Do Individual Colors Really Ever Go Out Of Style?

paint-cansA couple of weeks ago, before I repainted my living room and I posted all of my paint options on my Facebook page, I had a professional interior decorator insist that I paint my room green instead of blue because “blue has so been done.”

When I responded that I wasn’t really concerned about trends, and that I just wanted to use a color that I loved, she actually got angry with me, posting a couple more comments about how blue is an outdated color, and insisting that “blue is soooo 90’s.”

I could write an entire blog post about about the current popularity of blue, but I won’t.  🙂  (Pottery Barn’s website is filled to the brim with blues, and Sherwin Williams 2014 Spring/Summer collection for West Elm includes three different hues of blue…and that’s just for starters. But that’s not why I decorate with blues. I use them because I love them.)

But that really got me thinking about color in general, and I asked myself, “Do individual colors really ever go out of style?”

I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t really think individual colors go out of style.  And especially these days, I think we’ve moved into a collective decorating mindset where really, anything goes, and anything can work.  It’s just a matter of how you use it, guided by your own personal taste.

Now of course, that doesn’t mean that all of us will like all the colors.  We all have colors that we’re drawn to, and other colors that we don’t really like at all.  But those are more of an individual, personal taste kind of thing, and not really an “in style/out of style” thing.

I think rather than individual colors being “in style” or “out of style”, instead we associate certain color palletes with certain decades.

Who remembers the country blue and mauve craze of the 80s?  Peach and seafoam green of the 80s?  The jewel tones (burgundy, hunter green, and navy blue) of the 90s?

And while I might associate those color palletes with decades past, I wouldn’t necessarily consider any of those individual colors as being “out of style.”  Again, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I like all of them, but in the hands of a skilled decorator, I think any of those colors can look just as current and stylish today as they ever have.

Look at this beautiful bedroom with pale peach walls (Benjamin Moore Old Fashioned Peach) and a darker peach upholstered bed.

Peach isn’t necessarily a color that I personally like (although the coral throw on the bed is right up my alley), but it certainly doesn’t look outdated in that bedroom.  It looks fresh and modern combined with the teal draperies and neutral colors of the other furnishings.

Country blue is another color that isn’t necessarily one that I’d decorate with in my own home, but certainly not because I consider it outdated. I don’t think it looks dated at all in this beautiful office.

And what about mauve? That’s another color that isn’t a personal favorite of mine, but in the hands of a talented decorator, it can look just as fresh and current today as it ever has in decades past.

So what do you think? Do you agree with me that individual colors don’t go in and out of style, but rather it’s certain color palettes that we associate with certain decades? And that any color can be used in a current and fresh way, and it’s just a matter of individual taste?

Or do you think there are certain individual colors that are sooooo oudated that they can never look good in a home today, no matter how they’re used?

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77 Comments

  1. I dont think it is so much the color as is the decor. I feel you can use whatever color you want, its what you put into the room that will change it.

    1. I agree. I decorate with colors that I like not the new ” in” color. It is the decor that can make the room look outdated. My faves are yellow, navy and green.

    2. I think it’s less about the color and/or the decor, and more about how the two are put together. I decorate with color and items that I like. I see a bright lime green that I love and have a hard time not painting EVERYTHING that color!! I recently bought a house that had an avocado green stove that I LOVED! I believe that once I paint and get all of my personal items moved in that my kitchen will look very modern and the stove will be a great focus piece!!

    3. So I am a professional interior designer. I would never ever suggest to any client that the colours or furnishings they like are out of style based on current trends. Personal style is never out of fashion and it is constantly evolving. In fact, trends should never be the reason for a method of design or decor –because just as easily as something being on trend- it is out of fashion. And what kind of designer would decorate a room with trends only to have it be out of style in a few years. Not very cost effective. Finding out what clients enjoy and make them feel comfortable is part of the process–I’d say that if a designer is telling you that your colour choices are wrong then the perhaps should return to school themselves.

  2. If you respond to a color and it makes you happy and your home feel like your home, then use it! Let style be your slave, don’t be a slave to style or trends is what I think!

