Dear Color Lovers,
Just a reminder that when viewing colors online the computer monitor colors may vary. Thank hue for your understanding. Enjoy.
November 19, 2008
Lee was recently asked....
Do you think there has been a recent resurgence in the color yellow? If so, why do you think that is?
As the next door neighbors on the color wheel (orange and yellow-green) have gained so much more acceptance in the last few years, it opens the door for yellow to be more accepted by consumers. So it feels fresh and new, while at the same time there is some familiarity because of the relationships to orange and yellow-green.
Why are people attracted to the color? What is the color associated with?
Yellow is always associated with light, especially sunlight, so it is perceived as warm, inviting and cheerful. And in spiritual terms, it is thought of as the color of enlightenment as well. It is a great color for bringing light into an environment, especially in a north facing room and if you get depressed on gray days, yellow really makes you feel like there is sunshine present.
I've heard many designers say that yellow is the hardest color to get right in terms of paint color. Why do you think that is? Do you have any advice for people who would like to incorporate yellow into their interiors?
It can be difficult as even the slightest bit of green as an undertone can get very green looking on the walls, especially if there many windows in a space surrounded by reflected green of foliage, trees and such. If you like greenish yellow, that is not a problem, but most people prefer their yellows just a bit more subtle and not too blatant. So it is really important to test the color in the room before committing to a yellow. They can always be ‘dirtied’ a bit— or go to the creamier side and that fits many comfort levels.
November 15, 2008
Laguna Hills Flowers
Flower Therapy Induces Happiness and Positive Feelings
Flowers have an immediate impact upon stressful or depressive states by bringing delight and happiness in our lives and providing a long term positive effect on our good mood. There has been developed a new type of complementary therapy called flower therapy. It is thought that our emotional states can be elevated or turned from negative into positive ones through flower therapy. The multiple benefits we receive from this therapy are related to the form, color and smell a flower gives off. Flowers provide us with a pleasant view and a beautiful smell, inducing emotional health through synesthesia.
Red roses enhance the energy in our body and make us more active by stimulating adrenal glands, the indigo of an iris makes us more confident and tranquil by removing fear or inhibition, sunflowers boost energy and also make us more optimistic, bluebells release melatonin - the "sleep protein" in our organism and therefore induce a good night's sleep, orange daisies act favorably upon our lungs and immune system by keeping away allergenic factors, while lilacs and green zinnias remove stress and anxiety.
Also, the impact of flowers present at workplaces was scientifically proved to enhance productivity and the energy level, improving at the same time short and long term memory. They also improve companionship and relationship among colleagues in the workplace.
Leatrice Eiseman is the Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute and strongly believes in the curing effects of these frail and tender plants. She thinks that color therapy and flower therapy are very much alike due to the fact that they both use color energy in order to improve moods and chase away sadness and distress. "Color can help us find the balance we seek from our surroundings. And flowers are an ideal way to harness the power of color to enrich our lives," she says.
Internationally acknowledged color expert Leatrice Eiseman stated that "our response to color is intensely emotional and flowers can be a catalyst for feelings that stimulate more than just our senses of sight and smell. An artful floral arrangement has the ability to convey a feeling or create a mood without using words, just color.
"The color expert recommends us five types of floral arrangements, each for enhancing a different state of mind, depending on the predominant color. She says that soft yellows and greens, peach shades, warm pinks and creamy whites form a palette of fragile and tender colors - nurturing colors - that are extremely beneficial for emanating confidence and cheerfulness all around and caressing sick individuals.
Lavender and pink colors create a romantic environment through inferring intimacy and love feelings. Hot reds, purples, pinks and oranges create sensuous, passionate and seductive settings for lovers. Light shades of sea and sky colors - green and blues - make a floral arrangement perfectly suited for a place in which serenity and peace of mind is needed. Playful and joyous feelings are induced by a whimsical arrangement of powerful, contrasting colors. This type pf arrangement can be successfully used for birthdays and any kind of celebrations.
High Point Market Fall 2008 Trends Forecast
By Furniture World Magazine
Featuring insights from leading trend-trackers, manufacturers and retailers, the new, in-depth special report identifies and explores the season’s important product, color, lifestyle and demographic trends, and offers recommendations from leading industry experts on connecting with today’s consumer in the coming months.
“This report comes at an ideal time for buyers across the country and around the world, many of whom are preparing to attend the High Point Market next month,” says Brian D. Casey, president and chief executive officer of the High Point Market Authority, official sponsor of the High Point Market: The World’s Home for Home Furnishings. “With some 2,000 exhibitors set to introduce product here, it’s important for buyers to learn as much as they can about what’s on trend in advance of their arrival here at Market.
