Colors for the next decade

[g]

What will the "in" colors be in the next decade for home decorating? What
are your professional opinions, please. Thank you.

[William O. Barrett]

g wrote:
> What will the "in" colors be in the next decade for home decorating? What
> are your professional opinions, please. Thank you.

I think it's rather silly to worry about this sort of thing. As soon as
you find out the "in" colors for next year the trends have already
changed and the "next in" color is already being declared. Why not just
use good, appropriate colors based on your professional knowledge,
rather than succombing to the "trend creations" of retailers?

[g]

But can you humor me and answer my "silly" question? Thank you.

William O. Barrett <bba...@best.com> wrote in article
<331C5F...@best.com>...

[Maria Patterson]

G,
Two of our people (we manufacture upholstered furniture) went to the
fabric show in Paris in January and they said they either saw or heard
about a software program that predicts color trends out like ten years.
They said it was inexpensive, and hoped to see more about it at our
furniture market here in April (High Point, NC). I think they said it
wasn't available in the US yet (this was in January). Has anybody else
heard about this?

[Kevin Willmorth]

g wrote:
>
> But can you humor me and answer my "silly" question? Thank you.

I'll try

From what I;ve seen and read about, it appears we are moving toward a
warmer group, with some additional newer jewel tones. I'm seeing more
taupes than whites and more rich colors than pastels. Real wood also
seems to be getting back into the mix, as is silver metal colors like
stainless and chrome.

Another influence that's getting some steam is ethnicity. African
interiors are growing from gold tones, beiges, yellows, rust reds, dark
dark browns, black laquers and natural sand stones. Spanish is similar,
with more off-white, rough cut stones, add in some bright primaries and
fruit colors. Jamaican is even brighter than Spanish, bolder, more
abstract and simpler conceptually, very arty with energetic and brightly
colored graphics. Personally, this is great stuff. Urban Art is
something else, with spray can work, bright colors and vivid graphics,
mixed with the start raw hard tech materials, black and stainless
metals, exposed raw bricks, rough woods and raw concrete, this can be
very enticing and is truly modern. Modern oriental and Asian colors and
art are very interesting as well (not the green jade and black laquer
stuff, I'm thinking of the harder sharp edged machine age stuff and the
use of free from techy stuff).

As far as typical American tastes? They are as boring as ever. Bland
expances of Oak, brass and off-white, with taupe carpets, a little black
accent, more oak...yawn. The only thing that keeps many contemporary
homes from being such a major bore is the art that is hung, and most of
that is useless and valuless garbage as well. American interior design
for residential work is stuck in the '80's, and rooted in the
country-home ethic. Bleached woods, crummy old furniture (antiques in
the US are not really antique, they are just old junk), and the crafty
crap hanging everywhere, meaningless little blue and white tid bits to
keep a shelf from being empty.

Contemporary american residential interiors are a mix of interesting
useless spaces and an over-use of commercial surfaces. Minimalist and
bright white mixed with bold colored art, is more cheap than it is
attractive.

Personally, the immediate future holds no new anything, we're stuck in a
real rut that is a decade old. At least we didn't get stuck in the
'70's, with disco greens and fake wood beam ceilings.

In the farther future, I believe the ethnic styles and coloration will
begin to intrude everywhere. We aren't facing the future with cold hard
whites and steril stark expanses of undecorated walls that futurist
movies show. I believe we will be closer to a mix that you see in movies
like Blade Runner, urban art goes legitimate, mixed with ethnic
coloration and influence, blended with some great new fabrics made
possible by computer graphics.

I see a future in color, where we are worried less about the carpet
matching the drapes, which match the sofa, which blends with the pillows
and matches the art. I see colors being eclectic, with a few misses to
add spice and a few miss-matches, just because the art is important and
the sofa is something you sit on. But this will be overwhelmed with a
continued love affair with the Martha Stewart country home crap that
goes on forever, more earthy greens and flower colors, with little
doilies. It all makes me gag.

I get a whole postal worker imagery thing (shot guns in the office)
going when I walk through a mall filled with a craft fair. Little wooden
ducks with blue flowers for towel bars and teddy bear pillows, with bows
made from ribbon. American tastes in how they decorate their typical
homes, are disgusting and simple minded to a falt. When will they get a
clue?

