We’re craving color, baby!

Gray and white and black… medium gray, soft gray, gray owl, Charleston gray, gray stone, gray cashmere, passive gray, agreeable gray, modern gray, sleigh bells gray…so much gray! We asked some local designers for their opinions on when we might expect a little color back in our decor, and we whole-heartedly agree with their input.

“I have been pining for the return of color, and 2019 is its official return, make no mistake about it. The classic, safe-feeling, light-filled, clean-looking, easy-to-photograph, simplified and airy interiors so popular in the 2010s got us through the weight of everything heavy, post-recession. They were psychologically necessary then. Now, armed with distance from the financial crash of 2008 and a little bored with everything looking so similar, we’re craving the rich, the dimensional, the dramatic, and the sumptuous. We’re craving color, baby! Says Lee Harmon Waters of Contended Interiors.

Fortune favors the bold

Never afraid of making bold color choices herself, Stephanie Theofanos, owner of Modern Traditions Interiors, supports our excitement and anticipation for more color. “As we enter 2019, we are seeing more bold color choices and I think that trend will continue as homeowners want to personalize their homes more. The pendulum is swinging away from neutrals as we enter an age of maximalism. As a designer, I am excited about all of the opportunities this emerging trend presents to create truly unique spaces.”

Many of our observations are based on the design industry that surrounds real estate – new construction, staging, and residential decor, but retailers have supported this neutral color palette for years, yielding a remarkable influence.  Kathy Corbet of Kathy Corbet Interiors adds, “The real estate industry is not the only industry guilty of this.  Open any home furnishing retailer’s catalog and you will see a sea of neutral.  To contrast that, look through the shelter magazines and observe the complete opposite.  How many color issues a year are printed?!” 

How do we strike a balance in the hopeful transition away from the dull color palette? “In designing [the 2018 Homearama house for Jones Builders] I had to walk a fine line between the neutral tones that agents selling the home would want and then the color that was needed to make it a designer’s showcase.  There were two Sherwin Williams colors I drew from:  Sea Salt 6204 and Aleutian 6241,” says Corbet. 

2019: The year of gorgeous

So, where are we going from here? Waters believes, “In 2019: plan to embrace plum purples and warmer, deeper versions of millennial pink, paired with emerald greens and sapphire blues. It’s going to be a gorgeous year.” 

Here are some of our favorite uses of color and design that we’d like to see stick around.

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