Designlog

What's your color?

So walk into any typical American home. What colors are you going to see? Well if you walk into anyones home that hasn't had the finishes changed out since about the 70's you might see an orange counter top,  but I'm talking about homes that have been finished in the past 10-15 years. Well at least where I come from every house is every shade of neutral possible. After going home a few weeks ago, and seeing this I started thinking. "I wonder, if all these people could have any color they wanted on any surface they wanted what would it be? Would the very happy lady around the corner paint her ceilings yellow and her bathroom fire engine red? Would that grumpy old man next door, that tells the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn have a black living area?" So now I walk around observing people and trying to put their personality to what I would think is their color. So I ask what do you think your color is? And does your home, car, office space reflect this?

Comment on what you think your color is and we'll find out so we can get those creative juices going!

Blue? Green? Turquoise? Silver? Red? Pink? Yellow? Gold? Orange? Purple? Lavender? Black? White? Grey? Ivory? Beige? Brown?

No Orange or Blue Iris Here... Antron's Carpet Color Point of View

Previous posts have addressed the prevalence of orange in unexpected places and the usability of Pantone's color of the Year... Blue Iris...  Well a couple of the designers here at DTE recently attended a CEU presented by Antron carpet fiber that didn't pick up on either of these colors. 

Instead of a more typical "color forecast" they title their research "color point of view"... basically their opinion of where the colors in carpet are heading.  They had designers from around the country submit color inspirations in the form of paint chips, tile samples, magazines pages, pieces from nature, etc. and compiled them into collages.  They addressed four market segments: Healthcare, Corporate, Education, and Hospitality.  For each of these segments they created "buzz" words to address how design is/should be changing in each of these areas. 

Healthcare:  "Enlightenment and Healing"... "Emotionally Supportive Designs Offset Natural Stresses"

Corporate:  "Restoration and Performance"... "Natural Environments Promote Positive Emotional States"

Education: "Cultivation and Diversity"... "Perceptions Change Through Exposure and Interaction"

Hospitality: "Authenticity and Experience"... "Local Experiences Establish Meaningful Connections"

For more in depth info... to order you own Point of View Literature Kit with sample color chips, or to mix and match colors within each segments color palette with the Color POV tool visit: http://www.antron.eu/en/content/style/ant03_02.shtml 

Pantone's Color of the Year?

So, speaking of trendy colors. . .Pantone has decided it's 'color of the year' is Blue Iris.  It's a deep, purpley-blue - pretty much just like the french iris!  I do love iris, but am not sure i'll be using much of that color in my designs for furnishings. 

This is a strong, saturated color - so will need to be used sparingly, in this designer's opinion. Yours?

So, back to trendy - though the 'color of the year' is, I guess, intrinsically trendy. . .a color this strong will definitely be datable.  So if one decides to cover their sofa in it - they had better be sure it's their favorite color, because in 10 years we'll all know when that sofa was covered!

Really, I'm  just having fun with this - I love color and everything about it!  And we do need the color counsel to decide what color our cars, fabrics, and Rubbermaid containers will be each year - so we have to know they have a hard time coming up with new colors every time! 

What do you think about Blue Iris???

What's this orange thing?

Recent showroom and market "trend colors" feature bright orange. From furniture to Christmas ornaments, we see it all over.  We love this color on selected cool fabrics and furniture pieces. However, Christmas trees, and peripheral decorations, overloaded with this bright orange color is pushing this "trend" a little too far...

With thoughtful consideration,

the two designers rebellious of pushy trendy marketeers

-This opinon does not necessarily reflect the view of the DTE Interiors management. (But, it problably does reflect the views of all of the DTE design staff...!)