Color notes from Paris
Pastels, mauves and red-cast purples topped the color charts at the fall edition of Maison & Objet, Paris’ bi-annual home trends and products showcase.
Additional color notes from the Paris’ Maison & Objet:
Black-and-White designs were virtual no-shows
New greens reached for cooler personalities
Yellows backed off
Directional grays warmed up and took on colored casts
Browns expanded, preferring lighter tones to darker ones
Orange played a supporting role
Design&Décor, November 2008 by Michelle Lamb
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Colorful Beginnings
Plum
Plum is taking off! It's showing up in high-end accessories, discount stores, internet shopping, and even American Express has launched its new "plum card" for small businesses. While purple has almost always been a color on the edge, the new plum is being widely accepted by a variety of industries. It's rich, dark, elegant, and pairs well with gold, dark brown, and lime green.
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| Colorful Beginnings
Red
Red – hot, energetic, and sensual, red is impossible to ignore. It's in your face. It demands attention from the smallest flower in the garden to a room filled with red fabrics.
The reds in the marketplace today take their inspiration from Asia – from the Indian subcontinent to China, Japan, and Korea. Watch for more blue-based reds to show up in products as these countries extend their influence in what's being used in design.
Bruce Knott
Director of Media WFCP/Media Relations
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Colorful Beginnings
Silver
Silver, a precious metal, is cool and lively. It shimmers, it's active. It's more upscale than gray. Those of us with gray hair are thought of as "old", but being "silver-haired" implies graceful aging. I'd like to think of myself in the latter category. Silver with turquoise evokes a Southwest feeling. Silver with purple is regal. Silver makes a great accent in any room and can invoke richness, or modern high-tech.
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| The Color Corner
Aqua
A couple of years ago, various shades of aqua began to appear on our radar screens. From soft, pale aqua, to deep, rich turquoise, the influence of spa and tropical water made this color one of the hottest trend colors to hit home fashions in years, and it shows no sign of weakening. Playing off its relationship to blue, it's calming and soothing, fresh and fun. It plays well with many other colors, especially dark brown and yellow-based greens, but also hot pinks and purples and gray. The color is here to stay—and to be enjoyed.
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The Color Corner
Gray
Gray is thoughtful, dignified, conservative, and intellectual. It's perceived as being long-lasting, and it has authority. It makes the perfect neutral because there are shades of gray to work with every hue. It's also one of the colors that have become trendy, playing off metallic finishes such as silver and pewter. Once thought of as boring, gray is now the color of the day. Put your "gray matter" to work and use gray in your designs with confidence.
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Colorful Endings
Gold |
The color equated with luxury and fine living, gold is richness and extravagance. Because gold is a precious metal, the color has long been associated with wealth and prosperity. A warm color, it can brighten and cheer, or it can be dark and traditional. Bright gold catches the eye, while subdued shades lend richness and warmth to a color scheme. A darkened gold plays well with browns, greens, and terra cotta, creating an earthy, warm palette often used for country-like looks. Go for the gold!
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The Color Corner
Think White
"White... is not a mere absence of color; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black... God paints in many colours, but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white."—Gilbert Keith Chesterton [British author, 1874–1936] A Piece of Chalk, Tremendous Trifles (1909). Quote used with permission from www.sensationalcolor.com.White as fresh fallen snow: clean, crisp, and cold—white blankets the countryside around our home every Winter. White is purity; it's holiness; it's divine. In ancient China, white symbolized heaven and was therefore considered the correct color to wear when escorting someone to that divine state—hence a color of mourning. As a decorating color, white, like black, makes other colors stand out and come alive. Has anyone ever counted how many shades of white exist in the paint industry? White flowers in a shade garden glow with an inner beauty, and I have to admit I enjoy the many shades of white in the snow banks around the house in the Winter—at least when I'm not shoveling it.
by Bruce Knott
Events & Education Manager
Grace McNamara Inc.
Window Fashions Expert
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| The Color Corner
Think Orange
Associated with the turning leaves and Halloween pumpkins, orange is finally becoming an accepted color for decorating, as the new orange tones are blackened and browned down to warm terra cotta and copper hues, although some bright saturated versions of orange still sell like gangbusters in the rest of the world and are found in many accent items in North America. Orange is warm, friendly, full of energy, and it implies affordability—yes, cheap. The newer versions of orange are more upscale and more sophisticated, and easy to live with.
by Bruce Knott
Events & Education Manager
Grace McNamara Inc.
