9 Pink Paint Shades Designers Cannot Dwell With out

Aesthetes have been thinking pink for ages. We know, for certain, that an interest in this color dates at least to the 18th century, when Madame de Pompadour requested her own rosy shade by French porcelainiers; a century later, Sawai Ram Singh II painted Jaipur pink to honor HRH Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the shocking pink of Schiaparelli to the reclaimed pride of Gran Fury’s pink triangle and the Time’s Up pussy hat, the bright Bougainvillea of Miami’s ’80’s cocaine chic, to the endless rosy scroll of millennial pink, the hue is here to stay.

But how to make it fresh? Joa Studholme, color curator at Farrow & Ball, says that mainstay tones like her brand’s Setting Plaster and Pink Ground, are timeless, “because they feel like they’re giving you a big embrace.” And who, in these still-socially-distanced times, wouldn’t want that? Steven Johanknecht, of Commune Design, likes the latter so much, he specified it for Goop’s New York store. “Its warm, dusty pink with hints of yellow was the perfect color to capture the Hollywood glamour of the 1930s,” he says.

Looking for more? Here are nine more industry leaders with ways to think pink.

Eve Ashcraft

My favorite pink is one that I made for Domingue Architectural Finishes, called Primrose. It’s pale and pretty and it’s beautiful on ceilings. I also love it as a backdrop for dark wood furniture because it creates a yin-yang balance. I’ve used it as lime wash and it’s ethereal.