Thursday 22 January 2015

The Colour Collaborative: January: Home

Home, such an evocative word.  A place to relax, be happy, make plans, launch adventures.  And a place to hide away when the outside world is a bit too much to take.  

I've always loved lots of light and pale neutrals at home.  There aren't many bright colours here, I feel a need to keep it all as tranquil as I can.  


A reaction maybe to the noise and colour that is a houseful of boys.  They have walls covered with vivid, busy posters.  Underneath is a beautiful soft pale grey green.  Very little of it is visible.

There are touches of colour here and there, on bookshelves, in textiles and in pictures.




I always like to have plants dotted about, although there have been very few since the children started crawling and exploring.  There's something very tranquil about green foliage against pale walls.


Examining the colour in my home has made me wonder what it would be like to live in a brightly coloured house.  Would I have more energy, more inspiration, more focus?  Have any of you been affected by the colour in a room?  I'd be fascinated to know.

But whatever colour your home, the important thing is the feel of it.  If it's safe, happy and comfortable then we are blessed.  If it's a sanctuary then there is nothing more to be wished for.

To visit the other Colour Collaborative blogs for more of this month's posts, just click on the links below:

           Annie at Annie Cholewa                                       Gillian at Tales from a Happy House

           Sandra at Cherry Heart                                          Jennifer at Thistlebear

And this month's guest poster, Bee at The Linen Cloud.

What is The Colour Collaborative?

All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and share stuff. Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when a group of them work together? Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its parts? We think so and we hope you will too. We'll each be offering our own monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination our ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.

36 comments:

  1. Love your staircase and that quilt is beautiful. Is that a lime growing or an immature lemon? Whichever it is, I'm very impressed. I used to be a neutral girl too, although I'm getting a bit braver with colour in my 'old age'! I find it rather cheering - I'll be wearing purple next!. Enjoy the rest of your week. x

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  2. I always decorated with browns, tans, earthy golds, off whites.. but now I have been putting my colorful crochet blankets and pillows around and I must say.. I like it.. a lot! With our grandsons around.. minimalism is not an option. Right now there is a VW bus TENT in my living room! But it's all good. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  3. We are pastels too although when we were first married we had an orange kitchen. The people who loved here before had vivid colours bright pink ceilings in the bedroom and purple walls in the hall. They do say colour affects mood which is why dentist waiting rooms are never bright red. I always used neutral colours to back displays in my classroom so it didn't detract from the things being displayed

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  4. I love your staircase and the light coming through. For me, it's light which is important more than the colour of the walls. A room with sun flooding in, friends and family, and a comfy chair make home for me. (Having said that I don't have much in the way of bright colours - clutter yes, but colours no!) x

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  5. My home is quite neutral too, maybe because it is full of males also! It is slowly changing, possibly due to the boys getting older & more time to think of what colour I want. Though these colours are still quite muted. Lovely post x

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  6. I have neutrals too. It's much easier to change a colour scheme if the colour comes from accessories rather than walls and large items of furniture. Gorgeous quilt, did you make it?

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  7. You have a wonderful home. It is a beautiful and very calming looking place to be. I really like your shot of the stairs winding up like that. xx

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  8. Your quilt has given me an idea :o)

    Neutral colours here too. I wouldn't cope well with strong colours on our walls, we have soft pinks and creamy yellows. Home needs to be a quiet place for me xx

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  9. I have kept my colours soft and quiet, with just a few pops of colour found in some accessories like a dark green old lamp, or my red water pitcher or the little red chair the kids use to reach the sink. Like you, I feel that the noise of a couple boys playing (fighting) is enough without adding to it with chaotic colour schemes. My walls are a very pale blue that, at night, takes on a hue of grey. On overcast days the walls might look pale green, and on bright sunny ones they are almost white reflecting the light from our big living room and dining room windows. Even more important to me than the colour is the natural light. It's so overcast in winter that I never miss a chance to see the sun. Many friends who visit here comment on how bright and soothing my kitchen is. I agree, and I feel my home is definitely my sanctuary. Thanks for giving us a peek into yours!

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  10. What great pictures of your home, I really enjoy this link up blogxx

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  11. I love these soothing shots of the interior of your space. Simple and beautiful!! And yes I hear you on keeping the inside calm like a retreat away from this busy life! So inspiring CJ! Happy weekend friend! Nicole xo

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  12. You seem such a calm, level-headed person and I always picture your home being just like these photos - bright, open and tranquil. It's so important to me to have a peaceful, comfortable home and I try hard for it. I hope I'm achieving it. As always I love seeing your plants; that lime (lemon?) is seriously enviable. Thank you for this lovely post, CJ.

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  13. Neutrals for me too CJ, with pops of colour. I need tranquility indoors I think, the riot of colour comes from the flowerbeds (I wish!).

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  14. OK. Perhaps I'm in the minority. I have red carpet and yellow (gold, custard yellow) walls. My bedroom is blue and my hallway will be teal by September. I LOVE colour in my life and find it so warming.

    Having said that.... I also appreciate the cool and calm of other people's colour schemes. I love the colours in the quilt above.

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  15. I love the tranquil, muted colours of your home. And what a beautiful quilt!

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  16. I keep my walls and floors very neutral. Too much color is overwhelming to me. There is a blog (Attic 24) that is so very, very colorful. I love reading about all her projects, but I couldn't live with all that color all the time. I keep things neutral so that my cross stitch projects are what stands out.

