Cranky About the Color of the Year

Pantone Color of the Year 2015-Marsala

In recent years it's become the practice for paint companies such as Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore, and other companies such as Pantone, best known for its color matching system, to name a color of the year. The choices are often quite different, making it difficult to see how any of them represent an informed idea, or anything beyond a way to generate sales.

Color(s) of the Year 2015 

Take this year, for instance. Pantone says the Color of the Year is Marsala. Sherwin Williams says it's Coral Reef, and Benjamin Moore says it's Guilford Green. 

Sherwin Williams Color of the Year 2015-Coral Reef

If you want to be trendy, which of them should you choose? Can they all be right? What if you don't like any of them? And what are you supposed to do next year - paint the house again?

Here's Where I Get Cranky

It may not bother you, but I don't like the idea of people sitting in a room somewhere deciding what colors I should live with. The notion that they can make this choice for you and me and everybody else, with zero consideration for whether or not the color is appropriate, is laughable. We aren't cookie cutter people! One color of the year (or three, or more) doesn't fit all.

Benjamin Moore Color of the Year 2015-Guilford Green

What About Fashion Trends?

To me, these color pronouncements are very different from fashion trends because they often involve significant expense and are decisions we usually live with for a long time. Fashion trends are fun, can be indulged cheaply and left behind without remorse, unlike a Marsala living room.

What You Need to Consider When Choosing Paint Colors for Your Home

When it comes to the use of color in your home, I think you should forget about the so-called Color of the Year and instead focus on:

• the location of the house (mountains, seashore, etc.)
•  the style of architecture
• the color of permanent details such as flooring, carpet, counter tops, cabinets, stonework, etc.
• the colors in major pieces of furniture
• the exposure of the room (North facing, South facing)
• the color temperature(s) of the light bulbs.
• the way the room will be used
• the colors you like

These considerations are timeless and won't steer you wrong.

Other Pronouncements

Many people have been embracing the use of gray for interiors, even though certain designers and paint companies tell us that gray is OVER. I say that if you like gray and it works well in the context of your home, you should use gray and be happy.

Then there are the designers who tell us that we all should have white kitchens. I love white kitchens as much as the next person, but I also love other ideas when they work. The right kitchen design is situational, not a formula. 

So you see, I really am cranky about this whole Color of the Year business, and about design and color pronouncements from people who generalize. I pay little or no attention, and I don't think you should be concerned with them either, except for fun.