I was sitting on our back porch this eerily warm weekend when my teenage daughter Ruthie came out.
Ruthie: Whatcha doing?
Me: Writing about Pantone’s Colors Of the Year for 2021. Without much success, I’m afraid.
R: Oh! What’s the color?
Me: No, what are they. They did two colors this year.
R: Can they do that?
Me: Sure. It’s Pantone’s Color Of the Year. They can do whatever they want. They did it a few years ago, actually.
R: So what are the colors?
Me: Bright yellow and gray.
R:
Me: I know.
R: But you hate gray!
Me: I don’t hate gray. I just think that light grays have been horribly overused for years. I’m sick of it. Gray isn’t the only way you can make a room look sophisticated.
R: Are the colors supposed to represent 2020?
Me: I assume so…2020 into 2021.
R: Like, bad into good, light at the end of the tunnel, pandemic into vaccine…that kind of thing? I get it.
Me: Well, Pantone says that they’re using gray as a foundation. It’s supposed to be…wait, let me find it. [Clicking.] Here it is: “A message of happiness supported by fortitude.” Annnd: “It is a story of color that that encapsulates deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the promise of something sunny and friendly.” Not very pithy.
R: Huh. Wait a minute: gray is a neutral!
Me: I’m well aware.
R: They can’t do a neutral. Or they SHOULDN’T do a neutral. It’s cheating. What about navy?
Me: What about it?
R: What about yellow and NAVY? That would be much better.
Me: I suppose…but it’s done. It’s yellow and gray. I was not consulted.
R [still pondering]: A neutral. How could they? I mean, what if they did an ivory. How lame would that be?
Me: I bet that if we went back far enough, we’d find a Pantone Color of the Year that is a variation on ivory.
R [disgusted]: Well that’s depressing.
Me [resigned]: I know. I’m going to focus on the yellow, I think. Yellow on its own is a fine choice for the 2021 color of the year. We need optimism right now, fresh start, new beginnings, you know. Like that.
R: Plus it’s my favorite color.
Me: I know. Mine too.
Me [thinking]: You know, though, even though yellow is my favorite color, I don’t decorate in it much. Yellow is tricky. People tend to say they don’t like yellow.
[Thinking more. Then, with a newfound determination:]
You know, I think I’m going to try harder to use yellow this year. Maybe it will be my New Year’s resolution: to bring more yellow into people’s lives.
R [rolling her eyes]: Sheesh. Aim high, Mom.
Me: Listen. I’m terrible with New Year’s resolutions. This one I could probably do. If nothing else, I could bring it into the redesign of our foyer. I haven’t cracked the code on that yet, so… [with a faraway look] maybe yellow.
R: Uh huh. But that would be pretty pathetic, wouldn’t it? Making a resolution to bring yellow into people’s lives, and then only bringing it into your OWN life? I mean, what kind of interior designer would that make you?
Me:
Me again: Don’t you have homework?
R: Is that a hint?
Me: It absolutely is. But thank you for your input.
R: Anytime.
You can glean my thoughts about some previous years’ Pantone selections here: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008 . You’re welcome for that rabbit hole ;)
Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, DC, and we travel for fun projects. Annie’s design work and insights have appeared in numerous local and national publications, including HGTV Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Washingtonian Magazine.