Random Ravings on Red

Every year you see this kind of thing in the magazines / blogs of your choise:

'THIS year, christmas is all about subdued pastels and antique silver',

'Our christmas tree is decorated with white lace and white lace only',

'In the tasteful abode of so-and-so, elves and tinsel are firmly avoided, but chunky candles atop
a lacquer tray with mocha, brown and black baubles create a dazzling christmas atmosphere',

'On December 1st, we drag enormous, dead trees / moose antlers / old zink bathtubs filled with driftwood, up four flights of stairs, and sprinkle them with a tiny bit of glitter, to create that
festive holiday atmosphere'.

Or - and this will lead me to my point - 'In the loft of interior stylist bla-bla-bla, black and white is
the dominant color scheme, but at christmas, she lets it all hang out and displays those daring,
red acrylic candlesticks....'

Well, not here, no - as you might have guessed. Our home is quite colorful all year round, despite my background in architecture, and my very earnest attempt to keep most of it very neutral, in order to
form a suitable backdrop for all the furniture, books, textiles, art, toys and so on, you end up stuffing
your home with.

The essential christmas color is red - and I think that must be universal for all the cultures celebrating christmas.To me, red is almost an independant source of energy, and as much as I truly love all colors,
I actually do not think I could live without red.

Confusing to people for whom I do projects, I somehow include red among the neutrals - because it
is a kind of neutral for me, not meaning neutral as in without oppinion or attitude, but as in: works
with almost anything, and is always interesting and worth giving a try.
So okay, maybe not a neutral - but a sort of basis, together with the aforementioned black, white -
and my other lifelong darling: gray.

One of my favourite, profound quotes on color is this, said by Diana Vreeland, legendary writer at
Harpers Bazaar and Vogue: "Pink is the navy blue of India".

And what does that have to do with red?
Nothing much, except a bit with my point of personally having red, as a sort of 'always there, making
me feel good, safe and happy' kind of color. Whereas some people find it almost offensive.

The other day I gave myself five minutes (I actually used an egg timer) with my camera to snap
random sightings of red in our home. Here are some of the ones I like - I think I took around 80!
None of this is christmas related at all, but still - it almost feels a bit that way, wouldn't you say?