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Friday, January 27, 2012

Color Of The Year



Not to be thought old-fashioned and out of date,
That Old House has requested that she be snazzed up
with the 2012 Color Of The Year.


According to Pantone, the self-proclaimed color dictators
the company that makes millions selling, well, colors (how do
they do that?), the 2012 Color Of The Year is Tangerine Tango.
Oh dear.

That Old House is 180 years old.
Orange is harsh on an aging complexion.
Does deep orange belong in an old farmhouse?

I made a quick loop around That Old House, checking
if there are already some trendy Tangerine-colored bits and bobs here and there.  

There's this, on the walnut cupboard in the kitchen:

Also in the kitchen, atop Jabba the Hutch, two pumpkin tureens:

I found a hard, dry navel orange, a refugee from the toe of a Christmas stocking.

I guess I can snazz that up for a little orange zzziiiing.


Orange is not an easy color to live with, in large scale.
Especially when it's not Halloween.

In packets of takeout duck sauce, not so hard:

In its defense, as an accent or in accessories, strong orange is striking.
And not in a "strike me over the head with a baseball bat" kind of way.  Striking in a good way.

For instance, this, from Pantone's very own website:

A bergere chair upholstered in that Tangerine Tango color,
which is a very red orange, against a soft blue wall.

Why, hush my puppies, if that blue wall don't look a whole lot like
the color that is Benjamin Moore's 2012 Color Of The Year.
Wythe Blue.

This, from Benny Moore's website: Wythe Blue walls in a dining room:

As luck would have it, we are already on trend with this trendy color.
It's all over the walls of our second-floor hall bath.

 Wythe Blue is easy on the eyes, easy to live with, and while it's been named
2012 Color of the Year by its maker, it's one of their Historic Colors.  Interesting. 


 I have my plan in place.
I will just tell That Old House that she'll have to be content with
wearing at least one of the 2012 Colors of the Year.

What about you?
Do color trends and fads influence your choices in your home?

Do you have plans to incorporate Tangerine Tango in your decor?
There's no right or wrong answer to that; whatever pleases, works.

Have a marvelous weekend!  I'm hoping we are almost done with rain for a few days.
But right now, I'm going to take care of that rapidly drying orange before it's too late.  -- Cass

LINK PARTIES!

At My Romantic Home, it's Show And Tell Friday Click here!
Feathered Nest Friday makes its home at French Country Cottage.  Click here!
The Charm of Home features Home Sweet Home on Fridays.  Click here!
It's Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground.  Click here!
LaurieAnna's Vintage Home is the place for Farmhouse Friday Click here!




17 comments:

  1. I'm with you. Orange is a hard color to live with unless you have red hair, in which case it may be your favorite color. So, NO, I won't be jumping on the band-wagon with Pantone's color choice. I'll choose my own. BTW, I love the pale Wyeth Blue you have in your house.

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  2. Maybe Wythe Blue with a wee pop of orange. Orange just makes me think Halloween and Autumn for sure. Good luck though. Smiles, Susie

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  3. I'd love to introduce something in that color family in a bathroom here (two about to be painted), but alas it has been outvoted, and probably wisely so for this house. But we do have that color in a bowl in the kitchen, those cuitepie tangelos, still on sale. :-)

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  4. Cass~
    important news flash from Loui♥:

    NOPE!
    I do not follow fads!
    of any kind.!!.
    I do, however, feel I am astute enough to know this:
    about color..
    choices: what I like/love!..
    what colors work best for me..
    what works/looks best in my particular house..
    I do NOT need someone to be a "self proclaimed color guru"..
    telling ME THE CHOSEN COLOR of the YEAR!
    especially when I am not fond of the color in the first place!!
    I DO NOT like seeing that COLOR..
    splashed over EVERYTHING in my sight..
    grocery store magazine covers!
    FASHIONS..
    cars! yikes/blecth!
    and the list goes on and on..
    only to be topped by another equally..
    unappealing/unflattering color..
    next year!!
    okay.. back to the regularly scheduled commenting..
    hugs..
    Loui♥

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  5. Cass,
    I love the color in small doses but then again I always have. I am more of a tomato soup red girl!

    Carol

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  6. Orange is hard. It was very popular in the 60's. I have never used it in a historic house, but!Richard from My Old Historic House.

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  7. Not orange, not even reddish orange, no thank you. Maybe in the fruit basket or on a flower on a throw pillow, but that's as far as I can go. The blue, OTOH, is one of my favorites. It was in the running when we were choosing a color for our back door ... Paladian Blue bested Wythe Blue in our case. It sure looks great in your bathroom.

    Have a great weekend.
    Connie

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  8. I would have a very hard time living with orange although I have been known to like peachy colors! The blue in your bath is gorgeous. I could see using that in a lot of rooms!

    XO,
    Jane

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  9. No- The color trends don't do much for me- I am old and not easily influenced anymore!;>) However, you won't catch me dead in parachute pants! xo Diana

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  10. I don't follow color trends. Heck, I don't even follow fashion trends for that matter. lol.
    Our favorite college team's colors are orange and black. That's about the only time I wear orange. Not a favorite color in my wardrobe so it's definitely not a favorite color in my house....except for when I decorate for the Fall season. :D

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  11. I cringe at the thought of orange in decorating...I grew up in a house with not only orange braided rugs but my mother thought the windows should be covered in homemade burlap curtains with .......Yikes....orange ball fringe...she loved that damn ball fringe....

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  12. Not a fan of the orange. Too 70s.

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  13. I don't know. I love orange in the fall, but then I get pretty tired of it. I used to have Tupperware containers in that color, but they were from the 70's. If avocado green makes a comeback, let me know.

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  14. Aren't you the trendy one with your Wythe Blue! I don't decorate with what the "color experts" tell us is "in." I use what I like and I LOVE all shades of red and orange - so exciting and cheerful! I also wear all shade of red and orange and now purple seems to be creeping in. No, I don't wear orange and purple but I will wear my purple coat with red gloves and a small red pocket book. Reading the comments I'm surprised how many people don't like orange. I love coral.

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  15. Hello Cass,

    I say YES, YES. GO for the Tangerine Tango!

    I used a similar color Flaming Sunset in my 1893 victorian dining room. It is a warm,gracious color. Check out my dining room photos,
    http://www.1893victorianfarmhouse.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

    Mrs. D

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  16. I was in Dollar General this AM and they had pretty "tangerine" towels to go in your beautiful blue bathroom....
    They aren't huge towels, but the color was pretty and my experience with their towels is that while smallish, they wear very well :^)
    Thanks for the information about colors...I don't think tangerine would do anything for my reds and golds, but I may use just a squirt of it on my table full of white "Rosepoint" dishes!
    You are GREAAAAAAT!!

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  17. I only like orange when it's comes from nature. I've always thought it was a rather pushy color. It screams out and needs to hog all the attention. No I've never followed trends. In fact it must be the Irish in me but once something becomes a trend I have to go in the other direction. Take the color grey. I had soft grey pained walls in my kitchen for years. People would always be surprised. They didn't know if they should like it or not...it just wasn't being done at that time. Now if I hear one more person say they're painting everything grey...as though they just discovered the color I'm going to give out a great sigh. As you can see this is a hot button for me hahaha. Why can't people just follow what they LIKE and stop doing what they're told to like?
    KATHY

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