Friday, January 2, 2009

Living colorfully...


We had a family gathering at the home of my niece and her husband in Portland, Maine on New Years day. Their house is decorated in brilliant colors. The walls are hung with tapestries from their travels, their carpets are rich in hues like Merlot and henna. I was particularly taken with the vibrancy of the pottery in their kitchen. Each serving piece and bowl boasted chunky heft and jewel tones. My own personal decorating taste tends towards shades of white and more white, (which my sweet husband calls "the decorating palette of the uninspired.") I love the way my house looks, it suits me. But this home fairly glowed with color and warmth. It is a place with both taste and flavor. We had a delicious visit!

2 comments:

solarity said...

I never, ever, ever get tired of white. It changes so with the light. I have a lot more color in the new house, though, using warm colors in my father's rooms for the psychological effect.
My coffee mugs, now--those are bright and varied, so I start the morning with color.

Mary Anne in Kentucky

D'Gaye said...

I too am drawn to vibrant colors, and although I do envison them in my own home and love texture and color together, my home tends to be more subdued.
My kitchen has light blue gray walls, expanses of white beadboard cupboards with brushed silver handles, and a black and gray "fake" granite couter top. The floor is even very generic linoleum with a black and gray pattern on white. There are a few splashes of color on a black shelf and a antique chicken breed print framed in red with a black stain to tone it down. I love being in there and it is where I spend most of my day when not working.
But out my kitchen window is where the real beauty lies. In Spring a flowering tree overhangs a good part of the deck. Its leaves are burgandy the rest of the year, with the exception of Winter when the trunk and branches glow with green from moss and the ever present mold here in Oregon. There are goldfinches, house and purple finches as well as all of the little chickadees flitting about. Window boxes abound with color throughout the year. Flowers most of the year. Greens and weatherproof ornaments through January. Even the empty pots on the deck which are full in the season add texture and a range of color from pink to lime green. And the sky mimics my kitchen during the Winter. Gray, black, with some splashes of color.
So you aren't uninspired Daryl, you just let Mother Nature have center stage. And from the photos you have shown us from inside your house of her glory, she does it well.