Original artwork inspiration

Years ago I painted a pastel landscape, which was inspired by a work of Monet.  Pastels seem to have gone off-trend during the first decade of the 21 century, but they now are making a comeback! So I dragged my old painting out of the closet and hung it in my bedroom, against my wall painted Benjamin Moore Ocean Air. What do you think? (Its not a good picture, I am using my crappy Kodak point and shoot)



Syndi White

The last picture is color-enhanced in Photoshop elements. I like the bright colors.

I get excited when I find an inspiration piece and I think I have found one in my own artwork! Have you found an inspiration piece lately? Tell us about it!

I'm linking this post to My Romantic Home linky party!

Sharing Easter Traditions

    

                                                                

                                                                  Decorating the trees!

                                                                        Easter Baskets

Our basket traditions include a book, a video, a stuffed animal,  some other little trinkets..and candy!

My mother always used to hide the baskets throughout the house, and like an egg hunt, we ran around the house trying to find all the baskets. For my kids, I always put the baskets someplace outside. Sometimes at the back door, sometimes in the yard. Loved seeing them run to the door in anticipation!

                             I love rabbits! Easter gives me an excuse to collect and display them.
And of course, what would Easter be without Easter Bonnets!.........Here are some family photos from the Ghost of Easters past:

 

Every year my mother would let me choose a new Easter hat and outfit. At church, I loved looking at all the fancy outfits and Easter hats, all covered with different types of artificial flowers! Oh, that's me in the black & white picture,  proudly wearing my new yellow coat and white hat with flowers on it, carrying a matching purse (of course!)

Hope you have a wonderful Easter full of your own special traditions and memories!.

Deciding between Sherwin Williams Rainwashed and Sea Salt

I have narrowed the field down to 2 colors: Sherwin Williams Rainwashed and Sea Salt. Here are some pictures of the colors in different rooms (with widely different results based on lighting).

First up is Rainwashed. You must go visit Helen at A Brit of Happiness  and see the before and after of her family room, as pictured in the two pictures below. Beautiful work!

The next picture is from an amazing house called Blue River Cottage featured at Home Stories A to Z

Looking at these two homes with beautiful, light blue Rainwashed rooms, I would definitely pick this color for my living room. BUT....after I looked at these rooms below painted with the exact same color, a big red flag went up. Remember how Palladian Blue looks in my room?  I started to think that maybe Rainwashed would also look bright seafoam green in there too! Look at the different looks of Rainwashed below and compare them to the two pictures above. Incredible difference! The top pics look so pale and calming and read light blue aqua. The pics below look brighter and greener. I like them, I just don't think Rainwashed is neutral enough for my room.

A Mod Vintage Life

My Home Ideas

So my next choice was Sea Salt. At first, I thought this would just be too gray in my room. However, I plan to balance it by painting the stairway and upper level (which is really part of the living room) in a much bolder teal. I like how Sea Salt  works as a neutral and looks good against many colors. When turquoise accesories are put next to a Sea Salt wall, the beatiful blue/green comes out to play.

Anything Pretty

Unskinny Boppy



Southern Hospitality



Apartment Therapy

So there you have it. I am on my way to the Sherwin Williams store to buy a quart of Sea Salt. I will be back soon to let you all know how it looks. Wish me luck!

Collections used in home decorating

I have been noticing that a lot of bloggers are showing off their collections. They collect all sorts of stuff. I love seeing collections used in home decor because they add character and personality.

 It is so boring looking at page after page of cookie cutter rooms, all staged to perfection with the latest trends. I am drawn to rooms that have a touch of whimsy and reflect the interests and tastes of the owner (even if they are not on the 'trendy' list). In the past few days I have seen an egg cup collection from Claudia over at Mockingbird Hill Cottage that I love. They are so vintage and endearing. They fit perfectly with her cottage decor. I  have to admit, I have never seen an egg cup collection before, so I did a little research.There are plenty of items on sale on Ebay and Etsy. Here are a few examples of egg cups I found:

Betsy Speert has a great collection of Royal Copley ceramic birds which fill almost every room of her Florida cottage. They look great in her 1950s vintage tropical decor. Here are a few I found on Ebay:

Gayle of Vintage Farmhouse posted about her collection of floral artwork, mostly small original oil paintings. I love the way original art looks on a wall. It gives the room such a distinct personality. 

