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Pantone: here it is the color of the year 2023

And, also this year, the Pantone color of the year 2023, Viva Magenta, has arrived!

(credits Pantone)

“In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real. PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta descends from the red family, and is inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known.”

These are the words of Leatrice Eiseman, executive director, of Pantone Color Institute, who also adds

“Rooted in the primordial, Viva Magenta reconnects us to original matter. Invoking the forces of nature, Viva Magenta galvanizes our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength.”

Once again, Pantone comes up with a color that can “help” us get through the tough times, including pandemic, war, and rising prices; Viva Magenta, in fact, is definitely vibrant, exuberant, and inspiring, but also sophisticated!

(credits Pantone)

Can we bring Pantone color 2023 into our homes?

Of course yes, because this color will bring vibrancy to our environments!

This color is perfect for kitchens because it is a red that is not too “aggressive” and creates an energetic atmosphere perfect for this environment.

Also, it is great when used as an accent color even with large-scale furnishings such as a sofa, but honestly, you can also venture to use it on the walls, making it the focal point of the room.

(credits Pantone)

I would avoid coloring all walls with this color because, as they point out at the Pantone Color Institute, this color “packs a lot of drama even in small doses.”

Definitely to be used with caution in the bedroom: although the hint of blue certainly tones down the exciting component, it is still part of the red family!

(credits Pantone)

It’s a color you can pair with so many shades, both cool and warm, and Pantone is helping us again this year by offering 4 beautiful palettes to make the best use of Viva Magenta (at home, but of course not only!!!)

– EQUILIBRIUM

It is composed of warm and important colors in which Ultimate Gray and Grape Shape help calm this very vibrant palette down a bit.

My advice, if you want to use this palette in your home, is to use Ultimate Gray or Grape Shape as a base, Twilight Purple or Wilde Aster as a secondary color, and the others as accents.

– RESONANCE

This color palette puts warm shades with cool ones together, but all are pretty dark.

In this elegant color combination, Viva Magenta gives a vibrant note!

Again, I recommend using these colors sparingly and calming them down with a bit of white so as not to make it too heavy!

– FAMILY TIES

As the name suggests, this palette groups together colors of similar shades.

It is a combination of mainly pinkish colors with touches of browns that blend with Viva Magenta in a striking and lively tone on tone.

The colors are relatively light but still a bit bright, so they should be used carefully so as not to overdo it: don’t risk creating a house…wedding favors!

– IGNITE

It is a very bright pastel color scheme where Viva magenta stands out and brightens up the other shades.

Compared to the other palettes, it is a color palette therefore you can use it more lightly because of these somewhat neutral tones!

What do you think about this Pantone color 2023? If you like it, will you wear it or bring it into the house as well? In case how? Let me know in the comments!!!

(credits Pantone)

I hope this article was helpful and you love it; in case, let me know in the comments!

Feel free to share it with anyone you think might be interested, I will be honored, and it will help me get my name out there.

If you feel that your home, or some environment of it, does not reflect you enough, do not wait any longer and book your consultancy!

12 December 2022/0 Comments/by Virginie Simonet

Using neutral colors without making them appear flat

interior design

Neutral colors, mainly warm neutrals, are popular in interior design because they make rooms cozy, inviting, and relaxing.

However, one must know how to use them to avoid making them flat and boring, that will lead to somewhat impersonal rooms.

Choosing a neutral-colored palette often stems from the fear of making a mistake or overdoing the colors.

But even the misuse of neutrals may not give the desired result and, most of all, may not fully represent one’s personality!

If you want to learn more about how to choose neutrals for the home, I talk about it here!

One nice thing about neutrals is that they are the perfect base for virtually any style and are very versatile for color matching.

So let’s see how to make the use of neutrals attractive and dynamic!

– GIVE VALUE TO WALLS (AND CEILINGS)

Walls and ceilings seem to be the easy part: I choose the color, I paint, and that’s it!

Instead, there are many ways, many finishes, and techniques regarding painting, which used with neutrals can really make a difference by making the color more vibrant.

In a simplified way, here are three techniques that enhance warm neutrals.

– there is lime wash which is made of lime and other minerals, is naturally based, and is given with a brush.

Glaze effects are created that give depth and dimension to the color.

– there is Venetian plaster formed from marble powders with lime putty.

It has a thick consistency, so it’s given with a trowel, which makes the surface perfectly smooth.

