My room’s pumpkin makeover
Decides to take a pumpkin and turn it into something magical ... well sort of.
As a child, probably at the beginning of my tween years, I would beg mum to let me paint my room hot pink. She refused (and I’m grateful for that now). But, her counter offer was a creamy-yellow, which I always refused (gag).
And so, with this stalemate my bedroom stayed, resolutely, an uninspiring grey-white for all of my childhood.
Now that I haven’t been living at home for some time, mum has taken that to mean she has free reign and creative licence over the space.
Here’s a debate for another day; if you leave home, does that mean your bedroom is no longer yours?
I don’t think so.
But here we are. I have been given the order from above (mum) to come home at some point and ‘‘get rid’’ of anything I no longer need in my room. Translation? ‘‘All that childhood junk.’’
This is to prepare for new carpet and new paint – a whole new look.
My brother’s and sister’s rooms are receiving a similar treatment; they will be getting pistachio and lovely blue-grey paint jobs. For my room mum has chosen pumpkin orange.
There are a few things I should clarify before I continue.
Firstly, my room is the darkest room in the house, to say it gets at least one hour of sunlight is generous. Therefore it needs a colour to warm it up (hence the aforementioned creamyyellow suggestion).
Secondly, mum isn’t one for feature walls, if a room is going to have colour, it’s going to be on all of the walls. And lastly, the rest of the house is painted forest green, terracotta, blue-grey and beige, so pistachio, blue and orange aren’t completely unwarranted.
So, the grumblings of a lost childhood bedroom aside, the choice of pumpkin orange has been made. Instead of dwelling on the thick book of colour swatches the room could have received, I’m taking this as an opportunity for a Cinderella moment; to take a pumpkin and turn it into something magical (or at least livable).
How to make pumpkin orange work
Start with what colours could work with pumpkin/terracotta orange, and if you look at a colour wheel blue is the obvious first choice (they’re on