In the Mood

Don't expect to see just one hot kitchen color in 2006. "It's all about the mood you create," says Leatrice Eisman, executive director of the Carlstadt, N.J.-based Pantone Color Institute. To help set that mood, Pantone has put together eight color palettes that range from modern to rustic, funky to serene, and just about everything in between (see below). Whether you build restrained Tuscan or sleek Art Deco homes, you can choose from a variety of palettes to keep your new houses from looking dated or bland.

Oil-rubbed bronze products have the same sophisticated feel as stainless, but with a warmer tone. The Jenn-Air Attrezzi line includes this sleek toaster; it also features a mixer with an elegant etched-glass bowl. Both products are billed as "appliances you never put away."

Eisman reports more of a willingness on the part of consumers to step away from the safe color choices of the past. "Consumers are being influenced by home-improvement television shows, Web sites, and books on color usage," he says. "This really has opened consumer awareness, so there's more of a willingness to be experimental." Look beneath the surface In the kitchen, particularly, color is finding its way onto virtually all surfaces. For example, small kitchen appliances aren't limited to black, white or stainless anymore; they come in colors like aqua, pumpkin and cherry red. Major appliances can be modified with colored and patterned designer panels. And the use of glass cabinetry makes it possible to brighten things up even more by exposing colorful china and serving ware.

Just as consumers' acceptance of color is influenced by the media, so, too, may their "mood" be influenced by where they live. Barbara Arrington, an interior designer in Wilmington, Del., points out that the use of today's colors varies regionally, even when the same materials and products are used.

"In New York, for example, you'll see the use of metal cabinets, lacquers and glass tile," she says. These same materials provide a completely different feel depending on the colors chosen for them. Arrington notes that while glass tiles in reds, grays and blacks offer an industrial look, when the same tile is colored in shimmery pale blue or green, it creates a more Japanese, spa-type feel - a look that is still very popular.

Simply put Arrington notes an increased emphasis on simplicity, which extends from the use of natural materials. "It seems the focus is more on getting a natural feel from materials. I'm seeing a return to natural wood tones and warm golds, rusts, browns and slates," she says. Eisman sees this trend as well. "I think with simplicity you also get a return to so-called neutral colors - 'so-called' because today neutrals aren't just gray, beige and white," she explains. "Neutrals can include a soft sage green or a complex blue-gray." Whatever the color choices, notes Eisman, elegance is always in vogue. "There is a luxury influence - more of an upscale feeling with granite, marble or special shades of Corian." Arrington concurs, citing her customers' increasing use of granite. "And you're also seeing a lot more oil-rubbed bronze, tumbled marble backsplashes and mottled tiles," she says.

Colorful countertop appliances are hip - and an easy way to add color for consumers not comfortable with investing thousands of dollars on a brightly colored major appliance they may tire of in a few years.

Eisman points out that "even in these minimal, luxurious surroundings there is still the willingness to experiment with color - even if on just one wall in the kitchen."

Pantone Palettes
Whatever style homes you build, using families of color can lend continuity to rooms. For examples of the following color paths, visit www.pantone.com.

• Stiletto: Metallic tones with champagne beige, muted golds and silvers

• Renaissance: Mellow mauve, frosted almond, and blackberry wine

• Romantic Notions: Reds, warm pinks, orchids, apricots, and mimosa yellow

• Pique-Nique: Melon and pecan tones, backed apple red, and refreshing greens

• Grounded: Atmospheric grays, mineral blues, misted lavenders, rose browns, golden olives, and dusted periwinkles

• Paradiso: Cruise ship white, blue lagoons, palm tree greens, sunset corals, and festive fuchsias

• Primitif: Red purples, earthy browns, Chinese yellows, Pompeian reds, ebony, and ivory

• Pastille: Sunshine yellow and silver gray, icy aqua, mocha frappe, lily green, and dusted coral