Color of the Year for 2011

I hope each of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with many blessings. Since we took a side route from our World of Window Treatment series for Valentine's colors...I thought we'd go ahead and share a little about the chosen color for 2011.

Pantone LLC is the global authority on color. They are a provider of professional color standards for the design industries. They have named PANTONE® 18-2120 Honeysuckle as the color of the year for 2011. They have described it to be a "vibrant and energetic hue".

The intensity of this reddish-pink color is very alluring and is very much what they described...energetic. Don't you agree? This is also the color we saw in several of our Valentine room design photos.

Honeysuckle Flower

I bet you thought it was just the sweet fragrance of the honeysuckle flower blossom that attracted hummingbirds to the nectar....right? Well, it isn't. In researching this, I found that it is actually the COLOR that attracts them. Most people do, however, associate the refreshing scent of the honeysuckle flower to enjoying the "carefree days" of Spring and Summer...which we are all now looking forward to! The color represents the same!

Here we find another lovely example of this color in roses. Did any of you get these as a gift for Valentine's from your special someone? If you did, you got the Color of the Year!

This shows us the 2011 Color of the Year in our fashion industry. Pantone not only indicates the trends in color for home decor, but also sets the stage for what's to come in our apparel and accessories. Honeysuckle is a great color for fashion....at least "I" am a happy shopper this year in that I can find colors that appeal to me (of course...PINK does!).

Photo courtesy of House and Home

Here is a room using this color on the walls and again on the shades. I find it to be that "refreshing" color of Spring and Summer here, don't you?

Photo courtesy of House and Home

Here our color is used as only an accent....throw pillows, lamp shade, and even a tall floral stem (to right of lamp...see it?) Notice how well this Honeysuckle color goes with a variety of other colors. It is used with these taupes, brown, and bright yellow. With only "pops" of this color in your room, you could add this color for the seasons of Spring and Summer easily and then change it in the Fall. Great, easy idea....of course, this is for those of you that are attracted to this " Color of the Year".

Photo courtesy of Traditional Home

The color is used a little more permanently in this room since it is used on some of the upholstery pieces. Then, a little more of this color is added to the sofa and chairs with the use of pillows.

Photo courtesy of Elle Decor

And here we have used it on the floors (a nice bold statement in the room!), pillows, and also a floral arrangement. (Wouldn't the "moose" on the wall be MUCH more fashionable if he were in this color too?.....Ha! Just kidding, you can tell he is my least favorite part of this room!)

Photo courtesy of Country Living

And this one will finish up our look at the chosen Color of the Year for 2011 - Honeysuckle. Whether you use it throughout your room or just accent ("pop") with this color, such as with these candlesticks above (well, OK here we have it in the fabric panels used in the doors on this furniture piece too)...give it a try for Spring. See what colors you CAN use it with and how it will make that much desired simple CHANGE in your decor! A good rule of thumb though... try to repeat the color in the room at least THREE times (to balance it). This way it doesn't look like just an "after-thought" or a "mistake" in the room. Will YOU give it a try? If you do, please post a comment to let us know how it turned out! You can turn that "DRAB" into "FAB" (fabulous) by using this energetic Color of the Year....which I think is truly "Simply Irresistible"!

I hope you have yourself a Simply Irresistible and Blessed day!