Yes: Teal — a color that ruled men’s sweaters and ties back in, what — the 90s? — is getting trended into the collective interior design consciousness again. When I interviewed Emily Morrow, color and design director for Shaw Floors, she mentioned that colors are trending toward jewel tones, which look good as accents with all the grey we’ve seen introduced into home interiors over the past few years. I asked her about teal, and she said, yup.
In fact, Shaw already has several “Royal Emeralds” in its current carpeting collections — close enough to teal for me. I looked it up, and the color “teal” is named for the color of the markings on the head of a duck, the common teal. Teal plays so very nicely indeed with other mid mod and postmodern colors including orange, avocado, browns, and even aqua. I sure like having a reason to put a duck on the front page of Retro Renovation.
Above: “Stylish Twist” from the Shaw HGTV Home line of floor coverings. I think this teal is a fabulous color — but I would not do it on wall-to-wall carpeting. In my experience, any carpeting this dark shows every spec of dust, dirt or dog hair. And I while I love to vacuum, I only do it every six months, whether it needs it or not…
Above: Marimekko Raysmatto shower curtain with teal and blues… Currently on sale at Crate and Barrel for $19.95.
Marimekko bath towels, too. Ummm, I’m letting “teal” bridge saturated and not so saturated. Marimekko calls it teal. I’m pretty tolerant about defining my teal-scale. Also currently on sale at C&B.
Marimekko YUM.
Reader Jocelyn sent in photos of her teal or tealish chairs.
Jocelyn writes:
The room’s definitely still in progress – we need to tear out the powder blue carpet (our house was built in 1951, and there’s hardwood underneath – just another example of generational decorating preferences), and I’ve just chosen a fabric to have drapes made, but here are some pics as it stands now. These include the chairs before and after, the couch, the mantel decor, a painting in the nearby hallway, and the wall unit (which we just put up, so it’s only half-decorated – an excuse to buy more objets!). It’s a big room – 20+ feet long – so there’s no way to get it all in one photo.
Jocelyn’s pretty painting with teal and other mid mod colors.
Jocelyn says:
This is the fabric that’s going to be our drapes. I looked at thousands and thousands of fabrics. This one has a nicely oversized print, and the geometric floral gives it a retro feel.I’d suggest Richloom Fabrics to anyone looking for bold retro fabrics – they alone had stuff with the feel I was looking for.
Mantelpiece with blue.
Interestingly, this color ain’t so far off my 2012 color of the year — Bitossi Rimimi blu. If teal ends up being Pantone’s 2013 color of the year, I’m still gonna crow about my prognostication skills — again (after my orange — my 2011 Pamtone, turned up as the 2012 Pantone choice.)
sheree says
Everything in my place is teal and white,,If its not teal ,,,I paint it,,,lol
TroySF says
I agree, teal’s the real deal! Plays well with all neutrals. I’m un-orange-ing my house towards a whole bunch of yellow/chartreuse/teal/royal blue. The Marimekko Raysmatto shower curtain is no longer available online, but I picked up a comforter, some shams, and a few towels – all on sale. A blast of winter color is in order. Thanks for the tip, Pam!
pam kueber says
ooooh, send me pics when you’ve transformed, troysf!
nickarmadillo says
Good thing I picked up that teal sofa!
Stacey says
I love the teal/blue/green combo in those towels and shower curtain. Beautiful! I painted my kitchen close to the shade of the brightest green in those towels, and now I have the brilliant idea – thanks to you – that I can combine teal and blue in there! Yea for new ideas for my old stuff!
Paula says
Love teal, too. I’ve had teal kitchen cabinets for several years. Looks great with chrome hardware and goes nicely with the oranges, olives, and turquoises.