Pink is not just for a baby girl’s room

“I fell off my pink cloud with a thud.” — Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011), actress

The object of my search was a red or gold garden seat. You know, those awesome ceramic or porcelain accessories that can be used as a seat or a side table, plant stand or anything your little heart yearns for.

So, back to my quest. I went to a specific home store because I knew that their millions of items were mostly separated by color. How easy to shop.

While wandering down the aisles of reds, golds, greens, blues and aquas, there it was — sitting there all peaceful, serene and bodacious — an entire row of pink. Now these accessories were not for baby’s rooms — they were grown-up things — and did I say pink?

It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a collection. When I was a teenager I had a pink bedroom; even had a pink princess phone. But I got over that and not for lo these many years have I seen pink like this.

A lot of new mothers don’t even want pink these days for baby; they prefer more subtle colors that don’t designate a “little girl’s” room or a room that looks too “babyish.” And when shopping for baby clothes you see more greens, yellows and white for little girls than pink.

Poor pink — I guess it really does get a bad rap. It’s really not even its “own” color; it’s a combo of red and white.

But pink also has quite a history, and certainly represents brave endeavors such as breast cancer awareness. Pink has been the girl color and blue the boy color since the 1940s. And where would we be without pinks in the sunrise and sunsets? It’s been said that if you are “in the pink,” you’re healthy, and that pink rooms give women a great glow.

So, let’s take a closer look at pink in the home.

Both red and pink are associated with love: Red is passion and pink is considered romantic and charming. Pink becomes more sophisticated when used with black, gray or dark green.

Pink is also used in feng shui. According to About.Com, “You could almost say that, as a feng shui color, pink literally soothes the heart and fills it with love! The widest use of pink color in feng shui is in the southwest area of one’s space, as it is connected to love and marriage. The feng shui element of southwest is earth, so fire color is perfect as it creates earth in the productive cycle of the feng shui five elements. You can bring the fire energy with the wall color or furniture and decor accessories.

”The most common pink used in feng shui decorating is a gentle pink, although the ‘hot version’ of it, the magenta pink, is used more and more often, as it brings very fiery energy, especially when coupled with orange, also a fire element color.”

Now we know. Pink is not dead, it’s just taken on a new life — a trendy life not relegated to the nursery. It’s in Wikipedia. It has its own pages on the net. It’s part of decorating legend, feng shui. The pink lady still haunts the local bars. Pink Cadillacs roam the burbs filled with cosmetics, and, OK, I think I’m done.

Personally I can’t warm up to pink, but if you have a penchant for pink, go for it. And don’t get me wrong, I have pink things in my wardrobe, but while I was writing this, I looked around my house and not a smidgen of pink.

The images I have for you are gorgeous pillows from Company C, all featuring different pinks. They would be great with seating or bedding. So, if you like pink, match it up with more neutral colors so you don’t feel like you’re living in a powder puff. And keep mirrors around to get the glow.

Carolyn Muse Grant is a founder and past president of the Architectural &Decorative Arts Society, as well as an interior design consultant/stylist specializing in home staging. Send questions to creativemuse@cox.net.