Leah Richardson

Although Pantone, the global authority on color forecasting, released its Spring 2010 color report last November, it is only as I long for warmer days, pedicured toes in flip flops and the desire to help my clients freshen up their homes for Spring that I start consciously paying attention to their forecast.  20 plus years ago I had the opportunity to visit the NY Pantone Headquarters and witness first hand just how the “experts” develop the latest trends that drive the fashion and home industry each season.  It was quite fascinating!

Long before a color makes its debut in mainstream America as the “it” hue for a season, the Pantone color experts travel the globe paying close attention to not only color trends in food, fabrics, and the natural world, but also the current mood of consumers.  It all translates back to specific shades and tints of colors.  There is not longer just BLUE, for example, but periwinkle, navy, pale sky or this year’s Turquoise or Amparo BLUE.  The hot colors you can expect to see this Spring are tomato puree, aurora (yellow with a hint of green) and turquoise, along with the other colors on the story board above.  Color is such a visual experience engaging and affecting all our senses, even our emotions.  If you take a minute and look at the palette above, what thoughts and visuals come to mind? Which hue really catches your eye in such a way that you might want to bring it into to your life, by way of a scarf, lipstick or pillow fabric this Spring?  We all interpret color differently…there is no right or wrong…but it is truly the way we see the world around us.

Like you, I certainly don’t reinvent my wardrobe each season based on the new seasonal colors, but I do like to add pieces that complement and update what is currently  hanging in my closet. Likewise, my clients look for ways to translate Spring, a season of newness, freshness, growth and life into their homes.  The single adjective I hear most often when describing interiors I design, is peaceful.  I achieve this by using core neutral colors like white, cream, taupe, mushroom, sand, driftwood and wheat.  After spending years experimenting with color, I still find that neutrals reflect the light, expand the space, exude a sense of calm, create a perfect backdrop and add breathtaking luminosity to any room.  But then I add a touch of color to match my client’s personal style.

These interior shots I pulled from various websites show you simple ways to introduce Spring in your home.  Try adding some new throw pillows, a light-weight cotton throw, a few new accessories and even fresh flowers in one of the new Spring colors.  By all means, open the draperies and shutters to let the light in too!  If you have a place to store your rugs, I like leaving bare floors for Spring and Summer. Or, a natural woven rug, like Seagrass, creates a simple organic look for warm weather seasons.  Another way to update and refresh your home for Spring is to replace old lampshades. Remember, always take your lamp with you to the lamp shop to insure purchasing the right size. Linen napkins in a Spring color are a great and inexpensive way to bring new life to your dinner table, and practice “green-living”.

There is a simplicity,

a revealing,

a lightness and

a joy that this new season,

new cycle of life brings.

Embrace Spring!

Look for it!   For Winter is passing and

Spring is right around the corner!

When I think about how God created seasons in life, I smile with thoughts of how I can always anticipate His Spring creativity coming into focus in new ways each new day.  That is a promise we can count on…after Winter, there is always  Spring.  After a Winter season in our lives, there is always a Spring season to come, bringing newness and refreshing.  Although you and I may not travel the globe looking for the latest color trend, we can readily look around us right where we are and see God at work in our life in new, fresh and colorful ways. Look around.  What have you passed off as never changing?  Behold, God is making all things new…look around, for your Spring season, my friend, is about to bud!

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven…

He has made everything beautiful in his time…

Ecclesiastes 3:1,11

Thank you Lord for your promises…paint the canvas of our lives with the new colors of Spring as we anticipate celebrating a new Spring season… soon!

xo    leah