Thursday 13 January 2011

Colour

The day is dark, wet and completely miserable. Is there anywhere where it is not depressing?

So, today I think about COLOUR.

I love bright colours, as many might have guessed! I also have a huge love of pastels. I have my favourites, you know, the ones that instantly draw you to them like a strong magnet in a shop. 


I love PINK, palest, soft, blush, shell, peachy, sheer, delicate. 

I love BLUE, duck egg, palest, chalk, sea.

I love GREEN, olive, minty, spring.

I love TURQUOISE, vibrant, pale

Some colours I have always loved from childhood....some have grown on me over the years.....but I have always struggled with two colours.....ORANGE and LILAC. Orange being the worst (or so I thought). I don't know if it is because it is a colour that does nothing for me, or that I always see it in its harshest form...that strong orangy colour that gives you a headache if you stare at it too long. I guess that's why I am no big fan of Halloween. Strong orange and black...yuk, so in October, I keep my head down! 

Lilac, follows very closely though. I can take purple (how could I not love the purple of the lavender fields behind my house), and like it teamed with olive, but lilac I find very, very cool and hard to look at. It puts me on edge. It's almost like it is an imposter. Trying to be this pretty colour, yet instead, to me it is sickly and cold. 

Now, I took a long hard look a few months ago at my makes, my buys, my house etc and realised one thing. It lacked something. I do love bright colours together, but there was a colour missing.......Yellow. Now, I don't have a problem with yellow (except acid yellow, but i'm guessing most people would have a problem with that!!!!) but it seemed not to feature much in my house. I guessed that maybe subconsciously, as it was close to orange on the colour scale, I had steered away from it. 

So, I made the decision to add more yellow to my house and see if it was the 'thing' that was lacking. Of course it had to be the right kind of yellow, pale and creamy, but I thought it might lead to a bolder yellow love.

A nice thrifty find of some Woods Ware 'Jasmine' china helped breath life into things. Do you remember? 





It now adorns my dresser and fits in well with the other bits. I also have a couple of other bits that are deeper in colour. I am astounding myself!!!! Yesterday I found this beauty in a charity shop and fell in love. Just right to balance the colour in my house. 




I am loving it more and more each time I glimpse it.......at 50p.....a bargain I thought! And it is a deeper yellow, a tinge of the orange creeping its way in!

But do you know what? I do love retro, which is a little strange, as a lot of retro stuff is orange...but I have always steered towards the stuff , well, that isn't orange! But....you know what? I think.....my mind might be changing. Just a little bit though! I don't think I will ever be able to take strong orange in any way, shape or form, but, I did buy some PALE orange flowery fabric (with the intense encouragement of my sister-in-law), and I keep staring at it, and beginning to like it that little bit more. So, maybe, the palest of orange, and the deepest of yellow I will be able to take in small doses, it might just start creeping into the house a bit more!

As for lilac...no way hosay...but I guess.....never say never! If you think that you can change my mind and plead your case for lilac then feel free!

So, tell me.....your favourite colour?....your least favourite? I would love to know!

Happy grey, dull Thursday!

xxx

25 comments:

  1. Im with you on pink, I love it. Im slowly managing to turn my house into a pink paradise! Brown, I cant stand it. Its so boring! xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your colour post. I would say my most hated colour is beige. Bleur just saying it makes me feel sluggish. I would say that's the only colour I feel I hate. That said I am suggestive when it comes to colour and in the right setting it could please my eye.

    The colours I seem to be drawn to the most is Pinks all shades. Red Bright cherries. Green palest sages. And blue sky blue but with a little hint of steel. I also love black. I feel comfortable and safe with it. I do wear it a lot. And I find it subtlely creeps into our decor. Just a bit in the details. I do also love purple and LILAC! lol. It makes me think of weddings and spring and new life oh and sugared almonds. Don't like to eat them much but always like the look of them. Oh and they come together with sweet pinks and lemony yellows. Don't know why lilac makes me think of these things, but it does.

    God I have wrote an essay. But then I like yourself do love colour!

    Hope you have a lovely and colourful rest of the day. Thanks for cheering me up on such a dull and sluggish day.


    MBB x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't forget the yellow daffodils in your header :-).... My fave colours are black, red and green and I would have to say my least fave is pink - I've never been a pink girl I'm afraid ..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hej Vanessa
    RED! does it everytime for me ;-)
    LOVE PEACE enJOY
    Julie
    x

    ReplyDelete
  5. OOoh I love lots of colours, and I know what you mean about changing your mind, some colours definately grow on you. Having a lot of very retro fabrics has made me embrace the orange...
    Your colourful post has cheered up a very grey day :)
    Jane x x x x x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Turquoise and pink (even better when together) are my favourites, along with mint green, buttercup and ... lilac! Yes, lilac. The pretty perfect partner to pink in my book. One of my favourite times of the year is when the lilac is in full bloom. GORGEOUS!

    Least favourite colour - bottle green. Bleurgh.

    Hx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Green, green, green! (bright acid green). I have to have COLOUR in my life too! I love your jar of knitting needles :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's pink for me though having two very girlie girls I feel like I'm drowing in bubblegum and candyfloss pink most days, though I am very slowly starting to come round and appreciate it - a little bit - more.

    For me it's mustard in a very big way all earthy and leafy so orange {if it is} more in a rust colour kind of way - think Autumn - so if I have to be girly then mustard yellow it shall be.

