Choose from hot, new interior colors when redecorating

Vivid hues and knockout tones are no longer bit players when it comes to interior color schemes.

Newcomers such as coppery orange and robin's egg blue are in starring roles on today's livelier color palette. According to color experts at Lowe's, walls, carpets, window treatments and accessories are starting to pop with new colors.

"There is a strong influence on colors from the Art Deco period and the 1960s," according to Melissa Birdsong, trend forecaster for Lowe's. "Home decor is headed toward more intense, vibrant and unexpected colors."

Birdsong's list of hot hues is not to be confused with bland white or boring blue. Her color favorites include:

Victorian pink

Tropical blue

Silvery navy

Tangerine

Chocolate brown

Mike Menser of Lowe's home decor group says carpet colors are not immune to the shift from so-so shades to eye-catching tones. "There are more multiple colors and subtle hues in carpet than I've ever seen before," says Menser, who points out the carpet industry is influenced by women's fashion and furniture industries. "A lot of color consultants cover both those sectors, and that spills over into carpet," says Menser. Walls and woodwork are the fastest way to jump on the bright color bandwagon. Ben Mauceri who heads interior paint for Lowe's says he first noticed consumer willingness to experiment with wall color several years ago. "Yes, there are bright colors, but consumers push the color envelope to match walls with wallpaper borders, faux and sponge and stencils treatments," says Mauceri.

Homeowners are trending to high-fashion color paints in eggshell and satin finishes over flat paints for durability and easy cleaning.

Whatever the color, homeowners seem to want coordination throughout the house. "Infusing a room with consistent color can be as simple as bringing in a new area rug, piling on colorful pillows or painting one wall with a single hue," observes Birdsong.

"You can pluck a color from accessories and design a whole room around those tones. Those just happen to be more vivid colors right now."