Picture a serene living room with pearly walls, furnished with sleek sofas and low-slung chairs covered in soft, cloudy hues. Or a cozy family room paneled in rustic planks, with its plump pieces upholstered in richly burnished paisleys and plaids. Or a cheery kitchen with vibrant walls, boldly colored tile counters and lots of bright pottery.
What’s the first thing you think of when you conjure up these rooms? Most likely the colors.
Color, whether it’s as simple and affordable as a coat of paint on the walls or as sophisticated and elaborate as a carefully orchestrated scheme, is the most powerful tool you can use when you decorate your home.
That’s because its potential is unlimited, says Leslie Harrington, director of color and design at Benjamin Moore & Co. Depending on how it is employed, color can be expressive, nurturing, soothing, powerful or exciting. But perhaps the greatest role this versatile tool plays in our homes is to keep things interesting and up-to-date.
For the year 2000, up-to-date doesn’t mean trendy new hues. The ’90s already delivered those in the candy gel colors on computers and flashlights, and the hushed new neutrals found in textiles and paints. Rather, the color forecast for 2000 is for new ways to use and treat colors with which we already are familiar and comfortable.
The most prevalent trend of the moment has more to do with what takes color rather than the hue used, explains Pat Verlot, a designer who heads Color Services & Associates in Huntley, Ill., and specializes in selecting colors for paint systems and products while they are still on the drawing board. “The goal today is to make products look new and different, and the way to do this is by washing them with color.
“Things that never were colorful before suddenly will be,” says Verlot. Big-ticket items, such as the plastic laminates and wood-grained panels used for kitchen countertops and cabinets, to small accessories, including phones, audiovisual equipment and computers, will be available in every color of the rainbow, although cool tones will continue to prevail, specifically violets and purples.
For an idea of where we’re going, Verlot points to the days when black-and-white televisions suddenly went technicolor. “Think of all the things that never came in color before,” she says, “because they will (now).”
In fashion’s footsteps
So what determines which colors will end up on all these items? Everything from the cool hues and metallic sheens of our computer screens to the intense shades that paint the picture of our global culture influence the colors we use in our own homes, say the experts.
The colors we use often originate on the runway, where they trickle down from couture, says Leatrice Eiseman, the Seattle-based author of “Colors For Your Every Mood: Discover Your True Decorating Colors” (Capital Books, $29.95). Eiseman also is executive director of the Pantone Color Institute in Carstadt, N.J. Two recent fashion trends still going strong–color layering and pretty pastels–have come to the home in different incarnations. They are reflected in a trend toward softer, more translucent colors that often appear pearlescent, metallic or reflective, says Melanie Wood, immediate past president of the Color Marketing Group in Alexandria, Va., and vice president of design for Mannington Mills in Salem, N.J. These iridescent hues are actually composed of many different tones, and they undergo chameleonlike transformations as they are viewed from different angles or as light hits them.
“This way, we don’t find them boring after the brighter colors of the recent past,” she explains.
Ironically, colors that fluctuate under different conditions may appear to be more intricate and complex, but they are simpler to produce than those that always have the same tone. “It’s technically much harder to make a color look the same under many different lighting conditions, and it’s a technology we’ve spent a lot of time perfecting. So it’s paradoxical that colors that are prone to these amorphous shifts, which are called a metamerism, are now so popular,” says Harrington.
Popular actually may be an understatement, because this is probably the strongest trend there is when it comes to color specifically.”It makes color far more complex and nuanced than ever before,” which dovetails with the gestalt of our culture as we enter a new millennium, says Margaret Walch, director of The Color Association in New York City.
On the bright side
The use of bright colors such as red, purple, blue and green, however, is far from finished. In fact, thanks to that thrust toward individualism, whatever trends do exist are much longer-lived and loosely defined than in the past. “We’re still using optimistic brights because the economy is good,” says Wood, “but we’re also anxious to see where we’re really going in the new millennium and want to make order of the chaos, humanize our lives, assert more control, and slow down. To that end, colors that are ethereal, serene, soothing and spiritual are also in demand.”
Wood predicts optimistic brights are likely to be tempered with filmy or textured finishes to lessen their tones as we move into the millennium, as softer tones become more prevalent. These include tranquil, atmospheric grays and greens; pale, cool, refreshing, water-influenced blues; filmy and sheer purples and pinks; and natural herbal tones of soft greens and golds.
Although some of these colors will be infused with reflective, luminescent, metallic or pearlescent properties, others will be topped with dusty or chalky finishes. In perhaps the newest twist on the trends, colors will be topped with two or more types of finishes, predicts Wood.
Wood likens these blended finishes, which actually pair surface treatments such as matte and shiny, textured and smooth, opalescent and dull, or translucent and opaque, to fusion cuisine and says they will become “increasingly important as colors become more subtle.” For instance, anything from a wall to a piece of upholstery may sport one color but several different surface treatments.
If all this leaves you more confused than ever about what hues to use, forget the trends and take this common-sense advice from Walch: “Consider what kind of person you are and how you want to live, and choose accordingly. If you’re playful or want some excitement, do a whole room in something unusual, bright or fun; if you’re classic, opt for neutrals with interesting surface treatments; and if you’re easily bored, go for the new chameleonlike hues that change color in different lighting.”