– there is roman clay, a thick paint made from chalk and other natural ingredients; it is given with a trowel.

It creates a finish similar to Venetian plaster and looks like natural stone.

(credits: cose di casa; stelianadesign.ro)

In addition to wall paintings, you can also think about using stones, bricks, or wooden laths to give the room a little more dimensionality!

It is not mandatory, as always, to use these elements on all walls; on the contrary, but they can be helpful to enhance an architectural detail or create an original focal point.

(credits: marianaorsi.com.br; behance.net)

For more rustic styles, wood can also be used in the ceiling by putting beautiful beams!

This will help to give some rhythm to the environment!

(credits: greybirchdesigns; shopltk.com)

– PLAY WITH SHADES AND TEXTURES

To make your rooms appealing, it’s a great idea to use different neutrals, so add some warm neutrals to a room with mainly cool neutrals and vice versa.

And especially to play with the different saturations and shades of the various neutrals.

This thing is actually always helpful to give depth and movement to rooms, but it becomes all the more so when you choose a monochromatic or precisely neutral-color palette!

With the same principle, it is also good to play with different textures by mixing smoother finishes (both in fabrics and objects) with rougher ones.

(credits: haymespaint.com.au; editionnoire.com)

– COMBINE DIFFERENT STYLES AND PATTERNS

Neutral colors are a great tie-in for different furniture and accessories.

Putting different styles together is another great way to liven up the neutral color palette.

You will be able to create a play of shapes giving, over all, personality!

The same goes for patterns: mixing different ones will help make your spaces dynamic and contemporary.

In mixing patterns, I would say to avoid too strong color contrasts: better a tone on tone.

(credits: tthese_beautiful_thingss; shoppe.amberinteriordesign.com)

– USE LARGE DECORATIVE ITEMS

We’ve said neutral colors are calming and relaxing, so create something unexpected using large paintings or mirrors!

It will obviously be the focal point of the room.

Use particular patterns and, above all, some contrast to the wall to make it stand out.

However, this doesn’t only apply to paintings but, if you wish, also to decorative objects: think, for example, of a man-high vase with branches in it!

Or even a large plant that almost reaches the ceiling!

These are all things that help give rhythm and vibrancy to environments!

(credits:@anthology_creative_studio; amdesigns.com)

Pay also attention when choosing decorative items in general, choosing original pieces that can attract the eye by guiding it from one corner of the room to another.

Think of elements that are a bit out of the ordinary by creating distinctive and eye-catching compositions!

Sometimes, for this purpose, street markets are really a gold mine!

(credits: H&M Home; @hoskelsa)

I hope this article was helpful and you love it; in case, let me know in the comments!

Feel free to share it with anyone you think might be interested, I will be honored, and it will help me get my name out there.

If you feel that your home, or some environment of it, does not reflect you enough, do not wait any longer and book your consultancy!

5 December 2022/0 Comments/by Virginie Simonet

Color of the year 2023, here the proposals of leading brands.

interior design

We are now in the last part of the year, and like every year, we start talking about home color trends for the coming year, each brand proposing its color of the year 2023.

While waiting for the very familiar color of the year 2023 by Pantone, let’s see what other brands in the industry are offering us!

This year too, the call is to nature, although no longer only on the green, is very strong, but some dared a little more!

– BENJAMIN MOORE: Raspberry blush

Benjamin Moore offers a vibrant and charismatic color this year, a coral mixed with red.

“Raspberry blush enlivens the senses with electrifying optimism!”

It is a powerful color, far from the neutrals proposed in 2022, which will give a touch of character to rooms.

You can use it in small doses, but you can also dare on doors or furniture up to walls!

Fun fact: To commemorate this year’s selection, Benjamin Moore collaborated with electro-funk duo Chromeo to highlight the optimistic tone of the palette and the dynamic role that color plays in personal expression, just like music (you can find the track on their website)

(credit Benjamin Moore)

Benjamin Moore proposes a whole palette of colors, which, for them, will be the trend of 2023.

As you can see, the colors, if you exclude conch shell and new age, are all quite bold and intense.

When using these colors, I recommend calming them down with neutrals, like the four proposed by Benjamin Moore himself!

(credit Benjamin Moore)

– SHERWIN WILLIAMS: Rendend point

Sherwin-Williams offers a warm and intriguing color that goes well with all styles.

