My dining space has always been tricky to decorate because it stands in the middle of a major freeway between the garage, family room, and kitchen.  We don’t have a formal dining room – there is simply no need for our laid back family of five to have anything other than a casual dining space for evening meals.  We nibble in the kitchen most of the time, don’t you?

However, I do like the idea of our dining space being dolled up for holidays or special guests.  After all, it has a beautiful set of French doors and a view that leads to the rear yard.  So a few weeks ago I decided to upgrade by adding some new window panels and a bench for additional seating.  I’m returning to the peaceful calm of white because I find it so fresh and uplifting.  Also, cream and white are such a nice contrast to rich dark wood, so I kept a purposeful neutral palette in our dining space.  I added some taller silk curtains and a transformed Craigslist bench. 

To some it’s plain, to me it’s perfect.

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Another gal pal (among many) I happened to make friends with last month at Blissdom is the darling AnNicole from Our Suburban Cottage.  After meeting her, I quickly became attached because of her exquisite sense of style and endearing personality !  Maybe it might kinda sorta have something to do with our fun night out on the town in Nashville, but she’s just a gal after my own heart.  

Today I’ve got more featured bloggers for you, so this morning, please welcome the mega talented AnNicole from Our Suburban Cottage ! 

“Hey y’all! I can’t believe Kate gave me control of her “centsational’ blog for an entire day.  Mwah ha ha – the power!   Fortunately for Kate I love all things green, so I’ll stick with the plan and share some of my favorite green things with you.

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Here’s another friend participating in the “Favorite Greens” series, this time it’s Layla from The Lettered Cottage, who we all know and love as a fabulous decorator, designer, and all around DIYer extraordinaire !   She and her husband Kevin write all about fixing up their ‘Lettered Cottage’ and I’m a big big fan of her style.  I had the pleasure of meeting the very talented Ms. Layla at the Blissdom Conference in February and we became fast friends. 

Take it away Layla !

“Green is my favorite color to decorate with.  It’s the color of growth, and has such a wonderful way of intensifying a rooms sense of adventure.  I don’t think I’ve ever met a shade of green I didn’t like, but here are some of my favorites…

1. Soft Sage

A clean, colorless background allows these soft sage cabinets to really pop! 

2. Sprout

From the pattern on the window treatments, to the pattern on the bedskirt, I just love how fresh sprout green looks when paired with white.

3. Dusty Olive

I adore the way this old, green door (re-imagined as a headboard) takes this all-white room from okay to out-of-this-world!

4.  Pistachio

This tub just wouldn’t be the same without that petite, pistachio-colored stool snuggled up next to it.

5. Dusty Pear

This pretty, dusty pear-colored floor visually blurs the lines between outside and in by mimicking the green grass just beyond the back door.

 

6. Mint Green

I think the grass green beds up against a mint green wall is magically delicious!

7. Seafoam

I love the addition of seafoam green stripes to white beadboard walls in this kitchen.  Such a fun way to add a little extra charm to this already spectacular space!

A big thank you to Layla for participating in this series !  More featured bloggers coming up tomorrow with their take on this inspiring shade.   

Are you fixated on a favorite green this spring ?  Is is kelly, lime, fern, or celadon ?  Play along in the fun and tell us all about it ! 

You can’t escape the color green, it’s everywhere, and rightfully so !  Perhaps it’s because I’m so drawn to botanicals, but I tend to surround myself with all shades of green.  Green is the color of all seasons.  Green is nature.  Green is serene.  Green is the perfect color to welcome into your home, especially this spring !  

I adore every shade of green, from the richness of olive to the softness of sage.  I especially love when green gets social, and mixes with neighboring shades on the color wheel.  Mingle with yellow and green becomes lemongrass, or inject it with blue and you’re looking at teal.  What’s not to love ? 

So in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, and in a very roundabout nod to my Irish heritage, I’ve invited a few of my favorite bloggers to share their insight on the color green in a series called “These Are a Few of My Favorite Greens”.   First up is my dear friend Rhoda from Southern Hospitality, who I met at Blissdom last month, and who shares a love of decorating, thrifting, cooking and gardening !  I always tell Rhoda, I wished I lived closer, cause I’d be in her kitchen sharing her recipes and hopping in her car on the way to thrift stores and yard sales. 

Take it away Rhoda !  

“Thank you SO much, Kate, for asking me to guest post at your beautiful blog. I’m so honored and excited to be here.

When Kate asked me to share my favorite pics all about the color green, I knew instantly that it would be an easy thing for me, since my favorite color is actually green. I’ve had green in my home since the beginning, in one particular shade or another. Green is such a happy color for me and I love having it in my home. So, we’ll get started with my faves:

One of my favorite things to do is yardsale and scour the thrift shops and I picked up this classically bound book, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, and the green cover is so pretty. This is one of my favorite all time books too, so it’s perfect for me to display with its aged green cover.

Several years ago, I began a collection of Bordallo pottery and these bunny dishes caught my eye. First, I love bunnies and this soft green was the perfect complement to them, so there started my collection, which keeps growing yearly. This shade of green is very soothing to me.

When we moved in our house, the laundry room was a big white box and I was determined to spruce it up and make it a happy place. So, I set out with the perfect lime green paint color, ‘Grasscloth’ by Behr and it was, indeed, instant happy. From there, I added some garden accessories and now my laundry room is one of my favorite spaces in the house.

These pears on my living room mantel were collected one at a time and I love their varying shades of green. One of them was bought at TJ Maxx and the others were found elsewhere, one a gift from a thrifting friend and the other from a yard sale. I repainted one of them to enhance the green, but I love how they all relate to each other even though they were found at completely different times. A perfect accent on the mantel.

An apron is something that every domestic diva should have, so I just picked up my very first one at an antique mall. Just call me June Cleaver! In my favorite shade of lime green, the floral print really called to me.

