Some people call it lavender blue, although it's not exactly either of these colors. It's clean, it's complicated, it's dreamy.
My infatuation with this color started 10 years ago. A client wanted a room painted a color to match a -- get this -- chip of paint from a door in France. He carried it all the way back to North Carolina in his wallet.
I matched it, and it looked fabulous. Client loved it. I loved it.
I tend to be promiscuous about paint colors. I can't think of any color that, given the right setting, I don't like.
But periwinkle especially captured my heart. Even the name is irresistible. A cute snail and a lovely flower are named the same.
I didn't see much of my new love, but then, a few years after my initial fling, another client wanted her shutters painted a certain color. She gave me the Glidden name -- Periwinkle Blue.
About that time, just after the turn of the new millennium, I noticed that people were wearing periwinkle blue tee-shirts. Then I saw periwinkle letterheads, bathing suits, fleece jackets, umbrellas, garden gloves, Crocs!
My favorite color had become a trend. Rats! Nothing like a fad to ruin a good thing. However, I'm glad to report that before the market was saturated with my beloved periwinkle, the trend subsided.
Vinca minor, a low-growing perennial flower
with glossy green leaves and almost star-like,
sparkling blue flowers, is named after the color itself.
Each paint company has its own name for this delicious color, and there will be variations. Some have more pink, more grey, or more white. Benjamin Moore calls it Brazilian Blue. Valspar says it's Ultra Blue, and Sherwin Williams names it Lobelia.