On FLEEK / What’s the color landscape for 2018?

We’re barely into the second quarter of 2017, but the Pantone Color Institute is already identifying trends that will define 2018 in a big way. Ironically, it’s the very “age of uncertainty” we find ourselves in that has given rise to these emerging color preferences, which are anything but wishy-washy.

Pink will continue big—especially in combination with orange. Green and the nature/environmental tie will continue strong. Purple is around but not as hot as it has been. And the metals to watch are gold and silver, often appearing together. Whimsical, quirky and playful are in, and self-expression extends to out-and-out rebellion.

The future is about chasing our wellbeing in this age of uncertainty and making home the altar where we worship it. For home interior and fashion merchandisers who must stay ahead of the design game, Pantone says to tune in to these eight lifestyle trends with accompanying color palettes.

1. Resourceful

Pantone

In an age of uncertainty, one has to be resourceful, right? This palette brings together the energy of complementary blues and oranges, a vibrant yellow and an always dependable gray, because we'll need it to steady us.

Molly Winters photo / Camille Styles

“Color is like oxygen to me,” says interior designer Merrilee McGehee. “It keeps a vibrant through line in a home.” The bungalow she shares with her family drives that point home, and the living room, in particular, nails the “Resourceful” palette with vibrant blue chairs, salmon-orange walls, a classic gray sofa, and pops of yellow in a layered area rug.

I think of “Resourceful” as the design equivalent of the TV character MacGyver: Anyone who could put together a room like this could do most anything. Continue your tour of McGehee’s west Austin, TX, home at Camille Styles.

2. Playful

Pantone

Adults won’t think twice before stealing these bright, happy, playful colors from the kids’ rooms. Living in an age of uncertainty puts extra emphasis on play. Our parents might have said it like this: Make hay while the sun shines.

Eve Wilson photo / The Design Files

Madeleine and Jeremy Grummett take that philosophy to heart in their Melbourne, Australia, home. All those playful Pantone colors are in place, but it’s the painting at the far end of the room that grabs my attention.

Eve Wilson photo / The Design Files

Now that’s playful, wouldn’t you say? Not quite sure how you explain that one to the kids over breakfast, but you can see more of this home on The Design Files.

3. Discretion

Pantone

Discretion is supposed to be the better part of valor, but there’s nothing namby-pamby about this palette when you see it in action. Like “Resourceful,” it gets its power from the pairing of complements—in this case, purples and yellows.

Mary Summers photo / Hi Sugarplum

And as courageous as this “Discretion” living room is, it retains the quality of a wonderful but carefully kept secret. It was part of the One Room Challenge in fall 2015. Check it out up-close-and-personal at Hi Sugarplum.

4. Verdure

Pantone

“Greenery,” Pantone's 2017 color of the year, will remain big in 2018, but we'll see it paired with other hues pulled directly from nature.

David Tsay photo

“Verdure” seems about right for the bedroom of Justina Blakeney, author of The New Bohemians and the The Jungalow blog. I featured a full tour of her renovated Los Angeles home on BoHo Home last summer. 

5. Far-Fetched

Pantone

This palette isn’t only about unusual pairings—like pink and orange, which the Pantone folks say is really hot—it’s about colors and textures that evoke far-away places—and sunrises and sunsets, I might add. To me, this palette, more than any of the others, says Morocco, with all the heat of the desert.

Roger Davies photo

This is the bedroom of Willow Smith, daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, so it follows that it’s more sophisticated than the average teen room. And exotic. It may not all be in this palette, but you won’t want to miss the full tour of the Smith’s Malibu home.

6. Intricacy

Pantone

“Intricacy” isn't merely about color and texture; it's also about craft and layering.

William Waldron photo / via One Kings Lane

This room appeared in a feature entitled, “The Most Beautifully Collected Rooms We’ve Seen,” and it’s certainly that, which also makes it intricate. Minimalism will still be big in 2018, but so will maximalism, say the experts at Pantone. Though it will be a layered, orderly, curated maximalism, like we see here. That's “Intricate.”

I love the little pops of pink amongst all those neutrals!

7. Intensity

Pantone

I read an article just the other day that said red is making a comeback, and a strong red through line is what defines Pantone’s “Intensity” palette. Again, some of the intensity of the “Intensity” palette comes from careful layering to create that “less is a bore” look without falling into chaos. 

Douglas Friedman photo

This may be a room designed for a child, but it has the intensity any color-wise adult would relish. What else would you expect in the Dominican Republic retreat of designer Celerie Kemble?

8. Tech-Nique

Pantone

The “Tech-Nique” palette plays along with the iridescent “unicorn” trend you’ve probably noticed. It’s ultra-modern and contains transparent elements, such as glass accessories and Lucite furniture. The tech element might include a chromatherapy system, an aromatherapy app, programmed white noise that soothes, or even 3D-printed items.

