Coordinating Blue And Pink Spring Pillows

 

In my last post I was talking about adding pink to my Great room. I usually switch out my pillows for the changing seasons and this will be the first year I have used any pink in a couple of decades.

Remember the mauve and blue phase? 

Oh my. Even back then I searched high and low for a clearer pink. Mauve was just not my color, it felt old to me. 

So I searched until I found a more crisp, clear pink, almost a watermelon pink. It was a tough one to find.

Luckily now we can find just about anything we want thanks to cyber space!

So my hunt has begun, and I have some fabric samples coming my way to see what will work in my environment.

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 Lee Jofa Willow

I try to start with  the main focal pattern and work off of that to find coordinating patterns.

This particular pattern has been a favorite of mine for awhile, I love a touch of Chinoiserie, this could possibly work. Once I decide on the main fabric then I start looking for patterns that can coordinate with it.

Here are some that could work......

As you can see I have some pretty good options. I normally keep it to 3 patterns and add a solid to break it up a bit.

 The two other patterns I need to keep in mind are my sofa which is a blue ticking and  a black and white striped rug.

Here is one possibility, you can see I added just one more touch of black and white. I think another touch of a blue fabric might be nice as well in this mix.

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Schumacher's Betwixt in blue. This pattern is a great combiner fabric, it seems to go with so many other patterns.

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Schumacher Blue Ismar Ikat 

OR

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 Indigo Blue Sata

This is just the  beginning of the hunt and once I do choose the main fabric then I will do the coordinating.

After that I will need to figure out which pillows will go on the sofa and which will go on the chairs.

 Good To Know:

I have found that sometimes what looks good in print doesn't always work out exactly like you thought it would once you have the actual fabrics in hand. This is why I never move forward without samples in hand!!

I will keep you posted on my progress!

 

 

How To Add A New Color To Your Room!

   PINK FOR SPRING!

Even though we are definitely having winter weather in California my heart is looking forward to Spring time. 

Not that I am wishing time away, I just like to daydream about Spring. It is my favorite time of year.

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What is dancing around in my head is how to add a touch of pink to my home for Spring. I have tried this before and had some plans, but we moved so all of that went on the back burner.

Since I only want to add a touch of pink and not over do it because it can make a room look too cute or sweet at times.

I went to pinterest to see what rooms I liked that had some pink in them that would go along with my design aesthetic.

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In my looking I kept running across rooms by Studio McGee. 

I was fascinated by how talented Shea McGee is. She is young and her designs are current and fresh. 

I spent a great deal of time studying her rooms and how she uses color, texture, and the mixing of contemporary with more traditional or vintage pieces. 

Her use of pink was spot on, just the right amount and not over done. 

LESSON:
If you happen to find a designer that you seem to resonate with,  study the rooms that they do. Look at all of the aspects of the room. We can all learn at any age if we keep our minds and eyes open!

In some of her designs there might literally be only one, or two spots of pink in the room and it is just enough...

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A little bit of pink can go a long way in a room.

When changing or adding a color accent to a room. I usually try to spot it in 2-3 places. I feel like there needs to be at least two spots of a color accent to make sense in my own home. 

 

For instance I could literally use ONE pillow and a pink flower in a vase on my end table and the room would read black , blue and white with pink!!

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I like to switch up the less expensive pieces in a room when adding new accents. Usually that will be a pillow, flowers and maybe a book or an decorative element in the room.

When deciding on adding a new punch of color in a room look around at your existing room and see where the color spots are right now and think of an element in a new color that could be added there.

For me it would be in my pillows and flowers and possibly an inexpensive piece of art or a book. In your home it will be different areas and colors than mine, so keep that in mind when I show you what I would change out.

Let me show my room in two different seasons and you will see some of the changes I made and how......

Winter

Spring

You can see that I added Kelly green to the mix for Spring. Notice the small green pillar? I can add a different pot with a pink blooming plant for an addition of pink. My pillows will change on the chair and the sofa with an addition of pink as well.

I can add a pink bloom to my vase on the end table.

Maybe a stack of pink bound books or magazine covers sitting on my basket that sits beside our chair.

You can see by switching out a few elements my room can change it's look, and still keep the feeling that I love my home to evoke.

Look around at your own rooms and pick 3 places that you have used one of your accent colors and think about what new color you can bring into the room.

In my next post I will share some of the pink elements I am contemplating!!

For more pink rooms and elements that I like go to my PINK pinterest board HERE!!

Enjoy the Process of:

Letting your creativity take you towards a new, fresh color scheme for Spring!!

 

 

How Important Is Texture In A Room?

   

Have you ever looked at a room in your own home or even in someone else's home, and thought... It looks nice, its pretty, but something is missing. 

 

 

 

 

If you feel that way about your own home as well, 9 out of 10 times one of the missing elements just might be the "T" word, Texture! 

 

Possibly there are no differences in the textures in the room. Remember the eighties where everyone got every table and lamp in brass and glass? That is a perfect example of not varying textures in a room.

 

 

 A beautiful well appointed room will always have a good variation of textures there will be an assortment of textures ranging from rough textures, to smooth, and even shiny textures. 

 

Go and look at a room in your own home, do you see variations in texture? 

 

 

 

You can bring rough textures into your room with baskets, or sisal rugs.

 

 

 

A glass chandelier, or a clear Lucite block lamp for some shine. How about a smooth velvet sofa or chair? 

(Homework assignment)

Study each of the pictures in this post and try to see if you can see a good variation of textures.

Shall we use this picture as an example?

Look at the rough texture of the basket, and the brick floor. The desk has a smooth finish but on the top of the desk you will find a stack of rough and old worn books topped with a great piece of rough coral. All of this texture keeps this room interesting and not just a nice room. The use of the clear glass lamp, the bud vase and the glass french doors add just the right shine to the room therefore varying its texture. 

Notice this room used all three forms of texture, rough, smooth and shine!

This room shows a great example of texture variation as well. 

 

The coffee table is the obvious shine, and so is the mercury glass lamp. Do you see some rough textures? 

 

How about the white coral on the books, the horns, and look at the two large pieces of twisted wood in the corner. Even the small black pillow has some great texture going on. All of these pieces keep this room interesting and alive with the use of the "T" word, TEXTURE!!

 

When looking at images of rooms, always study the elements that are used. Every image will have a story to tell and a lesson to learn.

 

"ENJOY THE PROCESS" of:

 Finding or adding texture to your rooms

 

All above images can be found on my Texture Pinterest board...

HERE!