The Color Purple

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The Color Purple

Pantone paint chips show Veri Peri.

Color us delighted with Pantone’s choice for 2022.

New York City-based Alex Papachristidis Interiors layered shades of purple for a fresh take on a monochromatic look. LYNNE KONSTANTIN

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

PHOTO BY MIKKEL VANG

If you’ve tired of the weary mood the pandemic has brought on, you’re not alone — the world of interior design and everything it touches is over it, too.

Case in point: Last year’s twopronged Pantone Colors of the Year, Ultimate Gray and CanaryYellow Illuminating, evoked a shared moment of isolation and the hope of brighter days. Last month, the Pantone Color Institute named the 2022 Color of the Year — Very Peri. A vibrant shade of periwinkle with undertones of violet-red, the color is the strong, outstretched arm that will lead us to happier days, colorwise at least.

The Pantone Color Institute has provided color reports and forecasts since 1962 (the year of Cerulean Blue). From its palette curation, interior designers, fashion designers, beauty companies — basically any business having to do with

color — take their cue from the global color authority for products for the following year.

“Blending the faithfulness and constancy of blue with the energy and excitement of red, this happiest and warmest of all the blue hues introduces an empowering mix of newness. As we move into a world of unprecedented change, the selection of Very Peri brings a novel perspective and vision of the trusted and beloved blue color family,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

“Encompassing the qualities of the blues, yet at the same time possessing a violet-red undertone, Very Peri displays a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expression.”

Jill Schumacher, designer and a founder of Rariden Schumacher Mio in Birmingham, is excited about this fresh take on purple. Gold-toned cerused oak accents

“Periwinkle, once a staple of a certain Miami periwinkle fabric on set, is finding its way to current times and younger eyes. Very Peri is a very soothing color — it the Frances Armchair by Liz O’Brien. resonates a bright, peaceful tone, much needed in these darker days,” Schumacher says.

“More often than not, I would use Very Peri as an accent — possibly for a lady’s dressing room — mixed with a shade of peach for a look that is very current. In your mind it may scream Miami Vice — instead, think California-girl [designer] Kelly Wearstler. Or mix Very Peri with metallic silver and golds and you will be chic off the charts.”

Another option for using the color in your home is in small accents, like pillows, pottery and accessories, says Carrie Long,

Designer Carrie Long added soothing Very Peri upholstery to a client’s four-season sunroom “for a year-round punch of spring.”

COURTESY PIERRE FREY

COURTESY CARRIE LONG INTERIORS ABOVE:

Fabrics and paper by Pierre Frey — “Fontaine et animaux barbouillage” fabric, in blue otremere, is based on an 1803

PHOTO COURTESY LIZ O’BRIEN designer and owner of Carrie Long Interiors in Royal design; “Ouistitis & co,” in Guimauve, evokes the classic Toiles de Jouy — is “legal anywhere,” Jill Schumacher says. “Pillows, whole sofa, ottoman, drapery — it just depends on the weight and wearability and what strikes your fancy. It is the most chic!” Oak. “Or, the color is stunning in a bathroom and creates a sense of elegance. I would do a high-gloss lacquer in a powder room and do an accent wall in a bedroom with a great textured wallpaper that has a thread of the Very Peri color in it,” she says. “This creates such a happy mood in the room.”

Lois Haron has a different take on the color, suggesting using it as “a whole wall accent where you want to call attention to an area, or you want your eye to go directly there.”

The owner of Farmington Hills-based Lois Haron Designs adds that she would accent with lighter shades of blues or purples and white on the other walls of the room. “I’ve used Benjamin Moore Athens Blue in a very shiny gloss — my painter added texture to it, adding shimmer and movement.”

Any shade of purple runs the chance of being polarizing — you either love it or hate it. But Very Peri seems to have the ability to tow the line, making it as powerful or subtle as you choose it to be. After all, Carrie Long says, “I’m in the mood for the mood!”

COURTESY OLIVE & JUNE

Olive & June’s Nothing Rhymes With Purple set starts with a Very Peri statement.