I adore this color...

This great room was painted earlier this summer, using two shades of moss green, and a Woolie tool.  The clients, Mike and Lois, were not at all concerned about leaping from off-white to saturated green.  The windows allow in a lot of light, which really bounces off of the floor and ceiling, keeping the space from becoming cave-like.

I have lots of favorite colors.  In fact I like almost every color, in some context.  Well, maybe not fluorescent orange.  It's quite effective on traffic cones, but I don't guess I could claim to actually like it.  I do like the assuredness of apricot, and the juicy hues of sunsets, though.  Especially when the grenadine fades out into velvety purplish blue.  I'm not a huge fan of pure blue, but lean it in either direction, toward periwinkle or robin's egg, and you'll find it on my walls, ceilings, cabinets, a door, a floor, and some of my furniture. 

Hopefully this close-up makes it to your monitor still showing the lovely dappled blend.

Yellow?  Yellow isn't a personal favorite, in most cases, but through no fault of it's own.  My bedroom got painted yellow when I was about four, without consulting me, and I got in a spot of trouble for embellishing it.  We've never fully reconciled, yellow and I.  Still, a bowl of lemons, or a patch of black-eyed Susans makes me smile every time.  (Fortunately, Mama and I have reconciled, though I do occasionally needle her with a reminder that people now pay me to color on their walls.)

This view shows how well moss green anchors the massive brick fireplace and the family-sized sectional.

Pink is my color for happiness, as well as Divinity (both the candy, and the Great Creator).  I don't know if I could ever explain this, but I think in shades of pink, so yes, I do see the world through rose-colored glasses.  Purple is a deeper shade of divine, and is one of my favorite colors for garden flowers, and for all things rich and regal.  Purple damask, plum velvet, lavender silk, all can be found in my main living areas, including the art studio. 

One of the concerns when helping these clients choose a color, was that it had to look good with the family room furniture, the kitchen cabinets and new granite counters, the burgundy dining room that adjoins this space, and the view outside the windows, which changes with the seasons.  Can you think of another color this flexible?

But while my love of certain colors ebbs and flows, and each has it's place in my life, there is one constant.  Moss green.  Not one shade, by a certain manufacturer, but the whole range of slightly brownish greens, ranging from deep pinon, to turtle shell, to pale olive, and preferably several shades, at once. 

There isn't a color I like that moss green won't play nice with.  It's diplomatic, cozy, traditional, and timeless.  It is supportive of boisterous young colors, and soothing with old dusty ones.  It can hold it's own against the strongest of personalities, from screaming fuchsia to rebel red. On the other hand, it can fill a room, and still not overpower a conversation between the most delicate tints of rose and thistle.  If I decide to recommend moss green to a client, I am never worried it will let them down.

The lovely thing about blending more than one shade of green is that the wall color has the same organic feel as the wood and stone.  Nature rarely displays huge expanses of flat color, so a blended finish can feel more natural, if that's your desire.

Like Mr. Darcy, or even James Bond (or perhaps more appropriately, Kermit the Frog), moss green is also pretty trend-proof.  It comes strongly into fashion every now and again, but it never goes out of style.  Both elegant and casual, fresh yet constant, energetic by day, romantic by candlelight, strong but gentle...what more could one want in a color?

You'll find a whole rainbow of colors in my portfolio, at theartofthehome.com.

Have any passionate attractions to a particular color?  Tell us all about it, by clicking on the word "comments" just below this post.  Blogger allows you to post anonymously, if your affair with something other than beige is not yet public knowledge. ;)))