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How trends affect our choices for color
Jeanne M. Duval, an interior design consultant and artist with an international reputation who lives in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, says: “We are all affected by trends, though New Englanders may come to them later. Around here, antiques and Early American furnishings are a given, but trends seep into our consciousness. Color is emotional, so accepting some new colors takes time. Color is a partner, an equal player, in setting up a dramatic contrast between all the things in a room.”

Leatrice Eiseman, director of the Pantone Color Institute and official color forecaster whose predictions are heard around the world, notes, “Home furnishing colors are influenced by lifestyles, pop culture, international influences, entertainment and social issues, but most of all, the comfort levels that best express individual taste and sensibilities.” (Headquartered in New Jersey, Pantone is the authority on color, providing color systems and technology for the selection and communication of color.)

Debbie Carducci of DesignBlenders used Benjamin Moore Dry Sage to compliment this pleasant library. Photo by Lynn Masciarelli.

Leatrice foresees modernizing color in 2007. “In this ever-evolving world of trends, it’s important to update your thinking,” she says, “though even the following palettes not thought of as cutting edge include more contemporized looks and newly invented color combinations.”

She predicts incorporating unexpected mixes and textures into elegant interiors, such as adding shimmering gray, silver and champagne to classic chic, luminous finishes to reflect the simplicity of uncluttered lines. She also sees a mélange of fresh-fruit shades to stimulate the visual appetite, combined with a toasty tan, a balancing blue or a rustic khaki. Going natural is strong, continuing the trend of using organic, unbleached colors, especially creamy white, tans, taupes, gray and mellow brown. This fits with a grass-roots palette, starting with variations on green, moving on to mineral blue and various wood tones.

There’s fresh air a-blowing, Leatrice predicts, and it may include wildly inventive color combinations—for example, pesto green, vibrant yellow and yellow-greens combined with cyclamen pink, purple and violets, sky blues and snow whites.

Please! Get comfortable
Comfort levels are always the main consideration of interior designers and color consultants. Their goal is to make the homeowner happy and to create an environment that fits and flatters his or her likes and dislikes, through the designer’s vision and creativity.

“I design to the client,” insists Anne Cowenhoven, whose Accent & Design in York, Maine, marks twenty years of success. “I interpret what they love, but trends do get into the wind, and our last show

A Kittery home features mulitiple wall colors, and because they remain in the same hue, they work together comfortably. Photo courtesy of Via Design.

house featured colored neutrals—mid-values, colors from the earth—not black and white or heavy dark browns or grays.

“Blended colors are what we want today,” Anne continues. “Soothing tones, like sand and fog colors, are getting a lot of attention. They have more complexity and more pigment, and quieter colors don’t intrude on your thoughts or relaxation.”

What’s comfortable versus what’s trendy
“Earth tone colors are comfortable to live with,” says Debbi Carducci of DesignBlenders in Worcester, Massachusetts. “Blue is one of the most popular color choices every year; it’s never offensive.”

Colorist Lee Perrault of Via Design in Rye, New Hampshire, affirms our need for a haven at home.

“Everyone is overstimulated today, and most want to come home to relax and unwind.” She finds that “deeper, richer shades of purple are also comfort colors, now, whereas in the 1990s they seemed daring.

Soft, complex lavender tones can be very soothing, often without feeling feminine.” (Lee, too, says she doesn’t tend to follow trends, but bases a lot of her color decisions on intuition and a sense of what colors her clients like and what looks good around those colors.)

Benjamin Moore Mountain Moss gives this living room a casual presence. Photo by Lynn Masciarelli

“I do use neutrals,” she says, “and a lot of soft tones. Deep reds, however, and the brighter oranges, greens and blues found in today’s palettes are very much part of mine. But basically, I’m a conservationist. I’m all for using and reinventing what you have and then bringing the palette to it. ‘Getting to color,’ as I refer to it, is a process, and it’s fun—really!”

Jeanne emphasizes that her color sense comes from a lifetime of studying painting, which is why she has a high tolerance for saturated color.

“Start first,” she says, “by looking at what’s going to go into the room in terms of furniture, objects and paintings, then determine what color is going to make everything look its best.”

Go for golds
Marcia Cotter of Decorative Interiors in Laconia, New Hampshire, anticipates a “more contemporary metro look,” with sleek deep brown and mahogany furniture but “lightened with warm, bird’s egg blue or the new yellow-green. I like warm, traditional colors, such as rich reds and golds,” Marcia says, “I choose a lot of golds, especially in deeper tones.”

“Winter is a big season for interior transformations,” says Debbi. “We’re all trapped in the house, and people look around after the Christmas decorations come down and say, ‘My house is bare!’”

Debbi also likes rich, deep colors, especially golds, on interior walls. “Of course, you must adjust the lighting,” she explains. “First evaluate the amount of natural light coming into the room. Then, if you’re using intense colors, add more lighting. Perhaps set upright lamps in the corners, and also use lighter colors for accents such as pillows or throws. Red is too intense for some people, but it stimulates us, including our appetites, so it might work well in a dining room. If my clients choose strong reds or golds, I encourage them to go two hues lighter than the color they really love.”

In what Debbi calls an “in and out” room (a hallway, powder room or guest bedroom), she advises going bolder. “You might not want bright red in the living room or master bedroom, but recently,” she says,
“I designed a gorgeous guest bedroom with vibrant paprika fabrics and bedding, and Dorset Gold

Deep greens bring the outside in. Photo courtesy of Via Design.

walls—Dorset Gold (HC-8 ) by Benjamin Moore. Dorset Gold is very intense, almost mustard, and creates drama. Pale walls would wash out the room.”

Nothing’s too intense for Jeanne Duval, who has an orange kitchen, a chocolate bathroom and a “real, rhubarb red” in her office. “I love it,” she says. “But ten years ago, I would have hated it.”

Cynthia Van Hazinga lives in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, and New York City, and relishes the educational part of freelance writing and also talking to people with passions.

Resources:
Debbi Carducci of DesignBlenders in Worcester, Mass.; 508 799-4148; www.designblenders.com

Marcia Cotter of Decorative Interiors in Laconia, N.H.; 603 524-6656; mcotter@decorativeinteriors.net

Anne Cowenhoven of Accent & Design, Inc. in York, Maine; 207 363–7974 

Jeanne M. Duval in Jaffrey, N.H.; 603 532-4189 Leatrice Eisemanv of the Pantone Color Institute in Carlstadt, N.J.; 206 842-4456; leiseman@nwlink.com, www.pantone.com

Lee Perrault of Via Design in Rye, N.H.; 603 436-5555; viades@comcast.net