Mood Board: Pink and Red!

Red is a powerful color.  It's probably the most feared color in decor.  I'm not a big user of red in decor, but there's nothing to fear about red.  If you need to be especially confident for a meeting or speech, wear red. Don't listen to what anyone says about red lipstick - it's sexy!  Especially with a nude eye makeup.  In home decor, a little red goes a long way.  And red looks great with pink, as the following pictures show.

I adore this photograph by  Femke Reijerman via See | Me.  At first I thought the girl was walking along the beach.  Perhaps it is the illusion of wind in the photo or perhaps it is because I miss Lake Erie so much.  I realized after sometime that she was actually walking by a painted brick wall.  In my opinion, this illusion shows the skill of the photographer.  I was literally transported by this photo.  I'd love to see it blown up very large and hanging in this dining room.

Can't you see it hanging on the left wall?  And how fab is this dining room?  The pink table and red chairs look so hot in this industrial looking loft.  They work well because the floors and walls are white.  It's very clever that there are no objects placed on the table.  It's gorgeous enough to stand on its own as art, with no competing objects.  Also dig that hot pink island.  David Mikhail via Desire to Inspire.

You already know that gray is my new favorite color and that I'd love to do an accent wall in gray.  The color scheme of pale pink, red and slate gray is stunning in this kitchen sitting area!  Oh dear, I was sure I was going to do a scheme of yellow, pink and gray for Spring.  But maybe now I'll do red, pink and gray.  So many colors, so little time.  The more I fall in love with color, the more that I learn there really aren't any colors I don't like, and there really aren't any colors that don't go together. Photographed by Anna De Leeuw for vtwonen.

You don't have to use a lot of color to have an impact.  A piece of art in a bold pink and red looks great in an otherwise restrained room.  Go big with your art for an uncluttered look.  Love the hanging lamp and the table (the Saarinen is my favorite table of all time) and chairs.  Aga's Modern Interior in an Old Building via Apartment Therapy.  Want to see more beautiful uses of pink and red?  Click here.

I could live here

Image Architizer via Apartment Therapy.

Pink and Red

I'm addicted to color.  Especially pink. I've said it many times - pink looks great on everyone, it goes with every thing and it is not just a girly color.  It can be used in a thoroughly modern way.  Yesterday, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Casapinka.  She reminded me that pink and red is a beautiful color combination when she showed this lovely pattern:

Heather Bailey via Casapinka.  It would look great as a pillow, or stretched on a canvas.  Here are some photos from my inspiration file.  I'm sure you will agree pink and red look great together.

Local vintage store.  Image by Peggy.

Pillow that I passed on at local vintage store.  Now I'm kicking myself!

Beautifully composed living room and dining room.  Love the neutrals with the hot pink and red pops.  Also added for interest is saga green.  Love it.  Image Atelier Ligia Casanova.

Beautiful bedroom.  Vivid color in small doses looks great in mostly white interiors.  Love the pillow and the lamp.  Image source unknown.

I need a couple of pink poufs!  Image The Style Files.

Again, a mostly white interior.  The mural really pops with the red rug.  I am reminded of Antonio Ballatore when I look at this room.  He says, "Go big or go home."  Bigger art provides a nice punch in a room and keeps the room from looking cluttered.  Makes a great impact in a small place.  Image Marie Claire Maison.

Beautiful bedroom.  The white walls keep the room looking simple, even though vivid color and pattern are used. Image Living Etc.

I've had this room in my inspiration file for a long time.  I love it.  There's no pink in the room, but it seems to fit in with this theme.  One could easily see a pink pillow in the chair.  Again, the vivid red works because of the generous amount of white.  I love white floors!  Image source unknown via My Mod Style.  Please contact me if you know the designer of this room.  Like to see more pink and red?  See previous post here.

Red!

As I mentioned below, I've been thinking about red lately. Not usually a color I think about, but for some reason it is intriguing me lately. These thoughts have snapped me out of my sleep walk.

No one does red better than Benjamin Noriega Ortiz. I believe this is the most beautiful dining room I've ever seen. It's romantic and lush, yet even with the intensity of the color, remains peaceful. A brilliant use of monotone. Image from Pointclickhome.

A little red goes a long way. Ordinarily, beige decor bores me. But this skillful use of texture, along with small red pops makes this decor sing. Todd Klein's home. Image via Elle Decor, December 2008.

A couple of red flowers in a tall white vase is heaven. Image from CB2.

Another example of a beige decor. This one is livened up with pops of yellow and red. Demi Adeniran's home. Image via the now-defunct Domino magazine, January 2009.

Red and pink also make great accent colors. I dig that lamp! Image from Apartment Therapy.