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HOW TO CHOOSE AND USE HUES
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Given the fact that there are millions of different hues, how do you actually choose and use color in your home? Showrooms and home-design stores have an endless array of paint chips, swatch books and color charts to make the process easier, but they often make matters worse by offering too many options. Fortunately, every expert has tricks for getting started. Here are some of them:
Good things come in threes: Color schemes work well in threes, says Leatrice Eiseman, author of “Colors For Your Every Mood: Discover Your True Decorating Colors” (Capital Books, $29.95) and executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. A general rule of thumb is to start by choosing a dominant color. A secondary color and accent color, for which you also have affinities, should come next, and all three colors should work together. You can even use two accent colors, but only one dominant and secondary color.
Clothes call: “Look at your wardrobe, since it will give you a pretty good idea of your inclinations,” says Melanie Wood, immediate past president of Color Marketing Group and vice president of design for Mannington Mills in Salem, N.J.
Check your surroundings: Pick colors that go with your environment because color is affected by the light that reflects off the world outside your windows and filters into your rooms, says Donald Kaufman, New York-based color consultant and co-author of “Color and Light: Luminous Atmospheres for Painted Rooms” (Clarkson-Potter, $50).
Clip and save: Dylan Landis, author of “Elegant and Easy Rooms: 250 Trade Secrets for Decorating Your Home” (Dell, $12.95), has a foolproof method. “Rip out pictures of rooms that really move you from home-design magazines and paste them into a large (11 by 14 inches or larger), spiral-bound artist’s sketch pad over a period of a few months.” When you page through the book, a pattern of colors that really strike a chord in your heart will emerge.
Note: If the colors seem to be extremely trendy or bold, prolong your clipping exercise a few more months to determine whether the color is one you can live with for a long time or if you’re merely smitten for the moment.
Mood altering: Before using color in a room, think about who will be using the room and the effects the colors can have on them, says Eiseman. There are a number of books on the psychological and physiological impact of specific shades (see sidebar, Page 12, on the psychological effects of color).
Size things up: Take the size and shape of a room into consideration because color has a huge impact on the way a space feels. Stronger colors make a room seem smaller and more intense, and vice versa, says Landis. Also, lighter ceilings make walls seem tall and darker ceilings make a space seem smaller and more intimate.
Warm and content: Warmer colors usually are easier to live with than cold colors, and familiarity breeds psychological contentment, says Kaufman. For that reason, use colors with which you are comfortable and make you feel good. Stick to colors that are similar in value and tone to those you already know instead of following trends that are totally the opposite of your taste.
Grass-roots appeal: Choose color locally, Kaufman also says. A lot of people decide they want to use some beautiful color they’ve found on a trip, but that color won’t look the same because every other aspect of the environment–light, architecture and climate–is different.
The wheel thing: Get a basic color wheel and use it, says Kaufman. You should mix and match colors by using complements, which are actually opposites on the color wheel, but opt for shades of these contrasting hues rather than going for pure versions, which can be too strong.
No white walls: Make walls anything but white because white looks indecisive and is a harsh color to use, says Landis. Instead, go with a soft neutral that has the resonance of a color you love. These colors will have names such as feather, pebble, sand, rain cloud, parchment or biscuit. A combination of soft neutrals can be appropriate and interesting. The same philosophy also can be applied to major pieces of upholstery and window treatments.
Go with the flow: When using several hues in a room or throughout a house, make sure you either mix colors of equal value and/or intensity for room-to-room flow, or ground very light colors with stronger ones to maintain a balance in each space, says Landis.
Trend tryouts: Indulge your taste for a faddish or bold color in small but intense strokes, says Landis. A love of chartreuse can show up on huge pillows for a sofa or bed, as a set of filmy curtains over neutral drapes or as decorative accessories–such as vases, towels, linens or a tablecloth–around the room. This allows you to be fearless but not foolish because you can get rid of these items and start over when you’re moved by a new color.
Think small: If you absolutely must bring a bold or bright hue home, do it in a small room where it’s easier and cheaper to take chances–a powder room, guest room, tiny den or even the pantry, laundry room or the inside of your closet, says Leslie Harrington, director of color and design at Benjamin Moore & Co.
Theory of relativity: Try a large sample of a color you want to use before making any commitments because it will change under different lighting conditions throughout the day, says Kaufman. As a color changes, it will affect everything else in the room, so paint one whole swatch of wall (from floor to ceiling) a specific color, or cover your whole sofa with a huge piece of cloth instead of a little square to see how a color you want to use will relate to everything else in the room throughout the day and night.
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Named and described in typical fashion, these are some of the colors the Color Marketing Group says you will be seeing on products in 2000:
Wren Gray: A complex environmental color that provides a very sophisticated merging of gray with brown
Clearwater Blue: The quintessential blue of the picture-perfect vacation
Greenslate: A blackened olive drawn from the earth
Windy City: A blue-tinted gray
Tease of Teal: Inspired by the original IMac, this deep teai will sign in all industries
Frosted Jade: A new direction for a neutral, this beautiful dreamy gray-green is reminiscent of Chinese porcelain.
Chicago Fire: A deep, blue-based red with an overlay of holographic glitter that sparkles like it’s on fire
Bach Blue: A metallic blue-green that looks like sunlight glistening on the water.