Now I'm just ranting...

I would hope for a future where the coloration is based more on tonal
value and intensity schemes, more than the primary root hue. I would
hope for more attention being paid to letting each interior piece be
it's best. Selection of furniture that is the color it was intended by
the original designer to be (Macintosh chairs for example were only
offered in one dark red wood finish and two fabrics), and the overall
scheme designed around creating a mix of colors and finishes that are
blended by controling inter-relative contrasts and adding pieces that
are of aesthetic value, even if they don't "Match" anything else. Bold
artwork from new artists and sculptural furniture. A little historical
reference, blended with modern and contemporary pieces, all allowed to
be what they are, without becomming part of some contrived scheme.

My own designs are mixing everything from hi-tech shelving and antique
desks to African stone carvings and Atlantic island art. I tend to leave
the walls bright white in general, or maybe a stone color. I tend to use
lighter maple woods or darker cherry colors or both. I like stainless
steel and nickle silver over brass by far, black as a homoginizing
influence and teal, purple, magenta, ocre and the primary colors. I also
use art that is interesting, even if it's a little too large or doesn;t
exactly match and prefer hardwood floors with throws that are woven by
artists over expanses of carpet. I also like raw material surfaces, like
concrete, raw stones, travertine and ginder finished steel. I like
eclectic mixes of sculptured furniture mixed with Scandanavian and
Italian larger pieces. I definitely prefer leather for seating, or
richly colored fabrics with a smoother finish. In the end, most of the
spaces I truly enjoy are a mash of Contemporary European, some crude
urban and ametuer art, bold ethnic pieces and a little machine age
detailing, reproduction master artworks and a splash of Andy Worhol or
Peter Max.

One of my fovarite homes was for a collector of Cubist art. He had
enough pieces to cover every wall in the house. The furniture and walls
were primarily white with slight black accents, with beachwood where
needed or natural derrskin colored leather. The art WAS the color
scheme. Mixed into all of this was a collection of stone carvings and
silver sculptures collected from Africa, Asia and American Indian
artists.

Anayway, just one viewpoint as it is....

[schr...@epix.net]

I like your ideas,and seek your advice. Redoing a bedroom. Just
bought a solid cherry, five piece set. Big, massive, shiney and very
expensive. Can do walls & floors any way I want, but admit to being
amoung the interior design challanged! What colors will enhanse these
beautiful pieces while keeping it a bedroom (relaxing and soothing in the
evening, bright and pleasent in the daylight.)
Paul

[Carol Buckingham]

--
Read your answer with interest. Being a boring American and a student
designer I at first agreed with you, (because I do agree with you) and then
I got defensive for other people who may just have different tastes than
you and why can't we let them and then I was back to agreeing with you.
Having been "designing" since I could first move a piece of furniture in my
little bedroom I have seen my own self take on the style of the age (i.e.
-70s, gold, avacado) and now I look back and wonder what the hell was wrong
with me. Those are colors I hated then and yet I was a sheep who bought
what the magazines told me. Except for my bedroom which reflected the true
me. Now in my wisdom I decorate to please me (I feel the same way you do
about country-I will not allow any barnyard creatures in my home!) and
antiques (thank you for expressing just how I feel about that!). Our home
is very eclectic. We have leather furniture and my husband built a most
stunning fireplace (over a red brick on - yawn). I can e-mail you a pix if
you would like. It is black and green marble around the opening and the
hearth. The mantel he used differnet mouldings and then above the mantel
is a piece of wood (all painted black gloss) which he attached various
beveled mirrors (round, triangles (large ones) and it is very interesting
and different.

Anyway - I am using color and design in the different rooms of my house and
it sure strikes chords with people who are afraid to paint their wall
raspberry or sponge it to look like denim or leather. I hope that when I
am finally a professional designer I can inspire people to go with their
hearts and not to let their homes be dictated by what is in Better Homes &
Gardens this month!

Thanks

Karrel Buckingham
Tampa, FL

<3335FF...@epix.net>...
> Kevin Willmorth wrote:
> >

[Kevin Willmorth]

[Kevin Willmorth]

Thanks, I think.

