Posts tagged color

The most amazing painted walls I have ever seen

April 30, 2010 · Filed under interior design · Tagged , , , ,

Now there’s a blanket statement if there ever was one. But I was perusing Aubrey+Lindsay’s blog today during naptime and I swear my eyeballs nearly popped out of my head, and my heart started pounding, and my hands started itching for a paintbrush, and then I’m sure somewhere Simon started sweating. Because these, my friends, are the most amazing painted walls EVAH. Lindsay linked to Lucy & Company, which is an interior design service in North Carolina. All the rooms are fantastically, colorfully decorated, and I am totally in love.

Have you ever seen such a great gingham pattern? I love the subtlety of the color – it’s not too bold or gender-specific. It could be quirky or chic or even (ugh) country. And while in this particular instance I’m not wild about the furniture, etc., I am totally in love with the pattern. Gorgeous.

The pale blue is so soothing, too.

Zigzags into stripes!

I’ll bet this one was extremely difficult and time-consuming, but the result is showstopping.

Don’t even get me started on the girls’ rooms. I’m over the moon.
This is wallpaper, but that enormous-scale mirror is so over-the-top chic.

Untraditional colors but so soothing and feminine.

!!!!!

The roman shade? Yes please.

So Dorothy Draper. This could be at my parents’ house.


Is it just me, or could this be our upstairs bonus room?

WOW – this ceiling is amazing.

A perfect way to highlight a niche that might otherwise be awkward.


Lucky twins!

Oops, wallpaper again – but so so chic.

Wow. I am totally in love. Hop over to Lucy & Company. Their entire portfolio is so inspiring.  If you love color like I do, you’ll be over the moon!

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My dream come true!

April 29, 2010 · Filed under inspiration · Tagged , , , , ,

Before we got married married, I lived in a little duplex just down the street from a popular little shopping plaza, tucked into the neighborhood. Starbucks, cute little restaurants, and a post office tucked into a card shop were all at my beck and call. I loved to hop on my bike and run over there to do errands.

Unfortunately our house now is in a less urban area, although still in the middle of town. There’s just not as much to ride the bike to. I love the image above because it’s totally inspiring to me – riding my bike looking all turned out in a full skirt and cute shoes. As a student in Paris, I loved seeing the Parisian women riding their bikes everywhere, looking perfectly coiffed and all Audrey Hepburn. (I never managed to look that pristine in Paris – I was usually the hot & sweaty American art student, lugging my art supplies and portfolio on the metro. June is hot in Paris)

it’s mary ruffle (via {wit + delight}).

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An Ode to Wallpaper

February 4, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged ,

When we were snowed in at my parents’, I decided to photograph (almost) all of their wallpaper. I’m short a couple of them, but you’ll get the idea. There’s a definite love of blue and green going on here.

Amy’s bedroom (my childhood bedroom)
Amy - bedroom wallpaper

Amy’s bathroom
Amy - bathroom wallpaper

The hallways – I wish you could see the texture of this. It’s like a seagrass-type material.
Hallway - wallpaper

The dining room.
Dining room - wallpaper

The living room
TV Room - wallpaper

My adolescent bedroom. I picked out this wallpaper from Laura Ashley. I loved it then, and I still love it. It’s such a soothing, happy room.
Rachel - Bedroom Wallpaper

My bathroom. Laura Ashley also.
Rachel - Bathroom wallpaper

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A Tale of Traveling Fabric

September 21, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , ,

Once upon a time, I found some pretty fabric on eBay. It was the perfect zigzag print, in the most gorgeous green you’ve ever seen. So I ordered it. This was August 11th. The seller was from Uzbekistan – the fabric was handmade Uzbek silk. I was in love.

And I waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. I emailed almost a month later, and this was the seller’s response:

Hello, yes I have shipped your goods, these days holidays and delays are possible.
Good luck.

Good luck??? Um, what? I guess they don’t do tracking numbers in Uzbekistan???

And then, last week, it finally came. After weeks of checking the  mailbox religiously, it arrived and it looked like this:Brown paper packages tied up with string! These are a few of my favorite things!

