Pantone, a global authority on colour, recently picked Radiant Orchid, a purple hue with pink and fuchsia undertones, as the 2014 colour of the year, replacing the 2013 colour, emerald.
In the upcoming year, the purply rose is expected to influence the world of fashion and interior design.Each year a colour is selected by a secret committee that draws on global influences ranging from popular travel destinations to technology.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t pair it with other bright colours.
“Use it with colours that are a similar level of intensity and saturation but once again use them in balance rather than making one of them too dominant,” she says.
Simpfendorfer says Radian Orchid can be used as a colour for a side table next to something that’s highly patterned and has a small element of purple in it.
“Or if you imagine a rug where there might be that colour in a small amount and then use it as a solid colour on an entire chair but just one in a space… That would be really powerful,” she says.There’s no doubt that people today are experimenting more with colour in general.
Stubbs says colour is now in fashion in interior design. “We have been subjected to really bland, all white interiors where people were terrified to use any colour for years and that is changing, that is the biggest trend that is changing.”
And the choice of Radiant Orchid marks a positive move for the use of colour in interiors. “I really love the fact that it’s quite controversial and has made people really stop and think about colour,” Simpfendorfer says.
While it’s good to be challenged, Simpfendorfer offers a word of advice for those who aren’t tickled pink (or purple, for that matter) by Pantone’s colour choice.“You have to love colour otherwise it’ll always sit a bit uncomfortably.”