winter colors

This morning I was watching my bird feeder and thinking about the colors of the little songbirds visiting me. The yard in winter is mostly taupe to ivory, with dried grasses and bare tree limbs. Winter yards are like the color palette of a common "model home" in a new subdivision... all neutrals and a "pop of color". In the model home the pop of color is the pillows, in the yards the pop of color is usually the berries on evergreen bushes. But if you are lucky, you will get the treat of the songbirds at the feeder.
Today's color palette at the feeder included a new bird, a fabulously ostentatious yellow bird. And like many of the birds who visit my feeder, when the sun hits his feathers they change color, sometimes brightening, sometimes a change in hue. This little bird went from yellow to chartreuse, not a color normally found in nature. But reflecting on the colors of these breakfasting birds, you can see how the color palette around you can change too with different lighting. You can look upon these birds for your next color inspiration, too. My favorite winter bird is taupe with a reddish head. When the sun strikes this bird, his head and back go from dull red to cerise. He glows.
So, how can we make our world glow again, change your lights. Next time you find a sale on CFL light bulbs, buy two packs. One pack should be a cool color temperature, about 5000K, sometimes referred to as "daylight". The other should be warm, around 2700K, sometimes referred to as "soft". Now, replace all the bulbs in a room with one color of bulbs and turn on all the lights. Look around sit down and spend a few minutes doing what you would normally do in the room. Then, replace all the bulbs with the other and do the same test. Which light temperature makes you room sing like a bird? Different rooms will benefit from different lighting at different times of the day. So you might want to try this experiment more than once. So environmentally friendly, you will not be replacing these bulbs anytime soon wih CFL's!
Enjoy your brighter new room.