Tag Archives: decorating

Little Green Notebook

I recently found Jenny Komenda’s wonderful blog, Little Green Notebook and every post wants me to try to do more DIY projects. Or more accurately, ANY DIY project since my current tally on those is ZERO.


And I don’t know why since my mother was a DIY queen before anyone was saying “DIY.” Not sure what they called it back then…probably something along the lines of “can’t afford the expensive stuff.” But either way – I grew up in a beautiful home full of refinished and refurbished treasures.


Even more inspirational, this blog was ultimately a springboard for a decorating business, Pearl Street Interiors. Who knows what mom could have done with a blog way back when…


I also just love the site design. If you’re not familiar with the site check it out today!

Color Story

A Creative Mint is one of my favorite sites for color inspiration.

Leslie has been featured at many of my other must read design blogs (including her Color Me Pretty feature at decor8), but I’m not sure where I found her.

If you ever need some ideas for color themes or decorative touches, I highly suggest a visit to A Creative Mint.






For a little more information on Leslie and her gorgeous photography, see this interview on decor8.

Color Palette Generator

I find the best stuff on Creature Comforts. It’s a must read in my out of control Google Reader which is so often subject to “mark all as read” cleansing.

A couple of weeks ago, Ez featured something called the Color Palette Generator.


As a lover of “things,” I’m charmed by the idea of taking a picture of a favorite objet or painting and generating a color palette to use for decorating a room. This is exactly what the Color Palette Generator does, and Ez provides a little tutorial:


I immediately tried to do this with a couple of images that I’ve featured here.

This lovely little painting by Liza Hirst:


And then this magnificent chair found on Absolutely Beautiful Things:


Unfortunately, neither worked for me. So I think I need a tutorial for the tutorial… In the meantime, I’ll just have to look through existing palettes. Let me know if you can figure out why I’m getting errors. Or…maybe not. This could be a major time suck…

The Birds Return

Remember this birdie wallpaper I featured the other week?

Well Viv from ish and chi recently used it in a DIY project. Instead of papering a room with it, she created a beautiful display above her bed.




I love how something that looks so fantastic can be just a fraction of the expense that a large piece of art would require.

Elegant, modern and a perfect way to display a favorite wallpaper or textile. Brilliant.

Beautiful Things Tend to Inspire, but Absolutely Beautiful Things Inspire Absolutely

Or maybe it was “absolute power…” Anyway – that’s one of the very few quotes I remember from school – and I still had to look up who said it.

Speaking of Absolutely Beautiful Things – don’t you just love Anna Spiro? I’m obsessed with ABT and find her images and writing to be a true source of daily inspiration.

I particularly love her Friday Flowers:




She also indulges us with pictures of her own interior design work:




And of course, I find great inspiration in the paintings that she commissions for Black & Spiro:




That last one may be for herself though…

Everything from her color choices and love of textiles to her eye for art and flowers makes me want to move to Australia and beg to be her personal assistant. (Don’t know what she’d think of the three toddlers I’ve have in tow, but maybe we could keep them busy sorting fabric samples…)

Really – I just love everything about this site. Every day is a gem, and I’m never disappointed. If Absolutely Beautiful Things isn’t currently in your reader, add it today!

LWD

We hear about LBD (Little Black Dress) all the time, but I personally have a thing for the LWD: the Little White Desk.

Whether it’s distressed and beachy looking or frilled dressing tabled out – I just love them.

So of course, this little number featured on Apartment Therapy caught my eye:


Minimalists and girly girls alike should find this sigh-worthy.

Vintage Paper Pretties and More

When I was a little girl, I made things with paper. Old wallpaper samples of my mother’s…colorful wrapping paper…construction paper…I just loooved to cut and glue and create with paper!

So Susan Schneider’s lovely website, Shandell’s makes my fingers itch to “make stuff.”

She uses vintage paper, architectural salvage and forlorn and forgotten antiques to create all kinds of treasures.

Like lamp shades…


…and nightlight shades…


…lamps…


…and my personal favorite, exquisite little covered matchboxes:


I think the matchboxes are perfect for lighting candles on special occasions (looks so much prettier on the table than that the matchbox you picked up at the bar last night). They would also make fab hostess gifts (you will actually HEAR your hostess think, “Oh, thank god they didn’t bring wine charms!”)

My only problem is that I’m terrified of lighting matches. So in order to use these, I’d have to get over my fear (they burn down so fast!) Well, I may be a fearful person, but with with a matchbox like one of these, I can cower in style!

I Don’t Get It (June 11, 2009)

Here via here.

I know – it’s a little out of my comfort zone. So I’m probably not the best judge… But I just don’t understand why this room would be featured in a magazine.I have always LOVED yellow. Even when I was a little girl. In fact, I once told my mother that “every room needs a touch of yellow.” And I still think so. A splash of yellow instantly lightens my mood. But not so much here.

Look – I’m all for the accent pillow. But those looks like big pats of butter. Maybe if they were in different prints – something bold and graphic… Anything would be better than all of that solid yellow.

And the thing hanging from the ceiling? I find it creepy…it brings to mind The Blair Witch Project. But it does work well with the stump-like things that I think are supposed to serve as coffee tables. Not that I’d risk resting a beverage on any of them.

I have admitted before that modern interiors don’t usually speak to me – but I can appreciate a well appointed room. Perhaps if this one didn’t look so stuffed full of white upholstery…a less crowded arrangement would make better use of the light. Then maybe it would hold more appeal for me.

No – I’d still hate that twig thing. Though at the very least, I’d take a “to each his own” attitude.

But hey – this “expert” opinion comes from someone with no design background and a house furnished primarily in hand-me-downs from generous parents…so it doesn’t hold very much weight. What about you? What do you think?

Disclaimer: I promise that in future, I will spew my amateur opinions as infrequently as possible since this is not a site devoted to critique (and uninformed critique at that). But every once in a while I will feel compelled to do this. When I do though, I will always invite the real experts to speak up and set me straight.