I’ve suddenly got a hankering for all things green: from forest to turquoise and peppermint. I’m stalking emerald-green leather-bound copies of The Wizard of Oz on the internet, trawling Etsy for vintage enamelware in mint, and just the other day I accidentally bought a turquoise green dress featuring a pattern by legendary textile designer Celia Birtwell. Oops.

What’s caused this sudden colour crush? Maybe it’s because Pantone, the world authority on colour, has spoken, and:

“PANTONE 17-5641 Emerald, a lively, radiant, lush green, is the Color of the Year for 2013.”

 (image courtesy of Pantone)

There’s something so energising and appealing about this hue – colour therapists might put it down to the balancing, harmonious quality of green, but I love it for its vibrancy and freshness – that grass-between-the toes feeling you get just from looking at it.

And am I imagining things, or does this hue have a retro vibe, too? I have a slight suspicion that Pantone colour-matched Eric Carle’s 1969 illustrations from The Very Hungry Caterpillar for hue #17-5641.

Now green is popping out at me everywhere I go. During a recent stay in Sydney, it seemed as if the whole city had gotten the memo:

At urban oasis and uber-café The Grounds, in Alexandria, there were weathered metal chairs, rustic plant boxes, retro light fittings and cute coffee cups that would make Pantone proud.

Over a long, lazy lunch in East Sydney, I gazed longingly across a courtyard at the world’s cutest bike – in the sweetest shade of peppermint green.

In Newtown, a colourful cluster of chairs caught my eye:

Then, strolling through the streets of Annandale, this fabulous vintage car stopped me in my tracks.

I want that car. That bike. Those chairs!

What do you think of this year’s colour trend? Classically cool? Or too difficult to decorate with?

– Selina