My real point is that design is not a "magic pill formula" kind of
thing, but good design does have some soft rules. Certain colors don't
work well with others, thats' easy enough, yet it is not specific
either. Some may prefer colorations that are tightly goruped (like a
taupe, browns, gold and black scheme), while others may prefer a more
dynamic approach (like a teal green, purple, yellow, silver, gold, black
and white scheme). Some may prefer that contrast is minimized, while
others like it bold.

The point of it all is, some may have you believe that their are almost
law like theme boundries, in reality their are none at all. My personal
preference from experience is to focus on color intensity and value. If
you balance those over the the basic underlying hues, and focus on
contrasts in saturation first. you can reach a more individual scheme
that still coordinates well. For example, you may not think of red and
blue as a good foundation for a color scheme, as these complimentary
colors tend to contrast with one another too much, yet, if you darken
the red to maroon and the blue to navy, to trim them both in intensity,
reducing a little of the hue saturation, you can see a scheme work quite
nicely. Mess about withe the hues themselves, blending one a bit into
the other and you can see a dark teal green and purple scheme emerge,
which works well also.

I think the most distracting thing in the USA, is that we tend to be
strictly conservative. The tendancy is to establish a three-matched-hue
scheme, like tan, dark taupe and dark brown, and base every decision on
what color to use based on whether it is one of those three or not.
American design tends ot be very soft on contrast, very muddy overall
and overly concerned with setting a warm or cold undrelying theme, over
trying to let things be what they need to be and just managing their
interaction with one another. This is why our art at home tends to be
garbage, but a good match with the sofa.

In the real world, good art will not match the sofa at all. If anything,
the sofa may be selected to compliment the artwork.

The cooky-cutter approach to color themes is based, in my own opinion,
on people too-great a concern over what other people will think. The
fear of making a mistake that others will notice. I can appreciate that
not everyone can be an artist and that not everyone is willing to take
the risk of experimenting, the converse is that we tend to be bland,
muddy and poor in artistic influence altogether. Selecting a color
scheme to be "warm" or "cool" and making all sorts of theoretical
excuses about how it makes the space feel physically warmer or colder
(which is garbage), or picking a scheme that is almost mono-chromatic is
as big a mistake as maybe getting off a bit on exact coloration.

The human eye likes color, it likes contrast even more. The better these
are addressed, the more interesting a space becomes. Also, the more
oppurtunities exist to allow the space to evolve over time.

I've seen too many clients pass on a very interesting piece of art or
sculpture that they really like, because it just didn't fit their too
restrictive interior color themes. This is a shame. We should create
environments for ourselves that can absorb vertually antything we find
of interest, from art to furniture. This creates an individual
environment that is part of ourselves. The degree in which we decidce to
control the mix of hues, the control we exert over contrasts and
intensities, should be part of that formula, with the intention of
leaving things as flexible as possible.

The magazines today are entirely too focused on these "themed"
environments, where everything makes a great unified picture. This is a
shame and leads too many people, amateur and professional alike, to
beleive that coloration is something to be neutralized or controlled
with an iron will. That the art of color selection has more to d with
denial than it does with balancing.

We are an eclectic animal and our interior spaces should reflect that.
We like some things new, some things old, some things bright red and
others soft blue and others still in green. We need to learn simply to
create space that reflects all of this, without loosing control, which
is another thing we enjoy, our own ability to exert control over the
environment. Too much control and you have a bland and boring space, too
little control, you have color anarchy, where it is no longer cooperates
and is pleasing to the eye.

We only have one brain and it processes all information. If you are a
conservative thinker, that likes life all budled up into tight blocks,
under strict control, your environment should reflect that, however it
should also include a little dash of the reality that the universe is
not completely controlable, that art often presents desires that are not
under control. If, on the other hand, you are artistic, like things
loose and flexible, your space should reflect that, but it should also
reflect a recognition that when you create a space, you are controlling
a great deal of the environment, so some restraint creates a sort of
forced unification. This may apply to individual rooms, as each space
reflects a difference in our personality, based on a rooms function, or
it might be applied to the entire house or office building, that, again
is part of how we personally approach the use of space. If you are the
type that rebels against conventions, your personal spaces are the
perfect place to make those parts of your psyche visible. If you feel
that the world need to be more conformist, then by all means formulate a
strict idealistic code and conform to it. If you are anaturalist, then
be natural and select a natural feeling to the theme, but in neither
case, can you ignor that we are paradixical, when we attempt to control,
we create conflict with everything that is out of control, when we
attempt to be natural, we conflict with the very fact that you are
controlling an unnatural environment to reflect nature.

