Colour forecast 2015
The color poo-bahs at Pantone have declared “Marsala” as their entry into the “Colors of the Year, 2015,” race. You can expect to see this color in advertising, the “What’s New and What’s Hot” magazine articles, and in accessories in the home dec stores.
It’s a muddy burgundy; some of you will choose it for an accent cushion or maybe a new purse, but it’s such a peculiar color I don’t see it fitting into most decor plans easily.
Benjamin Moore has selected “Guilford Green” as their color. It is a clear, soft grayed- green particularly well suited to pairing with the fresh colors so popular right now.
It looks wonderful with white trim and can move between classic, modern and traditional interiors. I can see this one being used by people in this area. It’s new and fresh and clean and easy to look at.
Sherwin Williams has chosen “Coral Reef.” A pinky-coral color that makes me think of summer. Looks very good with white.
Pittsburgh Paints has chosen “Blue Paisley,” I think of it as John Player Blue; it’s very vibrant, really bright, another clear color best suited to pairing with other clear colors.
CIL’s “Hidden Harbor” is a toned-down, ever-so-slightly grayed middle blue. Pair it with white. They also chose several other ‘colors of the year,’ so I’m not including examples here.
Behr covered all the bases, too, with combinations: Deep Dreams, Frosted Pastels, Social Brights and Nuanced Neutrals.
Most of the companies chose a clear color. The only one that is muddy is Marsala. The trend in home decor colors now is still in the early stages of the gray, white and black phase. ( Here, at least. It’s been on the coast for a few years.) Not a brown in sight — and remember that trends last about ten years.
We are seeing the end of the brown trend and the colors of the year reinforce that. Clear colors work with gray, white and black. Muddy colors not so much, which is another reason why Marsala is an odd choice for color of the year.
What does this mean to you? If you have a brown-based home and are considering some reno’s, you will be in for a bit of a surprise; expect it to be increasingly difficult to find brown-based anything, except in “Marsala.” Expect to see fewer and fewer brown-based accessories and there will be less decorator fabric in earth tones.
I was looking for hunter green drapery velvet the other week, and I didn’t have any hunter green anything in my 150 fabric books. The earth tones are going away for a while, but don’t worry. They will be back. In about eight years.
And just for the fun of it, here are the last 3 year’s picks from Pantone:
