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What do you think of Marsala, the Pantone color of the year?

User
9 years ago
We'd love to hear from everyone on this one! If you're embracing Marsala, what colors and you pairing it with?
LOVE it!
Can't stand it!
Mmm, I can take it or leave it.
I much prefer Chicken Marsala.

Comments (229)

  • fitchick911
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I LOVE it. It reminds me of my favorite lipstick or blusher! I can see it in a really high shine accessory or textured bedspread. It is definitely not mauve. I hate mauve (more purpley-gray).


  • makaloco
    9 years ago

    Arrbe, funny you should say it's close to radiant orchid. I HATED that color and love this one. Go figure. Here's how it's shaping up in my room. Nowhere near finished yet (need longer curtains, art, etc.)



    User thanked makaloco
  • vonifer
    9 years ago

    The only place I wanna see that colour is in a wine glass......

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  • martinez1210
    9 years ago

    No need to be sassy, everyone has there style. You may just have a closed eye for style and color

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  • ithad2bu
    9 years ago

    No need to be sarcastic here... Tastes and styles are not to be discussed - we are all different and everybody can voice what they think... It's a free country!

    User thanked ithad2bu
  • wickedxx
    9 years ago

    I don't like it.

    I don't see it as a mauve, it's more like brick.its red to me.


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  • Leslie Pye
    9 years ago

    1982 condo wall to wall carpet ....not a fan

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  • everdebz
    9 years ago

    @makaloco, is that marsala paint exactly? I like it - an option with terra cotta tile.

    User thanked everdebz
  • kiffkat
    9 years ago

    This color should be left where it belongs...on bridesmaid dresses from the 80's.

    User thanked kiffkat
  • everdebz
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Maybe it could be the feminine counterpart to the old-school 'navy blue is for men' ya think? :)

    By the comments, I guess not, but then again not every man looks great in navy either. As a red, it's not a neutral, like blue can be.

    For homes, would it require more creativity than navy, etc..... doesn't the human eye distinguish / see thousands of colors?

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  • makaloco
    9 years ago

    Thanks, Everdebz. It's called "Jubilée" from Comex, a Mexican paint company.

    User thanked makaloco
  • everdebz
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @makaloco, it looks welcoming. Not bright like red. Was it hard to find a color?

    and did you already in the past go with a white?

    User thanked everdebz
  • motherkitten
    9 years ago

    I adore this color but getting it "just right" is a necessity. A little off in any direction reads like medication or diseased gums.

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  • vonifer
    9 years ago
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>Wasn't trying to be 'sassy' martinez1210... Seems to me there's a lot of 'closed eyes for style and colour', as the numbers suggest there's many more out there who don't like that colour. Maybe you should enjoy a glass of mahogany and learn the difference between the word 'there' and 'their'.

    Cheers
    User thanked vonifer
  • makaloco
    9 years ago

    Everdebz, I chose the paint last summer, before I'd ever heard of Marsala other than the sauce, so I wasn't looking for that particular shade. It was one of several samples of red I tried in that room. My house is difficult to paint because the sunlight is very strong here and can have a crazy effect on color. One terra cotta shade that worked great in my kitchen (northeast side) looked Fanta orange in my study (southwest side). I had to repaint two rooms because of natural light effect. My walls were already "builder white", but I chose the creamy shade to tone down the glare a bit. :)

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  • ispeakwhale
    9 years ago

    That's a nice red, makalico.

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  • makaloco
    9 years ago

    Thanks Ispeakwhale. I realize it's not for everyone, but I'm pleased with how it came out.

    User thanked makaloco
  • mairie
    9 years ago

    I think someone at Pantone lost a bet or did it on a dare. No other explanation would suffice.

    User thanked mairie
  • Marianne Scoggin
    9 years ago
    The walls of my family room are more like Pantone's Dusty Cedar or the one before that on the Pantone strip (something Rose). Mine is a color mixed by a Benjamin Moore store to "match" fabric of a Thomasville couch and love seat bought in 2001. Mine is a bit more subtle and more red. Sometimes it looks like rose, other times a soft red or like it has a slight terracotta in it. Living room is a beautiful gray, same as carpeting in fam. rm., liv. rm, with couch that color. Bottom half of dining room is same with gray carpeting on floor; golden yellow chair seats and gray "damask" paper above it. I love my color and have used it in two houses. A decorator saw it and had me give him the paint can so he could identify the mix. He said he then used it for a client and they loved it.

