Decorating with Green in Honor of St. Paddy's Day!

May joy and peace surround you,
Contentment latch your door,
And happiness be with you now
And bless you evermore.

~an Irish blessing

Being of Irish descent, I can't think of a more fitting tribute than to share beautiful cottage-style rooms decorated with the hues of the Emerald Isle - or at least some shade therein!  The following rooms are some lovely spaces that I absolutely fell in love with!

Living Rooms

 Swoon...isn't this so romantic! I want these chairs and loveseats.

Found at Kathleen Ellis Lifestyle Design

A phenomenal space where the green ceiling, walls, woodwork & minimal window treatments invite the outdoors into the space.  Pops of blue and pink keep this space energetic and fresh.  Stunning!

from BHG

Dining Nooks

A cheerful spot to enjoy meals with family & friends - love the green stripes on the window seat & how they repeat the thin lines of the green chairs and the small vase.  The green prisms on the chandelier add a delightful touch of sparkle!

From BHG

Love the earth tones in this room.  The curtains add texture while blending into the wall color so that there is no interruption to the view.  The "Lunch" sign adds great personality & I've always been a sucker for the nostalgia of ice cream parlor chairs!

From BHG

Kitchens

Playful and bold green that totally gives great personality to this beach cottage kitchen!

 from BHG

Okay, I'm head-over-heels for this kitchen. 

In fact, I'm seriously thinking of redoing mine in this color. 

The lights over the kitchen island are fantastic, too! 

 

from BHG

One more just because I love kitchens... This mix of green and white with cottage elements creates a charming space.  Love the green subway tile backsplash, beaded board island and vintage bread box and step stool accents.

 

From BHG

Bedrooms

Green & pink toile makes a charming, feminine statement! 

 From BHG

The sweet simplicity of this mint green and white color scheme creates a lovely, restful space. The painting of the woman adds a personal sentimental touch.

 From House Beautiful

Bathrooms

The textural component of this shower is amazing!  I can imagine definitely feeling like it was "top of the morning" after starting the day in a shower like this one!

 

Found at Decorology

 Love this vintage style cabinet!  It's a great way to add personality and make use of dead space in a bathroom.

Found at My Home Ideas

This is an awesome bath - the sinks are incredible as are the cabinets and towel holders.  Then there's the light fixture and natural elements...sigh...need I say more? 

 

From BHG

Hope you enjoyed my finds!  

Let me know which one is your favorite!

Green is one of my preferred colors to use in decorating.  It's a refreshing hue that seems to go with almost every color. 

Happy St. Paddy's!

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." ~ Pablo Picasso

Years back, there was a t.v. show on called My Two Dads.  It was about a girl who, when her mother died, was left in the care of her mom's 2 old flames who, consequently became fathers to the child.   One father was an accountant or some kind of financial whiz while the other was an artist.  The artist was depicted as somewhat irresponsible and a free spirit. Being financially successful didn't matter to him, because he had so much joy in creating.

I was very caught up in that imagery - the joy of creating.  For most of my life, I didn't see myself as an artist.  An artist was someone who was born with natural skill - they could draw or sculpt or design without any help or instructions.  Paintings just flowed from their brush without any effort.  They were creative geniuses.

I also had the idea that being an artist wasn't the way to make a living.  Their income, at best, was minimal.  They were flighty. They were rebellious to social norms.  They were...different.

Yet the idea of being an artist intrigued me.

I wanted to be different.   I didn't want to be tied down to a 9-5 job the mundane.  I wanted to be free to create at will.

The problem was, as I grew older, I couldn't see how to do that.  I didn't think I really possessed any skills that qualified me to be an artist. 

But, then one day I realized that art is what comes from your heart.  You don't have to be flighty; rebellious; regarded as a creative genius or anything else. An artist is one who says so.  Who says to the world,

"I am an artist."

On Writing a Blog Post

Have you ever gone into a blog and noticed the writing format?  How sometimes it's left justified like this paragraph.  Or other times it is centered like the paragraph below.  

How do you decide which way to go with your blog?  It's a personal choice, like everything else, but this is one of those things I agonize over when I'm blogging. 

I can't make up my mind.

On the one hand, I've read that it's easier for the reader if you format your posts so that they are left justified, but it's okay to center the title.  Or maybe center a sentence in the middle to draw attention to the reader.  Like this - 

Read  This!

Did you notice that I also made my text bigger?   Some bloggers will make a word in their sentences smaller, too,  just to make a point.

This was going through my head today because I'm taking a course called Build a Blog You Truly Love  ( you may have noticed the link in the right margin).  Consequently,  I'm noticing a lot of things that other bloggers do in their posts to create personality.

Especially how they change the way it comes across just by how they use punctuation, font size and paragraph formatting.

Some bloggers will always sometimes cross out words.  Why?  To add personality?  To make it more creative?  Or because they really made a mistake and don't want to hit delete several times, but prefer to just highlight and hit the cross-through tab?

Some bloggers write everything double spaced.

Every new sentence starts on a new line.

Absolutely no more than one sentence is ever written on the same line.

For fun, they'll center the lines, too.

Keeping them double spaced.

Makes it look a little like poetry.

How about those bloggers who write with periods where they are grammatically incorrect to make a point.  Kinda. Like. This.

Or other bloggers will use words like lurve in their post.  The first time I saw lurve, I couldn't figure out what I was reading.  You lurve?  What's a lurve?  Then I got it.  They meant love.  They are just putting some kind of southern drawl on the word lurve....lurrrrve.  Luuuuuuuuurve.  Or maybe it's not a southern drawl.  I'm not sure.  I never "heard" the word "lurve" before until blogging.  I don't lurve.  I love.  I like the the word love. Lurve is, well....lurve!

