Color of the year!

I love the idea behind a color of the year. The problem with me is, I have such a short attention span, I'd be sick of it by, say, April.

OK, March.

Pantone's color of the year for 2010 was turquoise. It's a great, happy color; evoking imagery of beaches and tropics. It's so happy, that I can't think of one depressing thing about turquoise (because to me, beaches and tropics = happy. AmIrite?)

For 2011's color of the year, Pantone stayed in the "happy" range...



Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Honeysuckle.

First: love the name. Honeysuckle. That's got me thinking of springtime and hummingbirds. And--you guessed it--springtime and hummingbirds = happy (oh for real. Find me a depressing hummingbird--I dare you).

Second: it's pink! I love pink!

Now, I have heard the Pepto chatter around the interwebs, and yes, I can see it. Actually, it took me a long time to come around to the color pink--when we first bought our house almost 10 years ago, 90% of the first floor was Pepto-pink. It was atrocious.

But I put all of that behind me and have come to embrace pink. And I am definitely embracing Honeysuckle. Let's look at the possibilities, shall we?


One of my all-time favorite color combos: pink and green (Hey, I grew up in Connecticut. In the EIGHTIES. It's in my blood).


Mmmmmm... love the thought of pink and navy (and if you're still questioning me, see above).


Love, love, love pink and orange (as client/friend Jill from Glow Gluten Free can attest).


I love the retro/vintage feel this combo evokes. That's it--I need to find some clothes in these colors, stat.


And finally, who doesn't love pink, together with more pink? I can recall pages from my childhood coloring books, where these 2 colors--which I think translate to Crayola Salmon and Red-Violet--were incredibly dominant.

Don't like pink? Better luck next year, sucka. Or, you know, you can hold on to turquoise. But that is SO last year.

Fall into color

A few weeks ago, my pal Marcy and I took a day off to shop. No kids, no soccer, no crazy Saturday chores and activities, just her and I, and Woodbury Commons (Oh, and our credit cards).

It was a great day. We filled up her car with lots and lots of fun goodies (and found a ton of great deals). Since I'm a sucker for a good fall color palette, I thought I'd share some cool color inspiration that I found.

First up, a fun dress from Banana Republic (that did not come home with me):





I love everything about this; from how the everything pops against the charcoal gray background, to the bright, almost unexpected fall color palette. Nice, especially with the chartruese.

Next, a bag from Coach (that just happened to sneak in with all my stuff. "Oh, look at that, Mattio! A stray bag! Well we have to take it in and give it a good home--it's getting cold outside, and we just can't LEAVE it."):





Love, love, love pretty much everything about this. The colors are great: orange! Teal! Plum! Chartruese! Fabulous.

So, in the name of color research... Marcy, when's our next trip??

Designzilla

I just love weddings. I love that they are full of happiness and joy. You'd be hard-pressed to find something sad at a wedding--unless you count some unfortunate bridesmaid's dresses.

However, all you bridezillas out there might be interested in this: The Dessy Group (which has very lovely bridesmaid's dresses, btw) has introduced the world to Pantone Weddings. That's right, with Pantone Weddings you can:

Design inspiration boards that show off your favorite colors, styles, accessories and inspirational photos.

Share your inspiration boards with your wedding party and vendors via email or post them on your wedding website or blog.

Coordinate your colors with Pantone Color Swatches that you can leave with your bridesmaids, florist, wedding planner & more.

Being a designer, not a bridezilla (but yes, a little bit of a control freak--maybe you can call me designzilla. Oooooh, I kind of like that), I can honestly say, Holy crap! This is BRILLIANT!

Playing with this, it makes me wish I could get married all over again, so I could bring a little designzilla to being a bride...

(via HOW Magazine)

More fabulous color inspiration...

...this time from Tori Burch. Behold, the blues:



Oh fashion, how I heart you.

(Oh, and by the way? Hellooooooo, shoes!)

Spring into color

The weather is starting to be a little less harsh (50 degrees? I'll take it!). The crocuses have popped up, and I'm even starting to see the very beginnings of tulips starting to break through the dirt. And yesterday? I went skiing--sans jacket.

All of these things mean that spring is very well on it's way (hurray!). And what better way to welcome the new season with a gorgeous color palette--not unlike the one sent by J. Crew this morning:



Mmmmmmmm... Just what the doctor ordered for spring.