Pantone's Color(s) Of The Year: Rose Quartz And Serenity

Color can reflect or affect a mood. Red could represent passion, while yellow can stand for joy or anxiety.Pantone is in the business of color, standardizing the hues used in publishing, fabrics and paints. Every year, its experts study the temperament of the world, selecting a color they believe best reflects that. The decision has a reverberating effect, setting trends in everything from fashion to interior design.

For this new year, for the first time in 16 years, Pantone has selected two colors, Serenity and Rose Quartz, to reflect what it calls a global quest for calm and a sense of well-being.

“In our chaotic world, Serenity and Rose Quartz induce feelings of stability, constancy, comfort and relaxation,” wrote Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, in an email. “This seamless union creates balance by providing the perfect counterpoint to the fast-paced, fractured and hurried lives we live.”

The softer, lighter colors are a far cry from 2015’s selection of Marsala, an earthy wine color that suggests stability and sophistication, according to Ms. Eiseman.

Pantone launched its annual color selection in 1999, for the year 2000, with Cerulean Blue—the color of a crystal-clear sky, “suggest[ing] that consumers will be seeking inner peace and spiritual fulfillment in the new millennium,” it said at the time.

The color selection involves a team of people who search around the world for new influences. “The colors Pantone selects to be the color of the year reflect what is taking place in the global zeitgeist at a particular moment in time,” Ms. Eiseman said.

The colors for 2016 have a complementary effect, she added. “Serenity is a transcendent, cool, light-blue hue that reflects a mindset of inner peace. Rose Quartz is a warm and embracing, gentle rose tone that conveys compassion and a sense of composure.”

Some interior designers are embracing the selection, noting the colors’ more traditional heritage of denoting gender.

“I think the pink and blue are kind of classic and what we associate with the beginning of life,” said interior designer Melanie Roy, owner of Melanie Roy Design, which is based on the East End and in New York City. “I think that pink always represents something fresh and happy, whether I use it in a living room or use it in a girl’s room. Blue is my favorite color … it always represents nature and life.”

Others, however, are more skeptical. “I find it odd that Pantone cannot make up its mind about one color and has to choose two,” said interior designer John Marshall Watson, whose firm, Marshall Watson Interiors, is based in the city and who writes a design column for the Press.

“Perhaps, Pantone wistfully wishes for a softening of the red state/blue state mentality in this muting of contentious primary colors,” he said.

Both designers agree that blue is an especially complementary color for homes on the East End, reflecting the surrounding water and sky. “I do feel that when designing homes in the Hamptons, blue is a neutral for me,” said Ms. Roy. “I love designing anything having to do with the water, the beach, the nautical aesthetic.”

“I am currently using [Serenity] in my dining room overlooking the bay, where its hints of violet frequently duplicate Gardiner’s Bay’s evening shimmer,” said Mr. Watson, who has a home in Springs.

“I find this particular shade soul-refreshing, cleansing,” he said. “It evaporates tension—particularly inviting after a tortuous evening watching the political debates.”

Both designers advised that Rose Quartz should be used more sparingly—perhaps confined to accent pieces that can be changed out and updated.

“I usually design neutral spaces with pops of color,” Ms. Roy said. “I could do a whole living room in gray and white and use a pop of color which could be the rose color, for pillows or accessories.”

Mr. Watson said he would limit the rosy color to entry halls or smaller spaces where it will not consume a room.

However, Jen Going, owner of Jen Going Interiors in Westhampton Beach, said she would boldly display Rose Quartz. “It’s the most flattering color in the world,” she said. “It’s super glam Hollywood. It just gives such a beautiful glow. People look great in pink rooms.”

In contrast to her peers, she would use Serenity in smaller doses. “I would use one as the main, preferably the Rose Quartz, and then bring the Serenity in as natural accents, like in landscape-type artwork,” said Ms. Going.

“While pink has sometimes been associated with one gender in the home, the rise of androgynous style and color trends is coinciding with societal movements toward gender fluidity and equality,” Ms. Eiseman said about Rose Quartz. “And the color is taking a new position in the home, especially when paired with Serenity.”

Pantone may encourage a union of the two, but both Ms. Roy and Mr. Watson stressed that those who intend to blend should tread lightly.

“I really don’t see using the two together,” Mr. Watson said. “It would be like having two over-made-up divas vying for the limited attention of the fickle cameraman—there just doesn’t seem to be a point.”