Red, Red, Red ...

The older I get, the more I crave it - want to have it around me. A couple of weeks after the Christmas holidays
I began to have the feeling that I was
missing something ...

... then with the appearance of Valentine's Day decorations everywhere I looked - it hit me -
it's the color RED!

I've come to see that the house is never lovlier than during the Christmas holidays when there is red sprinkled throughout and I've started slowly incorporating more of it without realizing that I had actually been hungering for red around me.







A guest bath has been freshened with red accessories. And the kitchen always feels more inviting to me when spiced up with splashes of red - whether it's a dishtowel or something edible -peppers, apples, cherries piled in a bowl or flowers on the table.

Oddly enough, I think the whole "red" thing began for me with my Mom's sudden and surprising passion for reds (which brings me back to wondering if age really does play an important emotional part here and "why"?) After a lifetime of earth tones and blues she bought herself a large, comfy reading-dozing-tv chair in a perfect red ... and then added a delightful row of red canvas baskets to her bookcase - and a beautiful large rug with lots of red. After coming home from a visit my place seemed rather dull and lacking that as yet undefined "something". At that point, it still hadn't hit me.








Then my gutsy daughter painted a wall in her den an amazing Chinese red. She (and everyone who saw it) loved it so much that she painted another in an adjoining room - and from that room a red stairway leading up to the kids play room done entirely in red! It's all so fresh and vibrant - the red leads the eye - windows frame a sky like a painting and important pieces in the rooms pop! - it's full of life ... very satisfying.

So for me now ... Valentine's Day is sweeter than ever - and I don't mean just for the candy or the kisses! I've loved all the temporary red that it's brought back into the house. But now that it's over I'm more determined than ever to do something to satisfy this craving in a bigger and more lasting way.

I'll keep you posted. ;-)