Free Form Friday: Color Me Amused. Or Maybe Confused.

What? Is it Free Form Friday so soon?

A few silly things are on my mind this morning. This Tweet from a local business made me smile:

Chivalry Collection Carpet (color Respectful) with black cove base at a local business in Columbia, MD.

Yes, friends, you, too can have a Respectful carpet. From the Chivalry Collection. I wonder what other shades are in the Chivalry Collection? May I suggest: Courtly, Noble, Daring, Loyal, Virtuous, or Brave? Chaste?

Color names never cease to amaze and amuse me. The color we selected for our downstairs walls is called “Interactive Tan.” We like the color, but the truth is, it hasn’t ever tried to interact with us at all. That’s probably a good thing.

How does one get a job naming colors? Are colors named by committee?

I know that there are special qualifications for wine tasters and fragrance-sniffers but is there such a thing as a color-see-er? To be clear, seeing varied shades of color or concocting new ones is not at all the same thing as coming up with a name to put on one - - a name which must have a reasonable enough connection to the color plus an appealing enough connotation to make a potential buyer choose it.

It’s not likely that customers and decorators would commit to Depression (gray), Moody (Mauve) or Sneering (yellow-green).

It’s possible that the seeds of this piece may have been planted by a post from Sweet Elizabeth Jane. It’s a short video walking through the Pantone display at a recent trade show.

The Good Old Days

The Pantone Color of the year is Very Peri, which they describe as:

Displaying a carefree confidence and a daring curiosity that animates our creative spirit, inquisitive and intriguing PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri helps us to embrace this altered landscape of possibilities, opening us up to a new vision as we rewrite our lives. Rekindling gratitude for some of the qualities that blue represents complemented by a new perspective that resonates today, PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri places the future ahead in a new light.

Wow. This is more than fashion or interior decorating. This is…a religion.

Have you ever come across a color name that tickled your sensibilities or just plain made you scratch your head? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Since it’s Free Form Friday, and all that, I guess I should wish you a weekend that “helps you to embrace the altered landscape of possibilities.”

Sounds promising.

Ooh. How about “Promising Primrose”?*

*I can’t believe it!

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