Window Fashions Expert
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The Color Corner
Think Red
Are you passionate about red? You should be. Red is demanding, forceful, and arousing. It increases our heart rate, our breathing, our pulse – all because the message red sends to our brain is "get the adrenalin pumping" – and it does. It's the perfect color for romance. By the way, watch out for those chocolates your sweetie gives you – red makes us eat more, too.
by Bruce Knott
Events & Education Manager
Grace McNamara Inc.
Window Fashions Expert
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| The Color Corner
Think Yellow
Bright, sunny yellow is the perfect color to represent summer. My garden is full of yellow—marigolds, zinnias, coreopsis in bright hues, and a soft hint of yellow on my hydrangeas. Not to mention the flurry of bright yellow goldfinches as they fight for positioning on my many bird feeders.
Be careful bringing too much bright, sunny yellow into the home, however. A highly saturated yellow can be irritating to many people when it's in large doses. Save it for the pop, the accent piece.
Soft, light yellow has become a classic color for decorating, as it's easy on the eyes and is a great background for other colors and patterns—plus it makes people feel comfortable. Light yellow walls with white trim are clean, crisp, and invite you to be at ease. I've used this color combination in my last three homes for the entry and the living room, and always get compliments on how fresh it looks.
Gold is another classic form of yellow and is always popular in its metallic version—often seen in frames, mirrors, and lamp bases. In addition, old-world gold is again popular in many fabric collections for the interior home. Rich, warm, and elegant, it's always in good taste.
by Bruce Knott
Events & Education Manager
Grace McNamara Inc.
Window Fashions Expert
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"Very prompt service & carries excellent quality of products."
Marcelle Sutton
Union City, IN
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The Color Corner
Think Purple
Did you know that purple dye was the most expensive dye to make in the ancient world? It was created by mixing certain sea mollusks with other ingredients to create the dye, and it took thousands and thousands of these snails to make an ounce of useable dye. No wonder purple became the color reserved for royalty — no one else could afford it!
Purple is the color for mystery, creativity, and spiritualism. It's also a color that people either love or hate — you don't get mediocre reactions to purple — it polarizes people, so if you're going to use purple make sure you love it, or there'll be troubled waters in the future, and not just for those poor mollusks.
A grayed-down darker purple is one of the GMI Trend Unit colors in Alchemy. We call the color Aliksir, and it's moody and mysterious, perfect for Alchemy. Use it wisely!
by Bruce Knott
Events & Education Manager
Grace McNamara Inc.
Window Fashions Expert
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The Color Corner
Think Brown
All colors are a reflection of nature, but brown is one of her favorites—and mine. Brown is rich, warm, and comforting. It's a color that most of humanity feels comfortable with, because of its association with earth. Brown represents honesty and stability. During times of trouble, we often turn to browns and other earth tones. |
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All colors are a reflection of nature, but brown is one of her favorites—and mine. Brown is rich, warm, and comforting. It's a color that most of humanity feels comfortable with, because of its association with earth. Brown represents honesty and stability. During times of trouble, we often turn to browns and other earth tones.
Brown tastes good—we have a lot of positive culinary associations with this wonderful hue. Anyone else out there a chocolate freak? See what I mean? Or maybe it's fried chicken. Or bread fresh from the oven.
Older generations sometimes thought of brown as being boring, but younger generations see it as upscale, equating it with luxury and formality.
by Bruce Knott
Events & Education Manager
Grace McNamara Inc.
Window Fashions Expert |
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The Color Corner
Think Green
"Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises."
—Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Spanish poet and playwright, 1600–1681.
Green is Mother Nature's most versatile color and serves as a backdrop for all the other wonderful hues in nature. Green compliments everything. As a color that relaxes us and makes us feel at home, most of humanity has a strong comfort level with shades of green. Green is also the easiest color for our eyes to view, as green light waves are focused directly on the retina, making it comfortable to view. We associate green with freshness and youth, and in the United States, with the color of money. Green has also taken on new meaning within the last several years—that of being environmentally responsible, linking back to Mother Nature.
by Bruce Knott
Events & Education Manager
Grace McNamara Inc.
Window Fashions Expert
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