Dulux is celebrating ninety years of adding colour to people’s lives with a glossy, coffee table book that charts the evolution of domestic interior design over the decades.
All proceeds from the sale of Dulux 90 will go directly to three chosen charities - The Outward Bound Trust, Rainy Day Trust and Old English Sheepdog Rescue & Welfare.
The limited edition tome features contributions from acclaimed experts across academia and design who each explore the significant trends and colours that came to define the decades from the 1930s to today.
Contributions come from writer and journalist Dominic Bradbury who describes how the bright, fizzing blues of the 1950s embodied a bold, new national confidence, while curator Alexandra Loske reveals how the 1970s was a decade of Cold War and warm colours with oranges ruling the roost.
A spotlight is also shone on the fascinating story of how a partnership in the 1920s between a London varnish maker and an explosives firm from Suffolk gave birth to a business that has been at the forefront of brightening homes and lives with colour ever since.
Design icon and colour guru Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, brings to life the 1990s a decade with which he is synonymous, Llewelyn-Bowen’s inimitable style makes a return this year in the much anticipated return of Changing Rooms, which will be sponsored by Dulux.
And no history of Dulux would be complete without a chapter on its most cherished ambassador, the Dulux Dog, who is also celebrating a big anniversary, as 2021 marks 60 years of the iconic canine.
To celebrate, the Dulux Dog threw a puppy party with the dogs at the Old English Sheepdog Rescue & Welfare kennels, complete with dog friendly cakes, party hats and candid snaps to commemorate the occasion.
Dulux Creative Director Marianne Shillingford, who penned the book’s foreword, comments: “Colour is an incredible tool for transforming how we feel.
“Over the past nine decades Dulux has been at the very forefront of making interior design accessible and affordable for everyone.
“Putting colour into the hands of the professionals with the first synthetic paints in the 1930s through to arming the nation of DIYers with the right tools to tackle their own projects in the 1950s, and bursting open the doors to a world of colour with the first high street tinting machines in the 1960s - we’re proud to be a brand at the heart of the nation’s home makeovers.
“We’re so passionate about the dazzling world of colour and design, and we were thrilled to be able to bring together experts from all over the interior design world to tell the story of how colour has woven its way into each of our lives over the past ninety years.
“Even better is that all of the proceeds will be going to three charities that are very important to all of us at Dulux - and we are delighted to be able to keep supporting the young and disadvantaged overcome obstacles, provide support to those who have worked in the UK’s home improvement and enhancement industries and of course to ensure that our plucky mascot the Old English Sheepdog continues to thrive.”
The book is available from the Dulux website now (£45):https://www.dulux.co.uk/en/celebrating-90-years-with-dulux-interiors-inspiration-and-decorating-tips.