Is this the world's ugliest colour?

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

A research agency, on behalf of the Australian government, has researched the world's ugliest colour, and have come up with the following; Pantone 448C, Opaque Couché, is the most disgusting hue.

Granted, this study was to cover cigarette packs in an unpleasant shade, but it's an interesting topic nonetheless. While 'ugly' is a strong word, we still wonder, have they got it right? Is Opaque Couché the worst colour ever? Or do you have another suggestion?

Featured Answer

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Amber Jeavons Ltd

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Hello Emmeline,

I actually think the idea of ugly colour is simply a colour that has been wrongly matched with it's surroundings whether that be walls or furnishings etc.. I actually think this colour is rather nice and I can see it looking good in a variety of situations... So actually I say it's a winner... Here's a little example of a quick room setting to show how this colour comes into it's own... : ))

Here's another really quick bedroom style using the colour and some of the same furniture to create another look.. : ))

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Comments (55)

Tribbletrouble44152k7 Trek
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Not very nice, no. Will recommend it on all future dilemmas, ;)
ocotillaks
7 years ago
It looks like Atchafalaya swamp water, full off alligator p00, fish parts and snapping turtles.
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Tribbletrouble44152k7 Trek
7 years ago
ROFL!
luvourhome
7 years ago
It's in the category of baby diaper surprise or liquid lovelies we get at the hospital. Ain't no way that's goin' on my walls! It's bad enough when we find it on the hospital walls or it gets on our shoes from a patient that cannot make it to the bathroom in time...

Just ask nurses what colours are inappropriate for home decor-they'll fill your list with no-no's, lol.
Juliet Docherty
7 years ago
Sorry but I don't get this. I totally agree with A J Interior Styling. Any colour can be changed and improved when placed next to other colours. Even so, I think this is beautiful. Imagine it as a velvet coat with red lipstick, or a backdrop to a beautiful mid century sideboard. My favourite colour combination is this with turquoise (think bladderwrack and azure ocean). It's incredibly stylish. Each to their own though.....
luvourhome
7 years ago
Lol. I have certain images permanently etched in my brain. Even a velvet cape isn't going to improve this colour for me, lol. It's also spot on to a certain pH measurement of gastric (stomach) contents when we check our tube feeds or NG tubes. Or a category on our urine dip-sticks...I could go on, lol.

No amount of red lipstick will help the cause for me either. It will always remind me of shxx. Even when off-duty, lol.

Yep. To each their own.
Juliet Docherty
7 years ago
Now I'm getting really worried, time to visit a shrink I think. I agree there are some awful things that are this colour but I still love it. Maybe it's because I have happy memories of growing up in the seventies...
tedbixby
7 years ago
I am in the camp (swamp or not) that loves this color. I'd love it in a velvet sofa.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/06/worlds_ugliest_color_described.html
Tribbletrouble44152k7 Trek
7 years ago
I have seen it in a couple of upcoming trend photos.
jennifermcilhenny
7 years ago
It reminds me of the Victorian arsenic green you occasionally see behind glass in preserved stately homes - it has an air of creepy romantic decay!
So, I like it too. As for purple, now there's a horrible colour...
eichhardt
7 years ago
Personally, I quite like the colour. Would look good in velvet on a sofa.....
Juliet Docherty
7 years ago
I agree about purple - I love it in a garden but it stops right there! Don't get me started on Barbie pink.
Laraine Clarke
7 years ago
The correct colour for cigarette packets should be scarlet surely; you know, red for danger!
moiraford
7 years ago
yes, it is!!! Love all the efforts to make it work, very inventive and creative but your slapping lipstick on a pig!
moiraford
7 years ago
Sorry that sounded rude. Wasn't meant to be.
Juliet Docherty
7 years ago
It just goes to show how colour is so emotive.
jeanettestarkey
7 years ago
I actually quite like this colour too, although I wouldn't recommend it on every wall in your home!
lindalovie55
7 years ago
moiraford u made me laugh,thank you.
Lynn Robbo
7 years ago
NO
Lila 1410
7 years ago
I wouldn't choose it myself but I'm sure it has its place. Flooring perhaps, with a bright rug over it.
lilimac
7 years ago
I grew up in the seventies when everything seemed to be brown and orange, including my clothes. After that you can cope with pretty much anything.
hounoc
7 years ago
It's not a great colour given that it is reminiscent of baby nappies. However, I agree that it could work in a better context e.g. in velvet on a sofa as someone mentioned above. Whether it would deter smoking or not is another question - in Ireland there was a cigarette brand called 'Major' whose box was exactly that colour and white! I don't know if it still exists or not. It was more popular with old men when I was young so I never knew anyone who smoked them.
Rachel Riley
7 years ago
I'm what they call 'green weak' not full on red-green colour blind but I have defective vision. This green is strange to me and almost appears orange while still being green. I know I'm not processing the colour right and that's why I don't like looking at it. The colour it's self isn't that bad, I'd rather my livingroom be painted in this more than magnolia.
hounoc
7 years ago
That's really interesting Rachel. There definitely seems to be a red undertone to that green making it almost brownish.
PRO
Bright Potato
7 years ago
That's an okay colour, olive :)
suesigngirl
7 years ago
I quite like this colour, as it reminds me of the 1970's furnishings and colours in my Nan's house when I was a child. Her house was full of curtains, bed linen and cushions made from Pat Albeck fabric, and a carpet in this dark green olive colour in the lounge - we used to pretend it was grass and play on it with our Pippa dolls. Happy days!
aleria57
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
To me, that's a sort of neutral shade...not offensive at all. To my husband, any colour he doesn't like is called purple. It includes a broad spectrum of anything that contains red and blue hues together. But people see colour differently. And women see colour differently from men. One of the first things you learn in advertising is that the majority of men (60%+ in many studies) will choose blue as their favourite colour

