colour me peachy

image copyright Laure Joliet for @dominomag | click image to visit original article

Every year I pick a colour theme. It started back in 2015 as a way for me to organise my creative work, it’s quite useful when picking colours for projects and designs, especially when you’ve got a lot on your plate. But I also pick colours for each new year because I find that my taste changes over time, and it has changed dramatically since my early days of bold and bright, contrasting and lairy colours. It’s funny how this happens but I feel like as I’ve mellowed, so has my colour preferences.

Since 2017 my colour palettes have had a lot of blush about them and whilst the soft, gentle pink was always there, I found that I tried my best to steer away from it, like it couldn’t possibly be a good colour for me. I’m not sure why this aversion but towards the end of 2018 I realised that I liked blush pink a lot, I really liked blush pink, bloody loved it actually and soft pink and peach and caramel and, lord have mercy, beige!

It was a slow dawning, a realisation that I only ever picked beige or brown knitwear (I know!), that my favourite knitted items, clothes and yarn were all pastel pinks and soft corals and then the final thunderbolt moment was when I received this peachy make up palette as a gift and thus my conversion was complete. I was sold on a sweet and peachy dream.

sweet peach palette

too faced cosmetics

My peachy colour palette includes soft blushes, mocha browns, caramels, chocolates, beiges and cream with a tiny touch of khaki green for a bit of alternative contrast. I’ve been having so much fun researching the aesthetic (peach is a thing you know) and finding suitable yarns, my favourite so far are these three from West Yorkshire Spinners in their Signature 4ply.

nutmeg, lisianthus, and turmeric

For some reason this year’s colours have really influenced me far more than usual and I’ve started incorporating them into everyday life. So most things that I’m buying for the house or for myself are now corresponding with this theme and I am shook.

I’m buying peach cushion covers, peach flowers, I’ve got blush knitwear stuffed into every cupboard - well that’s not entirely true because I’m also having a Marie Kondo inspired clear out this year and my cupboards are a healthy shade of empty, but you get what I mean, don’t you?

Now, without being too dramatic, there is something magical about having a colour scheme to stick to, it kind of frees up a bit of space in your head and makes life and decisions about life a bit easier because you have less to choose from. A bit like ordering vegan food in a restaurant, if you’re lucky there’s usually only a few items on the menu which makes decision making a dream, if you’re unlucky there’s nothing on the menu except for one resentful mushroom risotto!

It’s funny though because I thought that restricting my colour palette would create more stress but instead it seems to have washed it away. I am living for it and enjoying the way the colours make me feel so soothed and happy.

image copyright @_jujujust_ | click image to visit her amazing etsy shop

Because I’m spending less time worrying about what colour I want something to be, I’m finding that I’m enjoying the projects that I’m working on instead and finding new and inventive ways to make brown look good. It also greatly reduces shopping time, especially those long wool browsing sessions on Etsy, if there is no peach, beige or even the tiniest bit of coral then I’m outta there. Ha!

I will talk a bit more about my colour theme during the course of this year and show you how it changes my life - seriously - and if you follow me on instagram you will see the transformation as it happens day by day.

Wishing you all the happiest of years and don’t forget to be peachy.