Colour stories: Turquoise!

Have not written a colour post for a long time ..Not that one needs to make an excuse for Turquoise anyway.. It's one colour like pink, I absolutely love, but have not imagined dedicating entire walls to!- yet  :)

Today's post is about the colour, used in a mostly traditional, ethnic scheme.... 

Turquoise in all its shades- wether  an intense burst of blue or a softer and paler version- is so unique to the gem stone it derives its name from, that the stone and the particular shade of blue are now synonymous to each other...

Called Turquoise as it was thought to have originated from Turkey at first, the gem stone hails from the Alimersai Mountain in Persia (now in Iran). The best quality Turquoise to this date  is credited to the region.

The intense shades of turquoise have endeared it to many ancient cultures:  Ancient Egypt, Aztec, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley and China. Despite being an old gemstone, it was introduced to Europe via Turkey only with the silk road novelties and  not until the 14th century was it used commonly in jewellery. The stone was introduced in India only during the Mughal times and remained unknown to the far east until the 18th century..

The color to me, denotes a relaxed, fresh and contemporary feel ..  It goes well with a bunch of warm colours, reds, oranges, pinks and yellows,  and provides a fun visual pop against muted, earthy tones of natural materials- stone and wood. It also provides a lovely foil for ethnic objects like baskets, textiles and jewelry..

Every once in a while, I change up the accessories around the bedroom and more private 

spaces of the house to make way for the Turq :)

Hopefully  in some near future, I will gather the guts for an all turquoise wall .. until then, this will have to do ..!

Colour Stories : Red post

Starting with a colour that dominates most of the living and entertaining areas in the house. We chose Red. It comes in all shades -right from the more somber, earthy maroon and terracotta to the most vivacious deep red. Is cheerful. Goes well with the dark, natural wood surfaces and textiles I was going to pair the walls with. Is very Indian- Think Wedding saree, think tilak, rangoli, sindoor, mauli- Above all because, most reds contrast wonderfully with Black -the other wall colour on my pallet for the area- so a no brainer really.

Here is the color pallet for the living dining and entertainment areas...

The red, in shades of terracotta and deep red are paired with charcoal black and soft white for the walls, and taupe on wooden surfaces like doors and windows.

Posting the final look below.

(above): view of the Living room from the foyer. The wall sports a terracotta red.

In the family room, which is used for watching television or casual entertaining, the colours are a brighter red and black..This is the area I chose to paint myself... three coats of absolute fun and zen, which is befitting, because the area itself has a very calming feel to it , inspite of the loud  red on the walls...  

The dining area offset against a terracotta wall, has a more formal- earthy look.

A red lacquer shoe cabinet contrasts  with a charcoal black wall at the entrance.