Color tells a story. It can even describe an entire decade. I attended a Benjamin Moore Webinar presented by Doty Horn (BM’s Director of Color and Design) about color trends over the decades in hopes of better understanding the context for the color trends that we see year to year. (note: Doty is a rock star, IMO).
But what I learned surprised me, which I’ll share with you at the end of this post (no cheating by scrolling down!).
There is an interesting rhythm of color over time. We tend to define time in decades, and illustrate them by external events and the aggregate emotional state of being at that time. There are wars, political changes, industrial and innovation changes, art and culture influences, and so on.
I’ll do my best to summarize each decade with key phrases, starting with 1880.
1880: Victorian Period, Grand, Glamour.
1890: Innovation, Gilded Age, Art Nouveau, Mauve, Cobalt Blue.
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A year ago, I attended Benjamin Moore’s ColorPulse 2011 and blogged about it here. 2011 Color Trends followed the theme of “Balance” illustrated through four trends: 1) Farm, 2) Order, 3) Escape and 4) Tribe.
After attending the 2012 ColorPulse event, I observed that some elements of these trends that are predicted to evolve into 2012, per the Benjamin Moore ColorPulse Color Trends report. Just as last year, these trends are a direct reflection of our environment.
There is an interesting trend identified in the 2012 forecast- Preservation. It is a curious reflection of our current economic and social climate. The overall desire to connect our past with our future. Perhaps context and relativity gives us a better sense of control in uncharted waters.
Preservation is broken out into 4 trends:
- Heritage – our past
- Process – our journey
- Protection – our vulnerability
- Enlightenment – our future
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What goes with your favorite pair of blue jeans? Just about anything!
Perhaps that’s why blue is such a popular design trend in our homes! It’s a more lively neutral that plays well with others.
When it comes to bringing blue inside your home, there are SO many options for pairing other colors with your favorite blue hue:
Monochromatic colors stay in the same color family, but vary the intensity for depth.- Analogous colors are neighboring families on the color wheel: Blue-green and Blue-violet.
- Complementary color is the opposite on the color wheel. For blue, it’s orange (a nice balance of warm/cool tones)
- A Split Complementary approach pairs the two colors on either side of the complementary color: Yellow-orange or red-orange
- Triad colors for blue include yellow and red – think nautical
- Tetrad colors are a group every 4th color on the color wheel: blue, orange, red-violet, and yellow-green
But no need to get hung up on color rules…blue is very forgiving, just like your favorite pair of jeans!
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