    Color is fun. I think I want some color. And, then I go right back to my whites and neutrals. LOL (I even dress kind of blah --- grey, black, navy and burgundy ---- so that my socks are what stand out. I know --- I'm a bit of a nutter.

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  17. Another neutral lover here ... I have friends with much more brightly painted homes but although they are fun to visit I don't find them restful. Soft tones and green plants are what's needed ... I'm with you all the way on that.

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  18. Yep, neutrals for me too. I recently discovered what can excellent neutral grey can be, in the right room. I think I definitely need more plants in our next house. Xx

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  19. calm and tranquil with a splash of quilt. beautiful x

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  20. Hey CJ - it's been great fun reading around the Colour Collab posts! Your home (or at least the bits you showed) looks very peaceful indeed. Though I love bright colours, I like them best in small doses against a neutral background. Perhaps that's why crammed bookshelves always seem appealing....

    What a very lovely cyclamen, and that quilt is beautiful. Did you make it?

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  21. I'm currently indulging my love of natural neutrals. Wood, sheep's wool, pebbles, driftwood. I once had one of those heritage red paint colours on an accent wall in my living room; my desk was next to the wall and I really felt easily agitated when I sat near the wall. It's now a lovely stone colour. Much better, calm has resumed. And I have my red squishy sofa to warm the mood up. My son's bedrooms have always had a blue theme - he had the bedroom from Toy Story when younger, how did I have the time to do that!?! Now he's at uni, his bedroom (aka guest room and my sewing room) is all pale cream, wood and driftwood grey. So far no objections during the holidays! PS I'd also like to know more about your quilt, it's very beautiful - love that yellow bird fabric. C xx

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  22. I prefer neutrals for walls and floors but I am not consistent. Most of our rooms are a pale pale grey, maybe a dirty white would be a better name. We have one B&Q orange room. This was Sam's bedroom and he always had a strong love for orange. We now use it as a study/playroom/laundry room and I quite fancy to paint it a more neutral colour. We also have a pale pink kitchen, which I love and a yellow wall in the little boys bedroom. We have so much art on the walls that anything other than neutral would border on crazy. Furniture and soft furnishing and everything else are bright but not painful to the eye bright. I do absolutely love your quilt!
    Have a great weekend CJ. xx

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  23. I think the way I feel is very influenced by my home environment. Massively so actually as I spend so much time here. I do tend to surround myself with colour, not mad, violent colour everywhere, but there are lots of colourful touches added about the place. Hopefully tastefully! It took me a long time to realise it, but for me it's a vital ingredient for happiness.

    S x

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  24. Thank you for letting us have a peep into your home! I like neutrals, so easy to live with - although I do like colours too. Wishing you a super weekend, CJ. xx

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  25. Great quilt CJ - did you make that?! When we first moved into our home, I painted every room a different color. Now as we have been remodeling over the past 10 years, I find myself drawn to lighter colors - as with your feeling of enough going on with the three boys, all of our pets brings enough energy into the home!

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  26. Oh that was fun! Thank you!

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  27. A lovely thought-provoking post, and beautiful pics. Our home is neutral and tranquil with just a dash of soft colour in every room. I love the idea of bright colours, but in reality always return to a calmer palette indoors. In the garden though, bright is beautiful!
    Happy weekend 😊 xx

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  28. I love the quilt, fantastic fabric. Like yours, our home is neutral with little pops of colour. After living in an old exposed stone walled cottage I wanted light and bright in this house.

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  29. Having raised five children I totally understand your quest to have a tranquil house. :-) Several of our children wanted their rooms painted bright, garish colours and I finally agreed. They loved them, but every time I went in their rooms it left me with the visual equivalent of having been blasted by music that is too loud.

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  30. I would like to visit you often for a tranquil tea and then return to my own gaudy pinks and teals. My visiting outfit doesn't clash with your quilt, thank goodness.

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  31. Your home looks really pretty and welcoming! Similar to mine with the lightness and muted colours. It is a calming influence. Thank you for your lovely words on my post. I really enjoyed taking part. Bee xx

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  32. Did you make the quilt CJ? It's gorgeous and unusual. We tend to be neutrals, greys, creams etc with the odd pop of colour so in our grey bedroom we have white quilt covers with bright cerise or purple pillowcases. I'm just amazed at how tidy and organized your house appears with 3 resident boys - well done! I've never achieved this!
    Caz xx

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  33. CJ, when I moved into my house, I had to make a major investment in dulux's "off white" (boring name for a lovely soft warm cream colour). because every room in the house was a different and very strong colour. the kitchen was jaundiced pastel yellow, the hallway was dark hospital green (with a paler but still offensive version on the ceiling), the bathroom was old-lady mauve, one bedroom was dark denim blue and another brown-paper beige, and - oh, you get the idea. it was HORRID, just offensive and jarring because the colours were so strong, but also strangely dull-toned. so I off-white-washed the lot, and introduced colour through my accessories and furniture, because I do love colour, just not like that :-)
    so I am with you on soft neutral tranquil tones.
    ps beautiful cyclamen.

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  34. Love the colour of that cyclamen - so delicate. I have the yellow mug - also in green and blue.

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  35. Your home is beautiful CJ... I think bright colors can cause more irritability sometimes. Your warm colors and green plants are peaceful. ..
    Have a great weekend,
    Tammy

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  36. Your home is beautiful CJ... I think bright colors can cause more irritability sometimes. Your warm colors and green plants are peaceful. ..
    Have a great weekend,
    Tammy

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