Among the trends detailed in the new report:
Sanctuary
Today’s consumers confront a complicated world. From political issues to personal concerns, they find themselves surrounded by problems for which there are no easy answers. According to researchers at Getty Images, one of the world’s largest providers of photography and illustration to the media and advertising industries, people are responding to this confusion by seeking simplicity. Home is perhaps the most natural place to create a sanctuary from the outside world, and home furnishings manufacturers are also seeing consumers trending toward simplicity.
“Cleaner lines, simpler styling and natural materials are catching on. Heavy carving is out. Consumers are interested in and buying minimalist pieces, especially in accents,” says Tom Liddell, senior vice president of national sales at the Powell Company.
Function
While consumers are seeking simple shapes and clean lines, they also have another desire, one that adds a layer of complexity for manufacturers.
“Function is big,” reports Don Essenberg, executive vice president, chief marketing officer at Magnussen Home Furnishings. “Today, a piece of furniture can’t just be decorative. It has to do something, and what it does has to relate to the end-user’s lifestyle.”
Functional features such as charging stations for cell phones and iPods, flexible styling, pieces that can serve multiple purposes, and storage are all trends that fit consumers’ lifestyles today. Michael Slone, of Florida based retailer Slone Brothers Furniture, finds that his customers are not only asking, “How does it make my life better?” but are also focused on one particular functional feature. “It’s all about storage, storage, storage,” he says. “Case goods sell on how they help the customer meet her storage needs.”
Color: Pantone’s View
“I tend to be wary of phrases such as ‘what people want,’ ” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and one of the world’s leading experts on color. “People are different, not everyone wants the same thing.”
In her PANTONE VIEW home + interiors 2009 forecast, produced specifically for the home furnishings industry Eiseman’s eight palettes offer a full complement of on-trend colors. The Pantone home palette is included in the Fall Trends Report with a characterization of each palette label, “Wine Country,” “Honesty,” “Discerning Tastes,” “Reveries,” “Wanderings,” “Solar Energy,” “Breathe Easy,” and “Animate.”
Michelle Lamb, senior editor of The Trend Curve and a top trend-tracker recommends the purple hues for those looking for the one, sure-fire shade in any of these color directions. Since its last trend cycle more than a decade ago, Lamb reports that this time “the hues are on the red side rather than the blue, acting first as a bridge between blue and red, ultimately replacing both.”
Pattern: Simply Complex
In patterns, Lamb sees more decorative complexity complementing the streamlined forms of furnishings. “Right now, this is a small movement, but I expect mini-floral designs, simple stripes, plaid and denim to take on this highlighting role,” she says. “I’m also seeing textural embellishment, such as embroidery and crewel coming on the scene.”
For the urban inspired consumer, the design direction connects to the ‘60s and ‘80s in a movement Lamb calls Graphic Arts and Eiseman illustrates in the Animate palette.
Wood finishes will be getting lighter, with medium shades having the greatest appeal. “Eco- concerns have led to an increased use of reclaimed woods,” Eiseman notes, “And they’re being combined in some fascinating ways. Though some are a little funky, they’re all artfully executed. I think this movement arises from the younger generation’s putting environmental concerns ahead of the old design rules,” she states.
Tuning Into Style
Technology continues to drive spectacular growth in home entertainment furnishings, “especially as the transition from housing bulky TVs in armoires to showing off high-tech panel screens accelerates,” Michelle Lamb says. “Today, most solutions offered for flat screens look more like the TV stands of the 1970s. So simply upping the style quotient for these pieces should result in even more sales.”
Though dominated by the Baby Boom generation for the past 20 years we are seeing a seismic shift in the home furnishings demographic focus, the 35 – to 54- year-old woman. Baby Boomers, defined as people born between 1946 and 1960, are aging out of the target demographic. In fact, most of our customers now belong to Generation X – born between 1963 and 1980.
“There is a sea change in who’s buying and going to buy home furnishings,” says Magnussen’s Essenberg. “The Baby Boomers are still out there, but their influence is on the wane. Generation X is taking over and Generation Y (born from 1981 – 2001) is beginning to come on.”
The prevailing myth that the Baby Boomers are the largest of the three generations is busted by the U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimates. The Boomers are actually the smallest of the groups, with just under 77 million people. Generation X will contain approximately 84 million people, and Generation Y will come in with just under 82 million.
In our target demographic there will be about 31 million GenX and 22 million Baby Boom women between the ages of 32 and 56 years old next year. To maximize this opportunity, our industry will need to respond to the Xer’s different worldviews and home lives.
Michael Slone finds the buying cycle has been greatly compressed. “Today, the average time spent in the store is half what it was 10 years ago,” he says, “More consumers are using the Internet to select the stores they’re going shop. We’ve made a considerable investment in our website.”
About the High Point Market Authority: The High Point Market Authority is the official sponsor of the High Point Market in High Point, North Carolina. Featuring an extensive selection of exhibitors spanning every category, style and price point and attracting tens of thousands of visitors from more than 110 countries twice each year, the High Point Market is the driving force of the home furnishings industry.
Back to Top
