The most wonderful time of the year isn’t early winter.

It’s mid-autumn, for a whole host of reasons. Not the least of them is that it’s an exciting time of year for color, especially when it comes to home decorating.

Oh, and you’ll never believe which color is the most wonderful at this time of year in 2017. Go ahead, take a stab. What? You already know?

Well, on the off chance you don’t, it’s… Riverside. At least, that’s what the decorating mavens who pay attention to the Pantone Color Institute are saying.

Riverside Blue: The Top Fall Decorating Color of 2017

Pantone, the final word on color trends, regularly releases a list of each season’s top colors. Riverside is a shade of blue. It’s said to be like navy, only less stern, and not quite as high-wattage as cobalt.

FastFrame design experts know their way around color (they all do), and they’ll tell you Riverside blue is a soothing shade.

You might not think of blue as a fall color. When was the last time you raked a pile of Riverside-hued leaves? Yet top decorators say it’s as autumnal as it gets, because blue suggests a sense of satisfied well-being. It’s the feeling that comes with bringing in a successful harvest at the close of the growing season.

Here’s an interesting fact about autumnal blue: white is one of the accent colors that pairs flawlessly with it.

Other Fall 2017 Colors to Decorate With

Riverside isn’t the only star this season. Here are the other colors that make up this year’s fall palette.

Brown: Warm Taupe

Style gurus say splashing your rooms in brown will help you reconnect with nature. You don’t need to paint your walls brown, lay down oak flooring, or otherwise go to great lengths to sienna-ize your rooms. All you need are brown accents, and frames are perfect for this.

There are quite a few shades of brown to choose from. If you’re letting Pantone be your guide, this fall’s most popular shade should be Warm Taupe. Really, any brown will be a great choice, as long as it leans toward the cool side. (No doubt that’s why Pantone isn’t naming any of the colors in this palette Overheated Mocha.)

Yellow: Spicy Mustard

It makes sense that yellow would be big, since it’s one of the basic colors of autumn, according to sources close to the trees in your front yard. As with brown, it takes only a little yellow to bring a nice autumnal vibe to your rooms.

If you’re not keen on yellow frames as accents, try brown frames instead, and place art inside them that uses plenty of eye-catching, ebullient yellow.

As for shades, this season’s top yellow at Pantone is Spicy Mustard. It looks like marigold, but with an exotic twist.

Orange

Orange adds energy to your rooms. It also coordinates powerfully with other autumn colors, such as brown. Surprisingly, Pantone didn’t announce a popular new shade of orange for autumn 2017. Maybe next year it will.

Red: Aurora Red and Dusty Cedar

Pantone does, however, have a couple of intriguing new takes on red. The first is Aurora Red, which Pantone calls a sensual eye-pleaser. The second is Dusty Cedar. It’s closer to pink, but warm enough to qualify as a red. Designers favor red for fall because it’s a stately color.

Bring the Fall Palette Together Indoors

You’ll find red, orange, and brown all mixed together when you stroll through the woods in October and November. So why not bring them together inside your home? It’s a fitting way to celebrate what would be known as the best time of the year, if only Andy Williams had sung a different tune.

While you’re out on that stroll, stop in at your local FastFrame store and talk to our design experts for autumn home-decorating tips.