We’re no strangers to the world of Pantone. In fact, we’re a whole crew of Pantone fanatics here at Brit HQ. Way back when, we even served up a Pantone Holiday Gift Guide. But there’s so much more to the world of Pantone than toothbrushes and notebooks (though those are pretty darn awesome). Here are 40 pieces of Pantone awesomeness that you can buy, DIY, or just swoon over from afar.
1. The Pantone Hotel: Planning a trip to Europe in the near future? Then you’ll definitely want to stop by the Pantone Hotel, for a cup of coffee, a color-coordinated bike ride, or just for a few photos.
2. Pantone Universe Paint Collection: Valspar Paint has just introduced a Pantone Universe collection, and we’re pretty pumped, if for the packaging alone.
DIY Pantone Chip Magnets
What to do with extra Pantone chips? Turn them into magnets, of course. (via How About Orange)
4. Pantone Notebook ($15): We’ve seen a couple of these notebooks floating around Brit HQ – they are the perfect place to brainstorm.
5. Choctone: A chocolate system based on Pantone? Yes please.
6. Pantone Coffee Cups ($20): We love the colorful cozies on these melamine cups.
7. Pantone x Behance: Pantone has teamed up with Behance to create Pantone Canvas, a olor-sorted way of browsing artwork on the Behance network. Choose any color, vary it as much as you want, and revel in all the tangerine goodness.
8. Pantone Acrylic Paints: Want to make sure what you’re painting matches what you’re printing?
9. Pantone Folding Chairs ($84): These might be the best-looking folding chairs we’ve ever seen.
10. Pantone Letraset Posters x Blues: This piece of wall art is all about old school Pantone systems.
Pantone Spray Paint
really want this to exist.
12. Pantone Chip Nails: How awesome are these nails?
13. Printable Party Banner ($9): Hoping to turn your little ones into designers? This adorable banner will definitely help.
14. Pantone Suitcases ($168): Your luggage just got a serious design nerd upgrade.
15. Pantone Toothbrush Set ($7): Ah yes, the aforementioned toothbrushes! These would make a great linen closet treasure for guests crashing at your place.
16. Rubitone: Another item that doesn’t exist but seriously should.
17. Pantone Notebooks ($11): These notebooks are utterly adorable and perfect for showing off your absolute favorite color.
18. Pantone Sugar Bowls: A spoonful of sugar helps the designer make designs!
19. Beertone: Definitely a great gift for the beer-lovers in your life.
20. Pantone Postcards ($18): If you’re a pair of designers in love, these would make a great base for a save the date!
21. Pantone Universe Twin Markers: So. Many. Markers!
22. Pantone iPhone 5 Case ($34): It’s no DIY iPhone case, but it’ll do ;)
24. Color Swatch Baby Toy ($29): Now that is getting the geek cred in at an early age…!
25. Pantone Book Bags ($40): These basic totes are perfect for farmer’s market finds and air travel.
Pantone Easter Eggs
This is definitely the best-looking collection of Easter eggs we’ve ever seen. (via How About Orange)
27. Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year Collection: Sephora has teamed up with Pantone to celebrate the color of the year, Emerald, with an entire beauty collection.
28. Pantone Socks: The more colorful socks, the merrier!
29. Pantone Queen Color Wheel: This genius move by the folks at Leo Burnett will forever make us appreciate the Queen’s colorful fashion choices.
30. Pantone iPad Bookcase ($80): More into the digital notebook than a paper one?
31. Set of 10 Pantone Mugs ($50): Ordering these for Brit + Co… now!
33. Pantone Stairs: Decorate your stairs with the colors you love – just make sure you label them correctly!
34. Pantone Espresso Set ($70): Who says your morning joe has to lack a sense of good design?
35. Pantone Chip Cookies: We love these! Stay tuned for our own Pantone-inspired baking hack later this week.
36. Pantone Diffusers ($19): Wait, Pantone makes aromatic air diffusers? Wow.
37. The Avengers in Pantone: This series of art cards transforms your favorite superheroes into Pantone swatches.
39. Pantone Colors Book ($9): This children’s book introduces kids to color theory the Pantone way. The book features 9 colors in 20 shades of each.
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
You X Ventures for Unsplash
Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
Kobu Agency for Unsplash
You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures