I’ve always hated purple.
It didn’t matter what shade it was. Lilac, lavender, aubergine, eggplant, plum, grape…I just didn’t like it. If you said, “purple living room,” this is what I pictured:
With images like that in my head, I don’t even know that my aversion was to purple itself. It may have been what I associated with purple. Too much fake zebra, perhaps, or soap opera come-hither cheesiness.
Anyway. This post is not about hating purple. It is about my acceptance of it. The realization that sometimes purple is the answer.
Several times recently, I’ve found myself on our office floor, surrounded by fabric, wallpaper samples, and paint swatches. Frustrated. Unable to crack the code on a space.
And then, all of a sudden, it would hit me. I’d look up and say, to bossy color’s beyond fabulous Designer-slash-Project Manager, “Katherine. I know. I know what this room needs. And I know you know I know. And you know what it is.”
“Purple?” Katherine would ask quietly.
And without a word, I would nod and return, chastened, to work.
My hero, Jamie Drake, is the MASTER of purple.
I mean, he owns it.
I love how Jamie Drake uses purple EVERYwhere. Foyers, living rooms, dining rooms…the “public spaces.” He is an equal opportunity purple provider.
I’ve been using purple — grayish lavender, mostly — in bedrooms. Which, frankly, is easier. Add lots of charcoal, a little forest green, a dash of dark pink, crisp white sheets…it’s very sophisticated.
Aubergine is warm and elegant.
Purple can be pretty in small doses,
And large ones.
So there it is, Gentle Readers: my conversion to purple. Tell me about your adventures with purple. I know you’ve had them.
Quoted in publications from The New York Times to The Washington Post to Real Simple magazine, Annie Elliott is an expert in color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.
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