Vintage Kitchens!

vintage

Modern Kitchen

I love the look of vintage kitchens. They always seem to have individual personalities. I especially like the idea of rescuing items from the past. There is a history in old objects, and I imagine what it must have been like in a kitchen in the 1940s or 50s or whenever the item was originally used. I also like collections. It is interesting to see what people like to collect. One person's junk is another person's treasure, and I think that makes collections special. That's what I find lacking in many kitchens in new houses or those whose owners try to fill their spaces with the latest trends. I am tired of seeing stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, islands etc. So many cookie cutter kitchens. If you watch House Hunters on HGTV you know what I mean. The houses all start to look the same, and if the Hunters don't see those trendy items in the kitchen, then the deal is off. That is so not me. I love walking into a house and seeing old pantries, or breakfast nooks, or some other feature that is unique and a bit quirky. There are endless possibilities to make a kitchen reflect your personality and your individual tastes. Vintage decorating can be done at a low cost, especially if you search flea markets, ebay, yard sales and thrift stores. It can be so much fun to find a new piece to add to your collection!




Apartment Therapy

 

Oregon Live



Cottage Home Decorating



                                                                                                                                                              The two pictures above are from Cynthia's Cottage Design. She has lots of beautiful pictures of vintage rooms and she also designs and creates amazing miniature home decor. I could spend hours on her blog.

White interior spaces with pale wall colors!

Hi, I’m Joanna, a blogger for Design Shuffle, a terrific online source for all things interior design. My job has me searching daily for beautiful decorating ideas to share with readers like you. Today's guest post here at Beachnut Lane is all about white interior spaces with pale color on the walls. Pale walls don't detract from white rooms. On the contrary, they can actually add visual interest and give white furnishings even more importance. Here are eight creative ways to use pale wall colors in white living spaces. Thanks to Syndi for allowing me to share with you. Please enjoy!



Painting the walls a pale blue gray makes the white furnishings pop in this eclectic dining room. I love the shaded chandelier with its strings of crystal beads.



How lovely are pale pink walls below an ornate ceiling? This living space has such a pretty feminine charm.



In this appealing bedroom design, pale gracefully aged walls create a lovely backdrop for sumptuous bedding in differing tones of white.



Pale gray walls are a perfect choice for this glamorous white bath with shiny accents seen everywhere.



Perhaps a shade darker than the other pale hues in today's post, these purple walls are a perfectly smoky hue. This dining space is just right for family meals, entertaining friends or a dinner for two.



Pale gray walls in an all white kitchen can feel cold, but warmer tones on the floor and dark natural wood on the breakfast island warm up this bright open space.



The palest of pale turquoise paint on the walls gives this beautiful white kitchen a charming coastal feel.



Looking for dining room design ideas that include pale walls? Here's a different take on softly colored walls. Wide stripes of gray and chalky white give a fresh updated feel to this dining space. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

What are your thoughts on these neutral palates? Don't forget that you can always check out Design Shuffle for more inspiration and have the opportunity to connect with Los Angeles interior designers, New York interior designers and more!

Inspired by Downton Abbey

A few days ago, I wrote about my love for Downton Abbey and talked about the interior design of the Edwardian era. Today, I  am creating a living room design inspired by the era. I worked up a design board with a few items I found for sale online. Pastel colors, chintz, chippendale furniture, an armoire, chandelier, period framed print, and silver tea set all complete the room!



Edwardian inspired living room by Beachnut Lane
Sources: armoire~ Drexel Heritage, chippendale chair~ Laurel Crown, chaise~ Pierre Deux, green sofa~ Ballard Designs, rug~ Home Decorators, lamp~ Lamps Plus, small table~ Laurel Crown

 

Lamps Plus





Lamps Plus

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Which items would you incorporate into your Downton Abbey inspired room?

Do you think this series will inspire the next trend in interior design?

