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