Maybe we should redifine how we state color themes altogether. Maybe in
stead of a warm or cool theme, we should call color and style schemes as
being "anarchistic", "controlled", "conformist", "Naturalist" or
"Artsistically eclectic". These better describe an approach taken than
simply stating what hue base we might choose, which is often the poorest
theme base of all.

KLW

[Gabriel L Romeu]

took me some time to get to your long and well considered post, Kevin

> The point of it all is, some may have you believe that their are almost
> law like theme boundries, in reality their are none at all. My personal
> preference from experience is to focus on color intensity and value. If
> you balance those over the the basic underlying hues, and focus on
> contrasts in saturation first. you can reach a more individual scheme
> that still coordinates well.

sounds like you have a painting background, many of these systems are
used in pictorial work to increase or decrease spatial illusion.

For example, you may not think of red and
> blue as a good foundation for a color scheme, as these complimentary
> colors

in painting though, green is the compliment to red, and orange to blue

> tend to contrast with one another too much, yet, if you darken
> the red to maroon and the blue to navy, to trim them both in intensity,
> reducing a little of the hue saturation, you can see a scheme work quite
> nicely. Mess about withe the hues themselves, blending one a bit into
> the other and you can see a dark teal green and purple scheme emerge,
> which works well also.

yes...

>
> I think the most distracting thing in the USA, is that we tend to be
> strictly conservative. The tendancy is to establish a three-matched-hue
> scheme, like tan, dark taupe and dark brown, and base every decision on
> what color to use based on whether it is one of those three or not.

this is not really strictly American in origin, modernism may be blamed
for disallowing a wide pallet of color in their quest to squelch
decorative work. i think earth tones can be found in scandi modern
design and in much euro design before the pomos (esp. italians) hit with
design ideas like memphis.

> American design tends ot be very soft on contrast, very muddy overall
> and overly concerned with setting a warm or cold undrelying theme, over
> trying to let things be what they need to be and just managing their
> interaction with one another.

yes again

>This is why our art at home tends to be
> garbage, but a good match with the sofa.

also because the 'art scene', artists, marketeers(galleries, critics,
etc.) have alienated the public with a very complex art dialogue,
emphasising content over form. i personnally find the dialogue
fascinating, but it requires constant reading, looking, etc. as deep
involvement in any discipline requires.

>
> In the real world, good art will not match the sofa at all. If anything,
> the sofa may be selected to compliment the artwork.

i don't know if i agree with this, i design sofas...(VBG)

>
> The cooky-cutter approach to color themes is based, in my own opinion,
> on people too-great a concern over what other people will think. The

>(very big snip)

> that is almost mono-chromatic is
> as big a mistake as maybe getting off a bit on exact coloration.

i agree

>
> The human eye likes color, it likes contrast even more. The better these
> are addressed, the more interesting a space becomes. Also, the more
> oppurtunities exist to allow the space to evolve over time.

yes

>
> I've seen too many clients pass on a very interesting piece of art or
> sculpture that they really like, because it just didn't fit their too
> restrictive interior color themes. This is a shame. We should create
> environments for ourselves that can absorb vertually antything we find
> of interest, from art to furniture. This creates an individual
> environment that is part of ourselves. The degree in which we decidce to
> control the mix of hues, the control we exert over contrasts and
> intensities, should be part of that formula, with the intention of
> leaving things as flexible as possible.

very big yes
>
<another snip>

> We are an eclectic animal and our interior spaces should reflect that.
> We like some things new, some things old, some things bright red and
> others soft blue and others still in green. We need to learn simply to
> create space that reflects all of this, without loosing control, which
> is another thing we enjoy, our own ability to exert control over the
> environment. Too much control and you have a bland and boring space, too
> little control, you have color anarchy, where it is no longer cooperates
> and is pleasing to the eye.
>

worth repeating

i snipped the rest, only because of length, but your approach is a
refreshing change to the dogmatic methodes championed by many of the
designers of past eras. our enviroments reflect, or should reflect, our
uses, aesthetics, personalities. there is no one paradigm that suits
the varied nature of the human psyche, there is a lot available to pull
from in all the areas of art and design. your dissertation on color was
a pleasure to read...
regards
--
gabriel direct email... mailto:romeug@erols,com
http://users.aol.com/romeug ...this is a site of furniture
designed and crafted
http://users.aol.com/romeugp ...this site displays photographs
http://www.artmetal.com ...a website dedicated to all
aspects of metal craft

