I was inspired to write this blog entry by Melissa Tracey who writes for Styled, Staged & Sold on Realtor.com. In her recent blog entry, she reminded us that Pantone has chosen TURQUOISE as the 2010 Color of the Year. Of course, just because Pantone or any other color group announces that a certain hue is “the color of the year” or the hottest new thing, it doesn’t mean that you have to go out and re-paint your home that you just painted last year. Sometimes the color of the year is good for nothing more than conversation or a quick blog entry, other times, it can be an inspiration for an entire design project. If you fall somewhere in between and you are wanting to somehow integrate the color of the year or a hot new color trend into your home, consider just painting an accent area, or if you don’t even have the energy to pull out that paint brush, simply bring in the trendy hue with accents such as pillows, accessories, lamps and art.
Speaking of the trendy hue, let’s get back to our Color of the Year — turquiose. It’s important to remember that if you are working with a trendy color, there are many shades, tones and tints of that color available to you, so don’t think you just have to work with the saturated version of the hip hue. For example, in the photo above, (actually my own kitchen — painted a shade of turquoise called Mill Springs Blue by Benjamin Moore 5 years ago, simply because I love the color, not because I’m psychic and knew it would be the hip hue of 2010) you can see that this particular blue-green is a toned down version of what we traditionally think of when we hear or see the word TURQUOISE. Paired with Benjamin Moore’s Chelsea Gray, the color is toned down even more.
Side note: My husband once changed out our kitchen can light bulbs with “cooler” bulbs which put out a more white/blue light and BLECK! It completely changed the color on the walls so much so that I couldn’t stand it for even half a day! Needless to say, I sent him right back out to the store to get the warmer more yellow light bulbs which transformed the color back to the blue-green I loved. It’s amazing how much a color can change when you change the lighting and context.
Speaking of context, here’s the same Mill Springs Blue in our powder bath paired with Ralph Lauren’s Yosemite Range. It’s amazing how it really pops against the warm chocolate, and how the color changes from one room to the next.
If you are looking to change up your color palette, or fear that you suffer from Paint-a-huelicism or Chromophobia, don’t hesitate to call our decorating hotline and schedule a paint therapy session (a.k.a. Color Therapy Session), or simply follow the link to Ask Dr. Dotty our resident color expert and Certified Design Therapist!
Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Ashley Whittenberger is the Principal and Chief Decorating Officer of Interiority Complex. You can visit Interiority Complex, access the free article archive of design prescriptions or learn more about home staging and creative design therapy at www.myinterioritycomplex.com. Ashley lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, son, two dogs, and two cats, and she is proud that she has learned to successfully live and thrive with her compulsive and chronic rearranging and re-designing disorders.