Did all the paint marketers drink from the same pitcher of grape Kool-aid at the annual Paint Party? Or is there really an aura, a shade, a tint, to a coming year that is detectable by paint prognosticators? One way or another, the various paint companies seem to be in agreement that 2017 shall be the year of the purple walls. Proceed with caution.

Pittsburg Paint’s prediction: “Violet Verbena.” Perhaps that’s supposed to be “Violent Verbena”? I don’t find it soothing. I wouldn’t choose this for the walls of a prison cafeteria, for instance.

Olympic’s pinkish pick. Is it just me, or… ick? However, this color can make a important contribution to a landscape painting when it accounts for .0002% of a sunset scene.

Benjamin Moore is more. It’s a lot. It’s going to take 14 coats of the 2018 “color of the year” to put that purple in the past.

Shhhherwin Williams is betting on “Poised Taupe,” which may actually be typo. This is taupe that’s been poisoned by some purple pigment. I don’t hate it. I’m just a little tired of gray. And this shade doubles down on gray’s sad side.

Behr couldn’t commit so they have 20 colors for 2017. The “Comfortable” palette is inspired by old pajamas, while the “Composed” is a purple-themed take on a wintry compost pile. “Confident” contains only six colors, as confident decorators decide really quickly what color they like.

Aaaaand now that I have mocked the color of the year, I’m looking around my house. Here’s Ben Moore’s purple on the drape that shuts off the unused upstairs…

…and this is the wall of the global headquarters of Geek Realty. Huh. Just huh.