and purple as a colour they hate. That's why most advertising is blue. Many more women will choose purple as their favourite but not a majority. One of my friends absolutely hates yellow and orange. People who have had chemotherapy with doxorubicin can get physically ill when they see red-brown. Personally I would choose puce in the green version as the worst colour, partly because of its name.

So basically, this study was most likely flawed in its methodology.
PRO
Nicola Holden Designs
7 years ago
I'm with colourhappy and A J Interior Styling. I think this colour, in the right setting, would look gorgeous!
lindalovie55
7 years ago
not my first choice ,would depend on room and size, Feel it needs a large space to work.
Kayte Mosse
7 years ago
It's a brown shade, and every other colour in the rainbow works very well with brown.. in all it's shitty glory :-) Love brown.
Richard Leaman
7 years ago
Used carefully this colour would be fine...think of it with a warm amber/yellow or themed with dark matt grey and a sharp white. It need positive and modern colours to bring it to life but do that and it is a rather nice shade.

Now if you really want horrible...my vote goes for those Dulux "white" shades of the 1980's...the horrendous and miserable "Tea Rose" ....the weak porridge hued "Oatmeal"....then the awful drab light blue version but worst of all...Magnolia...a colour that needs to be banished from every colour chart worth printing!!!!
rselfridge
7 years ago
Sludge, would be a better name for it!
PRO
Coppice Guild
7 years ago
We are about to install a library/sitting room with a colour very similar to this on the cabinetry along with a crushed velvet Chesterfield. I will try and post images on this article come end of October/November to see a reaction!
Geri63
7 years ago
Suesigngirl. You've just brought back some happy memories for me....I had a Pippa doll with all her clothes and house furniture..even the loo! Thank you.
suesigngirl
7 years ago
You're welcome, Geri C ...I still have my dolls and carry out restoration to dolls. Sad but I'm 49 and still playing with Pippa :)
gillcar
7 years ago
I've enjoyed reading all of your comments and I must confess that I quite like it - in the right context.

Worryingly it's also just dawned on me that my eyes are this murky green colour & come to think of it, I've had a lot of comments about them over the years!!!!
Juliet Docherty
7 years ago
My eyes are this colour too!
Deborah Tuatini
7 years ago
It reminds me of a wet cow patty
Tribbletrouble44152k7 Trek
7 years ago
I have to stop reading this thread when I'm eating!
Najeebah
7 years ago
eyes this colour would look just fine, as natural features do
what I don't like is the confusion of colour, I find it not brown/red enough, not yellow/green enough, and not even a good balance, but floating in the murky-way
moiraford
7 years ago
Ok grovelling apologies to AJ et al....look what I found! Love it, it works, I take back my pig and lipstick......
Richard Leaman
7 years ago
There you are Moiraford....I said it was a colour that would work if correctly used. I think with some lemon yellow highlights perhaps, it is rather attractive...maybe a challenge on kitchen cabinets in case you change your mind but still interesting!
PRO
Amber Jeavons Ltd
7 years ago
Hello Moiraford,

Love that you have been inspired... piggies in lipstick too.. :))
D R
7 years ago
Context is all. No such thing as an ugly colour in itself (although puce even SOUNDS awful).
Emmanuelle
7 years ago
It has definitely a retro vibe... and just discovered it was the exact colour of the line on my Orla K cover!!!
PRO
Bright Potato
7 years ago
By the way there's no such thing a single bad/wrong colour, all colurs are beautiful, they only become tainted when a bad/wrong choice of colour combination are made, especially when they do not sit well together!
PRO
Sagiper North America
7 years ago
Agree with murky!
163 hrd
7 years ago
I like it, as I like most shades of green. Think the crushed velvet Chesterfield will be super.
tiredoldwoman
7 years ago
I , up until a few weeks ago, had a stair carpet in this colour. It was dark and pond-like but highlighted it with mirrors and gold pots on the staircase . I've now gone greyish blue and it looks much better and I feel lighter in spirit !!
PRO
Nolte Kitchens UK
7 years ago
One person's trash is another's treasure

Is this the world's ugliest colour?

Comments (55)

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