ORANGE!
The once misunderstood, malaligned, black sheep so-to-speak of the color family is now one of the IT colors! Everyone is wearing it. I'm wearing it! What's not to love: it's a bright, cheerful color -- reminiscent of Tuscany, sunsets; vitamin C (especially yummy in Tequila Sunrises!) and autumnal harvests. It looks great when partnered with the color brown; it looks even better with navy blue. (But not with black, right? Because then you remind people of a Jack-o-Lantern -- not an especially flattering look for most people!)
For years, I hated the color orange. It was my Mother's fault, her and her darn need for "matchy-matchy".
Time for a story. Picture this ....
The year is 1970; and Mrs M's house is decorated in the latest color tones: the living room is harvest gold, dining room is avocado green and kitchen is coppertone brown. The Master bedroom is also done in green ('cause it's Mrs M's favorite color). The 2 younger girls share a pink room -- cause pink is for girls, right! And downstairs in the basement, the clever Mr M has just built 2 additional bedrooms! Oh goodie! Yet, in spite of the fact that Sandra's favorite color is blue, the 2 boys will get a blue room -- cause blue is for boys, right!
What colors are left to choose from?
Yellow? Sandra likes sunny yellow -- but Mrs B doesn't!
Maybe a nice lilac? Nanny M next door grows beautiful lilacs. But Mrs M doesn't want that unpopular purple color in her house.
No .....let's go with another 70's "IN" color -- let's go with burnt orange!
"But I don't want orange, Mommy!"
"Shut up, Sandra, or you can go back upstairs and share with the little girls again!"
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The pansy bed! The only glimpse of desired color in my burnt orange, avocado green and coppertone brown bedroom. Sigh!
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What did Santa bring me for Xmas?
Fifi!
A bright orange stuffed Poodle.
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| This was NOT my bedroom: my room wasn't this bright. ....... I just wanted you to REALLY get the idea. |
Three years later, we moved. Phew!
My Dad built a brand new split level a few streets away; I got my own room again. Did I get a blue room this time? No; I wasn't even consulted on color. I got a purple room -- not lilac -- purple! Purple walls, purple bedspread ("It has lilacs on it, Sandra!") and purple shag carpet!
I had to leave home to get a blue bedroom ....... and I've had a blue bedroom for almost 40 years.
And after much prayer and a little therapy, I've let go of my hatred for orange. I have pine furniture. I have 4 orange items in my closet as well as a pair of ballet flats. I enjoy "mauve" and love the smell of lilacs. I have 95% recovered from that childhood trauma.
Just don't ask me to look at pansies through a basement window or I feel like listening to Jim Morrison and crying.
12 comments:
OMG! This is hysterical!! Brought back soooo many memories of all those 60's and 70's colors! Too funny! So glad you finally got the color you wanted even if you had to wait to leave home to do it! Great story, Sandy.
Too funny! As a matter of fact, I don't much care for orange either. I don't buy any orange clothes. Imagine my consternation when my aunt in Japan sent me a wonderful (but ORANGE) t-shirt with a kanji on the back. I happen to like purple. Ah well...
I want to go back in time to live in your childhood home.
I had an orange bedroom (we called it "apricot") and it went really well with pink carpet (also shag, come to think of it).
I once had a well-intentioned boyfriend surprise me (and really, it was one hell of a surprise) by painting the bed- room that same burnt orange while I was away. Anyway, I've always loved those 70's oranges, greens, and browns.
How well I remember the days of Avocado Green and Harvest Gold. Great story! My favorite colors are Green & Orange, in that order.
This made me smile. I thought I was the only person in the whole wide world that grew up with an ORANGE room. Even my furniture was painted orange. The walls everything. For my birthdays my mom made me orange cake. I kid you not.
too funny! Has taken me a long time to love avocado green again and dusty rose...
I had the avocado green appliances in my kitchen for years, but thankfully no orange rooms. I kept the green even though it went out of style due to the high cost of appliances, but now I have white...and love them. Orange is a popular color now but I've only seen it in clothing, not furniture or on the walls. Funny how color can influence us.
I love orange! For cats, orange has NEVER gone out of style. I have two marmie brothers, Rushton & Seville. They're both as orange as orange can be and lovin' it.
Purrs,
Nissy
this post brought BIG smiles to my face. My last two bedrooms have been blue and it's the most restful colour to have in a bedroom. I just love it. That said, I adore orange. Just not those hideous 70's shades of it. My current bathroom is a bright shade of citrus orange and it reflects the light and makes the room so much brighter. I think the 70's stuff had too much of a brown tone to them.
I'm so old all my appliances were harvest gold in the early 70s. I'm still quite partial.
Daughter has always had a love affair with orange and she's finally feeling so chi-chi in her orange hats and sweaters, etc. Of course she looked weird for years, but who cares?
As a little girl I had my bedroom painted blue and yellow and I have to say I never tired of it so you can guess what colours My bedroom is going to be painted :)
Great post!
XO
WWW
Oh yes, I well remember those orange and avocado colors from the 70's!! And I never liked either one of them! Orange is fine for FLOWERS but nothing else!
My sister and I asked for a lavender bedroom and we got it, but guess what, my parents decided to paint their bedroom ORANGE!!
I had the shared pink for girls bedroom too. It stayed pink until I left home but we covered the walls with travel posters. Kitchen was orange with brown kitchen carpet and brown appliances and the sectionals in the living room were also orange. I have an avocado mixing bowl set from my wedding in 1974.
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