Wassily Kandinsky, the 20th century Russian painter credited with painting one of the first recognised purely abstract works, said ‘colour is a power which directly influences the soul’. So true, and especially relevant when it comes to our home – our safe place, our sanctuary. Nothing refreshes or lifts our spirits more than a splash of colour and if you’re moving to a new house, one of the many things on your list, apart from organising a thorough pre-occupation cleaning – because new beginnings are synonymous with clean beginnings – should be to paint your new space. And if you’re looking for inspiration, turn to the masters of colour, Pantone.
Pantone was begun in the 1950s and fast became the benchmark for colour across the world. Each year, since 2000, Pantone selects a colour that it believes embodies and represents that year. Secret meetings are held bi-annually, and after two days of presentations and debate, a colour is selected that the international panel feel connects with the zeitgeist. The fashion, beauty, floral and décor world all wait with baited breath each year for the announcement and then use that colour to guide their designs and future plans.
This year their colour of choice is Greenery, a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade symbolic of new beginnings – quite appropriate considering our earlier talk of pre-occupation cleaning and fresh starts. Refreshing and revitalising, Greenery is said to ‘evoke the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew; a life-affirming shade [it] is also emblematic of the pursuit of personal passions and vitality’. And if you’re in doubt as to what to pair Greenery with, Pantone very conveniently provide ten palette combinations that cater for all tastes from bright and vibrant to calm and neutral.
Even if you’re not moving house, but just want to freshen up your home and achieve that new beginning feeling, consider two things: a deep hygiene cleaning (nothing says fresh start better than a sparklingly clean house) and a lick of paint, it doesn’t even have to be the whole house, choose a few accent walls and let your spirit free – whether it’s Greenery, Pure Cashmere or Blue Radiance (don’t you just love the Pantone colour names), have fun finding your soul colour and if you need help cleaning up afterwards, call QClean, the cleaning specialists.
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