Another favorite paint color in my kitchen, ‘Laura Ashley Olive 4’, has been with me for several years and I still love it. Hanging on the wall is one of my most favored yard sale finds, the primitive painting found for $1. I love the colors and texture in this piece and it works in my multi-colored kitchen, with green as the main color.

Growing hydrangeas in my garden is right up at the top of my fun list and drying them at the end of the season helps these highly prized blooms to linger longer and the soft muted green is just the most beautiful hue.

Another yard sale find, the green patina on this brass armillary grabbed my eye immediately. It’s the sort of piece that just gets better with age.

 

Thank you so much Rhoda for sharing all of your favorite greens – I’m inspired by all of these choices, aren’t you ? 

Stay tuned, later today another favorite blog coming up !  Here’s a clue – she’s a blonde from the south and she’s married to Kevin, reading her blog is a small slice of heaven ! 

So tell us, how much green do you use in your home ?

I know many of you are blanketed in snow, and part of me wants to be frolicking in a big pile of it right now.  Yet out here on the west coast, we’ve been blessed with a hint of spring.  I was in a euphoric trance this morning as I walked through Lowe’s garden department.   Rows and rows of tulips and daffodils.  Oodles of fresh new plants budding for spring !

It’s still cold around here, but the cherry blossom trees have just started to bud.  Just two days ago, I clipped a few branches off our mature cherry blossom tree, then I brought some branches indoors to force them to bloom.

I’ve never had real  cherry blossoms budding in my house – I’ve always enjoyed the fakes from Pier One.  But these beautiful pink blossoms are making me smile today.

“They’re real, and they’re spectacular.”

I simply followed these steps by Better Homes & Gardens.

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I go through these phases where I obsess over certain design elements and can’t get them out of my head until I incorporate them into my own home in some way. 

Lately, I’m fixated on metallic finishes on furniture.   Whether it’s silver leaf, gold leaf, gilded, antiqued, painted or pearlescent, honey if it shimmers and shines and has great lines, I am drawn to it. 

German Silver Bowfront Chest , Wisteria

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Whenever I pass the knitting section in the craft or specialty fabric stores and spy all of the beautiful yarns,  I wish that I had the skill to knit so I could put those gorgeous threads to good use.  Unfortunately, I don’t knit at all. 

Then I had an idea to use yarn in a decorative way, by wrapping it around some homemade frames and creating some original wall mirrors for a blank wall space.  With this project, I started out with every intention of making two wall mirrors, but in the end, I left one frame as is, just because I like it better that way. 

We had a very blank wall between two windows for the longest time and I finally decided to add some decor.  I already had the shelf, the pitcher, and the vintage Audubon print. 

These days, I’m very focused on adding more texture to my home in creative ways.  These yarn wrapped frames seemed the perfect way to do it, and a great project for a rainy weekend. 

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Did you ever wonder why the saying “Home Sweet Home” isn’t “House Sweet House” ?  I think the answer is quite obvious.  The word “home” has a much deeper meaning that is far more intangible.    

Like many of you, I spend hours looking through the pages of design magazines, loving the images I see.  I save thousands of those images in my files.  I get ideas from hundreds of sources and store them all away for inspiration.  When I eventually get around to it, I incorporate little upgrades here and there.

One thing strikes me quite often whenever I swoon over fabulous designer spaces.  Yes, they’re gorgeous.  Yes, they’re mesmerizing.   Yes, they make me long for a cleaner, more pulled together design in my own home. 

Yet one thing is absent from all of those images, regardless of how perfect they are on the pages of a glossy magazine.  Those images, those spaces, and those houses are just not home.   A house is just four walls and a roof, but a home is made up of everything else inside. 

A house may be decorated from floor to ceiling with the finest furnishings money can buy.  But that will never ever make it a home.  A home is a sanctuary.  Home is comfort.  Home is inviting.  Home is a refuge from the world. 

Home is cozy.  Home is lived In.  Home is a pair of shoes in the corner, a blanket on the sofa, books and magazines strewn about, and jackets and scarves on the hooks. 

Home is coffee cups left on the table and beds left unmade.  

Home is where you wear your coziest clothing with only comfort and never fashion in mind. 

Source

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Isn’t it funny how certain animals find their way into design trends ?  Is it just me, or are zebra rugs and deer heads all the rage right now ?   Don’t get me wrong, I’m a lover of the animal print and the faux fur as you know, when used in moderation.

One nocturnal creature I’ve always been fond of is Mr. Owl.  Perhaps it comes from childhood and that fantastic poem with the Pussycat.   Like most other feathered friends, I’m loving seeing these birds popping up again in modern décor.

 Dishtowel and Switchplate, Anthropologie

Candlesticks and Snowy White Owl, Z Gallerie

 Owl Clock, Decoylab

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Greetings all, how was your weekend ?  It was rainy and wet here in Northern California, but I say that’s perfect weather for watching football and a good DIY project.

You’ve seen tufted headboards in boutique hotels, everywhere in interior decor, in designer bedrooms, and lately even in Betty Draper’s bedroom, as a flashback of course.  Fabric covered headboards are a great way to add an elegant touch to a bedroom with all kinds of different fabrics.

This weekend I decided to tackle a simple tufted headboard for my teenage daughter’s bedroom.  We didn’t want anything too fancy or formal, just some soft curves, a few buttons, and a little tufting for some subtle sophistication.

It took about five hours from start to finish, with the tufting taking up most of the time, but I’m really liking the final headboard in her room, especially how tall it is !

Sneak peek:

There are plenty of tutorials to be found online for fabric covered headboards, and for tufting, including my own how-to from this bench project, but here’s the step by step on how I created this this casual look for a fabric covered headboard.

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