Image Courtesy of PPG Paints
For the first time in the company's lengthy history, PPG Paints has named "Black Flame," an indigo tinted black hue as their 2018 Color of the Year.
While they're calling it black, as far as we're concerned, if a shade is light enough that you can see it has this much purple or indigo or some other color in it, it isn't really black. No matter what you call it, though, PPG seems fully committed to this trend as two other PPG owned paint brands, Glidden and Olympic, have declared their 2018 colors of the year to be Deep Onyx, a comparatively neutral charcoal black and Black Magic, a slightly chocolatey charcoal black, respectively.
Images Courtesy of Sherwin-Williamgs
Not to be outdone, the 3 color palettes Sherwin-Williams released for their 2018 color forecast, include Rockweed, a chocolate brown so deep it has to be at least 97% Cacao, In the Navy, a dark blue that's just a shade up and over from PPG's Black Flame and Black Swan, a tinted black that leans towards the browns instead of the blues.
Now, having grown up in the era of shag carpeting and harvest gold kitchens with avocado accents, we don't necessarily advocate following trends. But, as you can see from the examples below, if you have the right space and the right furnishings, these deep dark shades can work really well as wall, ceiling, accent or trim colors inside and out.
If you're wondering how they come up with these forecasts, Architectural Digest takes you behind the scenes in their April 2017 article, How Top Paint Companies Predict Color Trends.
Oh, and if you'd like a better understanding of how to mix and match color in your home - or anywhere - check out noted color guru Leatrice Eiseman's new book, The Complete Color Harmony, Pantone Edition: Expert Color Information for Professional Results, which will be released this October. We heard a recent interview where she discussed the book and it sounds like it will be a tremendous resource!
Image courtesy of PPG Paints
Image courtesy of Sherwin-Williams
Image Courtesy of Sherwin Williams
Image courtesy of Glidden/PPG Paint
Image courtesy of Olympic/PPG Paint