The Northern Quarter’s recently opened Flok has been named one of the nation’s favourites. Instantly recognisable in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, Flok’s abstract design and vivid colour makes it a firm favourite for locals and influencers alike!
Ever growing in popularity, ‘statement’ or ‘colour walls’ are magnets for social media fans with them flocking to snap these local – and increasingly wider known – spots for their pages. B&Q commissioned research which revealed 17% of those living in Manchester admit to taking their own statement wall selfies and a further 20% of them say they would do so if they had a chance
Big Ben and Stonehenge are taking a back seat as queues form outside the UK’s coolest ‘new’ landmarks. Brightly painted exterior walls around the UK, dubbed ‘statement walls’ or ‘colour walls’, are becoming a magnet for social media stars as they flock to take their picture in front of these new-found Instagram landmarks.
The UK’s leading home improvement and paint retailer, B&Q, commissioned consumer research into the colourful new trend. The research found a quarter (25 per cent) of Brits under 35 admitted to taking their own statement walls selfies and a further third (33 per cent) would do so if they had a chance. In fact, 29 per cent of the nation has admired and interacted with statement wall photos, including a whopping 55 per cent of 18-24 year olds.
Interestingly, Facebook was the most prolific platform for the trend with 64 per cent of Brits noticing it here, compared to 48 per cent on Instagram. The biggest motivation fuelling the trend is pure inspiration – it just looks cool – (58 per cent), followed by bragging about cool locations (38 per cent), the slimming effect of the patterns (31 per cent) and a desire to look on trend (29 per cent).
Handily for the 1 in 5 people who don’t know where to find a statement wall (20 per cent) and the 28 per cent waiting to see a really cool wall to inspire them, B&Q have gathered influencers perpetuating the trend to reveal the locations of the UK’s top colourful walls so that others can follow in their footsteps.
Leading interiors influencer, Geraldine Tan, who boasts more than 226,000 followers on Instagram, voted Buxton Street Gate as her favourite wall top statement wall. Meanwhile, Gloucestershire duo Jess & Emily, who have 24,800 followers on their joint Instagram, put their success down to the aesthetics of walls found in places like Portmeirion, a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales.
The UK’s top statement walls, as chosen by B&Q’s panel of influencers include:
- AKACORLEONE, Buxton Street Gate, Shoreditch, London
- Portmeirion Village, Gwynedd, North Wales
- Camille Walala, ‘Dream Come True Building’, Old Street, London
- The Sound House by Bring the Paint, 28 Southampton Street, Leicester
- Flok, 5 Stevenson Square, Manchester
- Spaceman by Recoat and FiST, New Wynd, Glasgow
Commenting on the trend, influencer pair Emily Pettiford and Jessica Turley said, “We are huge fans of brightly coloured walls, both inside and outside the home. They can be fairly simple to create yet have a huge impact on any blank space. Not only this, they create the perfect backdrop to your social media posts and will give your friends’ newsfeeds an instant pop of colour.”
The research confirmed that the most popular features are clever artwork (42 per cent) and bright colours (35 per cent). But despite the nation’s new hunt for colour, we are much more reserved in our own homes. Only 6 per cent of Brits use as many bright colours as possible, whilst 53 per cent choose white and 49 per cent beige as their main wall colours at home.
Despite the lack of colour, Brits are a nation of re-decorators with a third (33 per cent) re-painting in the last year, and 11 per cent in the last month! More than half (55 per cent) of the nation say they are interested in creating their own statement wall, with the sitting room overwhelmingly deemed the most likely room for one (51 per cent compared to the bedroom, 23 per cent, as the next most popular). However we’re held back by not knowing where to start (12 per cent), a lack of confidence with colour (14 per cent) and uncertainty in our painting techniques (16 per cent).
In a bid to encourage home improvers to bring the bold style of now popular statement walls inside, B&Q have teamed up with the colour matching experts at Valspar to create a range of paint palettes inspired by the UK’s top ten statement walls.
Commenting on the trend and the new paint palettes, interiors influencer, Geraldine Tan, said: “Taking inspiration from the outside world has been a big interiors trend in the last year, and this is set to continue with statement walls. The bright colours and bold patterns are an excellent way of creating warmth and intrigue inside your home, especially as the nights draw in and the weather gets colder.”
Iain McColgan, Category Director at B&Q UK & Ireland added: “We Brits do tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to picking a paint colour, but this vibrant trend is giving people the confidence and inspiration to rethink their relationship with colour in the home. At B&Q, we pride ourselves on being the home of brilliant solutions and our new Statement Wall inspired palettes will encourage people to find inspiration from the world around them, where Valspar’s colour matching technology can create any colour to help cleverly personalise the home.”