[Kris Dow]

In article <5h7aac$r...@nr1.calgary.istar.net>,

Kevin Willmorth <fl...@sprynet.com> wrote:
>
>I get a whole postal worker imagery thing (shot guns in the office)
>going when I walk through a mall filled with a craft fair. Little wooden
>ducks with blue flowers for towel bars and teddy bear pillows, with bows
>made from ribbon. American tastes in how they decorate their typical
>homes, are disgusting and simple minded to a falt. When will they get a
>clue?

Ahem. Just one comment. I've lived in America my entire life,
and I get the same reaction. I walk past the craft displays and am
baffled. I want to know who actually buys these things. The only people
I know with craft-fair items in their homes at the moment are people
who recieved them as gag gifts.
Which is not to say that they don't have their place. In my
opinion it is possible to create a room which has that "country farmhouse"
feel that craft-fair people seem to be aiming for, without it being
gaudy or tacky. I think use of warm, "imperfect" woods like pine,
combined with more traditional styles in terms of trim and furniture, etc.
and some "modern" touches can capture the feeling quite well without
being overbearing or overly frilly.
The fact still remains that there are a lot of people in this
country, and a seemingly endless supply of craft fair people, and
between the two a small number of people who buy things seem to be more
than able to support the craft fair industry. That they exist in wide
numbers doesn't mean that everyone subscribes to their standard of
taste. Please be careful with your generalizations. :)

-Kris
(Who apologises for any ramblingor incoherency in her post. It is
nearly 4am here. :)

--
I believe that The Force also explains the large number of bullets
available without reloading in most westerns.
-Doug Shewfelt
kr...@pgh.net http://doit.pgh.net/~kris/

[Kevin Willmorth]

Kris Dow wrote:
>
> In article <5h7aac$r...@nr1.calgary.istar.net>,
> Kevin Willmorth <fl...@sprynet.com> wrote:
> >

> >I get a whole postal worker imagery thing (shot guns in the office)
> >going when I walk through a mall filled with a craft fair. Little wooden
> >ducks with blue flowers for towel bars and teddy bear pillows, with bows
> >made from ribbon. American tastes in how they decorate their typical
> >homes, are disgusting and simple minded to a falt. When will they get a
> >clue?
>

> Ahem. Just one comment. I've lived in America my entire life,
> and I get the same reaction. I walk past the craft displays and am
> baffled. I want to know who actually buys these things. The only people
> I know with craft-fair items in their homes at the moment are people
> who recieved them as gag gifts.
> Which is not to say that they don't have their place.

Snip

Good point. I did over-generalize.

Their is an interesting twist on the craft market garbage and I think
it's the one driving it, but buried under it at the same time.

American Folk Art can be very interesting. I've seen some very
interesting pieces and some even more interesting interiors laid about
the folk art theme. They were refreshing, inventive and had a bit of
humor blended in to make things interesting. Like rakes and shovels
welded together to make a bird, or wood tables made from scruffy old
wood, with a contemporary flair, or even well done willow chairs.

It's unfortunate that the act of retiring with a wood shop in the garage
(most craft fair participants) does not constitute any talent in the
slightest. Sears and their tools section has actually done more damage
to the folk art tradition than anything I can think of.

Too bad too, I would bet a lot of really good art is being passed over
regularly, within a market saturated with cute little ducks and chickens
with flowers painted on them and doilies for skirts (gag).

Thanks for keeping me in line without getting all nustsy like so many do
on the web.

KLW

To think out of the box, you must first see the walls around you.

[Mary Piette]

I think this might be the best item I've ever seen here. Right on
target, according to my observations anyway. If more designers thought
this way American design could be everything it's capable of being.
Thanks for the thoughts.

Mary

-----------

Gabriel L Romeu <rom...@erols.com> wrote:

>took me some time to get to your long and well considered post, Kevin

snip....