I’ll have a Lime with Mine

Ugh! They do this to us every year and it’s really a bit of a pain to most designers.  We are talking about Pantone’s Color of the Year.

Pantone says these annual colors are “A symbolic color selection; a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.” 

We respond that yes, once this almighty entity  (and who authorized this?) makes the announcement the culture does go wild and starts using “the color” with abandon. Let’s take a look at what happens in our world.

I’ll be the bad cop on this one.  Frankly, I’m older and simply have dealt with Mr. Pantone longer.  I’ve helped clients use these annual colors in a pleasing way and I’ve undone some DIYs that went rogue.  Our philosophy has always been that trends will fade and good design lasts forever. So in the past it has been hard for me to get too excited about an individual color.  However, this was before I learned that teaming up with a young, “let me give it a try” design partner makes all the difference in the world.   Let’s take a look at our design process of working with “Greenery # 15-0343”. Once again Pinterest did not let us down for an abundance of subject matter to work with.

Greenery in Fashion can be BAD!

 DIY

There are so many examples of going a tad overboard with the color of the year and there’s something to be said about how designers have banned the word “match” from their vocabulary.

Professional

There is nothing “wrong” with the example above.  It meets all the design criteria and is rather attractive if you live in a furniture store display.  Otherwise, I’d still have to put this in my “Leave It” category.

Too Much of a Good Thing….

…well is just too much!  Many of the items in the example above could be amazing if they were given the “limelight”. (pun intended)

Part of being the right designer for a client is always staying on top of the trends and  understanding why they are happening. By doing this we can make suggestions that show how to be current without becoming redundant in a year.  We are constantly doing research. Here’s a peek at how our process works.

Below is the photo I sent to Kristen with the Pantone color of the year. This color pallet inspired me to take a second look at # 15-0343. I asked her to start thinking about how we will approach this years color in our designs. Boy she did not disappoint!

My turn…good cop here.  I rather like the color and am anxious to show our clients how to incorporate this into their decor.  I’d like to show how to use a bold color like Greenery so that it is refined, classic and will never be trending.  Let’s take a look at some fresh and exciting decor that take full advantage of the color of the year.  (all photos complements of Pinterest)

Greenery in Fashion can be Good!

So yes, Mr. Pantone, we will have lime with ours!

Shameless Plug– So many times a quick chat with a designer you trust can keep you from making a costly, or just plain “wrong”, mistake in the home you adore.  Spending a little of your budget with the right designer is always a good investment.

Ready to talk with us?

http://www.laurelbledsoedesign.com/

Oops…one last thing!

Broma Bakery

One last photo and how exciting it is!  Sarah, at Broma Bakery is a joy to follow.  http://bromabakery.com/   Her recipes are fantastic and her photos as you can see…superb!  This one caught my attention because her facial recipe uses the colors of this post and our last color post Curry On .  Mother Nature wins again!

Thanks for spending a bit of your day with us…pass us on!