Green is Good, but Emerald, Really?

Oh my, what year is this? Have we entered some kind of time machine?

Perhaps it's the revival of 1950s Dorothy Draper designs that helped clinch the vote? Or maybe it's some kind of nostalgia for swinging fern bars of 1970s?

Whatever the reason, Emerald seems an odd choice to be named the new and inspirational color of the year. Come on Pantone can't you be a little more cutting edge?

Overlooking the strange choice of color, it seems Emerald is a hard color to define when it's not on a cocktail ring. Even the home page for Pantone looks unconvinced. It features 9 beautiful crisp lay-outs of various shades of green, many of which do not include Emerald.

A "lively, radiant and lush" green evokes for me a deep, dark and rich forest green, maybe with some variegation. But Emerald just doesn't work like that.

So how and why was it selected? Maybe it's not intended to be a stand alone color and works best when it's part of a mix, like a salad of baby greens? Or maybe we are entering the Land of Oz?

In 2013, I hope we can find our well-being, balance and harmony with a happier, smarter color of green.

For cool Pantone products and color systems, see pantone.com

Colorful Interiors Win

Not surprisingly, the boldest and brightest hues were winners last week in Benjamin Moore's contest for best use of color in architecture and interiors. A lifetime achievement award was presented to the NY design team of William Diamond and Anthony Baratta. Above, an entryway in Captiva, Florida, by Diamond Baratta Design.

Are you suddenly thinking of a tropical getaway? Or maybe a blue box from Tiffany's?

Color in Patterns

Brighten up your winter with a new tropical color combination or two. In this inspirational rethink of a simple chandelier, the fixture was painted a cheerful canary yellow and the shades were re-covered in contrasting wallpaper patterns of pink, yellow and red. Pink trimming on all the shades adds a dash of style and subtly pulls the various papers together.

A whimsical substitute for simply mixing around patterned pillows on the sofa.

Image courtesy of bhg.com

Color of the Year

It's not surprising that the color Pantone, the professional color standard, has selected for its 2010 color of the year is: sort of green. But it's green made better, with a blend of blue and called Turquoise or 15-5519. It evokes the calm image of tropical waters and the vacation we so desperately need at this time of year. (Okay, well maybe I should only speak for myself).

For more info on this or any color, visit Pantone.