In love with Downton Abbey!

via Hooked on Houses

Have you been watching Downton Abbey, my new favorite show?  I have come late to the party. I watched the whole first season of the series last weekend when I was sick. Now I have to find the second season and start watching. I love everything about it. The story lines are great, the acting is superb. A soap opera set in the Edwardian era! Of course, what makes it even better is the beautiful wardrobe and set design. I love the attention to detail, such as coordinating the color of the women's dresses to the room in which the scene takes place. I was watching a scene that was in a peachy/orangey room that had small accents of lavender, and didn't the characters have on the same colors, only reversed! Brilliant! The colors flowed so effortlessly, creating a moving watercolor.  I love all the subtle color too. Varying shades of white with just a touch of light blue or red in the clothing. Lots of wicker accessories, tea sets, paintings on all the walls. Oh, and the library! Love it.

     The Edwardian era was an interesting one for design. The country was moving away from the dark colors and excessive ornamentation of the Victorian Era, and toward a lighter, cleaner style of design. Pastel colors dominated the walls,  which were beginning to be painted instead of papered. The papered walls were sometimes varnished, to make it easier to clean. King Edward VII ruled only a short period of time, from 1901-1910, but the era in terms of style ran until WWI. There was an obsession with cleanliness, probably in response to the epidemics that swept the country at the turn of the century. The woodwork was painted white and the walls white or pastel because it was easier to see the dirt. Wall to wall carpet was replaced with hardwood flooring and area rugs, that could be taken outside and beaten clean. This era also ushered in electricity, telephones, furnaces, and plumbing. I like how all these changes are reflected in the life of the Downton Abbey. The use of wicker furniture and baskets were also prominent during this era, as was the use of plants as decor. Rooms that were used by the women tended to be full of light, bright colors and flowers. Chintz fabric, lace curtains, and embroidered pillows filled the rooms. Men's rooms tended to use darker colors. Libraries, the man-cave of the Edwardian Era, were often done in deep rich red, greens and blues, and the woodwork was usually varnished, not painted.

     Downton Abbey is filmed at Highclere Castle, which has a rich history. It has been in the Herbert family since the 1600s and is the country seat for the Earl of Carnarvon. Between 1839-42 the 5th Earl remodelled the castle in the Jacobethan style and is faced in Bath stone. During the 20th century, the Castle fell into disrepair and it was uncertain if the family could raise the money needed to fix it. In 2009, the Daily Mail wrote an article about the castle and printed pictures some of the rooms. The castle is open to the public and several state rooms can be toured.

pictures are via Highclere Castle

via  My Favorite and My Best

Highclere Castle

Fabric samples and paint chips!

Last Saturday my fabric samples arrived. I must say that I am glad I ordered samples instead of just buying what I liked online. Just like paint colors, fabric colors look different in person than online. It is worth it to take the time and few dollars to order swatches before making your decision.
For example, here are comparisons between the online store's picture and a scan of the actual swatch. The sample swatches are 4x4 inches. Its apparent that the actual design on the fabrics is much larger than it appears in the store photo.

 
The pictures above are of Lundsford Opal from OnlineFabricStore.net. In addition to size of the pattern, the texture of the material is not what I was expecting. It has a plastic-like feel to it, which would make it more appropriate for upholstery fabric, than drapes.

 

Wow, the pattern on this fabric is huge compared to the picture. I love it! Just a matter of deciding if I use it on my wing-backs or my big chair. The fabric is like duck cloth~ sturdy, but cotton, not at all plasticky. It could also make nice drapes. Oh, the choices!

I decided to order a few more samples with more colors in them.

Sherwin Williams : Comfort Gray~ Silvermist ~Sea Salt

I thought that it would make sense to pick the fabrics before choosing the paint colors. Of course it does. I have it narrowed down to several colors: Comfort Gray, Silvermist or Sea Salt from Sherwin Williams, and Palladian, Wythe and Stratton Blue from Benjamin Moore.
I'll be back next week with a final decision (I hope).!

Where have I been?