    Opps talking of girls - I best go and get them.

    take care,

    Nina xxx

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice post. I love the injection of yellow and that jug is lovely.
    I'm not fantastically keen on Orange either, apart from our Le Cruset wedding stuff I think I'd struggle to find anything Orange in our enitre house. I find it too harsh to look at and don't really enjoy the colour combinations it creates.
    I adore aqua, red and greens. Lots of pink with white too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Colourful brights is what im adding more of...i loved shabby chique whites, off whites, creams.
    But i need abit more colour these days...
    i actually notice alot of red in my kitchen.
    And i wasnt a fan of red for years!, but i like it now. my childhood colour was green, loved it!
    but now im getting abit more of a spectrum of colours...cant pin point a certain one...but more pastel-y! hehehe ;0)x

    Your dresser- beautiful!!!!

    i want to sit with you and have tea xxxxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello my dear. The yellow looks lovely with all of your other bits. So nice and cheery.
    x

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love all your color and your new header is so fabulous!!!I find my house gets brighter and brighter as I live in Alaska I think color keeps you happy!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Brilliant post! I love red and cream in my home, so cosy warm and yet fresh! now I do have lilac in my bedroom which is south facing so it doesn't feel cold. It's teamed with painted white furniture a splashes of pink floral. In my tiny craft room I have red, pink and aqua together and I love it. I don't have any green or orange at all. Dottie Angel does orange very well and so does Teawagon tales, mixed in with pink on her gorgeous cushions!
    Rachel x

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've never been a fan of orange..or mustard.I am drawn to pastel shades..pink,blue,yellow..but my sitting room is red/cream/green.Red,to me,is a happy colour and when shopping I always go for red things.
    I love your colourful blog! :0)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I DO find lilac very pretty - and a really involving soothing colour; I love the whole range of purples. I also love orange for being so vibrant and fiery like the sun. I am a little less fond of red and would always choose orange - I wear red very rarely but I do like to see it. It's a very happy and vibrant energising colour. Yellow is sunny and bright (how beautiful and cheery are they daffodils in your header?), or pale and pretty like pastel lemon which I love to wear. However, canary yellow is best left to the canaries as they wear it better. I like a huge range of colours in varying tones and shades. There are those I love to look at and have around me in my home but sometimes these are not colours that suit me to wear.-Luckily you can put all the colours you love but would never wear, in a blanket and cuddle up with it instead. I tend to wear the less vibrant colours, otherwise the clothes wear me but an exception is orange. I don't like blue so much, sometimes it looks pretty but it is a cold and unfriendly colour and I hate to wear it although it can look good with other colours - pink for one. I love pink because it is a nurturing and kind colour and green because it is the colour of nature - I could not live without trees and plants. I love to wear green but oddly too much as decor can feel too fresh and make you feel cold and outdoorsy and I like to feel cosy when indoors! No colour is off limits though especially as far as knitting/crochet/sewing is concerned because textures add so much - I love grey knitted or crochet fabric because of this. Even sludgy colours can look good this way. As I write this comment, out of the corner of my eye I can see the prettiest pink teacup in your photo which I absolutely love. There is a very particular shade of burgundy/maroon that is very dark and is probably the only colour that makes me feel uncomfortable.

    ReplyDelete
  16. pink was creeping in, including the kitchen walls, but bright red has been butting in over the last couple of years, love it!

    ReplyDelete
  17. i'm with you on the lilac thing. i'm so not into lilac. i've bought things only to donate them as they look too 'senior citizen-ish'. not sure about orange, either. i have a few bits, but it's definitely not my first choice.

    sending blue skies your way.
    xo
    ~molly

    ReplyDelete
  18. My favourite colour has always been turquoise and other light blues, followed by green (sage,olive,lime) then yellow. I always hated pink until I was expecting my daughter and now although turquoise is still my favourite, pink is second.

    My least favourite colour has always been orange. I think growing up in the 70's contributed that! When I moved into my new house, the previous owners had painted almost every room orange. They even wallpapered over the bedroom doors and then painted over the wallpaper in orange! I'm only just learning to appreciate orange as I am finding a new fondness for all things retro as I get older.

    I've only just discovered your blog and wow what a feast for the eyes! I loved all your PIP Studio cups and saucers so much that I had to go to John Lewis today and buy a mug for myself. I can definitely see myself collecting the whole lot Xx

    ReplyDelete
  19. I always find it hard to pick a favourite colour. I like all of them in certain shades - even orange and brown! My least favourite is pink these days - there was too much of it in the house with having a daughter. I'm looking around my house and there are greens, reds, creams, browns, blues, lilacs, purples, pale yellows,... see what I mean? There doesn't seem to be any one in particular that dominates! I love your yellow jug.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Vanessa,

    Your colourful posts cheers up a grey rainy day in Holland. I miss colours as well. Especially in winter, when I don't have my garden to go to and enjoy.

    Posts like this help :-)!

    Happy evening!

    Lieve groet, Madelief

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hay, what a tough question! It depends what mood I'm in, I love bright colours but I do also love pastels, I know what you mean about lilac, it makes me think of he colour the Mother of the Bride would wear at a wedding! :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lovely post! Colour -- hmmmm - easy guess for me - LOVE LOVE LOVE Turquoise.

    Yes I agree with you -- Lilac is a bit of a crap colour (lilac tshirt i've never seen one -imagine that!!!!) but the flower itself does smell divine!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I love all-white with touches of black, leaf green and purple.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Such a lovely blog, I am smitten!

    xx

    antoinettemusik.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

❀ Thank you so much for leaving a comment. If you ask me a question, I will do my best to reply here in the comments section. Just pop back in a day or two and I hopefully will have replied. ❀