Pantone’s color of the year takes design in a new—and renewing—direction
There’s just something about a brand new hue—the idea of starting fresh. With the power to telegraph a mood, particularly in one’s personal surroundings, a dash—or a splash—of a highly radiant pigment can dramatically animate a space.
While to many white is still an all-the-rage shade, Greenery—Pantone’s color of the year for 2017—is just as clean, but resuscitates our connection to the natural world. Meant to evoke the beginnings of spring, the yellow-green hue is turning up everywhere in home design, setting the tone for a richer interior across a spectrum of home styles.
“Greenery definitely has a more modern sensibility since it is a bold and clear color,” says Ruth Gay of Domingue Architectural Finishes, a collection of all-natural, lime wash mineral paint and lime plasters made in Italy and imported from Belgium. But because it can easily overwhelm a space, she recommends treading lightly with the trend.
“This would be a good color for a garden wall in a sunny environment, a backdrop and complement to a variety of greens and other bright colors in plant material. Since this color is so bold, it needs to be contained to some degree.”
In other words, think of Greenery for the stimulating uplift, not the hyper-vibrant overhaul.
But do think of it, especially if bringing a home to market, where color can “100-percent” impact sales says Alison Clay-Duboff of RE/MAX Estate Properties Manhattan Beach.
“Color can increase desirability and thus decrease a home’s days on market,” she explains. “By choosing a popular color, a seller is speaking to buyers who are already looking at online platforms like Pinterest for ideas and trends; they are looking for the colors they see online in the homes they visit. On the downside, strong colors can date very quickly.”
While current and fresh, Greenery is truly trans-seasonal, a quality that may take it farther than previous Pantone colors whose popularity has faded. But consider that color is not always what it seems to be.
“Lighting,” cautions Clay-Duboff, “can drastically affect the way we see color in a house, which can look different in every room, depending on the source and vitality of the light. Artificial and natural light can change the appearance of a color completely, so you have to always take that into account.”
If staging a home to sell, a dash of Greenery in the right space, with the right light, is a design do that can revitalize not only its aesthetic appeal, but interest from homebuyers too.
Photography Courtesy of Kennon Evett