Pantone 2021 Colour of the Year: Ultimate Shade of Gray for Amazing Décor

I see a red door and I want it painted gray. This is probably the line that probably describes 2021 trends the best. Seeing as how it’s already early December, the Pantone Color Institute ismore than certain that the next year’s interior décor will be dominated by two colours – ultimate gray and illuminating yellow. This goes for painting, home inventory, and even some additional improvements that you choose to enrich the space in. When dealing with wall ornaments or enhancers, it’s fairly easy to stay true to this game plan. Here are some expert tips and tricks!

Choosing the right shade
About a decade ago, everyone was enthralled by E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey. Today, it seems that a single shade can get the job done (provided that it’s the right one). Though 2020 was pretty grim, 2021 is seen by many as the year of hope. Ultimate gray is elegant and bright at the same time. Moreover, if there was one emotion that we had to say it embodies it would definitely be – endurance. It is practical, simple, and easy to maintain. Most importantly, it’s
nearly impossible to mess up. In other words, it’s really, really hard to imagine a setting in which  ultimate gray would seem, well… off.

Effects of colours
Every colour is a visual stimulus and, as such, powerful enough to swing one’s mood and enhances other senses. This is what makes gray so extraordinary – it’s an incredible equalizer.
First of all, it is neutral, which means that it can help one maneuver around intense emotions – both negative and positive. In these hectic and uncertain times, this might be just what you need. Yellow, on the other hand, is the color of inspiration, creativity, and imagination. In a time where all three of these traits are in short supply, introducing this pallet in your home may completely change your outlook.

Ultimate illumination
The next thing worth bearing in mind is the fact that you’re not aiming for a perfect symmetry or a 1:1 ratio when mixing gray and yellow. Any proportion will do. It’s fine for you to go for a full-monochrome gray living room with a couple of bright yellow accessories to break the chain. A gray couch and a single yellow cushion still encompass this idea. The same goes for wall accessorizing. Regardless if you go for gray or yellow as your main theme, picking one accessory in the opposite color will make it stick out.

The aesthetic quality of life upgrades

A lot of time, people have to choose between something aesthetic and something practical. If going for the practical, you seldom have the option to choose an item that sticks to your palette.
However, there are some exceptions to this rule. In a scenario where you already planned to make your room sound-proof, you might want to consider getting decorative acoustic panels, instead of standard-issue ones. This way, you can still stick to your choices of either illuminating yellow or ultimate gray, without having to sacrifice any functionality.

Interchangeable accents
Designing with colours gray and yellow gives you a chance to create some mesmerizing optical illusions. With gray as a background, you can easily single out yellow accents, thus creating sporadic focal points across the room. Some people perceive gray as the absence of color. This will allow you to virtually create islands of yellow in the endless sea of gray. Needless to say, the progression between these two colors will allow you to switch between yellow and gray with ease. An additional idea is to paint a yellow accent wall in in the otherwise gray room.

Experimenting with natural materials
One of the best things about following Pantone’s 2021 palette is the fact that it goes incredibly well with natural materials. Both concrete and wood can create a perfect symbiosis with this palette. After all, illuminating yellow goes with bright wood and timber almost as good as ultimate gray goes with concrete. Therefore, picking wooden and concrete accessories and furniture pieces for your household wouldn’t be so far-fetched. Perks of this go on and on. It’s organic, it’s aesthetic and it gives you so much room for DIY and home-made reusability.

Inspiring home office design
In 2021, a lot of people will still be working from home. This creates an amazing opportunity to apply some of these aesthetic principles in order to boost productivity. People are known to
function best in a clean and simple environment. By sticking to simple, clean and monochrome gray, you might just give your productivity a slight boost. Other than this, yellow is a color that inspires creativity. So, for creatives, a single yellow item like a yellow office chair or a centrepiece on one’s workstation can make this change. Seeing as how this item is the one that stands out, it will immediately become a focal point of the room.

Black is your cheat code
Finally, just because these two colors are your primary weapons of choice, this doesn’t mean that you can’t mix things up a bit with some elegant black magic. Look at it this way, a modern home heavily relies on technology and the majority of these tech pieces won’t come in colors other than black or white. In combination with gray and yellow, black is clearly a superior choice. For the sake of synergy, it would probably be for the best if you were to add a few additional black elements. This way, your black tech pieces won’t feel so isolated and alone.

In conclusion
Both gray and yellow will be dominant in the following year. The reasons behind this are quite numerous. Some say that the ultimate gray and bright yellow represent the pristine colour of beaches that we’ve all come to miss in 2020. Others believe that it’s the evergreen impression that this palette makes that it won’t go out of style for most of the next decade. As you could see, you can easily combine the quality-of-life upgrades with uplifting interior design projects. A win-win scenario if there ever was one

Contributor

Stacey Shannon is a freelance writer living in Minnesota with her cat, and she’s passionate about yoga, languages, home improvement, and drinking strong coffee. Find her on Twitter @StaceyShann0n