New Year, new life. That’s what we say at the beginning of each year. It’s when we set new goals like, starting the diet (again), going back to the gym and refreshing our home. We often think that in order to achieve a significant change at home we need to have an ample budget and that we need to get rid of everything and buy everything new. Fortunately there’s a simple way to achieve drastic change with a slim budget, and we can do that applying a different color to our space.
Every year PANTONE chooses one of their colors as Color of the Year. This color is chosen thinking of one that will resonate around the world, and that reflects what people are looking for; not necessarily what is IN at the moment, but a color that crosses all areas of design. This year the honor went to Radiant Orchid. This color is an invitation to innovation. It’s versatile and encourages creativity and originality. It has undertones of fuchsia, purple and pink, which emanate confidence, great joy, love and health.
Since it’s announcement we’ve seen a series of applications for this color such as in fashion, makeup, textiles, furniture, food and even in natural landscapes. Personally, I’m delighted. I think it’s an extraordinary color and I can visualize it in different atmospheres, combined with such colors as cream, gray, white, blue, metals, glass and woods. Depending on it’s application, it can be a small accent like a toss pillow or a vase, or it can be the main color acting as a backdrop for other colors and textures, creating balance and contrast.
I’m including a selection of some images I’ve been pinning on an inspiration board on Pinterest (you can find it at Pinterest.com/benerodesign), so that I have them as a guide to help me decide to incorporate this color and it’s gradations on some toss pillows for my sofa and curtains for my living room. This color paint can be found at some home improvement stores throughout the US. I hope you too feel inspired and see the existing possibilities with the 2014 Color of the Year.
