Where does my love for colour come from?

For those of you who know my work the foundation of my business is to introduce colour into my client's homes. But have you ever wondered where my love of colour comes from? Don't worry not all of my blogs are going to be about me, it's just one more for now so you can get to know me a little bit more. When I think about the answer to this question a lot of fingers point towards my Indian heritage. I may not be the most Indian guy you will ever meet - even my mum calls me a coconut (if you don't know what that means then ask any Indian person and they will tell you), but there are a lot of aspects from the culture that have had a colourful influence on me.

Growing up and even today I love a good Bollywood film and in each one there is always at least one big song number that everyone will be raving about. If I am not copying the dance moves, then I'm getting sucked into the colourful magic of it all. They are usually big scale productions with gorgeous costumes, set amongst amazing backdrops and at the forefront of it all the use of strong colours. So I am sure that there has to be an element of watching these over and over again that must have had a colourful influence on me.

India is one of my favourite countries to visit as it is crazy, hectic and wonderful all at the same time. In India colour is used in bold ways and you can see it everywhere especially in the clothing worn by the locals. You can be walking down any street and will no doubt come across a group of women wearing colourful sarees, adding a bold splash of colour to your day. Look at this group of women who are wearing a mix of so many strong colours that most would never think to put together, but don't you think that it is a colourful delight? We have all been taught about the colour wheel at school and the rules that we are supposed to follow, but doesn't the image below show you that rules can be broken? Maybe it is the multiple trips that I have made to India and seeing these colourful combinations that has not only been an influence on me, but has also given me the inspiration to break the rules too, which I love to do - just in case you didn't know!

Coming from a big family you can imagine that I have been to a fair few big fat Indian weddings over the years. These are always a colourful delight from the decor, clothing, ceremonies and most importantly the food. The bride is always the centre piece of it all dressed head to toe in beautiful outfits, jewellery and plenty of bling as well as me running around their every need for those lucky ladies in my life . If I'm not planning the big day with them, I am sat for hours doing their henna or waking up at the crack of dawn to help them get ready - have to make sure they look the part after all LOL! Whilst I write this the line "always a bridesmaid and never a bride" comes to mind, but anyway moving on from that and back to bride. In most cases the bride will wear red so was it the years of running around these woman that influenced my first ever solo project (New Cross Gate Apartment) that was filled with strong accents of red?

I am not sure that I will ever really know where my love of colour comes from but it is obvious that the above aspects from my Indian heritage have played a part for sure. Maybe deep down I have a rainbow inside me just bursting to pop out. However, what I do know is that colour can definitely affect your mood in a positive way, so why wouldn't you want to be surrounded by it all the time?