Pantone is always the front runner for choosing the annual “Color of the Year”. Designers from many industries wait with eager anticipation for the announcement. While for 2021 Pantone banded together and actually announced TWO colors, Ultimate Grey & Illuminating, the choice left me feeling blah and definitely lackluster. While their thought process, intent, and description of how they came to this decision are very much what the world needs to hear right now, I still felt ‘meh’.
It was this blah reaction to this year’s colors that led my podcast co-host of Coast to Coast Design, Garrison and me to have a serious talk about what OUR choices for 2021 would be. You’ll need to listen in a few weeks to hear Garrison’s pick, but I’m so in love with my color choice I just couldn’t wait to share it!
Join me in welcoming 2021 with Razzle Dazzle by Benjamin Moore! Yep, it’s a pink! Pink tones are often seen as one of the gentlest, yet most contradictory, colors in our world of design.
In general, pink is a color that represents love. It represents tenderness, vulnerability and youth. It is a calming, non-threatening color, and is linked to innocence, hope and optimism.
Read those last two sentences again, go ahead I’ll wait…
Love. Tenderness. Calming. Non-threatening. Innocence. Hope and optimism. I can’t think of a more appropriate time than now to embrace a color that offers up so much symbolism.
Razzle Dazzle. What a lively name! Say it out loud! Did you feel the corners of your mouth turn up? You can’t help it because it’s just so much fun to say! Honestly, I chose the color before I knew the name as the color alone made me smile.
Using a color like Razzle Dazzle also requires courage, another term we need a lot more of these days. Ironically my dear friend and colleague, Kristin McCory of McCory Interiors, used exactly this color in a living room. The results were nothing short of perfection.
As we dive into this second year of our new decade, I encourage us all to find a little more Razzle Dazzle in our lives! Spread a little more love. Look for opportunities to share some hope. Speak with optimism, tenderness and of course calmness.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Wise words from Gandhi. I’m pretty sure he would approve of my color choice … and I can see a smile filling his face as the words Razzle Dazzle roll off his tongue.
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