What's Your Color?

I love the color Red! It's my color. Period. I love wearing it. I love a room painted with it, I love it on cars, front doors, cottages, barns, coats, boots, blouses, and bathing suites.

 The list of names for red in the paint world are endless. Candy Apple, Chimaya Red, Cottage Red, Barn Red, Chili Pepper Red, Cranberry Marsh Red, Log Cabin Red, Rustic Red, Chinese Red, Auburn Red, Rasberry Red, Ravishing Red, Strawberry Red, Tomato Red etc... The color red  is one of my best friends. I can always count on red to cheer me up if I wear it on a gray day or to spice things up in my decorating scheme if things start looking a little tired.

I am especially fond of red at Christmas...For the month of December it's saucy reputation as a racy, flashy, garish, and  sinful color is put aside, for a more festive and traditional view.
Chrismas Red makes us all feel love and happiness.. We have Santa Clause Red, Sleigh Red, Holly Berry Red, Cranberry Red, and Cherry Red. Red velvet bows and ribbons adorn our wreaths and packages. We wear red dresses, red shoes and carry red handbags. Our guy's wear red ties or red dress shirts. How about all those matching red sweaters people wear in Christmas card greetings? We place red poinsettias around our homes for a dash of cheer! Are you a " foil your front door in red" at Christmas type?

 If you love the color red like I do, you know what I'm talking about. Christmas is our season!  We must relish in all the red we can now for when Janurary comes around our reputation of being the one who is just a little too " loud" and "sassy" will return. I used to be sad to take down all of my holiday decorations. Over night our home went from bright and warm to bare and beige... and now when the decorations come down I have plenty of red all year round'!  I don't worry about the Psychology of the color red and whether my personality fits the profile or not...

I just know I love it!

Here are some of our daughters first efforts with acrylic paints on canvas. I love the freedom of expression in  both of them and they just pop with those red walls behind them. 

You would think my family would be used to my passion for red. Even now when I reach for the red paint I can see the eye's begin to roll.

My favorite color goo rue is artist and designer Susan Sargent. A good friend of mine introduced me to her a few years  ago and I was liberated! I read her books, visited her website and read her philosophy on living with color. Check out her link..  I think you'll be inspired too!

I was surprised to learn that many people are actually AFRAID of color...I think at the root of those fears, most folks are just unsure of how to use it and where.  It does take some experimenting... and planning... I love doing this with paint.. It's an easy fix if the color doesn't sing to you once you have it up on the wall and it's the perfect economical choice when big projects like new floors and kitchen cabinets have to wait!  In our house any surface is fair game.

Here I painted the inside of a china cabinet red and added a gold metalic swirl for a bit of elegant whimsy! More stencil designs here. 

What's your color? 

What ever it is, surround yourself with more of it!

You'll just feel better. I promise!
Deborah Jean~