Knowledge is Strength: Pantone's Color of the Year 2014, Radiant Orchid

It seems Pantone, the world-renowned authority on color, has surprised many in the industry with the selection of Radiant Orchid, 18-3224 as the upcoming Color of the Year. The PANTONE® name is known worldwide as the standard language for color communication from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer. Need a color to match exactly from one end of the globe to the other? Pick a Pantone color!

Last year's color Emerald served as a symbol of growth, renewal and prosperity. This year's color Radiant Orchid is an invitation to innovation, expanded creativity and originality. Cheers to that!

Radiant Orchid is quite a unique color. At first I thought "Wow, where would I use that"? Perhaps a powder room, child or teen's room, as a small accent color...which surprises me because the last thing I ever want to feel is limited by color. I like to believe I can use color anywhere, at any time, depending on adjacent colors, what proportions have been used, and the values (lightness and darkness) or chroma (intensity of a color) used. So I started doing a little research and looking around for inspiration. Best thing to do whenever a road block starts creeping in!

I ran across this lovely view of famous designer Kelly Wearstler's office on Instagram today. Lo and behold, I see Radiant Orchid!

Gorgeous artwork! Pinterest/Jeannie Mills – Aboriginal Art Centre – Anaty 1105 “Bush Potato”

And of course, nature will always give you the most exquisite color findings.
Pinterest

 Pinterest

 I love this this room, the purple and orange combo, the ethnic vibe. It's fresh yet warm at the same time. Pinterest

 Ditto with this dining room! Pinterest

A little retro mod to balance out the selections. Pinterest

 How's this for a funky barn?! Pinterest

And of course, all I had to do was look above at my blog header to see a more saturated version of Radiant Orchid in this foyer I designed. In fact, I found two other rooms where I used versions of this year's Pantone color!

Not quite as unique and unusual an application as I had initially thought. How many other areas in your life can you bring in this type of questioning and conclusion? Challenge yourself. Knowledge is strength.

Later gators, Susan 

Purple

If someone were to ask me if I like the color purple, I would say, "it's ok".  Nothing too enthusiastic.  Yet, when I look at my house, what do I see...purple, when I look at my gardens, what do I see...purple!  I think the term purple gets a bad rap, don't you?  My first instinct is to think of an ugly, intense Minnesota Vikings purple -- eeek!  Do you think that too?  What is it about the Vikings color that makes me wrinkle up my nose?  I guess if I look more closely, the colors I am surrounded by are more lavender, desaturated and dusty purple, fuchsia, etc. With every color, there are so many variations that I think it is truly difficult to say you "hate" a color.  Oh really, you say, even Vikings purple...yes, even Vikings purple.  We all have our favorites that truly speak to us, and mesh with our "color comfort zone".  Honestly, there are no colors I hate, as long as they are used appropriately whether that be the proportion, the environment, the combinations, the application (not a football jersey), etc.  Every color deserves 15 minutes of fame!!!

Let's look at some rooms where purple, and variations of the hue, really reign (pun totally intended)!

Designers Guild

Susan E. Brown

Urban Outfitters

Pinterest

Susan E. Brown

Pinterest

Mr. Peacock Style blog

Susan E. Brown

photo by Per Gunnarsson

Pinterest

Pinterest - I know, not a room, but how stunning!

Susan E. Brown

Materials Girl Blog

  

Susan E. Brown

Coastal Living

Yikes!  Purple Passion galore!

Susan

True Design!

I adore this pic!  Complementary colors of purple and yellow play off each other so well while shapes of clean, round minimalism in the purple Allium contrast with the textural fullness of the trees.  A true designers dream!

~~~ Susan ~~~