C olor experts Pantone named turquoise The Color of 2010. According to their press release: “Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of well being.” It’s one of my favorite colors, so that sounds good to me!
(Remember what the Color of 2009 was?)
I’ve been hearing rumblings around the blogosphere, though, that turquoise may already be a little too popular. One reader responded to Pantone’s announcement by asking, “Hasn’t it already been the dominant color of 2008 and 2009? This seems like old news.”
Another said she worries that it’ll become “the avocado green of 2010″–so trendy now that it’ll be “like a time-stamp” that dates rooms like these when we look back on them from 2020.
So I started wondering. Is everyone getting tired of the bright blues we’ve been seeing everywhere? Since I like them so much, I admit I’d like to think they’re classic enough that there will always be a place for them in my house and wardrobe.
I believe we should decorate with things and colors we love and not just what’s popular at the moment. I won’t be getting rid of my turquoise any time soon. But trends do affect the way our homes look over time. They’re hard to escape.
It reminds me of a friend who got married in 1988. She told me she did everything she could to make her wedding look “classic and timeless.” Now she looks back on it and laughs because it screams “late ’80s.” But she didn’t see it at the time.
Photo credits: House Beautiful, Southern Accents, House of Turquoise.
I thought I’d see what you guys think about it. Is turquoise getting too trendy? Are you tired of seeing it everywhere? Has it lost its freshness? Or do you consider it and its sister shades Tiffany and Robin’s Egg Blue to be classic shades that will never be “out”? Discuss.
New Series Alert! Every Tuesday for the next 10 weeks, we’ll discuss some of the hot trends that might be on their way out. Got a suggestion for one we should vote on? Let me know!
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I don’t think it’s the color that goes out of style, but how it’s used.
Jenny´s last blog ..Science Center Field Trip
I think different shades of turquoise will look dated in a few years, while others will still be classic. To me, the first picture with its lighter shades of turquoise looks classic and will always be that way. But the last photo with its bright Florida-esque turquoise seems like it will be on the way out withint he next few years.
Amber´s last blog ..a case of the mondays
I love turquoise and would happily use it, in moderation. But would I install a turquoise bathtub? No. I don’t think the color is the problem, more the way it might be used. Regardless of color, a wallpaper with floral border is going to look dated. I think we probably just have to accept that, with a very few style exceptions, a room that looks gorgeous today is unlikely to look too hot in 2030.
Struggler´s last blog ..Butterflies on Parade
Turquoise is one of my favorite colors, not only in design choices, but also in clothing. I have blue-green eyes and every time I wear turquoise/aqua/teal, people compliment my appearance, so it’ll never go out of style for me!
P.S. The room with the turquoise shutters is lovely!
I think it all depends on people’s tastes and how it’s used, whether it’s nice or not. Like Turquoise carpet was once a trend, but now it’s not.
I agree – it’s all on how it’s used. Like hunter green should no longer be on your floor in wall to wall carpet. (That was directed toward my mother)
Kristen @ More Than Mulberries´s last blog ..Kids Bathroom Remodel
Turquise is a color I love and will happily use in moderation.It’s the bright , bold shade of turquise or any color can become overpowering. If turquise is a trend, I’m happy with it.
Debra´s last blog ..Vintage Pyrex Glass Double Boiler
I LOVE turquoise! But I haven’t decorated with it. I have worn it for years, one of my fav colors. I still have red accents in my home, have for about 10 years and I’m still not tired of it!
It’s been around since I was in school to become an interior designer, and was really big while I was at High Point in 2006 and 2007. While those tones then were a bit more blue, it was still a shade of the same color in my mind. I think it’s a pretty color, especially when paired with a contrasting reddish-coral, but I am also sorta tired of it. And, PLEASE, can we all be done with blue and brown, pink and brown, green and brown? Ugh already with that!
Trisha´s last blog ..A Glimpse Back: Christmas Eve Night
I’m on the fence. I like it and I think it’s a beautiful color, but I wonder if it will end up being like the whole “country geese” trend of the 1980s. Just because everyone seems to love it right now. I think maybe I could use it in small areas of my home so I can change it easily later.
