Orange + Velvet = Wow!

I've never truly been passionate about the colour orange and when I was given the gift of an Italian, orange sweater, I didn't want to seem ungrateful, so I kept quiet it was not my colour and slowly but gradually it made its way to the back of my wardrobe. Don't get me wrong, I do like orange visually, I mean who cant resist a juicy ripe orange, or those beautiful Autumn leaves. Usually we're drawn to orange for its vibrant warmth but often feel a little scared to use it in our decor, however, after recently discovering the most gorgeous, deep orange, velvet cushions and falling totally for them, I am now in awe of this colour.

One cushion (pillow as my American friends refer), was an exquisite "touch me", rich, vibrant burnt orange velvet, the other the most beautiful orange and blue velvet cushion with an oriental design of trees and if I remember rightly, a pagoda. I grabbed the patterned cushion almost in a frenzy, rushing to the counter to find out the price, (the price tag was not to be seen on either cushion). I was quick to find out why possibly the prices were not showing, they were a whopping $300 each! Maybe they were in such a rush to show them to the world, they forgot the tags. Regardless I can't stop thinking about these cushions and even went to bed dreaming about this perfect couple, unfortunately, dreaming may be the closest I get to snuggling up to them. As much as I would loved to have taken them home, these plush, to die for, exquisitely made cushions with their plump soft feather down saw me wave goodbye to them because they were definitely out of my cushion price bracket.  I didn't have my camera on me at the time but will try to get a photo of them this weekend if they are still in the store, meanwhile I wanted to share my new love of orange and velvet by gathering a little inspiration for you...

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Orange is obviously still a hot colour this season and seems to have carried over from Tangerine Tango Pantone colour of last year. It may not be Pantone choice for 2013, however I discovered Dulux have made it an important colour in their new 2013 palette and it features in several shades in their "Blur" palette. Colours such as Radiant Orange, Kings Canyon and Bright Delight are paired alongside pinks and purples. Personally I prefer to mix it with blue as I feel the contrast really brings out the richness of the orange. Somehow velvet and orange seem the perfect compliment for each other, what do you think, would you bring this colour into your home and if so, how would you do this?