  3. I think this phrase captures it: “in the hands of a talented decorator”. Too many times people label themselves a decorator, but all they do is copy the latest trend they see in publications or on a web sites. As you said, palette’s are associated with certain decades and some people love to decorate in vintage styles that emphasize some of the very colors others revile. I believe a truly talented decorator can work with any color.

  4. I am not a fan of “one size fits all.” Watching the decorator shows you often see trends in every show. I choose color by what I love and what I can use with furniture and accessories I already have. My decorating budget is quite slim. I do ask my husband if it is a color he can tolerate (he does have to live here) but then it is what we like and suits our home not what the trends say. I love your ideas. Thank you.

  5. Well if blue is out of style, I have an outdated house because I have a FEW blue rooms. I agree with the other commenters, it is how you style the room, not the color.

  6. One of the things that I’ve enjoyed about getting older is that, as the decades have come and gone, I have more styles/color schemes, both in home decor and fashion, from which to choose. I’m not locked into one particular decade, such as my 20’s, for my choices.

    I agree with Kristi that color is an individual preference, and, imho, the mark of a good decorator is someone who will learn a client’s taste and work with that rather than trying to impose her own idea of what’s currently in style. There are basic design principles of harmony, scale, balance, etc., that a good decorator will use with any style or color scheme to design a room that works for the client’s needs and lifestyle, and not just be a showplace for the designer’s idea of what is in fashion today. Without a doubt, in just a few years, a color or decorating style that’s current now will have been replaced with something else. But a room that’s designed with the client’s personal preferences and needs will last for decades and be timeless. It may need updating in time with changing needs or to refresh fabrics, etc., but once you find your own style, you’re good to go.

  7. I think color and design are all about personal taste. I like a more neutral/warm palette of colors, and while I personally do not like blue at all, I would never presume to tell someone else what color they should use to paint their own walls. I don’t like pink, or orange, either, but I’m sure there are a lot of people who love those colors. ‘Professional’ decorators have developed a bad habit recently of trying to push what they consider right onto the people they work for. I had a lady who was decorating my house decide to fill it with eclectic stuff SHE liked. I ended up with one piece of furniture that actually fulfilled the design idea I had for my home. This happened after I had sent her literally over two hundred photos of the things I felt represented my ‘style’. My husband and I wasted almost $5000 by trusting this idiot. Now I am going to do it myself, and I am choosing the traditional, classic types of things I love. I’m positive there would be people who think I’m nuts for painting my bedroom gray, or for putting up white crown molding after we paint our living room a creamy beige. According to most people, beige is boring. I think it’s classic and soothing. Paint your walls whatever color you choose! You’re the one who lives within them! Harvest Gold and Avocado Green may be the next big thing, but whether or not you choose to use them is entirely up to YOU! 🙂

  8. First, a truly “professional” interior decorator listens to the client and helps them use colors they love, trends aside! There is nothing worse than living with a color(s) that you don’t love, and it’s pure joy to live with those you do love.

    Colors may go in and out of favor, but a well-styled room is so much more than the color. Blue ins’t a favorite of mine, but I have seen gorgeous rooms, including the one you are creating. I admire your diplomacy! I’d probably say something not so nice. 😉

  9. Whatever color makes you happy and makes your room happy is the color you should use. I really think its more about furnishings and accessories that go with it. I love blue and it will always make me happy so I will continue to use it. I’m sure your decorator friend won’t be doing a house-to-house search for those of us who offend her good senses with blue so I’m probably safe. : ) Paint on!

  10. I agree with you that individual colors do not go out of style. I also agree with the theory that you pick a color that you love…one that makes YOU feel happy in your own home. If you feel happy, then that color is a winner in my book 🙂 I LOVE blues and my walls are very similar to yours so apparently I just agree with you all around lol I have paired mine with the Orange/Red (Lobster Red as I like to call it) accents and I love it!

  11. Another in agreement here. ~:) It’s ludicrous for anyone to say that any particular color has a ‘shelf life.’ Color just IS. It’s what you do with it that makes it a glorious joy or a dismal failure.