Basically, it is a neutral color, an earthy color with a hint of pink, a color that helps you feel rooted!

It is a soothing color, so it is also suitable for the bedroom, giving a touch of personality.

It is versatile, so in addition to fitting all styles, it also goes well with most colors, although it gives its best with white and other warm colors!

(credit Sherwin Williams)

Fun fact: Sherwin-Williams worked with Etsy to find a selection of items that would go well with this color.

Sherwin-Williams also offers a whole palette of colors that you can safely pair together!

(credit Sherwin Williams)

– PPG: Vining ivy

PPG stays in shades of green, although this year’s is a bolder green!

“It’s a deep, shaded Caribbean aqua with turquoise undertones” that goes with any style!

It is an elegant color that becomes truly gorgeous when paired with warm wood tones.

Relaxing, refreshing, and revitalizing, you can use it in all rooms, either as furniture or on walls!

(credit PPG)

This year too, PPG offers three color palettes that include Vining ivy:

– Serenity

It is a color palette that combines pastels, watery tones, and warm neutrals, all calming and soothing colors that bring serenity precisely!

(credit PPG)

– Duality

It is a palette that plays with contrasts: there are, in fact, pastel colors and very bright colors; it is for those who like to dare and give a touch of powerful character!

(credit PPG)

– Origin

It is a palette that takes inspiration from the natural world, picking up the colors of nature, forests, earth, and sea…

(credit PPG)

We can also find this color in one of the three color palettes proposed last year:

– Invaluable

Dark, refined hues, in short, an elegant color palette that winks at traditions!

(credit PPG)

– BEHR: Blank canvas

The Behr brand chooses, as the color of the year 2023 Blank canvas, a warm, buttery, and enveloping white.

It is a calming and soothing color that you can use with all styles and in all rooms; you can use it alone, but it will be an excellent glue for many other colors.

It is less rigid and austere than pure white, it nevertheless retains its brightness, so it’s excellent on walls.

In an exclusive interview with AD, Erika Woelfel, vice president of color and creative services at Behr, described the shade as “that perfect artistic color to allow people to start expressing their creativity.”

(credit Behr)

Behr, too, offers a color palette that can be used in conjunction with the blank canvas.

They are all dusty colors, many of them echoing the colors of nature and the earth.

(credit Behr)

– SIKKENS: Wild wonder

Sikkens, too, draws on nature with its Wild wonder, a color that echoes that of wheat.

A warm, positive color that reconnects us precisely with nature, bringing calm and serenity.

That, too, is a color that goes with all styles and can be used in all rooms, from the furniture to the walls, for a definitely relaxing and bright environment.

(credit Sikkens)

This brand is no exception and creates no less than 4 palettes around its color of the year, all inspired by nature:

– Lush colors:

Resumes forest shades “help us make our homes feel part of the world”.

(credit Sikkens)

– Buzz colors:

echoes the bright colors of the meadow and flowering fields; they are shades that “give energy, harmony, and joy”

(credit Sikkens)

– Raw colors:

echoes the hues of the harvest, conveys “the wonder of nature’s products, and can give a sense of richness and creativity to the environment.”

(credit Sikkens)

– Flow colors:

echoes the hues of the sea; they are delicate shades “capable of conveying a sense of balance in our hectic lives.”

(credit Sikkens)

– FARROW & BALL:

As always, this brand offers more than one color each year: this year, as many as 11, all inspired by moments of joy, comfort, and refreshment.

Bamboozle is the somewhat bolder and more vibrant of these colors; the others are a bit more neutral.

All of them, however, including bamboozle, fit well with any style and can be used together to create an original palette that will give your home some character!

(credit Farrow & Ball)

I hope this article was helpful and you love it; in case, let me know in the comments!

Feel free to share it with anyone you think might be interested, I will be honored, and it will help me get my name out there.

If you feel that your home, or some environment of it, does not reflect you enough, do not wait any longer and book your advice: just contact me!

17 October 2022/0 Comments/by Virginie Simonet

How to combine colors at home?

interior design

How to combine colors at home to create a palette that makes the environments unique?

Let’s see it together!

Color is a very powerful element with a deep psychological meaning (I tell about it here) that allows expressing one’s personality!

Proper use of color in the home will allow you to experience every room to the fullest because you will always feel represented!

A BIT OF THEORY

Let’s start with color theory, which divides all colors into three categories:

– Primary colors: red, yellow, and blue
They are colors that cannot be produced by mixing other colors.

