{"id":10441,"date":"2022-10-03T02:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T10:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blindsgalore.com\/blog\/?p=10441"},"modified":"2025-12-05T11:12:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T19:12:52","slug":"how-color-casts-a-spell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blindsgalore.com\/blog\/index.php\/decor-inspiration\/how-color-casts-a-spell\/","title":{"rendered":"Cast a Spell With Colorful Window Treatments"},"content":{"rendered":"

All of us who think about design and spaces that inspire us or calm us or make us feel good, love to cast color in a starring role. In honor of Halloween, now becoming one of our most celebrated holidays, I have some chilling facts about the derivation of colors and some scary origins of the colors we choose to enliven our lives and our homes. We can use these bright and bold colors on our windows to create a vibrant pop to any room or tone down the hue for a more subtle and soothing design.<\/p>\n

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\"Yellow
Source: Irastar<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Mauve<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Close-up
Source: Traveling Naturalist<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Mauve is a pale lavender color and arrives to us from France which literally means “mallow” which is a type of flower, pictured above. However, the color was first named by William H. Perkin, in 1856, when he was attempting to produce artificial quinine, a drug, which is still used as an antimalarial and anti-inflammatory drug and has a bitter, acrid taste. As he was experimenting with this process, an unusual residue remained in the bottom of his flask. This thick black substance turned purple when dissolved in alcohol.<\/p>\n

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\"A
Source: Travel Mentor<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Perkin realized that this Mauve liquid was highly adaptable to dyeing fabrics and the first aniline or synthetic dye was created out of a frightful coal-tar substance \u2013 not the soft purple color we recognize today. Perkin’s dye was called Tyrian Purple and renamed Mauve in 1859, when it was marketed. Today’s Mauve is a lighter, less intense hue with a blue-gray tint. However, Perkin’s accidental discovery of the synthetic Mauve dye, allowed color to become accessible and widespread in fashion and design.<\/p>\n

Mauve creates a mellow mood.<\/p>\n

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\"Two
Source: Green Virals, Idolza<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Puce<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Close-up
Source: Peachridge Glass<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Many of us think that Puce is like puke\u2013gory greenish, but Puce is really a dark red or purplish dark brown and is the French word for flea. This color is found on the underbelly of the flea and the Puce color represents the bloodstains on linen or bedsheets that remain from the flea’s droppings after they have been crushed. Yuck! Puce dates back to 1787, and was a popular color in 18th Century France and was noted to be a favorite color of Marie Antoinette, whose Palace of Versailles boasts 1,252 windows. Now, that is a lot of windows that need to be covered- in Puce? I doubt that, but today this color, for our modern styles, has taken on a moody, dispiriting Goth flavor. Puce, with its dark edges is a spooky color, but becomes a refined shade in our d\u00e9cor which exudes an old world charm.<\/p>\n

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\"Collage
Source: Evany<\/a>, Two Willow Road<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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