COLOR THE YEAR? HOW ABOUT COLOR OF THE MID-CENTURY! -- We at Studio of Style were as pleased as punch (we really were!) when Pantone announced that "Tangerine Tango" was the color of 2012 -- but, in all honesty, we weren't surprised! Pantone's Color Institute executive director Leatrice Eiseman (a fabulous lady, by the way!) describes this color as "dramatic and seductive at the same time" (two things that we always love together, don't we, kids??). (And we've always had tangerine in our Studio of Style logo from day one!) "Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy," Eiseman goes on to say. Wow -- them is powerful words! So powerful, in fact, is this vivacious orange that it is one of the key colors in a palette that has come to represent the Mid-Century Modern style of architecture and interior design that flourished from roughly 1933 to 1965 -- a style that changed the way Americans lived. Though it had its roots in Europe and Scandinavia, it was in the 1950s America that this style really transformed everything -- and we mean everything! Gone was auntie's cabbage roses upholstery fabrics -- gone was grandma's doilies and Queen Ann chairs -- gone was grandpa's deer heads over the mantle -- gone was mother's lilac motif wallpaper. The World War was over and America was anxious to start everything over -- including home interior designs. Streamlined, paired down, sleek, shiny, functional, smart -- that was what everyone wanted --not yesterday's hand-me-down decor. And color -- big, fat, juicy color -- came to the visual rescue, especially orange. So did vivid blues and greens and bright sunny yellows. In fact, we're ready to move into the vintage room right now shown above (provided to us courtesy of the super-cool Sport Suburban and his faboo Flickr gallery of all things 1950s). Those green beams, the orange chairs and sofa, the orange and yellow flowers -- and that crazy Picasso-esque painting on the wall! What's not to love about this divine decor? (By the way, scroll down on this blog to see the real deal from the '50s that you can purchase today: the Valentine Sofa from William Haines Designs.) So, thank you Pantone for reminding us that tangerine, orange, red -- whatever color in this sassy color family turns you on -- is and always has been the color of the year!
http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/category.aspx?ca=88 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Century_modern
http://www.williamhaines.com/furniture.php
Sport Suburban: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42353480@N02/
