Happiness is a pop of color

The older I get the more I realize how much I like color: especially bright colors, but also softly muted ones, pastels, and all their variations.

I love colors. When I think back, as a kid, I was always enamored with a brand new box of crayons or my favorite, now vintage, Venus Paradise colored pencils. I wonder what ever happened to those. Today, I’m keenly aware that colors really do seem to make me happy. Perhaps they always did.

When I decided to give my drab kitchen a face lift, I thought about all the colors now available.

The first place I looked for inspiration was at the huge variety of colorful Kitchen Aid mixers. I don’t happen to have one, but their color range now is simply amazing. Not only did I look at appliance colors, but I also Googled kitchen remodels and looked on Pinterest. One particular color caught my eye; turquoise. The first time I saw a turquoise kitchen was on the TV Show “Mistresses,” an ABC production a few years ago, starring Alyssa Milano. It was canceled in 2016 after a run of several years. The trendy turquoise kitchen belonged to the show’s character April, played by Rochelle Aytes. It was so striking that I had remembered it. So when I was thinking of colors for my own kitchen that was in the back of my mind.

I decided to add a few turquoise things to accessorize my dull kitchen. It only took a few things to make me realize, I really do love this color. There are lots of different variations to it, which ranges from a little more blue to a little more green. I like them all, no matter the shade. When I look at the color on my new teapot, for example, it is almost like a visionary mouth-watering sensation.

For many years, our Ozarks home was pretty much colorless in my view. In fact, every room in our house was beige. A couple of the rooms had beige patterned wallpaper, but most of the walls had no color; they were that standard slap-a-coat-of-paint-on-the-drywall color. I suppose it was off-white, but might as well have been beige. Floors were carpeted in beige. Even the appliances were “biscuit,” another word for beige.

My penchant for color has been mentioned in previous blog posts, such as this one where I detailed the remodeling of our sun porch. It was the first introduction to turquoise into our house. There are now turquoise touches throughout. We painted over the pale pink that had been on the walls on the porch. Now, the color scheme is turquoise and hot pink. It is rather whimsical with a pink flamingo theme.

I also painted the bedroom a bright, sunshiny yellow. It is like waking up inside a smiley face. What a great way to start the day. This room made me realize I no longer have one favorite color. I love them all. The accent color is turquoise, designed around one of my favorite quilt projects that highlighted the dual color scheme.

Color matters because I  quilt

I credit my love of color today to my being a quilter. I think the selection and use of different fabric has sharpened my appreciation of colors and how they work together. My favorite quilts remain monochromatic, but I’m also enjoying the experimentation of mixing colors together. This appreciation reminds me of the way my camera’s view finder honed my visual perspective. I find color, particularly bright colors, to be uplifting.

I can’t think about the colors of my home without giving some thought to my quilting projects. For me the, “which came first,” question, relates to decorating the room or making the quilt. I suppose that just like the chicken and the egg, the two go hand-in-hand. Each room is decorated with color and at least one quilt.

So since quilts don’t seem to work in the kitchen, I settled for a table runner. I recently completed the one pictured here, which brightens up the room and adds a splash of color where it is needed most.

This project had a dual purpose. It is the first project I have made in a very long time. It marks a return to my beloved hobby.

For more information on making this quilt, check my my quilting blog, for details on this project.

Color is motivating; my personal story of color choice

Color makes me happy. I love surrounding myself with my favorite colors, except that lately, it is getting more difficult to decide just which color is now my favorite. I lean toward the pinks and purples, but lately, I'm drawn to yellows and greens. And even more recently, I'm taken with blue tones.

When my husband and I decided to rejuvenate our sun porch, I had just figured we would paint the walls pink. That room has been pink since we moved here. It is based on a pink flamingos theme, which we both love. We had a couple strings of pink flamingo lights we bought years ago. They added warmth at night, with a festive touch. We also had several candle holders and other little items that we have collected over the years. I always loved the color, so pink in that room was a no-brainer. Or so I thought. 

Initially we were just going to paint just the walls. But my husband's sister decided to replace the flooring in her new house. The laminate flooring she was replacing was in like new condition, so we took it for our back room. 

We had never done a floor before. Suffice it to say, it was a little more challenging with so many of the pieces cut. We had to sort through them to determine what went where. We were a little worried there would be enough uncut pieces to finish. As it turned out, there was one full piece left over. And the most astounding thing to me, was that on the last course, the fit was perfect, including the last piece. No cutting necessary. 

Once we ripped out the carpeting, I sat in the room and looked around. I noticed some of the paintings John and I had done when we took a painting class a few years ago. His girl with the pearl earring just happened to have an aqua scarf. The water in my girl on the beach was so turquoise. Then I noticed the base of my pink flamingo candle holders--were aqua and white. It became clear that I could keep my pink flamingo theme but with the walls turquoise, it would work out great. 


I am learning more about color through my experience with quilting. I opened up my monochromatic preference in color with a two-color quilt-- turquoise and yellow.-- (Now I wish I would have made it turquoise and pink.) I googled the color combination and loved the examples I saw. 

So hubby and I took our little pet flamingo to Home Depot and picked out a color paint to match the base of the flamingo. We also got a nice white tone for the accent wall and door. 

I started thinking about this color. I've never painted a room this color before, and I have painted many, many rooms in my life. Still, turquoise is no stranger to me. It was the color of the dress I wore to both my eight grade and high school graduations. One of my favorite spring jackets, made of looped mohair, was turquoise. A sweater I knitted for my mother-in-law was turquoise. I'm sure there are lots more examples of how my entire life has had this color in it. I never would have thought of pairing it with pink. But now, I love the colors of this room. Apparently, so do its occupants.