Pantone's 2019 Color of the Year is Perfect for Your Spring Décor: Living Coral At the end of 2018, Pantone wowed us once again by revealing their stunning color of the year for 2019: Living Coral. This warm, inspiring shade sits within the pink and orange family and draws the mind to things like sunsets, blossoming flowers, and seaside vacations. According to Pantone Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman, this shade "affirms life" by evoking both nourishment and energy. In the realm of color psychology, coral generates positive energy and pleasant feelings, making it the ideal choice for a spring décor overhaul. Let's look at how you can generate some fantastic vibes in your home with the Pantone color of the year.

1. Know Your Color Families

Living coral is a bright and eye-catching color. To use it well in your home, you need to know how it coordinates with other shades. Because coral is a natural seaside shade, it's particularly well-suited to blue, turquoise and neutral tones. A few color combinations to try include:
  • Navy blue and soft coral: This duo is great for deep, modern looks. Softer coral shades will work correctly with the richness of the navy blue. Remember to add splashes of white to balance the finished look.
  • Coral and turquoise: Excellent for a summery vibe. These two vibrant colors keep your home looking fresh and romantic, particularly with some vintage or shabby chic furniture.
  • Coral, aqua, and yellow: This is a fantastic beach-inspired combination. The coral warms the blue, while the yellow brightens the entire room. The blue pop from this Humanscale Horizon task light would work brilliantly in a coral-focused office.
Blues and oranges work perfectly together, so try mixing and matching with a combination of navy, cobalt, teal, coral, grapefruit, and tangerine.

2. Build a Room Around the Color

If you want to keep your interior décor focus entirely on coral and skip the accompanying blue shades, make sure you start with a room that gets plenty of light. As a natural and bright color, coral is a great shade for airy, open rooms. To make sure that you don't overwhelm the space, start by choosing a focal point. You might decide on a feature wall with a splash of deep coral. Alternatively, a rug or carpet can be a wonderful focal point. Living coral works very well with neutrals, so you can also add splashes of sandy shades and whites to the mix to give the room extra depth. Once you've figured out the balance between your focal point and neutral accents, invest in some accessories for additional pops of color. Vases of flowers, canvas pictures on your walls, and even a handful of seashells on the mantel will look fantastic.

3. Refresh Your Furnishings

Living coral is a beautiful shade, but it's also not for the timid. As a bold and bright color, it completely transforms a room. If you're nervous about jumping head-first into this color straight away, then start with something simpler. For instance, living coral is excellent for soft furnishings, blankets, rugs, and curtains, because it conveys feelings of comfort and warmth. Mixed with lighter shades of wood and soft creams or whites, it can deliver a refreshing vibe to your home, without overwhelming the space. For instance, you could combine a white leather sofa like the Stressless E700 with coral throw pillows and blankets. If you aren't comfortable using strong hues like this dramatically, start small with crucial accessories like big focus rugs, throws, and pillows on your favorite massage chair to begin with — then you can always switch them out according to your mood. Add in accessories in colors like black, grey, white, and neutral shades.

4. Find a Balance Between Pattern and Color

When decorating with bright colors like living coral, it's important to tread carefully when it comes to patterns. Too much pattern combined with a bright shade can confuse the eye and leave you feeling dizzy when you walk into a room. You don't want to end up with a chaotic effect in your living room or bedroom. If you love a particular pattern for a room, start with that and then work around it. For instance, if your flooring has a bold design, then full living coral walls may not work, but a feature wall combined with some throw pillows on a neutral bed will look amazing. You can also find other, more subtle ways to add coral to an already heavily-patterned space, like painting the trims on your window frames and investing in coral-colored bedding. Use other pieces of bold furniture, like the Ekornes Stressless corner table in black, to make flashes of color really stand out.

5. Start with the Right Rooms

Finally, remember that you don't necessarily need to coat your entire house in coral to make the most of the new color of the year. Start simple by focusing on a single room. As we mentioned above, living coral works best in rooms with plenty of light, including kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, and dining rooms. If you're making a pretty bold move in your décor for the first time, it's usually a good idea to start with the dining room, as you don't spend the majority of your time in there. If anything goes wrong, you'll be able to fix it without being exposed continuously to the mistake. Once you're happy with your single room, start to let the color flow through the house with accessories like coral flowers, lampshades, and canvas pictures. Inspired to add living coral to your interior design strategy? Check out The Back Store today for more advice and inspiration.