Color Shot: Chartreuse Love

I think my most favorite color combination would have to be Chartreuse and Teal. Chartreuse is one of those colors that people seem to either really love or really hate. My mom really hates it. But I am most definitely a lover of all things Chartreuse. And when you throw some teal in with it, it's got verve!

I recently caved and ordered a pair of these pillows from Motion Fifty-Two, on Etsy:

I can't wait to get them. They will go fabulously with my teal and green accents. And these curtains from Ballard Designs just might quite literally be the cat's meow:

Custom Curtains from Ballard's Designs in Matisse Ikat

 

But what puts the icing on my cake is when they are paired with this fabuolously gorgeous Teal sofa:

Jonathan Lewis sofa from Homemakers Furniture

Ignore the white pillow on the sea of teal bliss and instead picture some Chartreuse pillows and a little sparkle..

 

Pier 1 pillows

 

Meow.

Ikat Inspiration

Recently I started focusing on my bedroom. When I moved in, I painted the walls a dark navy blue. And I loved the color. Mostly because it felt like I was sleeping outside every night under the stars. Ok, I didn’t have stars. But it was dark, and made the room feel much smaller than it is. So a year after I painted it navy, I re-painted the room in Benjamin Moore’s Titanium.  And the color was beautiful-like floating in the clouds on a foggy day.  (I apologize for pictures with bad lighting--I'm a very poor photographer!)

In fact, I loved the color so much that I decided it was too good to keep contained in a room I only see when the lights are off and my eyes are closed.  So I took that same color and splashed it in the main living rooms. And then, because I have this philosophy that rooms in a house should not be the same color (unless they are open to each other), I was back at square one. And the same-colored room has been nagging me for the past two years.

Then, I saw the May issue of House Beautiful. And I heard angels singing.  Christina Murphy had designed the most inspiring apartment-and I got lots of ideas. One of those ideas was the bedroom she’d designed.  And this became my inspiration shot:

House Beautiful, May 2012 issue

I love the Ikat wallpaper and the pop of color against the neutral colors of cream and gray.  But since I cannot commit to (or afford) wallpaper, I’ve been on the hunt for stencils.

And I just may have found the perfect stencils at Olive Leaf Stencils on Etsy.

Olive Leaf Stencils, Etsy, Ikat Pattern #2

Olive Leaf Stencils, Etsy, Ikat Pattern #3

I’m a little torn between the two patterns. While the one on the bottom looks very similar to the inspiration shot, the one on the top seems a little less busy.  So until I make a decision, my bedroom is on pause. The walls have been painted cream. I’m just waiting for inspiration to make a choice.

 

Butterfly Girl

I am the kind of person who gets bored easily. And in my house, there are unfinished projects in almost every room. My bedroom walls are painted cream and waiting for the stencil, my media room has one unpainted wall, a fireplace with no mantel or trim, exposed studs and wiring from where we knocked down a wall, and three types of carpet linking the lower level rooms.

But there is one room in my house that has found its happy place. While it could still use some finishing touches as we go along, Peyton’s room has avoided the mess of half-completed projects that seem to trail in my wake.  When we first saw the house, the room that is now Peyton’s had a lot of personality.  

So I re-painted (and removed the butterflies and the colorful valence and the junior-sized fan).  I didn’t have the foresight to snap a picture after I painted her room pink. But trust me when I say it was much better than the blue sponge-paint effect. But the color was very pink. And after a few years of living in princess-pink bliss, my subliminal messages of “if you could paint your room any color, what color would it be?” finally sank through her head. (Ok, I admit it, they weren’t very subtle. I might have plopped a paint deck on the table and sat her down and said “pick a color, any color but pink.”)

And today, her room is the happiest room in the house.

 

It was still missing a little personality, however, so we added something to the empty wall above her bed. I confess. I removed the butterflies when we moved in the house. But they came back in.

At least these butterflies sparkle.  And for a girl who loves butterflies, what more could you ask for.

 

On My Radar

I want these. Badly.



 

Jonathan Adler Pillows as made by Pop O'Color, Etsy

 

 

But at $65 each, I'm going to have to lust from afar.

Needs Paint.

If I started at the beginning, I’d be six years tardy to the party. And I have never even seen one episode of Housewives, so I might be tardy to that, too. And I have no desire to rectify that. None.

In any case, since buying this house roughly six years ago, I have painted and decorated and re-painted, and re-decorated (and re-painted, and re-decorated, and… ok, you get the point), and every time I share a new project I’ve recently completed with friends, I think, Gosh, I need a blog. So, hello, Blog.   

I will be the first to admit that I might have a problem.  Maybe. I like to paint. Wait, I take that back. I don’t love the labor of painting, but I do love change. And since I can hardly afford to buy a new house or furniture every six months, I paint. In fact, I believe I may have painted every room in this house at least 3 times. (And let’s not even get started on the furniture.) Ok, so I do have a problem. But that’s ok. I have no desire to rectify that either. I’ll just share my insanity with the world because insanity is not meant to be contained... (Wait, is that what those padded walls are for…nope, none of those in my house—I’m good to go).

My most recent bout of insanity was inspired by another blog, Layers of Meaning. Maria’s home has a fabulous feature that I. Just. Had. To. Have. In. My. Home.  Stripes! But not just any Stripes-Chevron Stripes. Now, I am the first to admit that I have many problems. Painting is one of them. My addiction to all things stripes is another. And I’m ok with that. I also had the perfect wall to paint.

When I bought this house, I knew I would have a lot of fixing up to do. A lot.  One of the rooms that desperately needs a complete overhaul is my kitchen.  Here is my kitchen on the day I first toured the house:

 

Yes, it needed a lot of work. Still does actually, and I’ll be tackling it in phases. But the point of this long ramble is the wall. See the wall there, behind the weird counter/drawer combo?  Yes, that one. It needed something.

Stripes. Or more specifically: Chevrons.

The stripes are so delicious I want to squeal every time I see them. They also put everything else in that kitchen to shame. In fact, those cabinets look far too brown. I think they need something.