Chinoiserie Chic Color of the Year 2014

In September of 2013, I predicted that purple would be named as the color of the year for 2014. Indeed, Pantone's Color for 2014 is Radiant Orchid -


And Sherwin Williams has chosen Exclusive Plum.


I personally do not like these mid range purples. I like my purples either very pale and soft like lavender or very deep and dark like aubergine. I don't think either of their picks will catch on.

So now on to my choice.

Tony Duquette often said that coral pink was his neutral. I too love pink and especially coral pink. Lately, I have fallen for gray paint colors. Shades of gray have become my neutral as I tend to dislike white and beige walls. I also love soft lavenders and lilacs. So for my color of the year, I have combined -

*My love for the coral pink of flamingos
*My love for gray as my go-to neutral
*My love for soft purples like lavenders and lilacs
*My prediction of purple as the 2014 color of the year
*My discovery that newborn flamingos are born the most exquisite pale lavender gray color

My Chinoiserie Chic Color of 2014 is a Lavender Gray I have named Baby Flamingo. It is a soft pale heathered gray with lovely lavender undertones. It is a complex shade that changes colors depending on the time of day and the light. Lest you think the name is too weird, here are some of my favorite Farrow & Ball paint color names -

Cat's Paw
Smoked Trout
Mole's Breath
Elephant's Breath
Dead Salmon
Hound Yellow
Pale Hound

Here is the lovely color of baby flamingos -

Verandah House

Susan Dowhower

Charlotte Moss

Thomas Jayne

Velvet settee and silk taffeta curtains with hand painted Chinoiserie wallpaper

Amanda Nisbet

Phoebe Howard

Kimberly McCluskey

Aerin Lauder

Kendall Wilkinson