Indre Kisonas
It has been a bountiful season in the garden with flowers and herbs and vegetables producing much green leaf growth as well as flowers. I can’t tell you exactly why as I only appreciate and cultivate rather than scientifically study the growing environment. My herb/ garden harvest had a common denominator, however. Luscious green foliage and a barrage of purple.
Purple and green on the colour wheel are opposite each other meaning they are complimentary colours and can create a visually appealing effect. Artist Marc Chagall was known to say “ All colours are the friends of their neighbours but the lovers of their opposite”.
When styling an interior, you can add a soothing contrast with soft purple lilac and sage green, as an example. Cushions and rugs are easily changeable and perfect for a quick pick me up. Accessorise with similar coloured vases, bowls or bedding.
Purple is associated with royalty, luxury, opulence and spirituality. During energy healing, purple is a colour used for transmutation. Green is the colour of nature, known for its healing, calming and heart centred vibration.
The association with purple for royalty stems as far back as the Bronze Age with the Phoenicians, which is now modern day Lebanon. In the city of Tyre, Tyrian purple as it became known, was an extremely expensive dye to produce. It was made by extracting a purple producing mucus from a specific sea snail, the Bolinus brandaris. It took thousands of sea snails to produce one ounce of dye. Only royalty could afford such a luxury.
Ancient Roman Emperors adopted the purple robe as a symbol of imperial authority and status. It was also said to resemble the colour of clotted blood, which carried divine connotations.
Cyrus the Great, founder and King of the first Persian Empire wore a purple tunic and Queen Elisabeth I set laws permitting only her close relatives to wear purple.
Synthetic dyes and materials have since transformed the exclusivity of the regal purple. It was why in the 1920s we saw many purple themed bathrooms and flock wallpapers. Purple became accessible to the common person and was embraced by Art Deco and Art Nouveau.
In 2025 purple is going to be on trend once again. It is a calmative, introspective, spiritual nod to nostalgia.
If revamping your home in purple or shades of, is not your idea of beauty, then I urge you to open your eyes and senses to the hues out in nature at this time of year. Lavender of course is everywhere with its heady flowers, scents and evergreen foliage, along with sage, thyme, catnip, artichoke, eggplant and mulberries to name but a few. Here, shades of purple are many, as are the many shades of green upon green.
Nature is a wonderful thing and she knows just what we need and when. As we near the end of the year with its hectic pace and schedules it is beneficial to be present and calm. Taking in the colours of the season will do just that.
Indre Kisonas is a Daylesford resident and the owner and principal designer of iok design. She specialises in colour & interior design.