Do you know what that is? It’s a wax seal, holding the string together on the back of the package. When was the last time you got a package tied up w/ string and a wax seal? Cool, non?

The fabric is gorgeous too. Now to decide what to do with it!


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Found on the side of the road

August 28, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , ,

I’m not ashamed. I am now a dumpster diver. Kind of. Is there a term for someone who picks up stuff that people have put out for Big Junk Cleanup? Because that’s now me.

On the way to pick Jude up from MDO the other day, I was thinking about how I really wanted one of those cheapo Lack side tables for $8 from IKEA so I could have a little table-and-chairs setup in the playroom. I thought it would be cute w/ Jude’s kitchen. I’d really been crushing on those darling “real” tables from Pottery Barn Kids, but just hadn’t ever found one at the right price. They’re pretty high in demand on craigslist, so I’ve always struck out on that one.

So I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was driving through the Village (yes, that’s the technical title for an actual city here in OKC) and saw this on the side of the road, kicked to the curb.Say wha?! Yup, a real live kids table, just sitting there. Covered in mud. And needing a new home. I did a complete 180 in the street and drove back. I looked around, assessed the state of the table, and then threw it in the hatch of the car.

Simon asked if anyone saw me when I took it — hahaha. I admit to feeling a little… funny. Like I was stealing or something. But I’m telling you, it was meant to be! It was meant for me! I brought it home and sprayed it down with the power sprayer — I got all the mud off, and even managed to power spray off a layer of scrapbook paper that someone had glued down onto the original linoleum top. I think I might redo the top somehow. And it has a cute vintage feel to it with that aluminum edging. The wood is in good condition overall — I also might paint it at some point, but for now, it’s good as is. Cleaned up and ready to be played with! I cannot believe my luck.

I jokingly told Simon that I just saved us $8 — now he doesn’t have to pick me up a table at Ikea! 🙂

Should I paint my little chairs? I keep wavering back and forth — keep ’em natural or paint them a color or maybe just plain white. Take my poll here and let me know what you think.

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A Preview of Coming Attractions

August 10, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , ,

Just a little sneak peek … it’s not totally ready to be revealed yet, but in the meantime, here’s a preview!

Can’t wait to show you the rest!

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Craigslist, you were good to me

August 7, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , , ,


Timing is everything in life, n’est-ce pas? Wednesday night, Simon and I were laying on the couch, watching TV, and I was surfing Craigslist. I happened to get really lucky and found a listing for a gorgeous bergere chair for (get this) $65. I mean, that is sick. I’ve looked at them in furniture shops, identical to these, for $400 and up. Even if the fabric was totally crappy, I couldn’t pass up $65. I emailed the seller immediately and got a very quick response and we planned to meet Thursday afternoon.

I took one look at it, and said, “Sold!” The girl who was selling it said she had gotten 14 phone calls after my email from various people, so I didn’t even bother to talk her down. I think I felt bad that she was selling it for so dirt cheap! The fabric is really soft, and in a nice creamy basketweave. The cushions are soft and pillowy. Oh, that navy pillow in the photo is one we already had — I just stuck it on there to see what it would look like. Right now, it’s sitting in our bedroom, but we’ll see where it ends up. it’s such a versatile piece, I think I could make it work in almost any room.

Oh, did I show you my $10 lamps? I don’t know if I did or not – they’re in that photo on the nightstand above. I got a pair for $10. Total. The fabulous, connected Dr.Erin told me and Dr. Christa to go check out this place called the Rink. It’s an antique store, basically, that’s housed in an old ice skating rink. I found those lamps in $10 Corner, where everything was $10. I thought about painting them, but decided to leave them as is. I also considered buying up another pair that was poop-brown and redoing them and then selling them. Would anybody buy them if I made them cool? Those lampshades came from the Pottery Barn on clearance. They cost more than the stinkin’ lamps!

If I could have it any way I liked, I think I would like to find a really fantastic fabric for it, and do a makeover that turned out similar to this:

HomeshootBlue2Or maybe this one:

gorgeoustrellischairOr, bien sur, this:

27More Flickr faves:

Couldn’t you just die at this gorgeous fabric? Amy Butler, below.



