In The Pink ...

Of all the colours, I have to say that Pink is one of most polarizing and unfairly so. There is no pink on the Colour Wheel. It is simply red that’s been tinted with white. What’s weird is, if you mix blue and white you get light blue. If you mix yellow and white, you get light yellow. But add white to red and you get this totally separate entity that Western culture has attached a butt load of gender stereotypes to (and slapped on the packaging to every female product in Shoppers). Pink is seen as girly (not just feminine or softer - female AND under the age of ten) but it’s really all just in our heads. So I thought this post I’d make like lover-of-pink Taylor Swift and show you how to shake it off by designing a room using PINK without the end result looking feminine or juvenile. Let’s take a look:

Here’s a Living Room in a house where I’ve used pink as the main colour. I think the best way to combat the feminine stereotype is to balance it with Neutrals like crisp white, tan and grey. These are great balances because the grey and white are cool tones for the warm pinks. Tan and pink also look great because tan is tinted brown (derived from orange) so you basically have red and orange which is an analogous colour scheme). Tan&Pink will be warmer together so definitely use some cool whites to cool it down. The other way I’ve balanced the feminine feel here is using straight lines and 45 degree angles against the soft feel of pink. This means the furniture is clean lined, square armed, the mouldings are also very squared. Even the rug pattern has these harder angles. Using Neutrals balance the pink and the hard corners cut down on the softness you’d feel on furniture with rounded edges and arms. Also I’ve kept the pinks here very pale. A more saturated bubble gum pink might be a bit harder to deal with but this light pink is easy to handle. Furthermore, the furniture is modern and clean lined with lots of leg showing. This is also a bit more masculine in feel to counter the preconceived notions of femininity around pink. If the furniture was skirted or slip covered, it would feel more feminine and mixed with pink would definitely come across as girly. I’ve also kept the patterns cleaner: solids, stripes, geometric, overall patterns (you’ll remember reading about those in my recent blog on Bachelor Pads) and kept away from florals and damasks. Let’s look at pink on a larger scale.

Here we’ve used a very soft pink on the walls and a few small accessories. We’ve kept the furniture Neutral again with clean, straight lines and added some grey leather in the armchair to balance out the pink. But because there’s so much pink on the walls, I’ve kept it to a minimum elsewhere since having it on such a large scale can get very overpowering if it’s not used in smaller doses elsewhere. I also recommend going with a soft blush pink if you’re planning on using it on the walls. Going with something more saturated can feel like you’re living in a bubblegum factory. Nobody wants that.

I think both of these looks are very liveable. They’re clean and modern but not the least bit juvenile. They’ll especially look great at night when the lighting levels are lower too.


So don’t be afraid to Think Pink. And remember, if this is something you’re thinking of doing but are nervous, you can always contact us to help. Until next time, thanks for striving to live the Well Designed Life.


Steve

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