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e always anticipate with interest the announcement by Pantone of their shade of the year – it provokes some animated, often divided, conversation. This year, it was a double whammy, which garnered some controversy, with the bright and hopeful ‘Illuminating’ (yellow) paired with ‘Ultimate Grey’. Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said, “The union of an enduring ‘Ultimate Grey’ with the vibrant yellow ‘Illuminating’ expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude. Practical and rock solid but warming and optimistic, this colour combination gives us resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted; it is essential to the human spirit.” While their colour choice has the most weight, Pantone don’t have the monopoly on forecasting colours. The Dulux colour of the year 2021 is ‘Brave Ground’ (soft brown), which is described as bringing a bolstering, balancing feel to any room, a versatile shade that lets other colours shine. Graham & Brown have chosen ‘Epoch’ (plum purple), describing it as “proud, regal and luxuriously bold”. Then there is Little Greene’s recent launch of their ‘Stone’ palette, a co-ordinated collection of 36 natural colours. Eleven of the new colours included in the collection have originated from Little Greene’s ongoing colour research across the portfolio of properties in the National Trust’s care, continuing the cataloguing of original colours from key periods of interior design. Readings were taken from paint colours, architectural elements, tapestries and, indeed, stone itself. In America, Sherwin Williams have opted for ‘Urbane Bronze’, a rich golden brown shade with grey undertones, designed to bring a sense of comfort to the home. The neutral colour is part of the ‘Sanctuary’ palette in the company’s Colormix Forecast, a report that predicts a need for balance in design for the upcoming year. Benjamin Moore, on the other hand, have put their money on the intriguing, balanced, and deeply soothing ‘Aegean Teal’. Is this a masterful way of capturing the mood of the moment, or just a convenient marketing opportunity? Does having a nominated fashionable colour to represent a year work? How much does it lead the way and does it really make a difference? Our local interiors experts share their tips and insights.
Alison Bracey, Bracey Interiors
Colour of the year – I guess it does help to give manufacturers and customers a reference point but I would suggest it’s purely that and is for guidance only. Ultimately, as the consumer, you have to work with colours that you inherently like and make you feel good – colour is a very personal thing and everyone sees it differently. It’s interesting that both the Pantone colours of the year and the Dulux colour of the year – “a warm, earthy tone creating stability, growth and potential; provides firm foundation...” – forecast a neutral base tone and then allow people to be creative with a pop of colour (in the case of Pantone, ‘Illuminating’, but with ‘Brave Ground’ you could introduce cobalt blue, sorbet pinks or coral shades). ‘Ultimate Grey’ and ‘Illuminating’ are two completely different colours but ones that combine perfectly. In these difficult times it’s probably not surprising that we’re seeing such a vibrant and attention-getting colour as ‘Illuminating’. Yellow is associated with warmth and positivity and, used as an accent colour in a room, it will help to create energy, character and interest. Ultimate grey is the perfect foil for such a dramatic colour. All the interiors manufacturers are using the same reference points so when the new collections are launched there is a similarity in terms of colours or design trends and this, in part, influences our choices. It’s interesting to note that Little Greene Paint Company have just launched their Stone Collection, featuring a co-ordinated collection of 36 natural colours. Do they ever get a colour wrong? I think that would be hard to comment on. We all have our own colour preferences that we are automatically attracted to but it’s amazing that if you see a ‘disliked’ colour often enough you begin to form an attachment to it. I think that with all the uncertainty that
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january 2010
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TheBATHMagazine 51
