Why purple makes me blue
Tuesday, February 28, 2012I struggle with the colour purple when it comes to interiors. It seems to be a hard one to get right. In principle it's a wonderful, rich colour - great when it comes to flowers and minerals and may be fashion for example.
Having done a little bit of research on the colour, to try and understand what goes on emotionally and psychologically, I've discovered that because purple is a very rare colour in nature, it can be considered artificial. Nature is very important and inspires me so that explanation makes some sense. The folks at color-wheel-pro.com say dark purple evokes gloom and sad feelings and can cause frustration, so based on this explanation it's perhaps understandable that I don't feel 'at one' with it.
I wonder whether it's because of the vast options in tones, shades and hues. The pale powdery lavenders and pretty feminine lilacs are undeniably simple to use within a scheme and are easier to live with. Done well, deep indigos and violets offer a moody dramatic version although difficult to pull off. Farrow & Ball's Pelt or Brinjal are smart handsome colours that I'd really like to see, being F&B you'd expect them to do well in a scheme.
I spent a couple of hours looking through my interiors magazines and the internet to find an inspiring purple interior that would dispel my views and found nothing. But.... I know that I've thought about this many times before and upon review of my Pinterest boards, I found it, a purple interior I pinned recently that I absolutely love.
Why do I love it? Because it is a risky and unusual vivid purple that's then seemingly overshadowed by a mass of gorgeous glowing gold, eclectic furniture and accessories. A combination of shapes, colours, styles and textures. Sounds so wrong, yet when it's all pieced together, it's absolutely right.
So, that's the answer. Take a purple and mix it in equal measures with a colour that can stand beautifully on it's own alongside it, then chuck in some eclectic accessories... I'm off to experiment.