In living color

[darkemeralds]

It's laundry day chez DarkEm, and after stripping my bed to wash the (dark gray) sheets, I turned around and saw this little tableau.



All that's missing is the aptly-named Graydie the cat, and my black Dutch bike.

Some external-feeling voice in my head tells me that I should try to be more colorful, that an interior scheme that looks almost identical whether photographed in black and white or in color, placed in a city that is often the same way, is somehow poor-spirited.

If you'd asked me a year ago, I'd have guessed that the kind of healing I've undergone just lately--in which decades of burdensome beliefs have been dissolved--would have resulted in a desire for more color; in fuchsia walls and Caucasian rugs.

But I really like these non-colors. Black and white feels crisp and clean. Gray feels calm...

...I kind of like the Caucasian rug idea, though.

Comments

I enjoy the neutral gray, black and white too

[(Anonymous)]

They are crisp and calming.

[branchandroot]

Black and white and gray is perfectly lovely. I go for wood-and-plants myself, with neutral walls and furniture. And while some people have said this is bland, I totally disagree. When the morning sun comes in through one of the plant decked windows and hits the wood floor and bookshelves it's warm and vivid and beautiful. Black and white and gray makes a lovely space, and the textures you have are /fantastic/.

[darkemeralds]

Oh yes! I know just what you mean about the morning sun coming in. With plants, the shadows can be so beautiful, and I love how a single color can look different on all the various walls, depending on how the light strikes.

My own bedroom is on the west side of the house, so when there is morning sun (as there happened to be today), I emerge from the cool cave into a brightly-lit living room and kitchen, and it's a great way to start a day.

One thing about neutrals, too: it's easy to add and subtract brighter colors and change the look without heavy-duty redecorating.

[roxy]

wow--that's dramatically monochromatic...*G*

[darkemeralds]

LOL! That's it!

"Dare to be monochrome" was the motto of one of my most elegant friends in college.

[executrix]

Dare to Tell Everybody Else That In Your House You Will Have Any Damn Thing That Pleases You.

[darkemeralds]

LOL!

The Voice in My Head is a notoriously bad listener. Everyone else may go to Jericho.

[llaras]

and your theme here as well. :-)

[darkemeralds]

Hee! You're right. I keep meaning to come back and fiddle with the colors a little because it's a bit dark here even for me!

[kis]

I like it too.

[darkemeralds]

I googled "fuchsia kilim" after writing that, and ended up spending probably 45 minutes rug-shopping online. Ah, the joys of a three-day weekend.

Happily, good rugs are just too expensive, so I didn't actually buy one. Maybe I'll google "house painters portland" next.

[sporky_rat]

I like it - and it makes it so much easier to make the tiny splashes of color look way more fantastic than they are.

[darkemeralds]

It does! Now I just need a few more of them.