I'm back! Where have I been, you ask? SICK! I was completely knocked out by a bad gastrointestinal virus that had me bedridden with a high fever (and assortment of other issues) for a whole week. Wow. I hope none of you get that bug. Believe it or not, I was even too sick to get on the computer. But I'm back and feeling great! I was worried that my poor abandoned blog would wither away with no posts and no attention. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I logged on and found that my traffic had tripled in the week I was away! What is giving me this big boost? Pinterest! Are you a pinterest user? If not, go check it out. It's basically bulletin boards of pictures. You can organize them any way you like and its like keeping an online scrapbook of pictures you collect. You can go on blogs and "pin" pictures from the blog onto your pinterest account. Other pinners can the copy (repin) onto theirs. Its an easy way to do some simple design boards for your projects. I just started using it myself, but their are lots of readers who have been pinning and repinning pictures from my blog, and as a result, lots of new readers have been coming by for a look!
      More news filed under "fun stuff"~My last post before getting sick was on Amy Butler's wonderful designs. Well, she read the post and so did her staff. I got a really nice email thanking me for the post! Nice to get that kind of acknowledgement. Also, I was contacted by an editor from an online decorating site that is interested in doing a guest post, so look for that in the near future. Good things are happening and I am excited to be back.
     Now for the bad news. Notice there is no more Adsense advertising on my blog? Well, the day I got sick,  Blogger Adsense decided that I had invalid clicks on my ads and threw me out to the curb. Wow. That company really has some major issues. First of all, you need to reach a threshold of $100 in order for them to send the first check. After about 2 months I noticed I had about $115 in my account, so I filled out the tax information so they could send my first check. The NEXT day, they disabled my account saying they detected an unusual amount of activity and determined the clicks to be invalid. Huh? So not only did they terminate my account, but they took the money my blog had already earned! I get nothing. What a racket. I could appeal, but I am so disgusted, I never want to have them on my blog again. Here is the problem with there "invalid click" software program: It does not take into account that the ads are based on content. So if I do a post on an unusual fabric, or mid-century furniture or specific paint colors, for example, the ads on the page of that post will be directly related to the post, therefore sometimes generating an unusual amount of clicks! Isn't that what is supposed to happen? Well, in their world, they expect to see an average # of clicks per day. That just doesn't happen. Also, I posted info on my blog in some public places that have multiple computers. If a lot of people use the computers to go to my blog and then click on the ads, it looks like one person to the Adsense software. I know they are aware of this problem, because on their appeal form, one of their questions relates to it. Anyway, I am done with Adsense forever! Now I am looking into other ad networks. If you have any suggestions and/or any experience with ad networks on your own blog, please leave a comment. I appreciate your suggestions.
    I have rambled on long enough, I will be back later with a design post. Have a great day!

In love with Amy Butler Designs!

AmyButlerDesign.com

I love fabric. It's no secret. I could spend hours in a fabric store, just looking.  For me, it is like an art gallery. My fabric obsession is just as bad good as my paint chip obsession! Artists create the most beautiful designs, and I have found an artist whose fabrics are inspirational. Amy Butler has been creating fabrics with her husband David since 1992. She lives in the midwest and is a true renaissance woman. She cares about the environment, local craftspeople, sustainability, and giving back to the community. She draws inspiration from her world travels and her own backyard. What drew me to her work was her unabashed use of bold colors and patterns. Some of her prints have a very bohemian feel, others look like they came from the arts and crafts movement , while others look like they were plucked from a lush english garden! This womnan is not afraid of color and has inspired me to inch ever so slightly out of my pale, neutral comfort zone. I discovered her while searching for fabrics for my big living room project. I will be doing lots of reupholstering and sewing drapes and pillows, so I need lots of  fabric! She has a product line that includes bedding, towels, wallpaper, handbags and a bunch of other wonderfully colorful stuff. Check out her website, Amy Butler Design!

Look at these beautiful handmade, handcarved rugs. I can't afford one, but I can dream!

I am happy to report that I can afford this fabric I found at Fabric.com!! All of these fabrics can be found there for only $8.98/yard. Definitely an affordable way to bring beauty into your home!

 I have ordered samples of my three favorite :

#1

#2



#3

 Here are a few more Amy Butler fabrics you can find at Fabric.com  :

 

 

Hope you enjoyed looking at these beautiful designs as much I as have. Visit Amy Butler Design to see her entire collection and Fabric.com for some great bargains on beautiful Fabrics.( Just for the record, I didn't get any compensation for raving about one of my favorite fabric designers, just wanted to share the love!)