  12. I agree that no single color can possibly go out of style. Now if you added white country geese to a country blue room, then that style is out, but not the color. LOL. My favorite color is a pale yellow because it makes me feel like the sun is shining and that’s a happy feeling. However, I always paint my kitchen a warm white because I fill it with vintage jadite that my mother used. I add small splashes of red, such as red cherries on the curtains, or a kitchen tablecloth, etc. Yes, that was a color palette of the 30’s and 40’s, totally out of style and I love, love, love it. I wouldn’t ask anyone else to use it. I just happen to love vintage in my kitchen. It’s a light and pleasing combination to me, and is my favorite room of the house. I do not carry it into other rooms, so I’m glad I don’t have an open houseplan. Either I’m living in the wrong decade or I’m very old. Both maybe.

    1. I love the colors you mentioned too and I’m 46. It’s all about what colors make you happy. No one should be condemned for their personal color choices in their own home. It’s what makes us all unique!

  13. Oops, that lady would hate me. I have been using blue as I update my home. But it look fresh, in my opinion. She probably wouldn’t agree with my brass chandalier I just hung the other day either. But I am loving it!!! Blue and brass baby!!!

  14. I say color is color. There are NO bad colors, just bad design. I say you should use any color you love. You can make it look fresh and modern depending on the furniture an textiles you use. By the way, blues are NOT out. There are tons of gorgeous coastal, coastal cottage and shabby chic designed rooms that are sporting lovely shades of blue.

  15. Kristi – I am like you and LOVE my blues – I wouldn’t trade them for any other color – especially Teal! LOVE THAT COLOR!! I had a blue sofa in the 90’s and while it may be outdated, it is more the style of the sofa that is outdated…rather than the color

    I think you need to decorate for yourself and not for anyone else…in the end, YOU ARE THE ONE THAT LIVES THERE!!

  16. What I want to know is where the trends come from? Right now I feel stuck in a very nice home with golden oak trim screaming at me while all I see in pictures and magazines is white trim. Fifteen years ago I lived in a house with off white trim screaming at me while all I saw was oak trim. Seems unfair to me. Same thing runs true in the clothing industry. I recently started to re-paint my entire house and am trying to use more color, but am finding that some of my color choices are certainly screaming with the oak trim. What is a women to do?

  17. Just as we go through many different seasons of life, I believe we also go through different seasons of color. The colors we choose are really a just huge reflection of our individual personalities!

  18. Colors never go out of style per say. You are always going to have that one person that likes or wants that decades old combo or design look. I worked for several years in the paper and printing industry. Wedding invitations and regular business printing and everything in between. I LOVED getting the new invitation books (the big thick ones with all the samples) as well as the current paper sample books for each mill (there are now sooo few paper mills). I was SOOOO excited when the major invitation makers started adding color accents. I’m all for classic ivories and taupes but come on! If it’s you – go for it. I was made fun of because I chose a deep saturated pink (not Barbie or Pepto) and really pretty olive-ish green for my wedding colors ( I got married in a rose garden) I was inspired by gorgeous french papers I made my invitations from and I LOVE pink! The florist had the balls to tsk tsk me for wanting a PINK bouquet instead of traditional white. I was like WHAT THE FRACK?! It’ MY wedding. MY day, MY memories! MY photos! I’m paying- give me a flippin’ pink rose bouquet! I think that goes for home decoration. That said- my house is not pink at all… lol But I will always have that memory that the rose garden knew exactly what color to bloom. lol I wasn’t going to let color trends poo poo what *I* wanted for my wedding or people who said having a pink wedding in June ruin MY DAY. Same goes for my home decoration. I think any color if used appropriately transcends the trends. It’s called CLASSIC colors. I’ve seen the trends in paper and printing, which goes across the board to fashion and home dec… it’s fascinating.

  19. Colors can’t become outdated as there are no “new” colors. It’s all about combinations and how you use them.
    And, for what it’s worth, a good interior designer does not try to inflict their personal taste on anyone. What makes them good is their ability to design a space that appeals to the client. The one that insisted your blue was outdated obviously hadn’t figured that out yet. She was probably one of those “beige on beige” people.

  20. I think you just have to use the colors you love, whether they’re “trending” or not. I want to be surrounded by colors that make me happy! And I agree that you can make a room look fresh no matter the color. Color is only a part of the whole equation.

