Soothing pastels are this year’s top colors

  • By Stacy Downs The Kansas City Star
  • Wednesday, January 23, 2013 3:25pm
  • Life

Hard times call for soft colors.

American paint companies chose soothing pastels as their go-to hues for the new year.

For Sherwin-Williams it’s Aloe, a minty green with a 1950s vibe. Benjamin Moore selected Lemon Sorbet, a citrus shade slightly brighter than cream that also has a nostalgic look.

“It’s not only a softening of the palette, but a softening of the lines in design,” said Sonu Mathew, senior interior designer for Benjamin Moore.

“There’s more tactility in fabrics and surfaces. We’ll find things that shimmer and shine next to things that are dead matte.

“These pastels won’t look wimpy. They’ll be paired with edgier brights and deep saturated colors. Aloe with chartreuse and coral, for example. Lemon Sorbet with peach and raspberry,” Mathew said.

Yellow represents optimism, “and as the world seems to be gradually turning the corner on recessionary times, this whispery tint of the color is timely and evocative of the uptick,” Mathew said.

How to use it: Create a palette of three to five colors, Mathew said, and allow one or two colors to take the lead in each room or space.

Lemon Sorbet can serve as a backdrop for striking color.

Or, in a gray room, use Lemon Sorbet on the ceiling for an unexpected punch. It also could be used to paint chairs, tables or bookcases for pops of color.

Best bets: Kitchen, dining room and playroom.

Kansas City designer Lisa Schmitz is using Lemon Sorbet an accent with warm gray and muted gray-purple. “The soft yellow adds brightness without being too bold,” Schmitz said.

Aloe by Sherwin-Williams is also a pastel, a nostalgic nod to the mid-20th century.

“This is no ordinary pastel: Aloe is funky and glamorous, demure and free-spirited,” said Sherwin-Williams’ director of color marketing, Jackie Jordan.

“While Aloe’s vibe can verge on retro, when paired with caviar blacks, crisp whites or soft grays, suddenly Aloe has a new soul and attitude,” she said.

Designers are also digging this shade of green. The Kate Spade brand is pairing it with coral. In a recent interview, designer Jonathan Adler says the green color of Claridge’s luxury hotel in London — reminiscent of Aloe — is his current favorite.

How to use it: As an entire wall color.

For a tranquil aesthetic, Jordan recommends using Aloe with natural textiles, tarnished metals and warm wood tones in light to medium finishes.

For an energetic look, she suggests combining Aloe with vintage chartreuse, floral lilacs and vivid corals.

Best bet: A bedroom or bathroom, but the tub area only. “I’d steer clear of the sink area,” Jordan said. “It’s probably not the best color for skin tones.”

In a dining room use it with modern black and white accents.

Paint the walls Aloe in a gender-neutral nursery and add periwinkle and lavender accents to make it feminine, or yellows and grays for masculine look, Jordan said.

Schmitz says Aloe is beautiful set against Carrara marble and stainless steel with hot pink or coral accents. She calls it retro without harking back to the pale pink accents of the 1950s.

Simple color rules

Yellows (like Lemon Sorbet) go well with greens and oranges. Blues and yellows — complementary colors — create a classic interior combination for an upbeat, fresh environment.

Green (like Aloe) is often used like a neutral color to balance a room since certain shades of green can go with almost any other color.

Source: “The Color Scheme Bible” by Anna Starmer ($19.95)

Choosing a shade

Grab a stack of paint chips and take them home. Fan them out and weed out the ones that don’t appeal.

Look in a mirror and hold paint chips near your face. Some, especially those with too much blue, don’t complement skin tones.

Buy a sample can and paint a test board. Move it around the room at different times of the day to make sure it’s what you like.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.