Lisa Klappe photos

I had trouble finding entire rooms in this palette, but the parts are certainly available to assemble a whole. The Prismania chair by designer Elise Luttik appeared at Milan’s Salone Satellite in 2016. Thanks to its dichroic film, it can look transparent at one angle and show all the colors of the rainbow at another.

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Holly’s colorful cabinet of natural curiosities

Ever since the fall 2015 One Room Challenge reveals a few weeks ago, I’ve been looking and looking and looking again at the boho fun family room done by Holly Hollingsworth Phillips. There’s so much home decor eye-candy here, it’s hard to know where to start the sugar binge. My eyes have put on 10 pounds each just trying taking it all in! 

She promised at the outset it was going to be a wild design, and she wasn’t kidding. But every time I look at it, I find more to love. After all, how can you go wrong with a purple velvet sofa?

The road in

Whenever I’m mesmerized by a particularly well-designed, many layered, and fabulous space like this one, I think subconsciously I’m looking for its “key.” I hate to call it a theme, because that’s so cliché, and if the room is done well, it’s more subtle than that.

It’s more like a secret road in, if you get my drift. Like I said, I don’t consciously go in search of it; it just all of a sudden pops out at me. Like this…

Why these three books, Holly? Here’s what I think:

• A Visual Life by interior designer Charlotte Moss. The subtitle is “Scrapbooks, Collages, and Inspiration.” Phillips’ room is a sort of scrapbook, collage AND inspiration for color lovers like me who don’t have the guts to take the chances she has. If she can pull it off (which she did in spades!), well, maybe I can try harder. 

• Cabinet of Natural Curiosities by Albertus Seba. The title speaks for itself, and Phillips’ room is full of “natural curiosities.” No detail, no matter how small, has been overlooked. Phillips' keen eye assembled vignettes with the stunning precision of Seba's painstaking illustrations.

• La Tour de 300 Metres by Gustave Eiffel, which includes engineering drawings for the Eiffel tower. Interestingly, people called the plan for the tower “grandiose” at the time, and even ugly. Since it was the tallest structure attempted at the time, many also said it couldn’t be done. My guess is Phillips might have drawn similar reactions when she tried to explain (if she tried) what she wanted to do in this room. But like the Eiffel Tower, it now speaks volumes for itself.

This view is from the opposite side of the room, looking into the conversation and TV-watching area. I love how the black ceiling and woodwork pop against the white walls. Together they make an incredible backdrop for this riot of color and pattern.

Under the microscope

Wallpapering the backs of the shelves in this unit was truly inspired. Can it be possible that the books and objets d’art pop even more against the colorful swirls of this paper by Lindsay Cowles? The print, which resembles an ikat to me, is a major unifying factor in the room. It contains the purple of the sofa, the green of the draperies, the pops of yellow and orange. Because the print is itself indistinct, it helps our eyes pull the whole room together.

The black of the cabinet helps make everything stand at attention as well, and within its frame the TV disappears. The animal figurines are more “natural curiosities,” as are the agate slice cupboard knobs. In fact, there’s a real gemstone palette going on here. Rather than the weary emerald/ruby/sapphire combination of precious stones, she gives us the second tier of semiprecious stones—amethyst, malachite, shades of citrine, peridot, blue topaz, and rhodolite garnet.

See? The Cabinet of Natural Curiosities book sits on a cabinet filled with curiosities of its own—mineral-slice lamps with gold-lined shades, a brass skull, and silver and gold boxes topped with turquoise and shell. Even the inset panels of the cabinet doors are a natural curiosity—capiz shell from the windowpane oyster.

This photo also provides a great closeup of the carpet, Karastan Exotics Aberdale Antelope. I’ve been seeing this more and more lately. I love its delicate fawn color and geometric pull of the undulating darker lines.

A compelling collection of art

I always admire a well-put-together gallery wall. I’m pretty good at putting items together, but the tough part is choosing the right art to begin with. The two central prints, between the lamps, are by Kristi Kohut and from Minted. They carry over the color values from the bookshelf side of the room but orient them horizontally instead of vertically, as in the wallpaper backing.

Isn’t the white fur of the ottoman against the carpet just to-die-for? This room is such an exotic romp! BTW, don’t miss the bird on a perch in that far corner and the animal skull over the French doors—more natural curiosities. I told you every little detail was taken care of.

The draperies hung as high as possible help keep the black ceiling from feeling stifling. And while we’re on the subject of those draperies, let’s have a closer look.

The drapery fabric, also used in one of the throw pillows, is Tonic Malachite. Green against purple has always been one of my favorite color combinations. The “lady” painting is by Hayley Mitchell, and I’m groovin’ on her earrings. The orchid is a nice touch, too!

You can see more Mekenzie France photographs of Holly’s new family room at The English Room. Don’t forget to check out links to all six weekly posts that show “before” photos, inspiration boards and project progression.

All I can say is, this room is my new inspiration for my own great room. I’ll be looking at these photos over again and again and trying to bring a bit of the wild and crazy cabinet of natural curiosities to the Lawson domain.

Thanks, Holly!

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