And dig this sofa. A fine marriage of contemporary and frilly. Mare sofa by Rene Holten. Image via Hive Modern.


Another red dining room. I love the large painting. Red, pink and orange look great together. Tracey Garet via Desire to Inspire.

Normally, I don't like wallpaper. But this one is an exception. I'd love to have a large piece of this framed. Wall paper by Florence Broadhurst for Signature Prints. Image via Elle Decoration, March 2009.

I love the combination of red, pink, orange and fuchsia. And I adore saturated colors. Pastels are a thing of the past for me, and frankly I find them boring now that I have been foraying into the wonderful world of saturation.

So, of course, I had to experiment with these colors in my little apartment.

My new paintings. Each piece is 24" x 30", acrylic on canvas.

A romantic little sitting room in my apartment. The walls of my apartment used to all be fuchsia. I've been painting them white, but there is a small area that I haven't painted yet. Hmm. I kind of like that color.

Blame it on the Red Pop

I've been indulging depression and fatigue lately. Stupid, but true. While laying on the sofa, watching Sigourney Weaver in Aliens for like the millionth time, I spilled the old-fashioned red pop I was drinking. On my white rug. It took me a minute to get something to clean up the spill, I was so fascinated by the color of the stain.

That spill - and the subsequent mess I made with a towel - got me thinking about red. Nothing like color to snap me out of my ennui. Maybe for spring, I'll use some red in my decor. Nothing pastel about this spring. Only saturated colors for me.

On a Mission for Orange (and everything that goes with it)

Oh boy! I have a happy decorating dilemma to occupy my mind. What could be better? SNL sent an email asking about the possibility of adding orange vases to the display in her entryway. I can contemplate this kind of thing all day, and it really eases the pain of my mundane job. Orange is a color I dearly love, so I am excited!

The search for orange vases began. Typically, SNL likes ceramic, but I wondered if she would be interested in adding glass. Especially cased glass. Or vintage Italian glass, which seems to be all the rage right now. An ebay search for orange vases turned up these beauties.

Vintage Holmegaard cased glass. Yummy!

Vintage Carlo Moretti for Rosenthal Netter. I'm sure any lover of mid-century modern recognizes this vase. I'm in love. I don't have an ebay membership, but this vase is making me think I should. I don't want to start another addiction!

More ebay vases. Or what about this vintage compote and candy dish from Etsy shop Blue Bell Bazzar? Cute!

Omigosh, look at these amazing vases by the Spiral Collection. They are made of paper! Available at Home Portfolio.

I adore the combination of orange and red. I know SNL loves red too, wonder if she would like these. The middle vase has cool geometry and a pop of white, which is always needed when doing something graphic. I just had to include the blue one. Not for SNL's entryway, but for me! I love it! And speaking of red, look at this incredibly gorgeous red vase from Hip and Zen.

On sale for $40.00! Had been $138.00. Love it!

I also adore the Paloma vases from CB2, for a pop of white. Maybe I should give her my orange glass vase that I bought from White Candle Barn about two years ago (on sale for $7.99). Wish I knew someone who made lamps out of vases, I think this would be a groovy lamp.

In my quest, I did something old-fashioned. I went physical shopping - that's right in a car! This is a dangerous this time of year because everything is on sale. Here are some of the vases I saw.

These were on sale for $10.00 each. Wonder if she would like that sort of brick orange.

Since after Christmas clearance is going on, there was a ton of red. Here's a turquoise vase that tempted me greatly. On sale for $15.00, was $30.00. Love the matte finish.


I wonder if SNL would like a lamp for her entryway. I saw a really groovy orange lamp in a shop window. Looks more like my style though.

I should probably check my old standbys, Target and Pier 1. Although currently I'm boycotting Pier 1. They don't sell online anymore and all the shops in my area closed. This is also why I don't buy from Ikea. It's hard to believe such well-established stores would not have online sales in this technological age.

Target can always be relied upon. Beautiful, tall orange cased glass vase, and hurricane with orange crystals. I love those bowls, and there's more of the red and orange combination. All are $49.99, more than I would spend, but they are beautiful.

Pier 1 didn't have any orange vases, but they did have these cute red glass vases, they are huge! Oversized vases seem to be the rage right now. I think these would make adorable lamps. Again, I have to find someone who makes pottery into lamps. I imagine it would require a skilled craftsman to cut a hole in a vase. They also had these cute vases, which I find tempting. I love turquoise, and they would look adorable in my place, except I am limiting my collection of pottery by not buying pieces with patterns.

During my happy search, I found a cute blog called How About Orange. I'll be adding this to my blog links.



So how about it? How about orange? The next time you are feeling blue, think about orange!