    Works well with (1) brown wood (I have lots of mid to dark oak); (2) coved/vaulted/"trayed" white ceilings; (3) fireplace brick shades of orange-beige-little gray or beige; (4) olive and mid-green, spring green accessories; (5) golden-yellow, brown, tan, beige, (6)!all shades of red; (7) black, (8) faded pinks of Old British Castle china and (8) Royal Albert Old Country Roses burgundy, green, gold and white; and (9) old brass or copper metals. Mine is dustier looking, not shiny or bright. Nothing like Mauve. Have an English-decor.
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  • Marianne Scoggin
    9 years ago
    @www.HomeCottage.com, thanks for posting link to Pantone strip.
    User thanked Marianne Scoggin
  • Marianne Scoggin
    9 years ago
    Correction - www.HometoCottage.com
    User thanked Marianne Scoggin
  • Molly
    9 years ago

    No thank you. It reminds me too much of 80s bathrooms with brass fixtures.

    User thanked Molly
  • joanofnanaimo
    9 years ago

    Not sure what year this colour was recycled from but I think it needs to rest a while longer. Many homes in Nanaimo already have a few walls in this shade.

    User thanked joanofnanaimo
  • Marianne Scoggin
    9 years ago
    Are we picturing different colors when we say "rose"? Sounds like some think of dusty pink (like mauve), while others think of deeper red (like burgundy, brick, canyon). This color as shown on the links given here is not at all the pale, pinky mauve that was used with pale blue in the 80's. It looks like a raisin or dark brick, I think. Colors sure are complex, aren't they? Makes me admire artists and designers who understand the make-up of tints, tones, shades, etc., etc.!
    User thanked Marianne Scoggin
  • texascountryliving
    9 years ago
    A couple of things to consider, colors are never exact on our computers or even in a photo. This may be one of those colors that you have see in person to appreciate. It could always be used for an accent color if used with the right color. I would never paint a wall this color I don't like dark walls. My favorite wall color is a lighter green gray color. It's soothing to the eye, the light changes the color slightly, it goes with everything and it does not take away from my art pieces. It is also a happy color, it's the color of the earth. Which for those who don't use the term it means we have more green on earth than any color. HAPPY
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  • Bernice Mailloux-trepanier
    9 years ago

    I'd pair it with a few light green accents...probably in a bedroom. I think I'd get tired of it in a living area of my home...

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  • sunnyd007
    9 years ago
    Hate it!!!!
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  • ruthmand
    9 years ago

    Ok, I just figured it out. Pantone is trying to get rid of some paint that has been laying around the warehouse for too long by naming it "Color of the Year." All their really great colors sell themselves and don't need promoting.

    User thanked ruthmand
  • Chris O'Grady
    9 years ago
    What's old is new again! This color is rich and inviting, even striking when used in combination with cream, navy, chocolate, or black. I have an accent wall in my great room this color. I live in Florida and have plenty of bright light streaming in during the day which enhances this hue. At night with the lights on, this color glows and is very cozy. Love my wall!
    User thanked Chris O'Grady
  • Alina Garcia Moscat
    9 years ago
    Boring...totally do not like it :(
  • PRO
    Durham Designs & Consulting, LLC
    9 years ago
    Many have note that colors do not translate the same to all computer screens. My reaction to the color is that it is rich but subtle which makes it easy to work with. If you are old enough to have been designing in the 80's you should remember Laura Ashley patter full of Williamsburg blue and mauve....mauve being a very brown tone sickly pink. Unless you have warm brown skin you can't wear mauve. It will void all the makeup you dare apply and you will still look sickly.

    How do I embrace the declared color of the year....start small with a lamp, hand blown glass bowl, a throw to adorn a chair, a piece of inexpensive abstract art...paint several layers over grasscloth wallpaper that needs to be replaced and you will be rewarded with an instant uplift.

    This color is glam toned don sophisticated red with the trashiness of vulgar bright red.

    To conclude: All of the infinite colors that can be mixed can be fabulous if used correctly by a trained professional.
    User thanked Durham Designs & Consulting, LLC
  • Darzy
    9 years ago

    When people say this is a great accent color and used is small doses, it isn't a color that will be around long! Yes, any color can work beautifully when used correctly, but to start with this as inspiration - no thank you. We did this color accent wall circa 2000 and it didn't last long then either. Pantone's party went well into the night with too much tequila.

    User thanked Darzy
  • ruthmand
    9 years ago

    Darcy, you are so right. But I don't think Pantone meant it to be an accent color as that wouldn't put much $$$ in their pocket. A lamp here, a pillow there does nothing for them. Same with the emerald and orchid. I truly do not understand what they are aiming for with this annual promotion. They are not even great inspirational colors. I hope they look at these comments and come up with something wonderful and easy to live with for next year. That may actual bring them some paint sales.

