my love affair with red

Those of you who know me well know about my long-standing obsession with the color red. It's true - I just love it (and my closet can prove it). But sometimes I forget that and decide to try something new. Like the time I picked out bedding for my college dorm room and ended up with blue and white. I regretted it for years. Our house off-campus during senior year ended up being mostly red because of the amazing red floral couches and braided rugs we inherited from my roommate's mom... and even though I had traded my red car for a black one by this time, that house reminded me why I love red so much.

I still have those red couches, and they're coming with me to the new house. They might actually end up under slipcovers down the road... but for now, they're going in the living room, plaid pillows and all.

This all became very important today when I was standing in my new kitchen, holding up paint swatches in the afternoon sunlight. But they weren't red. They were blue. Marina and New World by Dutch Boy, to be precise. And they were beautiful. Shades of turquoise - one darker, one lighter - and stunning with the cabinets.



But as much as I loved them, it just didn't feel right. Stepping back into the living room and dining room, I knew that the same thing would bother me with turquoise as bothers me now with the beautiful spring green the previous owners painted it: the dining room lamp. Of course, it's not just any lamp. It's stained glass (my fave) in shades of red, amber, brown and just a hints of purple and green.



So I took a deep breath and pulled out the red swatches. "Am I really going to have a red kitchen?" I asked myself? "Am I that predictable? Can I not find any other color that will work? Am I going to make this decision around a lampshade, really?"

Yep, I am. Because I love that lamp, and I love red, and it's going to look amazing with the cabinets and my white dishes. In this case, I'm going to have to be okay with being predictable.

Cranberry Punch DC301, I'm looking forward to meeting you next weekend.