Exploring Trendy Colors VS. Classic Color Schemes with Pantone’s Color of the Year

Pantone offers a color system (used by many designers and graphic designers) so that a particular color can be identified precisely.  Instead of trying to describe a shade of blue as “intense blue with a slight gray hue”, a designer can specify Pantone 19-4052 and others within the industry will know the EXACT color.  As we all know, there are literally thousands of permutations of a particular color and getting it “just right” is important – critically important.

Pantone’s 2020 Color of the Year, is Classic Blue.  Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, describes it as “Classic Blue, a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on.” She goes on to explain, “Imbued with a deep resonance, Classic Blue provides an anchoring foundation. A boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication.”

Sounds interesting and exciting, but regardless of the description designers often get asked, “How do I incorporate trendy colors into my kitchen or renovation project and yet keep it timeless for long-term style?”

The important thing to remember with color palettes for kitchen cabinetry and kitchens, in general, is that cabinetry is not a soft good that can be easily and inexpensively updated with changing color trends. Soft-goods like wall paint colors, accessories, throw pillows, side chairs, etc. CAN be easily updated and those are some of the areas to incorporate more daring colors. Colors for cabinetry, carpet, countertops, and large furnishings should perhaps be more classic and long-term color investments, but they can still be fashion-forward and cutting edge.

You’ll notice that interior designers and color designers will usually use more neutral colors (like white, ivory, taupe, gray, or brown) for the majority of the kitchen cabinet color selections, and then use more daring, trendy colors for accessory or accent items (i.e. a kitchen island, curtains, decorations, or backsplash). At Dura Supreme, definitive trends in kitchen cabinetry colors right now are true-brown stain colors (like our Morel, Coriander, Cashew, Feather, Praline, and Mocha stains), Gray stains and paints (like our Heather, Pebble, Caraway, Shell Gray, and Smoke stains as well as our Pearl, Silver Mist, Zinc, Storm Gray, and Graphite paints to name a few), or shades of white paint that can be a neutral backdrop for any color.