I definitely lead a colourful life. With four kids, two dogs, an active social life, enviable travel schedule and a job that has me buzzing from one end of the city to the next - I am always on the go!
When trend forecasters started calling Spring 2012 one of the most colourful seasons we have seen in decades, I shouted "woohoo!" Finally, my outward appearance would reflect my inner vibrancy.
As I perused the style options for décor, I was flooded with memories of decades past and the choices I had made back in the ‘80s when I chose purple broadloom and a grey paint, with a hint of mauve, for the walls. The look worked back then and would again today.
Then I recalled one of my favourite night-scene looks that included red jeans and yellow stilettos with silver heels . . . I rocked that look in my twenties, so much so that a swanky Palm Beach hotel escorted my friends and I out of their bar, discreetly claiming that "girls like us were not welcome in their hotel." Lesson learned - too much of a good thing, is well, too much!
So, learning from experience, I will embrace the colours of spring but will be wary of going overboard. And this is the same advice that Melissa Shabinsky offers in her beauty column, which looks at bringing colour into your makeup regimen.
Many of the colourful looks that are popping up this spring stem from the tropics and this makes Jane Whiting's renovation feature right on trend. If you ever thought recreating a tropical paradise in Ottawa was impossible, this feature will have you thinking twice.
This spring we celebrate the great, gorgeous outdoors - and while we may not see the beauty of colour just yet as we look out our windows - wait for it, it's coming! In the meantime cherish our spring issue with pages of beautiful backyard inspiration and colour everywhere - from décor, to fashion, beauty and personality!
Colour me happy,
Mary Taggart, Editor in Chief
Mary's must-haves
Adding vibrancy to your home and wardrobe is a definite must this season!
- The wardrobe necklace - amethyst, mixed with antique carved coral, large gemstones and Swarovski crystals. www.originalsbyandrea.com;
- MAAX COLLECTION, Ella Pink Martini soaking tub from Boone Plumbing;
- 7 For All Mankind The Skinny in vermillion, from Schad.
