Time to take down the Halloween decorations. The girls have made all kinds of orange construction paper jack-o-lanterns from preschool through the primary grades. We tape them all over the french doors leading to the deck, making them appear as though they are perched on the mullions. The pumpkins, ranging in age from 8 to brand new, are an assortment of shades of orange, faded from sun exposure over the years.

When I had piled most of the decor on the dining room table, I was struck by the shift in energy in the room!

Using our fundamental principle of balancing warm and cool tones, I was able to seasonally manipulate and enhance the energy. Being October in Seattle when our days begin to get VERY short and dark, increasing the vibration of the relationships of color by adding a boost of warmth made a huge impact.

The room has fir floors, a fir table, and fir french doors. In my world of color, I would qualify all of these wood tones as orange, and obviously warm. To balance this, I have used cool tones: a rich sage green on the walls and on the ceiling, the peacock blue accent repeated throughout my home. If I had more interest in this sort of thing, I would calculate and measure how much more area of orange was created by covering the french doors with orange pumpkins, and what is that impact on the vibration of the room? I'm sure someone could calculate some ratio from that.

Regardless, from what I experienced standing there in my dining room, the shift in the space, from having the jack-o-lanterns on the doors to being on the table, was significant. Without a doubt, the extra infusion of orange makes for a very warm and festive atmosphere. Lively and cozy.