Living a colourful life #capturingColour

I was packing on Monday evening for my trip away with Graham and Brown (which I cannot wait to tell you all about!), rooting through my wardrobe and the baskets full of washing ready to be ironed, that haven't quite found their way to the ironing board yet. And I realised just what a mis match of colour there is in my life. I have one black dress for serious work meetings or evenings out where I want to blend into the background more, but everything else is a rainbow of emotions, print and pattern.

I am at my most confident in colour, which to some must sound quite strange. The brighter the better in my book. Wearing my yellow mac and coloured scarves for the school run gives me an instant smile and a confidence to say hello to anyone as I race up from the car park to the school gates.

It makes me feel sunshiny. Does that sound as ridiculous as it seems to type?! But it's true. 

We've been redecorating our hallway over the last week, the sad walls full of crumbly holes have been filled and skimmed and we have freshly painted brilliant white walls from top to toe. The yellowy tinged skirting and door trim have been refreshed up with a new coat of paint and the nice, but not anything particularly special, wooden doors have also had a ghostly transformation. 

It's like someone has turned the lights on. But as much as I like this new fresh feel it does lack a little soul. So all week I've been playing with our furniture, moving bits from around the house in and out to see what felt like the right fit. I adore my bureau I found in an antique shop for a bargain price and instead of giving it a chalk paint makeover I've decided to leave it in it's varnished wood state. I need to source a lovely lamp once the pictures are all rehung on the new walls and that little corner will be complete.

It needs some colour which at the moment I am bringing in with florals arranged in little vases and some colourful cushions on the window seat. But I feel it still doesn't completely feel like me, like us. Rich's fondness for orange doesn't seem quite right with the grey accessories and I go back and forwards trying to choose the perfect wallpaper for perhaps under the stairs behind the bureau. Maybe we need something lighter behind, softer against the heavy wood rather than the bold floral prints I am drawn to over and over again.

We have greys and blues and a hint of autumn with seasonal blooms but I can't help but want to bring in a tone of pink or green somewhere. Something warm to balance the steely cool colours.

I am in love with these images from my Inspiration for our Forever Home pin board... the mix of vintage and modern, the statement light, the industrial textures mixed with the soft fabrics, rough hardwearing homewards, seagrass matting... ooh I just need to save that big budget to tick off my wish list!

You can follow along and see what I've got in mind for our renovation here... 

Whilst I love the calmness that white brings I need to be surrounded by pops of colour. It helps me think, sparks my creativity and the house changes from splashes of mint and coral in the family dining room to navy, golds and other hues of blue in the lounge.  I look back on the photos I share every day with #capturingcolour and could pin point at any one time how I was feeling. A busy, frantic day full of deadlines has a lonely single image over an 8 hour period, busy, bursting with textures and colour, a day when I'm feeling refreshed and energised will have a palette of greens, trees, leaves in the garden and other days where I am feeling less sure of decisions will have more white, a stillness that shows I need time to reflect. 

I'm sat typing this is in a pair of pillar box red capri trousers, my favourite navy slip on espadrilles which should really be packed away for next summer, and an enormous billowy white and navy neck scarf. I'm in a nautical combination of strong, but serious colours ready for a more rigid day of routine. Manageable deadlines, military timings to get everything done before the school pick up but with a playful (dare I say it rather girlish) hair clip pinning back the right side of my hair. And that's what my mood is today, hectic but under control with a hint of cheekiness. I need to be creative today, I have product photos to take that require humour and whimsy. I am like a pot of paint. The same colour inside and out!

And when I scoured the #capturingcolour gallery the other night ready to share my favourites and then got slightly weigh laid, do forgive me, with chores before I headed for an early train, I could feel I needed to immerse myself in the richness of the season. Energising greens, sumptuous flashes of red and calming blues.

I cannot believe the gallery now has over 20,000 posts linked up - that is amazing thank you so much for joining in!!!!

I loved these beautiful captures this week from the #capturingcolour gallery. 

Each week I share my grid of favourites and link to one account on the blog. I hope that I feature all sorts of accounts, inspiration from all over the world and people who make me want to reach for my camera. Check them out on my Instagram feed. 

I'm thinking of starting a monthly styling challenge as part of the #capturingcolour gallery. For the last week of the month to have a daily prompt, different daily themes to capture and get our creatives sparks flying. What do you think?!

7 days of styling for those who love to capture colour.

In the meantime go and find Candy Pop. I went through the gallery, as I do each week blindly choosing photos that jumped out at me and it was only after they loaded that I realised 4 were by Natasha! I have had the pleasure of meeting her recently and I only wishes we had had longer to chat! Her feed and love of colour is inspiring. Find her. 

So come and join us, tag your colourful images with #capturingcolour. Anything goes! Are you all about the pastels or bright pops of pink or are you a lover of cooler muted tomes, I'd love to see.

#capturingcolour is a monthly theme on Instagram. Tag your colourful photos to be featured next week. I will share a round up next Monday :)