Home Improvement Magazine Kitchen Fashions Fall 2017 | Page 14

FALL
COLOURS
I
hair. They loved the colour blue and extolled the virtues
of it as they shrouded both themselves and their home
in all shades from powder to cobalt to pewter. In fact,
they were as passionate about the coolness of their side
of the colour wheel as my mom was about the warmth of
hers. I was left confused and conflicted in the middle.
INSIDE YOUR HOME
WITH COBI LADNER
grew up with a mom who loved “fall colours”. Perhaps
because she was born in October or because she was
a redhead who was told to wear olive and gold all her
life. Or maybe it was just because I was growing up in
the 70s. Whatever the reason, our house (and cottage) were
bathed in the warm glow of fall colours all year round.
When I caught the decorating bug in my early teens, I was
naturally curious about the merits of the other side of the
colour wheel - mauves and blues and God forbid - greys. My
mother spoke of them with distain as if they were the cold and
unwelcoming cousins to our warm and fun-loving fall colours.
It just so happened that my best friend was a blue-eyed
blond with a mom who had pink lipstick and frost-and-tip
As the groovy 70s turned in the posh 80s, over-used earth-
tones took a back seat to rich jewel-tones and I found
myself once again swayed from my roots, this time to a
cleaner, brighter look as I decorated my first apartment
in crisp white with Marimekko prints in the kitchen
and oversized birds-of-paradise on the bed-not an earth-
tone to behold. Surprisingly, my mother loved it.
Today my mom is open to all kinds of colours but her
favorite is still yellow. As I look around my own home I
see I’ve found my comfort zone smack in the middle. Our
house is split with the warmth and comfort of "fall colours"
in the living spaces like living, dining and family rooms
and hallways and the cool, clean and soothing shades of
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