Orange is the New Red

Scalamandre

Growing up surrounded by a grove of oranges trees, I adore the vibrant color of my childhood.  Orange never fails to inspire me!

Stimulating and flamboyant, orange is associated with energy, warmth, and sensuality. It stimulates hunger, creative energy, and desire, which brightens and boosts its surroundings. This warm hue invokes images of summer heat and autumn harvest.

I recommend using it in areas for extra joy or warmth. Restaurants often use orange to encourage feelings of hunger, sociability, and comfort.

Canovas

Frank Sinatra once said, “Orange is the happiest color,” and I’m inclined to agree.  Apparently more than any other color, orange invokes extreme positive and negative reactions. People tend to love it or hate it, but few feel neutral. Orange may be controversial, but it certainly isn’t boring!

I’m partial to orange, and surround myself with many shades of it––salmon, pumpkin, terracotta, coral, melon, persimmon––and embrace using it with pink!

While I use orange liberally, sometimes the suggestion meets resistance.  Once when I advised a client to use an apricot hue to warm her living room, she revealed that oranges make her uncomfortable. Later she took a leap of faith after hearing my delight in finding pleasant ways to incorporate unlikely color, and agreed to paint a basement stairway a basketball color.  Now the bright, lively kitchen joyfully transitions to the somewhat neglected basement.  This simple but significant enhancement surprised the client, and she now enjoys the trek.

TIP: If you love feeling inspired, stimulated, and happy, surround yourself with orange.  Or, like my client, use it subtly because there’s always somewhere to enjoy orange!