– Secondary colors: orange, green, and purple,
they are obtained by mixing 2 primary colors (green, for example, is obtained by mixing yellow and blue!).

– Tertiary colors: the six colors obtained by mixing a primary color with an adjacent secondary color.

These three categories of colors, put together, form what is called the color wheel, and it is the one we will use to figure out how best to match colors!

SMALL PREAMBLE

Before we look at the various possible combinations, I would also like to give a very brief explanation of some of the terms that are used when talking about color:

– saturation or intensity: indicates the intensity and strength of the color.
We could say that it indicates color in its purest form; the more saturated a color is, the more vivid and bright it will be; the less saturated it is, the more muted, softened… tending to gray!

– hue: it is the pure color.

– tint: it is a color to which white has been added, which has therefore been lightened.

– tone: it is a color to which gray has been added.

– shade: it is a color to which black has been added.

In the color wheel, we find, for each color, its hue, tone, and shade.

Finally, colors are still divided into warm colors and cool colors:

– warm colors range from yellow to violet-red and are so defined because they are associated with the heat of the fire and the sun.

– cool colors range from purple to green-yellow, which are so defined because they are associated with the sea, sky, and glaciers.

AND NOW LET’S SEE HOW TO COMBINE COLORS AT HOME

After making this necessary introduction, let’s now see the possible combinations!

1) MONOCHROMATIC matching

You choose a single color, but of this color, you use the various tints, tones, and shades.

It’s a scheme that definitely emphasizes that color a lot!

To avoid the risk of falling into monotony, I recommend playing with different patterns, fabrics, and sùrfaces to add movement!

Also, remember to add natural fabrics or metals to give more three-dimensionality.

(credit Elledecore.com)

(credit posterstore.co.uk)

2) Matching by ANALOGY

Once you have chosen a color, you match it with those immediately to its right and left on the color wheel.

These colors are also called adjacent colors.

Having the same undertone it will give a sense of harmony to the color scheme.

There is also the extended analogy, that is combining the first two colors to the right and left of the chosen color.

This combination will make the color scheme a bit more dynamic than the pure analog.

(credit AD)

(credit eminza.it)

3) matching by COMPLEMENTARIES

In this type of combination, you choose the colors that are at opposite poles of the color wheel.

It is a decidedly dynamic, high-contrast combination, so it is a good idea to use it in small doses or at least calm it down with neutral colors!

(credit 4betterhome.com)

(credit countryliving.com)

4) matching by SPLIT COMPLEMENTARIES

It’s the combination of a color with the two colors on the right and the left of the direct complementary.

Also, in this case, calming the contrast with neutrals is a good rule!

(credit welovehomeblog.com)

(credit thekitchn.com)

5) TRIADIC matching

As for matching by analogy or split complementaries, you use three colors, which are obtained by drawing an equilateral triangle in the color wheel.

The primary colors and secondary colors form, between them, a triadic!

That is a dynamic and often unusual pairing!

(credit homedit.com)

There is a small rule that might be useful in matching colors of these various combinations to the best effect: namely, the 60-30-10 rule.

It means choosing one color as the “dominant” color and using it 60% of the room, perhaps on walls and in larger items.

Another color will be secondary and used at 30%, perhaps in curtains and less large items such as an ottoman.

Finally, one color will be an “accent” color and used at 10%, perhaps in pillows and objects.

6) TETRADIC matching

It is a 4-color match that you obtain by drawing a rectangle or square in the color wheel.

Honestly not an easy match that might give pleasing results, but the risk of a loud and unpleasant result is just around the corner!

(credit nzawa)

(credit Ingrid Rasmussen)

SMALL TIPS:

Before concluding, let me point out a few suggestions:

– it does not have to be all colorful: if you are a person who likes neutrals but you are drawn to these color schemes, you can include them in small elements, in decorations, such as pictures and pillows, in textiles, and other objects.

– with shrewdness and moderation, you can combine several palettes: for example, in a predominantly monochromatic room, you can give vibrancy with objects and decorations that have another type of palette, perhaps complementary!

– if you have different colors in the various rooms, tie them together with an accent color: it will act as a common thread making the various rooms, more harmonious and balanced.

For any doubts, do not hesitate to write to me in the comments, or book your consultancy!

14 September 2020/0 Comments/by Virginie Simonet