Color Naming: Practical or Just For Fun?

February 8, 2012 · Posted in Color Theory, Interior design trends

File this under your “Funny But Possibly True”. I came across this picture on Facebook and couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of fabrics we offer for custom pieces and the thousands of colors they all come in!

When you have various shades of a standard color you can’t just call them all the same thing (or maybe Blue #1, Blue #2, etc.). Pantone has made an entire business of standardizing colors, classifying and naming them. Like this year’s Color of the Year: Tangerine Tango.

Take, for examples, Ultrasuede from Knoll Textiles. There are about four different “blues” but they each have very different names.

When it comes to color, the name hardly matters when it comes to choosing one. What should matter is how that color will play off the others in your scheme or space. Will it be an accent color that you’ll use sparingly or will it play a large role such as a wall paint color or the on the fabric for a large piece of furniture like a sofa or sectional? While color names can be fun, sometimes a blue couch is just a blue couch (though saying your sofa was done in ‘Midnight’ Ultrasuede does sound pretty cool).