    User thanked ruthmand
  • betd
    9 years ago

    This brought back memories. Growing up in the 50's with a mother who was far beyond the designs of the day; I remember coming home and finding a painter painting our living room walls this same shade mauve, with a very light hint of gray on the trim. The next day arriving home from school found the painter adding to one wall a beautiful wall paper that had exotic birds on a gray background with mauve color on their wings. It did make a bold statement and looking back I must say that it was lovely, so much so that many of the houses in our area had this color in many of their rooms.

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  • Maureen
    9 years ago

    This color, along with peach and mint were nice to look at for about a year and then with oversaturation, they easily became too predictable and borning and old fashioned really quickly. As with any color of the year, I wouldn't decorate around and would be ready to paint in two years when it's dated...unless you love the color. As in fashion, don't buy a whole wardrobe of the season's new color, buy a scarf and in decorating, buy some pillows!

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  • Lori Wagerman_Walker
    9 years ago

    ewh....


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  • jlwms123
    9 years ago

    I like to mix my own paint and when I accidently came up with something similar to Marsala, I named it "guts". I doubt I'll ever use it........

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  • Malinda Coleman
    9 years ago
    It doesn't reflect light .... It absorbs light so it would be nice in a cavernous great room.
    User thanked Malinda Coleman
  • Gail Carter
    9 years ago
    My bedroom in Marsala or, should I say, Bergundy?
  • PRO
    Durham Designs & Consulting, LLC
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is more burgandy. Marsala does not have as much brown in it and has more light reflective qualities. So many have called it mauve because of this but it really isn't Mauve. I googled Mauve and there are so many choices and when I tried to upload an example from the mulitple shades intrepretated as Mauve the computer monitor changes the color. The same goes for Marsala . Of course, all color is subjective and we all see things a bit dfiferently. Mauve is a dirty pink. Unfortuanltey, when I was VERY young..barely 22 I purchased my first home and mauve and gray were my colors of choice for my master bedroom. It was repeatedly downstairs with mauve and Williamsburg blue in wall apper from Laura Ashley in my dining room. While my home was "cutting edge" and beautiful by others standard I am aghast that I EVER allowed those colors in my home...not to mention those hideous Dorthoty originial curtains which I HAD to have in my kitchen and breakfast room.

    Marsala to me is richer and more terracota with less blue undertones and not as "dirty" looking.

    I fancy myself to be very intuitive about peolpe, colors they choose and furniture taste. Plase let me know if you are possibly from the mid west..Iowa, Illionois, Ohio, Indiana, Lower Pennsivania or a neighborhing state of these?

    Up didn't ask but I would brighten your room with a lovely soft green like SW Svelte Sage to showcase the warm pine pieces you have.

    I must say that this year's Patone color has generated strong reactions...not many have been positive.

    User thanked Durham Designs & Consulting, LLC
  • everdebz
    9 years ago

    Sometimes I really like a strong color like your burgundy - blue too - darker is cozy. I think you're right about the dirty pink... it was a bit muted. I'm an Autumn/ I happen to not like mauve, but I like earthy reds a lot.

    User thanked everdebz
  • splantap
    9 years ago
    I would've loved it in the 90s.
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  • PRO
    Provanti Designs, Inc
    9 years ago

    This color is such a throw-back to the 90's. Very disappointed that Pantone chose this color. Thankfully, the paint companies did not agree; they all selected much more design friendly colors.

    User thanked Provanti Designs, Inc
  • PRO
    Budget Blinds
    9 years ago

    We love the color, so many shades and variations that can be used in shades and drapes.


    User thanked Budget Blinds
  • pfstone00
    9 years ago

    looks like washed out brown. reminds me of the peach and aqua movement

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  • miriambiermann
    9 years ago
    Looks really old-fashioned and musty. I would have hoped for a more clear and vibrant colour.
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  • everdebz
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    True that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Whoever's interested, I'll share that my own coloring doesn't handle wearing pure white, black, much less both together. My coloring is meadow and flowers in low contrast. Many many can wear highly saturated colors and I imagine that muted colors can look plain ugly.

    User thanked everdebz
  • PRO
    Interior Affairs -- Vickie Daeley
    9 years ago

    Love the color!

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  • LucyCooke DesignJuiceBlog
    9 years ago

    Love the colour itself...in the right location....I think on walls it is a little old fashioned and is often associated with period properties.

    https://designjuiceblog.wordpress.com/


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  • J K
    9 years ago

    Like it about as much as Pink Hibiscus......We could ask my daughter?



    User thanked J K