  21. I agree, I don’t think colors go out of style, I do think “trends” fade. (I say that as I sit here in my chevron blouse.) I have always had some form of blue in my family rooms through out the years. Powder blue and cream in the 70s, country blue and chintz in the 80s, navy and emerald in the 90s and early 2000s and now my absolute favorite so far cobalt and kelly green. It’s all about what you do with the colors. I think the colors we favor are often affected by some past trend, after my mothers coppertone kitchen and burnt orange living room, both of which she kept for decades, I have never been able to use those colors to any extent.

  22. I’m with you Kristi, I think certain colors evoke thoughts and memories of different decades past…(you forgot the browns and rusts of the 70’s) lol…but as a new “lover” of all things blue. I think its what ever makes you smile when you walk into your own little nest that you have lovingly decorated the way you like. I work with color based on how it makes me feel, regardless of whether it’s in style or liked by others. I think really we all do. Decorating your home is an emotional thing. So are colors and what they do for you. I have seen red done beautifully but I know it will not be in my house. I’ve tried it, doesn’t work and doesn’t feel right to me. Just is what it is…now give me blues, greens, yellows, greys and/or whites and I am happy. I love your color choices Kristi and quite frankly some of your facebook fans (critics)….can be a little rude. 🙂

  23. Yes. It’s like baby names. When you’re pregnant, everyone wants to tell you what names are “good” or “in” and usually you’ve chosen something different. You second guess yourself. Who knows what goes into our choices. .maybe great Aunt Helen was so precious to you that you use her name. Color is the same way. Bright yellow will never grace my wall due to my hideous lemon/lime quilt pattern childhood bedroom. (Yes, even the matching wallpaper) But, I had a PURPLE bedroom in my teens that I would do again..even the purple blinds! I am joining you in the blue tones after years of green that wasn’t my favorite. Oh, and gold..never again. Compliments aside, it was never “me”. My new “beachy” decor makes me happy- and considering that my home is MY nest and respite, I think it makes sense! So color is personal- trends be darned!

    1. Funny thing is that I would now LOVE to own the green/gold velour damask sofa my parents owned in the 70’s and 80’s. Hated it then, but LOVE those colors now.

      1. Maybe you could recreate it with a similar model and reupholster. You probably have great memories of family and that sofa! Great memories and sea air pull me to my new beach theme! Why not do what makes you happy- life is short. My french mother – in – law remodeled her bathrooms and then rehung flocked floral wallpaper! 🙂

  24. I think color is a personal choice based on how it makes you feel. I don’t believe that any color is ever “out of style.” I agree with your comment about color palettes that can look dated, but it would be very limiting if we could never use any of those colors again, don’t you think? I would never use a paint color in my home just because it was considered popular this year and I would never choose NOT to use a color based on it having been a popular color several decades ago. Go with what you love and you can never go wrong!!!

  25. I would never decide on a color because it was the trend, unless I loved it regardless of the trend. You need to go with what makes you happy and feel good every time you enter your room. A decorator trying to dictate a color to me, wouldn’t be my decorator!

  26. If we chose color based on trends, we would need to repaint very quickly. It doesn’t seem to make sense to choose color based only on what’s currently popular.

  27. Bravo Kristi!

    I graduated with an interior design degree from a 4 year FIDER accredited university. One of the first things that they teach you is that you design for your client. You give them options and introduce them to new trends in the market but ultimately, you design for what they want and what fits their needs. I wonder how many of this designer’s clients are truly happy with what was “chosen” for them.

  28. I love that you politely stood your ground. I agree with you and so many of the comments prior to my own. I’m a professional graphic designer. I can offer suggestions, based on my experience, knowledge and skill set, but in the end, my customer makes the choices and has to deal with the results. As for avocado green and harvest gold… 60s, 70s, yes, but that was in an era when our “middle class, midwestern or bible belt” buying power as consumers was limited to Sears, JC Penney and Montgomery Ward and they carried all the same stuff. I love the time we live in and the technology! Keep it up, Kristi. Keep it up!

  29. Pantone’s color of the year is very close to the mauve of the 80’s… A color that is not my favorite. However a royal blue is the color for Spring 2014. http://www.pantone.com/pages/index.aspx?pg=21129 That comment from the rude “designer” must not be up on her color trends.

