In the Pink

This morning is all about springing forward into spring, and even though the official start is March 20th, the season has already arrived in Charleston.

Proof: I snapped the pic below of Japanese cherry trees in full bloom downtown yesterday. I grew up with them in Virginia (we used to shake the branches in our backyard to make it "snow") and I've always loved the show-stopping pink petals.

In the nearly five years I've lived in the Holy City, I've also admired similar blush hues on buildings all over downtown. There are at least fifty shades of what I call "Charleston pink", ranging from pale, pale, almost white, to bright pink, to a dusty, terracotta-coral mix. And those pinks are no doubt influenced by the city's architectural lineage in places such as Bermuda and Barbados and the Bahamas—tropical locales where buildings were often painted light colors to deflect heat.

And while it's true that similar pinks exist in Savannah and New Orleans, Charleston's sister cities, there is something different about pink here in my opinion. Maybe it's the light. Whatever it is, I'm constantly inspired by it, and I keep an arsenal of photos snapped all over town at the ready for interior design projects. A few of my pics follow below:

And for the record, I think Charleston pinks are the perfect neutral in interior design. They go with everything and the palest shades can be downright masculine depending on where and how you use them (believe it, boys).

I'm partial to Farrow & Ball's Pink Ground, C2 Colori's Secret, Duron's Barbados from the Colors of Historic Charleston Collection, as well as Benjamin Moore's Coral Reef (below):

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And Laura Ashley's Pale Chalk Pink:

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