Color Inspiration

How is everyone? Did you have a great weekend? We switched my daughter’s swimming class from Sunday to Monday mornings so until about 20 minutes ago I was imagining thinking that it’s Sunday. Sundays to me are to unwind and not to be on the computer. I guess my clue should have been that I read the Sunday newspaper yesterday. Oh well.

Color is everywhere, color is what sets the mood in a room, color is associated with emotions, with eating, with fashion, color is part of nature. Its amazing how you can take a sentimental item that has beautiful colors and design a whole room around it, or walk by a flower on a hike and think that the color is so vibrant that you would love to have your living room walls painted that color. I found Design Seeds a few months ago and have been inspired everyday. Jessica has a great eye for color and the photographs themselves are very inspirational.

Here are a few examples:

 

Well, off to get some homework done. School finals are in a week which means lot’s of studying coming my way. Have a great rest of your Monday!

Design Dilemma

I cannot believe that I am about to show you my hand-me down 20 year old coffee table, but I am. When my husband and I moved to California from Washington 5 years ago, we were lucky to have enough hand-me downs from my family to furnish our apartment. Now that  we are living in our first purchased home little by little we have been replacing the hand-me downs with pieces that do not look so missed matched.

While walking around at IKEA last night we found a decent size coffee table but as soon as we came home it downed on us that we are the parents of a very active toddler. The coffee table has sharp corners and spells trouble.

This is the table from IKEA:

And this is the current table that we have. Doesn’t this scream the 80s?

The dilemma that I have is do I buy the IKEA coffee table (which is at a price that will not brake my budget) or do I keep the glass of the existing table and build a frame for it?

 

Spouse vs. House

As in the new show that just premiered on TLC last Wednesday. Spouse vs. House is a brand new show where a couple is presented with cash to design their home but only if one of them leaves leaving the other spouse doing all the job and making all the decisions themselves. The homeowners are not provided with any design help and no direction of where to start or how to do things.

In the premiere the Anderson’s are given $25K to remodel three rooms in the house in three weeks. The first thing the husband did was to buy a case of beer with the money, how classy. Then of course he did a quick agenda of what had to be done and miraculously finished the job within minutes of his wife coming home for the reveal. I loved that they finished the show with announcing that they were expecting a second child.

Kitchen before:

Kitchen after:

While one of the spouses is left at home working, the other spouse is asked to design a room of their liking in a dollhouse with the help of designer Ryan Brown. Then 48 hours prior to the competition of the house, the spouse left at home is allowed to see the dollhouse design and if there is any money left from the $25K they can buy anything from that room. In this episode the wife designed the den in her house. Here is what the dollhouse den looks like:

Den before:

Den after:

source: TLC

I have to say the rooms were a little bland for me. In the kitchen I would’ve loved to see glass tile as a backsplash, and in the den I thought that the barstools were too big for the area and a coffee table would’ve looked good in front of the sofa. I would’ve loved to see some accessories in the den, maybe a mirror on the wall. Overall it was very entertaining show so I will for sure be setting my DVR. Did you watch the show? If so what did you think about it?

I’ve got the blues

What an appropriate title for my blog today. I hope everyone had a great Mother’s day. Me, not so much. On our way to my in-laws cruising down the freeway all of a sudden my SUV decided to stop working. We had to tow it home and now I have to figure out how much it will cost to fix it. See I got the blues.

Blue is my favorite color. My room has been painted a shade of blue since I could remember. I had our living room painted in blue and brown in our old apartment. Blue reminds me of the sea/ocean and has a very calming affect on me.

Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable, and committed. Electric or brilliant blues become dynamic and dramatic -- an engaging color that expresses exhilaration. Some shades or the overuse of blue may come across as cold or uncaring. Indigo, a deeper blue, symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom, self-mastery, and spiritual realization. While blue is the color of communication with others, indigo turns the blue inward to increase personal thought, profound insights, and instant understandings.

“Blue is the only color which maintains its own character in all its tones...it will always stay blue; whereas yellow is blackened in its shades, and fades away when lightened; red when darkened becomes brown, and diluted with white is no longer red, but another color – pink.”  -- Raoul Dufy

I could move into this house. I love how the space is so connected with nature by having all windows walls.

Of course blue is just not in interiors, we use it in everyday phrases as well: out of the blue, once in a blue moon, feeling blue, and in the design field: blueprints.

Have a great Monday!

The Kentucky Derby

Wow, where did the week go! Thank you so much for sticking with me this week. Well, now that the hype of the Royal wedding is over, okay always over, I realized that the Kentucky Derby is this weekend. Yes, the same weekend as Mother’s Day which means more reasons to party!

A Kentucky Derby inspirational party was featured on Amy Atlas this week.

Swanky Press has done a great inspirational party board that I had to show you. Please go to her website to find out more about the items on the board.

 

Are you doing anything special for Mother’s day this weekend? Since my mom lives 1300 miles away from me I will not be spending the holiday with her, but I will be spending it with my almost two year old daughter for sure.

Have a great weekend, everyone! See you Monday!