Pink 'Tacky'? Not Possible! by Rose Bennett Gilbert on Creators.com

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Pink 'Tacky'? Not Possible!

Q: My favorite color is "shocking" pink. I wear it lots and was all set to paint our living room walls when my husband's mother called it a "tacky color."

Now he's gotten involved big-time, and I have "lost the courage of my conviction," to quote my good friend Tiffany (who thinks I should go on and paint it what I want).

A: Let's hear it for Tiffany! I'm of the opinion that there's no such thing as a "tacky" color. Certainly, no color Mother Nature designs can be called tacky. On her palette, your "shocking" pink becomes "azalea" pink, and who could ever diss azaleas?

Certainly not one of the great tastemakers of the 20th century, fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Following her own motto, "Dare to be different," she's credited with bringing color to couture — make that COLOR! in caps. Elsa's own fave was the shocking pink that soon became known as "Schiaparelli Pink."

By any name, this is a color for the truly extroverted. But it can add great energy and excitement to any room scene. Look how it animates this living room, created by designer Becky Mosby (edgevaleinteriors.com) in the 44th annual show house for the Kansas City Symphony. What Becky has conjured is an essentially traditional setting — classic furniture and silk draperies gathered over textured roller shades (Alustra, by Hunter Douglas, hunterdouglas.com).

The fun comes from the arm chair that has an appliqued silk back embroidered in what Becky calls magenta, the fortissimo color she picks up and echoes all around the room.

Note how the kiwi-green snakeskin-textured wall covering makes the pink really pop! That's because green and red are complementary colors and produce great vibes when they're seen together.

The visual alchemy also works with red's close kin, pink, whether you name it shocking, Schiaparelli, azalea, fuchsia or magenta.

We saw the same color fun at work under more contemporary circumstances during last month's 80th Historic Garden Week tour in Virginia. Never mind that it was in a classic Georgian home built in Richmond in 1921 by local architect and acclaimed preservationist Duncan Lee. The current owners have filled its elegant rooms with a palette of gold, cream and uber-pink — we'll call it "fuchsia," in deference to the owners' over scaled photo of a peony that inspired the color scheme.

Fuchsia was the common color denominator that unified all the rooms. But still, visitors' stopped short on the threshold of the family room. There sat a half-dozen large seating pieces, loveseats, lounges and such, all brilliant in the same saturated pink. No wonder it's often called "shocking!"

A heads-up for serious home-idea shoppers: Historic Garden Week happens every April, opening doors to houses both historic and private all across the state of Virginia. It's a feast of good taste and terrific decorating and gardening ideas. Mark your calendars for April 26 to May 3, 2014, and click on vagardenweek.org for details.

Rose Bennett Gilbert is the co-author of "Manhattan Style' and six other books on interior design. To find out more about Rose Bennett Gilbert and read features by Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.CREATORS.com.