Amanda @ Serenity Now´s last blog ..Devilishly Good Cupcakes and Icing Tutorial
OK, this is a good post. I “discovered” turquoise last year after hating it for forever. I found a beautiful cake stand that was intricate and turquoise at the thrift store, and I loved how it complimented my apples and oranges that I use on it. I also started wearing earrings — a new thing for me — and the first four pairs I ever bought had turquoise on them in some form.
So, I decided, if a little turquoise is good, a lot must be better! I found the most perfect shade of the color and we painted our two bathrooms in it.
BAD BAD BAD BAD.
I know some people can pull it off, but for our small apartment, putting that much turqoise into a small, windowless room is just overwhelming and scary. I feel like I stepped into my grandma’s 1950’s bathroom, which is the EXACT same shade. I came home the night my husband started and almost finished our bathroom while I was gone and I almost started crying. It was awful, but I didn’t want to tell him that, since he had been painting for four hours!
So now I am patiently waiting for bathroom re-dos. And I sort of just imagine away the blue as best as I can in the meantime.
So…this is a really long comment to say, I really like turqouise, especially more of a seafoam blue/green color, but only in small, accenting amounts, and I will never do it over a big space again. Doing turqoise like that, in my opinion, really does outdate a room, and fast.
In this day and age of media and internet… I am afraid ANYTHING that is deemed the darling of 2010 (or any year) is inevitably going to be out …probably sooner than later.
Design, ideas, colors splashed are SOOOO much more pervasive and accessible now than they EVER were during the avocado green and harvest gold era. IMHO, The reason some thing goes out is because it is seen and is EVERYWHERE.
Personally…I love the color…especially since I live in a very sunny area where saturated colors just make sense.
linda@LimeintheCoconut´s last blog ..Do YOU see the monkey? I don’t…..really…I don’t.
Turquoise is a trend, if overused. Just like red walls from the mid 2000s. Or white beadboard over the last few. If small doses of the color are used to liven up a room – - as in the top photo – - then the only thing ‘dating’ the room will be the whiteout of woodwork/slipcovers/walls/fireplace/etc, etc, etc.
Doesn’t anyone like color anymore? Green? Red? Yellow? Variations of any of those? Maybe some actual wood colored woodwork? It seems that color today means COLOR!!!!! Like turquoise, grass green, fushcia pink, lemon yellow. Where’s the muted side of the color wheel? Must it be ‘go big or go home’ when it comes to color? Is the opposite of COLOR the black and white with burlap combo?
I think if it’s done tastefully-as in the 1st photo, it doesn’t matter what color you use. Just as long as it’s not overdone.
I think it totally depends on the color you pair with turquoise. I think those shutters in the first image look classic but some unique color pairings can be more trendy.
Jessica at Lavender & Lilies´s last blog ..100!
Turquoise was the main color I put on my first daughter as a baby 40 years ago. It was because it complimented her gorgeous olive complexion. My mother wore real turquoise necklaces and used it as a color in her own decor. I don’t have any turquoise at the moment; instead, I use French blue. But, I should use more of it since I decorate French country. For me, it wouldn’t ever be a main color in my house, but hints of it here and there, I like.
I don’t know if it’s too trendy but I love it. Just a splash here and there. It really brightens up a room.
desiree´s last blog ..Get Lost in Brick Monkey
I think it’s definately a classic color. How can you go wrong with a mix of green and blue? Or maybe I just really, really, REALLY want to live in a cottage by the sea. And until that day, turquoise decor will tide me over.
Karrie´s last blog ..Ta-Da!
I think what dates a color is not the pure color itself, but what it is paired with. These past few years, they have used turquoise with brown in a lot of things from home decor to clothing and jewelry. That color combination looks dated already. But, pure, beautiful turquoise as an accent (like in the photos above) will never look dated.
Donna´s last blog ..My 2010 Weekly Planner
I’ve never been into lighter blues but it works for some decor. I can’t help but think of all the Southwestern decor that was so hip in the late 80s and 90s here in Colorado. Peach with turquoise/teal – everywhere. Oh blech. Some of it was so over the top, even in high-end homes that you couldn’t help but shake your head.
I march to the beat of my own drum with home decor so if I see a color or a piece that I like, I go for it. I tend to work with neutral now (a lesson learned from my maroon/forest green/navy craze of the 90s) and add accents of color so as not to tie myself down. Though my extremely tight budget after the last move has made for some interesting decisions.