    I do think that colors go in and out of “style”, but do you want to follow the trends or be content with your favorites? I chose to surround myself with colors that I love, and dress in colors that flatter me! I refuse to be a slave to the current “trends”.

  30. Go, girl! The whole world’s trying to turn us into carbon copies of one another when, in fact, we’re unique individuals. Follow your heart, always! All you/we have to do is say, “thanks, but no thanks; I’ll do it my way!”

  31. I really think that the reason colors get named for a year is so we all feel we need to redecorate and therefore, spend money!!! It is another invention of corporate America playing us like puppets. If the color and the style makes me happy it is my home and that is what is important.

  32. I agree, color is very individual and you should design to what you like. With that said, you should still try to coordinate your choice of colors throughout your home. Also there is a psychology of color that is worth educating yourself in. All colors elicit certain physical responses. For instance, if you want a room to relax in, paint it blue. Red will make you hungry and yellow will make you want to get out of a space quicker than other colors. Think about your favorite restaurants. Look at color around you in commercial spaces. They have been chose for a reason.

  33. Well, my Mom always told me, “It’s not what’s in style it’s what looks great on you.” I feel the same goes with decorating your home. No color goes out of style if you know what you’re doing. How boring it would be if we all did the same color cause someone decides what color is in or out. Please…..

  34. I learned the hard way to decorate with what I loved instead of what was in style. Styles come and go but I’ll always like what I like, which, like you, is greens and blues.

  35. I don’t think colors ever go out of style or have a time period. I think you should decorate with what you love, not what’s in style. If mauve, peach, and country blue were absolutely the “IN” colors, I would still not use them in my home as I just don’t feel soothed by them. I agree with you 100%. Your home is about making YOU happy, relaxed, and at HOME! =)

    Don’t let these people with negative attitudes and opinions bother you Kristi. Your awesome!!!!

  36. I agree with most of the comments – it’s not so much the colour as how you use it. When we moved into our house nearly 4 years ago, I immediately painted the hallway, from robin’s egg blue to a bright cheery yellow. I loved it, my husband loved it, but recently I looked at it and thought it looked really dated and a bit sad really, particularly since we’ve since had a child and moved furniture in and out, so it was a bit scuffed and grubby. We painted it last week in a blue-toned, neutral grey colour, and I LOVE it. It’s really modernised the space, makes it feel bigger and gives it a bit more class. It’s more “grown up”. Once we get the floorboards done, our hallway will be beautiful 🙂

  37. I have always admired your use of blues and greens when so many are using neutrals. Blues and greens are my faves, after purple, of course. My home is decorated primarily with those three colors in one way or another. I am thrilled that a couple of purple shades are “in” this year, simply because it will be easier for me to find accessories that I won’t have to repaint. 😉 I think if we decorate only according to trends, we end up with a show house that quickly goes out of style, rather than a home that will always feel warm and welcoming.

  38. I was struck by the comment that a certain COLOR is “out of style”, as there is a really limited palette of colors (blue, green, red, yellow, etc.). Does that mean that colors go out very quickly and never come back in again? Wouldn’t that just leave us with black and white?

    On the other hand, shades or tints of these colors make our color choices practically unlimited. So a tint or shade of a color could be dated, but not the COLOR. And even if it’s dated, so what? Use it if you love it.

    The other thing I’ve noticed about color and myself is that I like different colors on different things, but not ALL things. I love brown on a horse, but not in my clothing. I love pink in strawberry ice cream, but not on my walls. I love orange ceramics but not cars. Each of us is selective in our color choices, and everyone’s choice is different. Viva la différence!

  39. I agree with you wholeheartedly! Color is a personal choice and you should surround yourself with colors that make you feel good. Our home is our sanctuary where we relax, recharge, regroup and regain perspective to go out and face the challenges we encounter outside.

    I always feel sorry for those that climb on trends to be “in” regardless of whether they really like it or not. How do you recharge in an environment you created because you think you “should”? If you truly love gray and yellow – go for it, but not because it is featured in countless blog sites.