From Anthro:

Guess I need to get my bargain-hunting game on for cool fabric. I’ll know it when I see it.

Internet, I need to tell you something. I harbor a tiny dream of having a furniture shop. Where I sell not only new fabulous things, but also old pieces that I’ve found and put my own spin on. I would do lamps, chairs, tables, whatever. A girl can dream, non? Would you shop at my store?

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Moody Blues

August 6, 2009 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , ,


I know, I know. You’re thinking, what on earth else is she going to paint? I promise I’m done after this. I promise. It’s just that I keep thinking about our beautiful blue living room from the other house and, well, I miss it. I really do. It’s the only thing from that house that I miss, except maybe our beautiful hardwood floors. And since I can’t redo those floors, I can redo that blue. So I made Simon a deal: I have to have it 100% completed by next Wednesday – no touchups to finish, nothing. Completely finished.

Oh great, she’s at it again!
I’ve had paint chips up for awhile, and finally made a choice between 3 different Sherwin-Williams colors. None was just exactly right, so I took them back today for tweaking. None of these photos really do any of the colors justice. They look electric in these photos; not quite so dramatic in real life.


The trick is that I want it to blend with not only our dining room, but also the entry way, and as it leads into the bedroom. The entryway is the key: it blends the turquoise of our rug, as well as the deep green of our buffet. In the dining room, the wallpaper has all these colors and more, so it’s kind of the perfect bring-it-all-together pattern, in a way. But then there’s the matching green china cabinet to tie in the entryway as well. Finally, I found this photo as inspiration to link my blues and my greens from the living room into the master bedroom – not that I’d be using both colors together, moreso that it’s just a good visual reference for how the colors will look together.
blueandgreenliving
So I finally went back and bought my gallon of paint, thinking that I’d landed on it. I got one wall totally painted, and then I ran out of tape for the rest of the room (grrr). Probably was all the better, though, because Simon didn’t like how bright it was, and to be fair, I wasn’t 100% sure of it either. I think I need it to be lighter.

And it’s just amazing to me, once again, how different it can look in different lights. Notice how on the left of that photo it looks greenish, but how in the shadows on the right, it has more of a blue cast? Amazing.

Painting with a toddler is torture. Just sayin’. But Sesame Street is the.best.

Should be interesting to see how the paint looks in the morning. Regardless, it’s going back to the paint store to be lightened significantly.

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Buh-Bye, Beige!

May 18, 2009 · Filed under new house · Tagged , , ,

Hello, Laguna Green!

Well, that’s what I’m calling it, at least. It’s not an actual color from Sherwin-Williams — it’s right in between Rice Paddy and Hearts of Palm. So. I’m naming this color Laguna Green because it is so similar — although not exact —  to the kitchen color of the rental we had in Laguna Beach two years ago (see photo above).  

Yes, the master bedroom makeover is complete. The green has been picked, and the paint is now dry. I’m exhausted, but so so happy with it. It feels like a whole new room! It even feels bigger somehow. Paint is the unifying element; it has turned a boring beige room into a bright, beautiful haven. I am just pleased as punch.

Here’s the “before” just to remind you:

And now for the after!

Whew! It was a whirlwind day! It went a whole lot faster since I did all the prep work over the weekend. It made the painting go a whole lot quicker. I’m just so glad to have it done! Finally!

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Won’t you come stay?

April 26, 2009 · Filed under interior design, new house · Tagged , ,

Yippee! The guest bedroom transformation is complete! I got a few paint samples over the week after I posted about my inspiration here. It was a really easy little project and within a couple of hours, the job was finished. Everything’s put back into place now and is looking pretty and calming.

I kinda wondered how it would work out to have only the one blue wall painted, but I’m pleased with the result. Anything more might’ve been a wee bit dark.

The color, for reference, is Sherwin Williams’ Tempe Star. It’s pretty; compared to other blues, it’s almost greyish. It’s just really calming overall.

We spent a good deal of time at Sherwin Williams yesterday, and I am just so frustrated. We can’t seem to nail down the right green, although I thought we were close. Paint is so hard! Our walls look like this and I am getting tired of it:

So. We continue on.

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