Turquoise is not a color for me. Cobalt blue, on the other hand, is a blue that is timeless and can be used (with moderation) in many different settings.
LizO´s last blog ..Valance/Pelmet Box Concept
Trendy or not…i love the look of turquoise!
Stephanie´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday, YOU CAPTURE Theme "Love around Your Home"
Hi Julia,
Interesting post. I think some shade of blue will always be in. It’s funny because if you think about the 80’s mauve and country blue were all the rage. Now if we see mauve, we immediately think country and “yuck”! So I suppose as all colors, it will someday too be “yuck” but for now, I say “enjoy”.
LeAnn´s last blog ..It’s curtains for this girl!
Turquoise is one of my favs. I mentioned this post in my blog and linked to it today. Thanks for the beautiful and so inspiring pictures!
Debra´s last blog ..Vintage Pyrex Glass Double Boiler
I love the color….but then again I am a gal that LOVES color…..
I think if any color is too bold…then it may be classed as a trend….I used BM Beach Glass and I just adore it….I love the way the light plays with the color and YES I so agree it is a soothing color…. I find most shades of green to be soothing…
Great post as always…
Kathy
Used as a ‘touch’ of color will be great for a while…but a whole room…NOT!
Ever since my color bubble was burst by a pimply faced, mock hippie at the local Benjamin Moore store who shared with me that the paint manufacturers don’t actually come out with “new” colors, I’ve become color jaded. {He explained they just have companies like Pottery Barn pick a palette from the same old colors to make them “hot”.} I’ve decided to pay closer attention to what color the heart of my home really is and stick with the palette that pleases me, Pantone be damned!
Ellen
I have a fabulous ceramic turquoise lamp from the 1950’s. It looks great in my bedroom today! What does that tell you about the timelessness of turquoise.
Comment Luv does not Luv me. Here is my latest post. http://www.mydomicilestyle.com/2010/01/small-space-decorating-mistakes.html
I’ve already covered this on my blog too & had fun with the discussions. I have a feeling that we can’t see trends while we’re living in them, or else we wouldn’t make mistakes & look back and laugh 20 years later, so turquoise will probably end up like that too. It’s just the way design styles and colors cycle. Around and around they go. What’s old is new again. I love the color, but think I’ll only use it in small doses, that’s much safer than going whole hog with it.
Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality´s last blog ..My Open Sky Shop is stocked
When my parents built their house in 1962, they ordered turquoise plaster for the master bedroom and the living room. When I gave them a makeover two years ago, I painted the top half of their closet for the first time! My mom had only painted the bottom.
They also had a turquoise stove top and oven. My friend’s mom still tells me she LOVED my mom’s appliances.
To this day, if you chip a piece of plaster, you see the turquoise color. Talk about being hip! That’s my mom. BTW, she lives in NE Indiana. (Sooo not a big metropolis).
It may be trendy, it may be classic? The reality is, because I like to decorate, I am sure that the colors I am using right now will not be the colors I am using 5-10 years from now. I will have cycled through them. I would not buy a large piece in the color, just like I wouldn’t in any large pattern or bright color.
Sometimes if you love somethings, you just have go with it.
Yes, too trendy and might be too classic. Although I like the second photo above.
Hi Julia, I have to say turquoise is not a favorite color of mine…my mind switched it off when at about 10 years old I iced a cake turquoise and discovered it wasn’t a very appetizing color. At ALL!! But I do think that turquoise is the new black….that color you need in a room to make it spin. I’ve always tried to put black somewhere in every room that I do and it always seems to work. Now that I really am checking it out, this turquoise color may be that spinning element that a room needs! It certainly isn’t boring!
Gwen´s last blog ..Machine Embroidery – Freehand
I think turquoise is like most any color: there are many shades, and that can impact how good it looks now and into the future. I also think it depends on if you are decorating with turquoise because you love the color, or because it’s “in”. If you love it, you can keep working with it to keep it fresh. I like the fact that it can be matched with any other color (in the right shade) and switching that other color can keep the blue fresh. Where you live may also have an impact: by the beach I’m not sure if it will ever go out of style. At least is hasn’t yet.
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