HALLIE EPHRON: The other day here on Jungle Red, Debs was talking about the cobalt blue bulb-forcing vases she passed up at the spring antiques show in Round Top, Texas.
Cobalt blue is my color, too. I’m a sucker for any not-terribly-antique cobalt glass or stoneware.
My closet is a different story entirely. My color? Well, once upon a time it was hot pink. Then, for a while, red.
But taking a realistic look at what’s in my closet, I’d have to say currently it’s black. Why oh why do I keep buying the same black top. Over and over.
What’s your color in your kitchen? What about in your closet?? Are you in a rut or happily at home on your color wheel?
LUCY BURDETTE: My color in my home is green–all kinds of forest-y shades, rather than kelly.
I’m afraid that like you Hallie, my clothes tend to black, black and black. I am looking for some red and peach-colored things this spring, but those don’t seem to be popular right now.
I had a color wheel done years ago, but my hair color has changed drastically so I’m not sure the recommended colors still hold:).
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Lucy, I suspect once you go full silver with your hair, intense colors work best.
I used to have a wardrobe full of autumn colors that looked great with my (maintained with a lot of effort) red hair.
Now, the only things from that era that don’t make me look jaundiced are dark chocolate brown. When I put on one of those lovely sweaters in sand, or buff, or khaki I used to look like a Victorian archeologist. Now I look like the Mummy.
The colors in my kitchen reflect the brights I wear now - white everything with cabinet doors trimmed in a minty green/blue and the woodwork in Carribbean green. Refreshing in the summer and cheerful in the winter.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: My clothes are black, no matter what I do, or how I experiment, they are black. And I’m sticking with it.
Our house is truly multi-colored–the dining room is tuscan yellow and dark green, the living room is taupe/latte with a navy leather couch and the library is cobalt blue. My office is painted “Tawny Antler” which is meaningless, but I think it’s the color of a lion. 🦁
Upstairs, the hallway is forest green, and the main bedroom is pale pale lavender with a very pale blue ceiling.The first guest bedroom is hot pink with white trim. The second guest bedroom is baby lettuce green.
I know you're laughing, but it all works and I love it. I know if someone did my color wheel, the poor defeated colorist would just say–stick with black.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm laughing here, Hallie. I swear every single pair of pants (except for a couple of pairs of jeans) in my closet are black. And with the jeans I'm just as likely to wear black tops.
I do love intense colors, though, especially in the hot pink/magenta/raspberry range, and jewel colors. I'm finding that the lighter my hair gets, the worse I look in pastels. I had my colors done decades ago and I was (then) supposedly a Summer, but most of those colors always seemed washed out to me.
My house, in comparison to my black overloaded closet, is a riot of color; gold in the main hall, powder room and guest room, terracotta in the guest bath, apple green with cobalt accents in the kitchen, two different blues in the upstairs bedroom and office. No grays and neutrals for me!
RHYS BOWEN: I do wear black pants in winter, but no black tops. I look awful in black, as if I’m the walking dead. It’s funny about colors. I’ll suddenly get an urge to buy turquoise or royal blue or beige or even pink and I tend to go for that color all year. If you look at my wardrobe you can see my light blue year and my green year and my yellow year. And I wonder how a therapist would interpret this urge for a particular color? A year I felt happy/confident/depressed? (recently has been silver/gray. Accepting old age?)
My house in Arizona was completely made over before we bought it recently. So it is southwestern colors outside and inside all fashionable gray and white. White quartz counters. White walls, gray flooring, white cabinets. It is very peaceful, especially in a hot climate.
My furniture is also gray and white with a patterned carpet. My walls in California are all a very light yellow-ivory color. Happy and sunny. My floors all light carpet or wood.
So I guess I’m either a very simple person or a very boring one!
JENN McKINLAY: Blue and green - all different shades - in both my wardrobe and my house. I like light colors - bright and happy - with one accent wall in a different but complementary color to break things up a bit.
I do wear a lot of pink for the same reason - it’s cheerful.
HALLIE: So have we spotted a trend?? A riot of color in our surrounds but black on our backs as some of us go grey?
What do your household/clothing colors reveal about your sense of self these days??