The Color Purple is Outrageous and Elegant, Whimsical and Fun!

The Color Purple is rich, garish, and outrageous when worn by ladies sporting red hats. Purple is royalty, has liturgical significance and makes tongues brand the color after sucking down a cold glass of grape juice or room temperature bouquet of good – or not-so-good red wine (what a waste).
Alice Walker expressed great symbolism of pain and beauty when writing her novel. It is certainly a complex color which for our purposes of interior design would want to focus on the positive attributes and not the less attractive. Purple continually surfaces in interior design and it’s probably due to be an upcoming trend. Whether eggplant or lavender, it is a wonderful, classic, good color (aren’t they all in some context?), – yes, purple can be quite fun!
In nature, our Sandias at sunset – although said to be “watermelon” red, by their very Spanish name, transition from many shades of pastel colors including pinks, blues, lavenders and rosy reds. Lavender fields, lavender bouquets, periwinkle blossoms, red bud trees…the list goes on… Currently, I am designing a purple scheme in a home that will be all of fun and stunning, whimsical and elegant. It seems that the brighter colors of purple often bring a smile. Extracted from a charming oil painting, of a northern New Mexico calle with brilliant white and purple lilac bushes blooming along a  dirt road accented by a royal blue picket fence, that we have selected as a focal point – the colors are enchanting. These will be more robust than pastels but softer than the royals – delineated with crisp white against a neutral backdrop of sage/stone.
I often reference colors in nature influencing interiors – and here captured in the artist’s painting is a scene from nature setting the stage as the focal element of the space.
Meanwhile, take a look around. See the earth and sky, new blossoms and colors in the built environment – and consider the possibilities for building a color scheme or punctuating with accents in your interiors.