Vintage Farmhouse

I have several collections. I have Blue & White Christmas plates, which are currently in storage because I can't find a wall they look good on. I also have a collection of teapots, but stopped collecting about 10 years ago because I don't have enough places to display them. (I became interested in teapots when I visited the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge MA. They had shelves in every room, high up next to the ceiling and sitting on those shelves were all sorts of beautiful teapots. I was hooked.)

Right now I have a small collection of colored glass, sitting on window sills and hanging in windows. I love the way the light shines through them. Here are a few pictures I took this morning

That little rabbit is the newest member of my glass collection. Behind him are small antique bottles that used to hold bitters.

I think collections add character to a house, and with all the bloggers showing off their collections, I can see that I am not alone. How about you? Do you display a collection in your home?

Linking this post up to Chic on a Shoestring Decorating Linky Party!

I've got the Palladian Blues!

I finally narrowed my color choice for the living room. I chose SW Sea Salt, SW Rainwashed, BM Palladian Blue, BM Woodlawn blue. I went to the store and got a sample of Palladian Blue. This was my first choice. I painted a piece of art paper (specially treated for acrylic paint) and taped it on the wall. I moved it to different spots in the room and looked at it for several days in different light. The verdict? It looks completely different on the wall than it did on the chip and in all the pictures of rooms online that were painted Palladian Blue. How disappointing. On my walls it looks bright green/aqua....no hint of the beautiful blue I see in these pictures!! This illustrates the importance of buying a sample, painting a board and then looking at it on your walls in different lighting conditions. It is amazing how light effects the color!

BM Palladian Blue

http://www.caitlincreer.com/

Little Green Notebook

Aren't the pictures above beautiful? I love the subtle, soft blue/green. Now look at what Palladian Blue looks like in my room. Not so pretty. It looks like a bright seafoam. Its hard to find any blue! This picture was taken in the morning in natural light, no flash. At night, under artificial light it looks even greener.

So its back to the drawing board. I stopped by the Sherwin Williams store to pick up a few samples and was overcome with sticker shock. They were charging 6.99 for a quart. I asked if I could have a small sample. Nope. The quart is their sample size. Well, I was really not happy. Benjamin Moore sells sample jars and I only paid 2.88 ! I only used about a quarter of the jar to paint my paper that you see in the picture. There enough to paint a large board. Restoration Hardware sent me a good sized sample jar too, for 2.95 and free shipping.  About time Sherwin Williams gets on board and provides its customers with a real sample sized jar for a reasonable price! $7 for a sample jar? CMON!
Anyway, I am going to try a sample of BM Woodlawn Blue. It looks a little bluer than Palladian. I will post pictures later.

Blue & yellow living room inspiration!

     I have my color scheme for my living room narrowed down to pale blue/green, gray and yellow. I have been searching for pictures and have acquired quite a collection! I am sharing my favorite with you today, and if you arrived here by doing a goggle search for blue and yellow living rooms, I hope you will find some inspiration, too! After looking at all the different shades of aqua, blue, green, grays etc....my hubbie and I have chosen the following picture as the inspiration for our living room redesign. There are several things we love about it. Hubby loves the retro vibe achieved with the furniture and lamp. He immediately pointed out the radiator (he's an HVAC guy and is totally obsessed with heating systems and in love with radiators. I know, weird.). I love the very pale blue/green paint paired with the yellow drapes. The paint color has enough gray in it to look neutral and work with a variety of colors. I also love the chairs. We already have beautiful yellow drapes that have been sitting in a chest for a few years. I am looking forward to being able to use them again!

                                           Designer David Mitchell in Home and Design magazine

Here are some other blue & yellow living rooms that I  find inspirational.  The all exude the feeling I want in my new space!

Massucco Warner Miller Interior Design

I love the pale colors, it looks so calm and serene.

Home and Design

I love everything about this living room! This is actually part of the same room that is photographed in the first picture I posted. I didn't even realize it was the same room until I read  the story about it in Home and Design Mag and saw all the pics together! It is designed by David Mitchell.

Balancing Home

via Decor Pad

Borubudur.com



Canadian House and Home



So you can picture where I am heading with my living room decor. Pale aqua and yellow and gray,  a little bit of  a coastal influence, comfortable furniture and dark woods. I am heading to the paint store today with my chips, I will post a picture after I paint some boards.

Everything Green ~ Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Since it is St. Patrick's day, I thought it would be fun to post everything green! Some bright, some outrageous, some subdued...all GREEN! Hope you have a wonderful day!



Sweet Life in the Valley



rue-muffetard.com



Vintage Junky



diggers list



Decor Pad

Cline Rose Designs

House Beautiful

                                                                           Elle Decor




via Alkemie



Shelterness.com