Seeing Red & Thinking Pink

Photos by Barbara Clare

A number of months ago as my friend Susan, (a terrific Durham realtor, check her out! susanherst.com), was leaving our home, she looked at the artwork hanging above our living room sofa (see above) and mentioned that it allowed us to add some pink to our decor. She was so right.

Our living room, a palette of mostly ochre and teal, was beginning to look too much like a living room in a senior care facility. Yikes.

I had already added a touch of red to the room. Our Chinese bench, once a dark brown, was now red. I first attempted to paint it the deep brick red of the kimono worn by the man sitting on the left side of the Japanese garden scene (see detail below).

By the way, this complex and amazing full spectrum Japanese garden scene is not a painting, but rather a piece of fabric!

Deep reds in wall paint are tricky. Usually you need three to four coats of paint to have a deep, rich red reveal itself. Even after mutiple coats of paint in a color that matched the kimono, the bench appeared more ruby than brick red. Argh. It wasn't working for me.

For my second attempt, I chose a softer, rosier tone and painted the bench again. It looked ok. Was it too pasty now? Not sure.

See the Ruby bench on the left, and the Rosy bench center.

Soon after, my friend Lucy brought me a beautiful rose-toned orchid that I placed in the living room. Its hues were exactly what our living room needed. Perhaps my rosy bench worked after all.

In the spring I started working part-time at a fun and eclectic furniture consignment store in Durham called Always Home, (alwayshomeconsignment.com). One day, I walked into the store and saw a new arrival -- a painting of a floral bouquet in exactly the rosy tones I had envisoned for our living room. I brought the painting home and hung it on the wall leading into our living room. Voila! It was perfect.

The rosy Chinese bench, placed under living room windows, echoed the rosy tones in the painting. The rosy floral bouquet painting woke up the space with fresh color and whimsy.

Not only did the perfect painting turn up at Always Home, but during a trip to Target another perfect pink picture surfaced.

Often, soon after I have a design vision, the missing links appear before me. I imagine it may happen to you, also. When you have some decor quest on your mind, suddenly you see it everywhere? Well, while browsing Target for other items, I chanced upon an abstract watercolor in pinks, rusts, and blues -- exactly what the living room needed! I brought it home and hung it on the wall with the floral bouquet painting.

The North wall of our living room.

Somehow the universe knew we needed the perk of pink! Now, to find some rust and pink accent pillows...