A question that has received remarkably little empirical attention is whether colour trends reflect the prevailing sociocultural lifestyle conditions of a society. This is exemplified by such assertions as "the austerity of the War years was accompanied by sombre colours." The presumed existence of order to colour consumption and a causal association between it and sociocultural lifestyle conditions provides the theoretical underpinnings to the work of colour forecasting agencies. The present study investigated this question by examining changes in Australian residential interior colours over the twentieth century. Colour palettes were assembled decade by decade and an analysis was undertaken using the NCS system. The results indicate that the main variation during the century was in the hue dimension. However, variation in each of the NCS colour dimensions was greater in the second half of the century. No evidence was found to support the notion of colour cycles or any tangible order to colour consumption. Although some colour palettes could be partially accounted for by developments in colour/materials technology, such influences were short-lived. The picture that emerges does not support the notion that future colour trends can be predicted on the basis of past colour trends. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.