    I love to add trendy touches and my tastes are always evolving, so a pretty neutral back-drop ready for easily changed draperies, pillows, decorator accents and wall art work for me. But I’m also the girl with a closet comprised of black white and brown with scarves for color so it all makes sense in my world. 🙂

  40. I think every color can be beautiful. Over the years I’ve used different blues in my home and loved them all. Use what makes you happy – you’re the one who lives there!

  41. I find most of the time….what was old or will be new again…it might come in a different name (like the avocado appliances….spiff them up a bit, give them a new name & you’ve got a new trend. When we purchased our home in 1987…it was so 70’s….right down to the shag carpet & green tub, sink, etc. Now when I look in photos taken in our home during the 90’s…I shake my head & wonder what I was thinking!! Wallpaper & country klitch everywhere!! I am not a minimalist or neutral tone person…beige gives me the heebie jeebies….and I don’t claim to know a thing about decorating…but I know what I love in my own home.
    You can drive yourself crazy trying to keep up with the latest “look”…when we renovated our main bath, we chose grey sink, shower, etc….and within a month I was watching a renovating show….and grey was outdated!! And the tile we chose….discontinued within months of our instal!!

    Every home can use freshening up at one time or another…light fixtures change…taps start to look worn & dated…but your home is your castle…make it about you & the things you love.

  42. I will not hire that decorator. I wouldn’t want to fight my decorator, (if I ever used one) over the colors I wanted. I just know what I like and blue is one of them.

  43. How can paint colors you like truly go out of style? But we should be careful about choosing more permanent pieces in “your” color! We once bought a house with a mauve toilet, sink, tub, and tiled shower surround. It was tough to make it bearable to start the morning in there and we could not afford to replace it. On the bright side, the odd color reflected well so I could easily see my baby play in a safe area while I showered–it was really the only bright side!

  44. I think everyone has their own taste in what they like or not,, i don’t believe that we should follow any trend,
    i am an interior designer, & i have quite an eceletic style, & in my own home i decorate each room according 2 what i use it for, or what suits it, i know not everyone likes that & advice can be offered, but at the end of the day, it’s the client that has 2 live with it, Personally i think if we all followed the “Latest Trends” our home’s would become clone’s of each other,, i loved the shade of blue you used, it suited the room & set off the furnishing’s beautifully,, well done in standing up to that rude person, that sounded 2 me like bullying,, just because she didn’t think it was “TRENDY”, look around her, no 2 home’s [unless done by her] look the same,, so 2 anyone that has decided 2 do up their home’s,, stick 2 what you like, not what others try 2 bully you in to,, we all have individual taste,s, that’s what make’s us unique,, KRISTI, your home is gorgeous, you are a very talented woman & you try do make things yourself which cuts the cost of item’s if you had 2 buy them, & you share with us every painstaking, stage by stage of your work,, you admit when it’s frustrating, & when things don’t turn out as you wanted, but you keep at it till you get it right,, you’re an inspiration 2 many, & i think that rude designer, is quite jealous of your achievement’s, & probably wishes she could be just like you,!!! well done,, everyone should have fun re-decorating their home, it shouldn’t be stressful,, so people,, HAVE FUN & HAPPY DECORATING,, 🙂 xx

    1. I agree with you and think that was very nicely said! While Kristi’s colors and design ideas are not always 100% appealing to me personally (no offense!!), I still get inspired by all her ideas and such detailed instructions that I know I can work around her styles at times and make them more like mine. What I love is that even though her style is not always a mirror of my tastes, I ALWAYS admire how it looks because she puts it all together so well and has great vision for her rooms….from scratch, no less!!!

      Keep the ideas coming Kristi!!!

  45. Well,
    A few years back, one of my daughters wanted to paint her room peach. I double-checked that she was sure, and them we went ahead and painted it peach. (It IS a favorite color of mine, btw, but I just wasn’t sure about it at the time) Well, I had a HECK of a time finding OTHER peach colored items whether it be soft furnishings (and I sew, so I was looking at fabric, as well as comforters, pillows, etc.,) or accent whatevers. My point is that colors may not go out of style, but it sure is hard to find things in a color that’s been out of style for awhile.

