There is a group of over 1700 professionals representing various retail industries called The Color Marketing Group. These professionals forecast the color directions for all markets including household interiors, home fashions, apparel, automotive, etc. Yearly, this team meets, discusses, and agrees on the prescribed color forecast for the coming seasons. Therefore, each year, new shades, tints, variations, or combinations of the basics will pervade every aspect of the retail market.

It is easy to see this in action when you look through the ads that come in your Sunday newspaper - all of a sudden lime green and turquoise are the colors of choice and reds and yellows are no longer seen, or the other way around. Naturally, it is all designed to get us to dump our perfectly good stuff because the color has gone out of style.

Okay, I know you want to know what this news item I am reading says the new trends are:

Green - green, as in save the earth with gas-saving cars, light bulbs, recycling. Of course you don't have to buy a car that is actually painted green, and your light bulbs still put out white-ish light, but to make the point, the upcoming color palette tends toward leafy green and yellow-green hues.

Because blue represents water, which is needed to make things green, the clear blues and blue/greens reminiscent of deep (presumably clean) bodies of water will start showing up.

Solar energy will be symbolized by the colors of fire: variations of mandarin and flame orange, with golds such as seen in Dijon mustards and olive oil yellows.

Now, there is also a need for calm in our current frantic situation, so peace and relaxation are going to be evoked by variations of clean sky blues and richer Provence blues (see photo). But "the most important color trend is for the blues to even deeper toward the purples and wines, reminiscent of the richer colors of the past. Sometimes a bit indulgent and glamorous, these 'nostalgic' lavenders, iris blues, and vibrant purples somehow give us a look back, to those times in our lives when things were simpler and more solid.

This is a "Provence Blue" stove available from Williams-Sonoma. Leave it to them to be on the leading edge of color trends in expensive appliances.


Even touches of mauve (yes, alas, that 80's color again!) have sneaked back into the mix, paired with taupes, blued or charcoal-grays and the red/purple family."

For younger folk, color inspiration comes from Japanese anime, with bright, clashing combinations of colors - fuschia, bright reds, vibrant blues, and mint greens."

Okay. There you go. I don't see any mention of harvest gold and avocado green coming back so we'll have to wait for next season. I'm not admitting whether I have any major appliances in those colors, but I might a small one or two around here.