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A parade of colours for a new year

Raymond Gork
FASHION STATEMENT: Raymond Gork, owner of Leaside Paint Centre, predicts Guilford Green, Benjamin Moore’s colour of the year for 2015, will become “one of the fashionable colours in the new year.”

Decorators know it. Designers know it too. Colour is crucial. As Christian Dior once said, “Colour is what gives jewels their worth.”

Dior was referring to fashion, but the colours in your home are just as important as the colours you wear.

Raymond Gork, owner of Leaside Paint Centre at 1525 Bayview Ave., says fashion plays a part in paint colours and trends, and the selection of colour trends for the new year is “coordinated with ladies’ fashion.”

A Benjamin Moore dealer, he is on top of the brand’s recently announced colour of the year for 2015: an elegant silvery-green called Guilford Green (HC-116).
“Guilford Green, they feel, is going to be one of the fashionable colours in the new year,” he said, referring to the Benjamin Moore panel of experts who select colours they feel are appropriate to the coming year and who “keep an eye on current fashions.”

It’s not a new colour in the brand’s line. It comes from the Historic Color Collection — classic colours houses would have been painted with years ago.
Gork recommends pink as a match for Guilford Green when choosing colours for trim or accessories.

“When customers want to know what goes with the green, very often we’ll suggest a pinkish tone,” he said. “Pink is a very versatile colour that will match with just about anything else.”

Jane Gerbasi, owner of Upper Canada Decorating Centre, says Guilford Green has always been a popular colour in her 3259 Yonge St. store.

“It’s a very serene colour,” she said. “It’s very easy on the eye.”

“Benjamin Moore’s historical colours are tried and true,” she added. “They’re all very popular.”

While the reception of the new colour has been declared positive at both the Leaside and North Toronto stores, Gerbasi notes that customers are still choosing last year’s colour of the year: Breath of Fresh Air (#806), a soft, neutral blue.

Along with its Colour of the Year announcement, Benjamin Moore also introduced Colour Trends 2015, a palette of 23 colours including green and blue shades as well as blush and berry colours.

These are not your only colour options should you wish to stay on top of the trends heading into the new year.

Pantone, whose Pantone Matching System has long made it an industry leader in the creation of standardized colours, has its own colour of the year: Marsala (18-1438), a deep and earthy shade of red.

The company says the colour takes on a different appearance depending on the type of paint selected. Where a matte finish highlights the colour’s organic nature, adding a sheen conveys luxury.

Behr Paint, available locally at Home Depot stores, has introduced 2015 Color Trends, though not a single colour of the year. There are four new colour palettes — Nuanced Neutrals, Social Brights, Frosted Pastels and Deep Dreams — for this year. These themes are composed of 20 paint colours, all new to the Behr line.
Rounding out the 2015 parade of colours is Tropic Night (70BG 23/278), a vibrant blue designated the colour of the year by Dulux Paint, available locally at Dulux Paints at 1600 Avenue Rd.

Dulux believes the trend this year will be opulent colours with an international flare, such as reds and oranges with a Spanish influence and emerald and sapphire tones reminiscent of Morocco.

According to Martin Tustin-Fuchs, Dulux Paint’s brand manager, Tropic Night evokes images of the sparkling Caribbean Sea.

“Also trending will be colourful bohemian home fashions, a throwback to the elegance, artistry and decadence of the 1970s,” he said.