In December 2009, Pantone—the standard of color matching in the art and graphic design world—announced its 2010 Color of the Year to replace last year’s mimosa. The featured hue as we begin the new decade? 15-5519 TCX…straight-up turquoise.

“Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise inspires thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a comforting escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing…Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that to many people, Turquoise represents an escape, taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting – even if it is only a fantasy.”
The excellent thing about such a bold but calming hue is twofold. Its ability to serve as a cooling background makes warmer colors pop, such as the yellow and red in this nursery:

Or, amped-up turquoise can serve as the punch itself with warmer base colors, particularly warm neutrals and chocolate browns:

The serenity and escape-producing power works particularly well in rooms intended for rest, such as bedrooms or this bath:

And if you wanna stay hip, but aren’t ready to re-do an entire space based on a trend that may be “so 2010,” just grab one of these dutch ovens from Le Creuset in ‘caribbean.’ It’ll last. Promise.
