layout using some of the non-navy sheets with this Graphic 45 collection.)

DCWV Navy Florals

DCWV Navy Florals

Carta Bella Flora

Carta Bella Flora

Kaisercraft Havana Nights

Kaisercraft Havana Nights

Kaisercraft Misty Mountains

Kaisercraft Misty Mountains

Kaisercraft Misty Mountains

One of the classic ways that navy is used as a neutral in home decor is in china patterns. DCWV has created an entire paper stack devoted to those designs!

DCWV Blue China

DCWV Blue China

DCWV Blue China

Have you tried the neutral navy trend? Did you like it?

Nancy Nally

I’m the owner of Nally Studios LLC, which owns the websites Nally Studios and Craft Critique. I’ve spent the last 20 years working in the crafts industry as a writer and marketing consultant. My newest venture is the Nally Studios etsy store, where I sell digital files for scrapbookers. I live in Florida with my husband, teenage daughter, and a cat who thinks its a dog.

https://www.nallystudios.etsy.com
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