Lavender is a fragrant herb synonymous with the South of France. The delicate purple flowers contain a heady scent that is valued for its fragrance the world over and has long been used to create perfumes and scent the home. The color of the flowers is also a favorite purple with strong undertones of blue and grey.

 

Lavender as a color is often a more pale, pastel version of the color found in nature. It is a calming color because of all the blue it contains. Because of this lavender is a wonderful color for a bedroom.

 

Shades of lavender can range from a pale whisper to a pastel with lots of grey undertones. Lavender can work as a wall color for a living room and is lovely when paired with silvers and gold. Lavender accents and rugs are a nice way to introduce the color into a space.

 

The herb itself can have many uses in the home. Lavender is one of the herbs in the herbs de Provence blend used for Coq au Vin, the famous French chicken dish. Because of its fresh fragrance, lavender and lavender scents can be used in cleaning and laundry. Lavender is a popular scent for laundry detergents and fabric softeners. Sachets of lavender can be tossed in the dryer to give clean laundry a lovely, natural scent. Cleaning products as well can be found scented with lavender.

 

For freshening up carpets and area rugs, dried lavender can be sprinkled onto the carpet before vacuuming.