Pink has always been a core color in my professional and personal life.

I find the range of shades of pinks, from pastel baby pink and ballet slippers to joyful fuchsia evokes both soothing inner peace and passionate emotions. It is considered a feminine color, one of romance, love, kindness, healing, warmth and peacefulness.

When I was first drawn to this color it was mainly the pastel end of the palette, largely due to my great love of ballet and tutus. But over time I have embraced richer tones of raspberry and magenta.

I favor bluey dusty pinks and in my personal life and my design work I veer away from yellowy pinks of coral and salmon. While I find red a little to bold, I consider pink is just a faded sun-bleached red.

HOW I USE PINK IN MY LIFE

Many years ago, I adopted Shabby Chic pink Christmas, for my home decorations. Omitting the traditional reds and green for pink, white and silver. This all started when I found a vintage pink Santa on my travels thru flea markets. Since then, I have collected and have also designed many holiday décor items in this palette. Once this was my focus, I found many beautiful vintage Christmas baubles in lovely shades of pinks with silver accents which gives my trees a lovely whimsical romantic aesthetic.

Layering in white, ivory, taupe’s, browns into shades of pinks are my favorite combinations, often implemented in my print designs. While I love monochromatic prints where I incorporate multiple shades of pink, I love the juxtaposition of combining the earthy tones of browns. It both handsome and feminine. Many of my top selling prints are of this color combination.

And then pink lays so beautifully next to blues and sage for both home décor and apparel, from pastels or a stronger combination of raspberry to teal. I experience those tones more livable and soothing, whereas primary colors of reds and greens, I find can be dramatic but but also anxious making, especially in my home décor.

In my home I have used various shades of pink in my rooms, but I typically dilute up to 70% with water, to create more of a tint wash. Still effective for calming qualities but not overpoweringly girly. When doing so I sometimes combine painting the walls with my tint wash and then an off-white ceiling for contrast.

Pink is also my favorite color to wear, especially for blouses. I love how feminine, against my faded blue jeans and beaten-up cowboy boots it makes me feel. Even if the silhouette is simple without ruffles and lace, the color alone is enough to feel girly-girl have only a select few tops as it’s quite hard to find the perfect shade of the bluey pink I love. So often in fashion corrals and salmon seems to available. But when I find one that I love I wear until threadbare, and any patches I apply needed for years of wearing, have nothing more to attach to. One of my favorite party outfits was where I popped on a pink tutu over a pair of jeans. The frills and funk was quite the show stopper.

Once of my most successful bedding collections was Petticoat Blush. Inspired by my love of Marie Antoinette, and her sheer abundance of ruffles, lace and feminine beauty. Petticoat Blush ( & white), was a bedding collection, (and in later years tablecloths and curtains), made of linen cotton and cotton lace.

It took many attempts in my development process to get the pink just the right shade, as the dye would take on different shades between the linen and lace. But when I got it right, it was pure perfection. Over the years many times we had to realign the formula of hand dye as when it inevitably shifted, it touched upon the dreaded coral and salmon shades and then didn’t make the cut. I have many bins of the discarded attempts. I think Marie herself would have loved this collection.

I’ve also been known to decorate cakes with flowers from my garden. I like to create a base of icing in a whisper of pink. For this I add the teeniest drip of food coloring. Took me a minute to work out how teeny so to just have a whisper of pink rather than a cake more suited for Barbie.

Flowers of course are a mainstay in my world. Whether faux, supermarket or may garden. The same rules apply to the shades of pinks I love. There is nothing quite a glorious that roses and peonies capturing 50 shades of pink.

So, simply to say, I simply love pink. And while it is considered a feminine color, there is nothing more handsome than a man in a soft pink linen shirt. Demonstrating the importance for us all to be connected to our feminine side.