    1. Exactly what I was about to say. A number of years ago, I bought a beautiful quilt while I was on vacation that I intended to decorate my bedroom around, but the yellow and the blue of the quilt were nowhere to be found in fabrics or other items. Finally, I gave up. Now the guest room needs redecorating, and those colors are quite available. So maybe I’ll get to use it after all.

  46. Colors do not go in or out of style, trends do. I prefer to not follow trends, because it’s a horrible waste of money like fashion trends. In a few years, you have to redecorate or will glaringly look out of date. I prefer classic timeless style and pieces that stand the test of time. Decorate with what you love and it will always be you and your style not that of the masses.

  47. The concept of trend is a marketing tool to promote sales of items to those who have a need to conform and be part of the group who find status in belonging to the latest trend. I find great enjoyment in knowing style trends that I can adapt to my individual taste.I always stay with colors that complement me and my personality in my selection of clothing, accessories, upholstery, linens, decorator fabrics and paint. You are correct, an individual color is always current.

  48. Maybe it is “Color trends” that go out of style. Seafoam green & peach in the 80s. Mauvey pink and Blue. Another thought is I think colors do go through periods where everyone is using that color in every room – taupe/brown 5 years ago; now everyone is doing gray.

  49. I don’t think colors go out of style, but if they did, I’m pretty site that blue would not be one of them. It’s one of the basic colors. I can’t imagine a decorator who felt she could tell you not to use your favorite color in your own home. Just because someone has a degree doesn’t mean they know what they are doing. The thing I like most about your style is that it reflects your taste and not what someone else picked for you

  50. This post arrived as soon as I finished painting my master bath in what I like to call “Martha Stewart Blue.” I just realized today that I have a lot of blue in my house. I didn’t really mean to do it. Like you said, I love it, so I keep being drawn to it.
    I think colors don’t go out of style, I think color combos go out of style. My mother’s peach and navy living room comes to mind. Nothing wrong with either color, we just saw a lot of it in the 80’s and we’re over it. I feel like I’m getting to that same place with chocolate combos. Chocolate/pink and chocolate/blue. We’ve just seen a lot of it.
    I love your blue walls. Don’t question them for a second.

  51. You’ve made a very valid point. Perhaps some combination of colors are dated, like jewel tones, harvest gold and avocado, country blue and pink, aqua and coral etc. Just as some patterns become dated such as flame stitch, bold chintz, teeny tiny “Hollie Hobby” prints, and now chevron and ikat. And, I for one find grey in just about any tone drab and nasty and wonder if everyone who has chosen the color of storm clouds will one day wake and find they must let the sunshine in! You are totally right, it has to come from your heart, screw the trends!

  52. I certainly agree with you – color is a personal thing. My husband and I always gravitate toward earth tone colors and it doesn’t matter how many times we try to do something different, we are just not happy. I personally can not imagine a room in our home painted any shade of gray even though that seems to be the “in” color – but give me a soft green, blue, or yellow and we are “happy campers”! My motto – “Do what makes YOU happy, after all, it is YOUR home!”

  53. Kristi,

    I think you are bang-on in so many ways! It’s really all about personal taste, isn’t it? I mean, it’s YOUR home, so you have to go with the colors that you like and I totally agree that some color palettes wreak of certain decades/styles, but if that’s what someone likes then they should absolutely go with that in their own home. It’s where you live and where you want to feel most comfortable, so go with your own style folks! A good decorator can make anything zing!!!

    BTW, I personally love blue, but hey, I would never push it on anyone else that didn’t like it either! Nor would I berate someone else for their different style choices….not cool!!!

  54. P.S. Just another quick comment…. how in the world can blue ever go out of style when you get up on a beautiful sunny day like today to this gorgeous, clear BLUE winter sky that God created for us! Loving the weather in Texas today!!! Sorry for those of you that can’t, but we’re wishing for a beautiful Spring to come soon for ya! 😉

  55. I agree with you 100%. I love many different shades of blue. I think anytime we are drawn to a color in Mother Nature, we are on the mark – the gorgeous ocean, the sky and beautiful blue flowers (especially Texas bluebonnets). It is your home and you should always use what makes you happy. Who cares about trends, style—please???? They constantly change just like fashion and what goes around comes . around. The fashion world and home décor go hand in hand.

    Love your blog.