Archive for the ‘Color’ Category

Miss Muffet would be jealous of this fabulous chair!

I have had this great little bistro style chair hanging in my shed since last fall.  I should say my husband’s shed.  I get the house and he gets the shed.  He doesn’t touch my “stuff” and I don’t mess with anything in his 4500 square foot garage.  It’s the perfect trade off!  I do all the interior design at inside and he does all the outside work!   I do, however, store a few items in there once in a while.

A cut little bistro style chair in it's original yellow paint and vinyl seat

This chair for instance.  It was a great find for $9.99 at Goodwill.  I wanted to do something very girly in hot pink, so my 7 year old niece Kayla became the inspiration and recipient.  I knew it would be perfect for a child’s bedroom.

The glitter really sold me on this tulle!

I was very excited when I found this glittered fuchsia tulle and a floral fabric and embroidered trim to go with it.

Green paint really updates the look of the chair

A little sand paper to rough up the finish and a can of neon green spray paint updated the chair from the 1970’s.

The old seat batting was in good shape.

The black and white vinyl seat was stapled on and easy to remove.  Then I cut a piece of the fabric 2” wider than the seat and attached it with a staple gun.

A staple gun is the handiest tool when covering chair seats

I gathered a double layer of tulle by hand and stapled it to the seat making the gathers even all the way around.

Never cut off the excess fabric until you are satisfied with the fullness.

Instead of cutting off the excess netting, I folded it up for extra fullness and sewed it in place.  You could glue the trim to the fabric, but hand stitching is neater (no mess) and you have greater control.

The floral trim is the finishing touch

Miss Muffet would have loved this chair

I happened to find the lime green pom-poms in my stash that were a perfect match.  It turned out so cute and just right for a girly little seven year old.

A chair fit for a little princess (or even a Queen)

Adding  style and design to any room can be as simple as a trip to a resale shop and fabric store.  Go ahead, brighten your home with color!

Pastels With Punch

Pink and grey are perfect for an Easter meal.

An easy way to introduce retro into your home decorating is at the dinner table.  Unpack grandma’s good china and use it every day.  Sets of dishes from the 50s and 60s can be found for a song at flea markets, resale stores and antique shops.  Make an investment before the market realizes their popularity and their value sky rockets.

Check out the little handle on this bowl. It's a perfect dish for kids.

Speaking of bargains, I love this set of pink and grey dishes I found at Goodwill.  Although they are unmarked, the hand drawn lines are reminiscent of a few decades past.  The best part of collecting dishes, it doesn’t matter if they coordinate with your interior design, dishes do not have to match anything!

The touch of grey keeps the place setting from being too feminine.

What could be more perfect for an Easter luncheon?  The square salad plate offers a nice contrast to the round dishes.  Even if I don’t serve a meal with multiple courses, I still use lots of dishes just to make the setting more interesting.  If you aren’t having a salad, save the plate for dessert.

The most interesting tables have layers and contrast. The square salad plate gives an edginess to all the curves.

If your dining room table has a beautiful finish, no need to cover it up with a table cloth.  These pink linen napkins are big enough to serve as place mats and offer a nice contrast.

The napkins almost looks like bunny ears!

There are dozens of ways to fold napkins.   Tucking a grey cotton napkin into a frosted polka dot glass keeps the table from being too serious.

Instead of the usual Easter basket, serve candy in old-fashion apothecary jars.

Have fun with your centerpiece.  Instead of flowers, fill apothecary jars with jelly beans, chocolate eggs and Easter grass.

Plastic Easter eggs can hold love sentiments, notes of thanks or even gift cards.

Hide little surprises in the plastic eggs for your family to discover while you’re dining.

Celebrate the season the old-fashion way with Retro dishes.

Celebrate the season!

How you use color says so much about your Signature Style. It’s a glimpse into who you really are.  Look at your wardrobe.  Chances are you have colorful clothes.  Even it you wear lots of black, I’m guessing you pair it with blouses and turtlenecks in colors that make you feel good.

The same thing should apply to your personal decorating.  So many people are afraid of color, they choose none. Their walls have the same “builder’s beige” from when they moved in or simply settle with white.  (I don’t care what the label says; white in its multitude of shades is still white!)

Monochromatic rooms are a challenge to pull off in interior design.  An all white room can be beautiful and effective if you pay very close attention to detail.   That means you need lots of texture, various shades and tints of white and (I can’t help myself) a touch or splash of a contrasting color.  It’s even more effective when the room has lots of windows with natural light.

All white rooms are even better with a touch of color

Although this room has white walls and furniture, the wood floor, area rug and dining room chairs and table add other pale hues and textures.  The round light shades and plants soften the sharp angles and horizontal lines in the room.  Little touches of black and silver (media unit, window frames, fireplace and stack) keep the room vibrant. The lime green wall and little accessories add a brilliant punch of color.  Had the green wall been another shade of white, the room would be more calm and serene, but not nearly as beautiful.

That’s may opinion. I would love to hear what you think.  Lime green wall or all white?  Leave your comment below.