On the pink

Hello/Bonjour, you find me pondering one of life’s great imponderables… is the pink the perfect colour for the dining room? You see, having made the decision and actually bought the paint, I am now beset by inquietude. I have a concern that the pink might, yikes, have too much grey in it. And then where would we be? Of course, it’s not possible to tell definitively how well the room will take to the colour until it is, well, painted. Argh.

All this second-guessing stems from my change of heart in the Salon. It is now to be a different blue. There is a distinct possibility it might end a different colour altogether. And because I have been wrestling unsuccessfully with a new colour palette for my textiles.

I blame the grey. Now that the glorious warm bright light of summer has gone, there is nothing to dispel the dismal grey gloominess. Not even going into a different room. For they are all grey, the same cold and unwelcoming shade of grey. Even the loo.

In vain, I have attempted to mitigate its drab dreariness and clammy chilliness. I have put up and put out all my pictures and glass and ceramics. I have deployed my favourite cushions and cosy blankets. I light candles religiously every evening. All to no avail. The grey resists. The gloom persists.

A house should be a cosy, heartening bulwark against miserable weather. And not a sad reflection of it. So I was interested to read of Thomas Heatherwick’s campaign against boring, soulless architecture,  although his views have been criticised as “simplistic” and that he  “picks his targets poorly and shows no inclination to confront the forces that create such structures.” In my view, it’s not just the outside of buildings that should be more interesting, the internal architecture, design and decoration should be too. After all, for better or worse, we are now spending more of our time indoors. Surely our interiors should be optimised for enjoyment. Or at least not actively undermine it. This is why I spend so much time thinking about hues, their various tones, shades and tints, and how they might work in my home. They should uplift me. By day and by night. All year round. And not just when the sun is shining. 

As an antidote to all the greyness, here it is, my favourite project/restoration of the moment, a cheering house by SJB Studio.   I am delighted to discover Cinta Vidal’s surreal murals and paintings. She is “intrigued by the relationship that people establish between themselves and their immediate surroundings” and zooms “in to find out what’s going on in there.” And I have fallen for Revol’s colourful Caractère dinner service. 

I have taken a deep breath… and decided to go with the pink.  Bet you can’t wait to see how it turns out…

A bientôt