Pantone recently announced not one, but two colors for the Color of the Year for 2021. Ultimate Gray and Illuminating bring a perfect balance of stability and vitality, practicality, and positivity into your design. Based on hours of trend analysis and looking at cultural clues, these colors from Pantone are “a marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting.” This is exactly what you need in your home in 2021. 

We wanted to bring you some of our favorite ways to incorporate these colors into your design. 

Furniture

Ultimate gray is a warm neutral color that makes it easy to invest in the long term pieces of your home. Use warm yellow in the accent pillows and throws to bring the look together. 

Florals, Fruits, and Patterns

Yellow flowers or a bowl of lemons are an easy addition to bring some happiness to your space. You can also find yellow and gray combinations in curtains, fabrics, and wall hangings.

Textures

While you are looking for items in these colors, don’t forget that you can get these colors in a variety of textures. Gold or oak can mimic the yellow and wood tiles with a more gray tone, brushed metal, or even driftwood can imitate the gray. These different materials can add these colors and a variety of textures to your design.

Paint

This is an obvious choice for a nice new neutral color or by using Illuminating for an accent wall. Pantone also released color palettes that can help round out your design. If you want a subtle style shift, look for palettes that contain the colors you are already using. If you want to go all out, these color palettes can broaden your choices and create a whole new look.

Cabinets, Countertops, and Tiles

Both of these colors are timeless enough to incorporate in some significant ways into your design. Take the jump and use them to guide your cabinet, countertops, or tile choices. You won’t regret it because they work with a wide variety of colors.

Appliances

You may think that your color choices in appliances are limited to bland neutral colors. But some of the world’s best manufacturers also offer choices when it comes to color. 

• With Viking appliances, clients can go beyond the typical stainless steel and find the shade of gray that works best in their kitchen. 
• Bluestar allows customers to choose from more than 750 colors and can even perfectly match a custom color. 
• Dacor offers the DacorMatch Color System, which lets clients personalize their appliances with any color imaginable. 
• Bertazzoni brings both colors together with the combination of stainless and Giallo yellow in their Professional Series ranges.

In 2021, we remember the strength we had to get through 2020 and enter into 2021 with the hope that things will keep getting better. These two colors are a beautiful way to remind us that together is better and that we need each other.