TREASURE HUNT

This morning, when I dressed for work, my eyes and fingers moved down the rack in my closet. I skimmed over the skirts, blouses and sweaters hanging there before I pulled out a sweater and slipped it on.

What caught my eye and made me choose that sweater over everything else was the color. It was a red, ribbed, turtleneck. Perfect for a drab, gray, day.

Color impacts collectors, as well. Often it is the color of an item that catches our eye, evokes a memory or pulls us toward it in the jumble of merchandise on a table at the flea market or antique show.

Look around your home. Chances are the colors you love are all around you.

Recently, I met with a group of antique lovers. We talked about the things that each of us collects, and why we love them. For each of us, color was important.

The young woman from Seattle smiled when she talked about her collection of pictures of little houses. Red houses. She collects prints and paintings of red houses, only.

Another woman, from Colorado, who collects kitchen items, said she looks for vintage pastry cutters, sifters and other utensils with handles that were painted green. She strings them like peppers and hangs them in her kitchen.

“I’ve always loved green, even before Martha Stewart made green popular,” she said.

I know just how she feels. I love green, too. That and red are my favorite colors. I especially love that soft, grey-green from the 1930s and ‘40s.

And before Martha put that green in front of women everywhere with her Jadeite collection and in the paints and fabrics of her home, I didn’t have a lot of competition. That’s not true anymore.

The same thing happened when Mary Engelbreit burst onto the scene. Engelbreit loves red. The photographs of her home, which appear frequently in her magazine, “Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion,” are filled with touches of red in the fabrics and collectibles with which she decorates and from which draws inspiration for her illustrations. She inspired her fans to use red in their homes.

Rachel Ashwell launched a craze for pastels when she painted her walls and furniture white, and filled her home with vintage accessories in soft turquoise and pale pink.

Each of these women has a personal palette. As do we all.

I wore a red sweater today because it makes me feel warm inside and out. And my home is filled with my favorite color.

A large red vase holds flowers or tall branches on my dining room table. A painted red tray hangs on the wall. The chairs are covered with fabrics that spark with crimson and garnet.

Those are things I found and chose to bring home with me, which called to me because they were my favorite color. And just as my sweater makes me feel snug, my red treasures warm the rooms around me.