Dear readers

We live in unsettling times. You know what I mean by this. In short: anything can happen. The odds are that the unlikely will occur and not only occur but establish its unlikeliness in mainstream culture, thought and practise. Then, at some point, the unlikely becomes the everyday. This is what is happening to colour in interiors. Colour used to be the rank outsider, the most likely to not really succeed. We liked it in theory, but much like recycling, electric cars, going vegan and Uber, we were less keen on the execution. Take teal. Three years ago the thinking was: okay, but just a bit. So long as there is 99 per cent more taupe in the room to tame it. We had this idea that colour needed managing; it was risky. It’s interesting because colour is a strong emotional kicker, so yes, it is risky. It is mood altering and works in subliminal ways.

But today, colour in interiors is as much a part of our life as recycling, veganism and appcontrolled taxi services. We are fine with it. In fact, we welcome it. It doesn’t need managing and, as a society that is now so risk fatigued, we view colour as a friend. It’s taken a while, but we are letting colour do its job – to make our homes feel more inspiring to us. With the exception of decorator Dean van Aswegen.

His historic Jo’burg apartment reboot is a nocturne in the plushest shades of soot and tar meets emu egg white and almond milk – necessary to tame his very colourful life, I’m told. But, for the most part, this issue features rooms rapturous with colour. Green carpets, orange walls, pink bookcases and a blue kitchen are some of my faves.

Then there is decorator Andrea Graff ’s paean: ‘My favourite colour is colour’. In her self-penned profile (because she is a rib-crackingly funny raconteur) she recounts her own adventures in design.

This month, Condé Nast House & Garden Gourmet is also back as a magazine-within-a-magazine and it’s jam-packed with the need-to-know winter recipes, from the usual suspects – broths and roasts – to more unusual crowd pleasers – vegan ribs, anyone?

It all makes for a high-octane Technicolour tour de force that’s sure to bring a whole lot of much needed colour – and comfort – to you this season.