THE REASSURANCE OF ROSE
A calming colour we all need right now
Last year, for the first time, Pantone, the institute that predicts colour trends, chose two colours — Rose Quartz and Serenity — instead of its customary one. This year, the company returned to tradition by choosing a single shade, Greenery, an arresting hue of green (think Kermit the Frog), that Pantone says is “refreshing and revitalizing” and “symbolic of new beginnings.”
I wish Pantone had broken with tradition again and for the first time repeated a colour, and one in particular: Rose Quartz. It is a soft light pink that, Pantone says, fulfils “our yearning for reassurance and security.” If you ask me, it’s just the sort of calming colour the world needs right now.
I say this from experience. The first apartment I rented out of college had a Greenery-ish bedroom; it was a tough year. Bright greens are not restful. They can even be anxiety-inducing. Rose Quartz has the opposite effect of Greenery. (In fact, the two colours sit on the opposite side of the colour wheel, which actually makes them complementary.) It’s not a flashy, bright Barbie Dreamhouse kind of pink, but rather a gentle blush tone like that of ballet slippers, Band-Aids and seashells. And if you think it’s a girlie shade, think again. Pink hues such as Rose Quartz tend to have grey undertones, so they are more sophisticated and less saccharine than other pinks.
Aside from being calming, these pale-pink tones have another positive effect: People look good in them. Blush tones complement most skin complexions, so they work well on walls or as lighting. The famed New York restaurant La Grenouille is known for its rosy glow, which comes not from guests drinking pink champagne, but from pink light bulbs.
As for the impact of pale pink walls, I experienced firsthand their flattering glow when I walked into the living room of interior designer Katie Ridder and her architect husband, Peter Pennoyer, in upstate New York. I had seen pictures of the pink room in their recently published book, A House in the Country, (Vendome Press, 2016), but the photos did not do the room justice. Ridder covered the walls in customcoloured de Gournay tea paper, which gives the walls immense texture and depth, but the colour on its own makes the room one of the warmest and most inviting I have ever been in.
Not everyone has access to custom tea paper, so Ridder suggests using Benjamin Moore’s Brighton Rock Candy to replicate the look. Like all paint shades, there is not one that looks good in every room, so try a few samples. Other paint colours worth trying are Pink Ground, Calamine or Middleton Pink from Farrow & Ball, or Tissue Pink from Benjamin Moore.
If pink-hued walls are too much for you, you can give the colour a try by adding blush-coloured accessories or upholstered pieces. Modern-steeped companies such as Ikea and West Elm have plenty of rosy upholstered options, which is not surprising; dusty pinks complement the light woods that have been made popular by the recent influence of Scandinavian design.
And if you are worried about how these pinks will pair with your existing decorating scheme, know that they work well with just about any other colour: greys, browns, blues, reds and, yes, even greens.