For more than 90 years, Laminex has been quietly embedded in the material language of Australian interiors. Its surfaces have tracked shifts in taste, architecture and everyday life, from the optimistic modernism of the mid-century to the warmer, more tactile interiors of contemporary design. With the Laminex Colour Collection 2027, that long-running conversation takes a distinctly Australian turn.
The new collection comprises ten décors – six solid colours and four Australian Native Woodgrains – drawing its cues from the country’s expansive and often surprising landscape. The Victorian High Country, the Nullarbor, the ochres of the Red Centre and the native hardwood forests of Australia’s east coast all find their way into a palette that feels grounded, contemporary and unmistakably of its place.
Rather than presenting a collection interested in colour as a solitary statement, Laminex has approached the palette as an interior toolkit, with tones designed to converse, layer and recede. Soft alpine whites and nuanced greiges establish a quiet foundation, while sun-warmed neutrals, pink-toned browns and deeper earth hues bring depth and a little heat. Alongside them, the new woodgrains introduce a more tactile expression of Australian timber, offering the visual warmth of native hardwoods without tipping into nostalgia.
There is also a welcome sense of familiarity in the timber grains. The four Australian Native Woodgrains draw on the character of native hardwoods, capturing their variation, warmth and distinctive grain. They bring a sense of material memory to the collection – a nod to the timber-lined interiors, joinery and architecture that have long been part of the Australian vernacular – while remaining crisp enough for contemporary spaces. Used alongside the new solid colours, they present a continuation of an enduring Australian design language.
Always considered, there is something pleasantly insouciant about the way these colours sit together: natural without being predictable, sophisticated without becoming precious. The collection feels less like a catalogue of trends and more like a confident distillation of the Australian landscape.
That sensibility has been shaped through Laminex’s Co-Lab partnerships with some of Australia’s leading creative voices, including DesignOffice, Luchetti Krelle, Adam Goodrum and Mardi Doherty. Their perspectives bring architectural rigour, material curiosity and a willingness to push colour beyond the merely decorative, reinforcing the idea that surfaces are not background players but an integral part of how interiors are experienced.
Related: Sanctuary by design
The result is a collection with considerable range. A pared-back kitchen, a richly layered joinery scheme, a hospitality interior or a quietly expressive residential space can all find their starting point here. The colours are deliberately complementary, allowing designers to move between tonal restraint and stronger moments of contrast while maintaining a sense of cohesion.
In an era when Australian design is enjoying a renewed curiosity about place, material and climate, Laminex Colour Collection 2027 feels timely. It takes the familiar idea of an Australian palette and gives it a sharper, more nuanced edge.
After nine decades, Laminex is still shaping the surfaces of Australian life. This time, the landscape is doing some of the talking.
