...about golden moments: honey, I’m home.

I am sooo not a morning person. But I love what mornings stand for. Fresh starts, sunshine, a clean slate. So perhaps it’s no coincidence the color I’m loving more and more is the golden rich color of a sunny, honeyed egg-yolk.

Sure, there was great hoopla about Tangerine Tango (coincidentally, my stage name one summer back in Ft. Lauderdale… but I digress) and design diva Irene Turner celebrates my runner-up color crush, Teal. But the color somewhere between lemon and orange is the one that I want. Citrusy, happy, rich. One part school bus, one part Florence by candle light.

I’m using the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams’ version, Venice Gold, a sumptuous velvet that feels like a mohair and plays with the light like a kitten plays with yarn, on their brand new Fleming Chair, where the decadent gold works so well with the deep wood exposed arm. They’ll be one of only two golden highlights in my dark and moody vignette for this year’s Design on a Dime, against a dramatic Bourbon-colored faux-croc wall covering from Koroseal.

Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams' Fleming Chair, in their Marlow Striae Velvet, Parchment... but a pair will be sporting their Venice Gold for my sophomore entry in Design on a Dime.

The other? A pair of Roxanne Mei Ping Ginger Jars from Bungalow5 in a sexy, sunny and deeply toned yellow they call Amber. My friend Christopher Miller described it, deliciously and aptly, as "a butternut dusted with saffron." (Stay tuned for more Design on a Dime 2012 info!)

Kravet has a full range of golds, and is showing the color on their Duet Bench and Banquette (top) in their showroom at the New York Design Center.

And suddenly, I’m not the only one letting the golden sunshine in. Designers, retailers, venerable textile houses are all stocking, and singing the praises, of this deep and decadent gold. Room & Board calls it Vance Gold. Kravet has a few shades in their Versailles line. Textile master Bruno Triplet calls it “Sunny Side Up,” and instantly found a fan in Nitzan Tagansky, of NITZAN DESIGN. Says Nitzan, “When we came across this very special yellow, (which has a golden tone to it) we fell in love with it instantly. When we do introduce a color into our minimal spaces, it has to be special color.” He adds, “This particular shade of yellow manages to be elegant and sophisticated, while adding an unexpected jolt of color to our primarily neutral backdrops.”

And that’s exactly how to use it: in small doses, against neutrals light or dark. I could see it against a Navy backdrop, or adding their golden highlights to a tan and camel scheme. Because unless you’re all-or-nothing colorist Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, a little goes a long way.

When Nitzan asked Bruno why he decided to introduce such a bright color to his famously monochromatic fabric collections, Bruno replied, “We needed some ‘happiness’ in this gloomy economical climate.” Can I get an amen?

To celebrate the color, I turn to, as many have... Spandau Ballet...

gold

always believe in your soul

you've got the power to know

you're indestructible

always believe in,

because you are

gold.

This could make me a morning person after all!!

Get social! Follow Irene, Nitzan, Benjamin, Kravet, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Room & Board, Bungalow5 and the New York Design Center on Facebook.