Live in a sunset with pink & orange

I count pink and orange as one of my five a day; so long as my eyes get to feast on the beauty of these colours every day, then I am full to the brim. I took this picture of a building in Lagos last week. No filter, no increased saturation, just the beauty of Portugal at sunset! Give yourself some soul food and step into the colours of the sun.

Paint your own sunset

Next time you see the sun melting over the cliffs, how about picking up a paintbrush? I’m a full-time artist, so I love painting abstracts inspired by nature. You don’t need any particular skills for this, just mix up a lovely palette of colours and let the paint flow.

There’s a really well-stocked art shop called Arco Íris (Portuguese for ‘rainbow’) at the Aqua shopping centre in Portimão, where you can buy ready-to-hang canvas. 

For my paintings, I always get the deep-edge, gallery-style ones because they are chunky and look so much more impressive on the wall. Then pick up some acrylic paints (they’re great because they’re cheap, quick-drying, and much easier to work with than oils or watercolours). 

If you buy red, yellow, brown and white, you’ll be able to make a hundred shades of pink and orange. If you start by painting thick stripes across the canvas like a horizon and let each one run, you’ll soon be creating your own sunset.

Sit in the sun

Watch the sun go down in a sumptuous blush velvet armchair from Maisons du Monde. Or, hang the sun on your walls with this mirror – its frame of woven cotton and vegetable fibres in shades of dusky pink and orange must surely have been inspired by the setting sun.

For a little shade from the ferocity of the midday sun, I found this handmade Balinese parasol.

At two metres wide, it provides plenty of shade while also being sassy and beautiful. Featuring a fuchsia canopy with hand-painted gold inked detailing, hand-sewn tassels and ornament details, it’s truly a work of art.

Flower power

We are so lucky to have vibrant pink and orange flowers growing everywhere in the Algarve. This still-life painting was inspired by the beautiful Amaryllis laranja, which brings colour and warmth to winter days. It’s one in a series called Sunshine in a Vase, painted in celebration of Portugal’s blooms.

These textured ceramic jugs have so much personality. Handmade by Anna Westerland at her studio in Lisbon, they are dressed up for a night on the town with bright pink beads and jute tassels.

Wake up to sunshine

A perfect blend of pink and orange, ’flush’ is just one in a large range of sunny emulsion paints from Luxens, available from Leroy Merlin. It would be great for a feature wall in a bedroom. You’d feel so energised waking up to this colour every morning.

Introducing colourful textiles is an easy way to bring instant joy into your home. I love this set of five pink and orange decorative cushions and hand-woven organic cotton Turkish towels. Omer and his team will even customise them and embroider a name on each one if you ask him nicely.