Will Greenery, Pantone’s color of 2017 be popular in Kansas City?

Pantone has announced its color for 2017. It’s Greenery, a slightly softer version of kelly green.

According to Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, it was chosen because it’s a color from nature that represents rebirth.

“Greenery bursts forth in 2017 to provide us with the reassurance we yearn for amid a tumultuous social and political environment,” she states on the Pantone website. “Satisfying our growing desire to rejuvenate and revitalize, Greenery symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose.”

Eiseman told the New York Times that it takes a Pantone team about nine months to choose its color of the year. They do so by traveling the world and looking at industry events such as car shows, runways and decorator showcases in search of “proof points.” When they finally see a meaningful overlap, they narrow down the choices until one color achieves critical mass.

Barb Chastain, of Chastain Design in Kansas City, loves bright greens like Greenery but isn’t sure Pantone’s color of the year always foretells what will be popular in Kansas City

“I use it (bright greens) when I decorate for spring in my own house,” she says. “I have vases and jars and it’s visually refreshing — it says, ‘Out with winter and in with spring.’ Used in the right amount, it’s a great accent color. But it’s probably a little risky for some people because they’re afraid of bright colors.”

Pantone calls Greenery “nature’s neutral” and displays a sample of the shade with 10 palettes it can be mixed with.

But Chastain thinks it’s too strong of a color to be called neutral.

“It’s great if you pair it with other colors. It’s great with aubergine or purple. But it’s definitely strong,” she says.

Several paint companies name their own colors of the year, and some of their choices seem to track better with what Chastain is seeing. For instance, Benjamin Moore named Shadow, a dark, dusky purple, and Sherwin-Williams named Poised Taupe, a taupe with hint of purple, as their colors for 2017.

“I’m still seeing a lot of blue grays, and some can run toward purply,” she says. “There are still a lot grays out there that are popular. Like a (kitchen) island painted gray or a feature wall painted gray or a fireplace painted gray, that’s popular here.”

Pantone is an international authority on color used by design industries to calibrate hues. It named two colors of the year for 2016: Rose Quartz (pink) and Serenity Blue, but Chastain says only one of those seemed to be popular in interior design around Kansas City.

“Blue is extremely popular right now, from navies down to aquas, and soft powder blues are very popular,” she says. “Pinks not so much. In a kid’s room maybe, but I haven’t done anything pink this year.”

No doubt, our mood, our entire being can be altered by color, but many designers see the naming of colors of the year as a marketing tool to encourage buying. After all, few of us have the wherewithal to redecorate and repaint every year.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Will Greenery, Pantone’s color of 2017 be popular in Kansas City?."