The funny thing about blogging though is that once you start to notice stuff like this, then you find yourself thinking that way, too.  I saw something the other day and in my head, heard myself think, "Oh I lurve that!"

Whoa, back up!  Did I just replace love with lurve?

I never say "lurve" in real life.  Okay, what I mean to say is that I never say it outside Blogger Land.  And, for the record, this post is the first time I've said it in Blogger Land.

What I do say in real life that I very rarely say in Blogger Land is "ya'll."  I have been living in Virginia since I was 16 (some 30+ years now) and at some point and time my word for the plural "you," became "ya'll."  But, for whatever reason, I struggle saying that in my writing. 

I also tend to slur my words a bit in real life, especially if there is an "r" in the word.  I didn't know this until my oldest son thought he'd be cute and played back a VM that I left on his cell phone. I was horrified to say the least, but most people are shocked when they hear their own voice, so I've learned to live with that one. Sorta. When you think about it, though, my slurred "r" kinda makes lurrrrrve a good fit for me. 

There's really not a specific point to this post, kinda like Seinfeld.  I'm just thinking out loud.  Trying to find my authentic voice and personality in my writing.  Don't judge me by this post as I'm not there, yet.  Actually, do me a favor and don't judge me at all, k?  

Notice the "k"?  That comes from texting.  Isn't it funny how the way we communicate face to face, in blogging and in text starts to intermingle.

That reminds me.  Have you ever tried Fridays fried green bean appetizer?  I love, luuuurve, ahem, think it's really delicious!  Especially the wasabi dip!  Yum.  Not too long ago I discovered Fridays frozen variety at our grocery store and I bought some for dinner the other night.  When I was reading the directions, I noticed it read "Allow green bean fries to stand for a couple of minutes b4 digging in!"  I laughed because using b4  in their directions definitely goes with Fridays hip personality. But, it also shows how our techno desire to communicate quickly is showing up in other venues.

I guess that brings my post full circle for now.  Trying to decide how to write a blog post is all about letting your authentic personality shine forth.

I probably could use some pics in this blog post so that it isn't all text, text text.  I'll have to work on that.

Bye ya'll!

 

Red, White & Blue Color Schemes

In the spirit of celebrating America's birthday,  

I thought it would be fun to look at some red, white and blue color schemes.

Two Red, White & Blue Living Rooms

Love the spiral stairs and painted floor in this one!

 

 Coastal Living

 Love the sofa & red lamp!

 Better Homes & Gardens

 Details like the chalkboard and the floorcloth add personality to this kitchen!

Coastal Living

These nautical mirrors mesh so well with this red, white & blue bath!

Coastal Living

These simply dressed beds in red, white and blue make a big statement in these otherwise all white bedrooms.

Country Living

House Beautiful

This small outdoor garden space pops with red, white & blue seating!

Better Homes & Gardens

Playing with the Color Wheel

 "Colour is my daylong obsession, joy and torment." ~ Claude Monet
 This has been my sig line for many years.  I am enthralled by color.  Whether it's man-made or from nature, color is my inspiration.

An ordinary color wheel.  

Let's look at it again...through nature.

Primary Colors (the 3 colors from which all other colors are made)

RED

YELLOW

BLUE

Secondary Colors (a mix of 2 primary colors)

 
Orange - a mix of red and yellow

Green - a mix of yellow and blue

Purple (Violet) - a mix of blue and red

Tertiaries - a mix of 1 primary and 1 secondary (or basically 3 primaries mixed together). 

Yellow-Green


Blue-Green


Blue-Purple (Blue-Violet)


Red-Purple (Red-Violet)


Red-Orange


Yellow-Orange

Look at My Roll-top Desk Painted in Provence!

No, I don't mean that my desk was painted in Provence, France (I wish!)...or that I am in Provence, France (I wish, again!).  What I mean is that this baby was painted with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint called Provence.  I am so in love with this color that I am painting all sorts of things in my home with it. 

I was going to wait until I finished this desk to show it to you, but I am so in love with the color (did I already say that?) that  I decided to show you the "in process" look.  Isn't it amazing!  This was the ugliest looking dreary dark-toned desk and I can't believe how much the paint has already transformed it.  So far only the exterior has been painted in Provence.. The inside hasn't been painted yet and I'm going to do that in another color.  You'll have to wait and see which one!  When all is said and done, this charmer is going into our home library (fancy name for the room that holds our 4 bookcases of homeschooling books) to make mundane tasks like opening the mail or paying bills more inviting!

While I had the paint can out, I quickly brushed some Provence on the roof of this birdhouse.  I'm not done, but, it looks pretty awesome already, if you ask me!

New Finds!

Here are some of my latest finds that I'm going to transform with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - my favorite paint!

This bench will probably be a keeper for my home.  I like the mustardy yellow seat already and even though I'm not normally partial to vinyl, this will hold up easily to my boys.  I'm thinking of painting the wood in Aubusson Blue or Emperor's Silk (a gorgeous red!) to give it a nice French Country look.

My husband found this at the end of a driveway that he was passing in  our neighborhood on his way home.  The sign read "FREE!"  Sounds good to  me!

There is nothing wrong with this table that a little work can't fix.  A leg support under one of the drop down sides is a little wobbly.  Nothing major!  I can't wait to paint it!