Orange

I am trying to bring an accent colour into a bedroom I am decorating (for a guy) and I was stumped for a while. I always like to bring in bright accent colours but they were all looking too feminine. Orange to the rescue! Especially if paired with navy blue... What do you think?

I love orange and tan! Via Elements of Style and House and Home.

I think I am going to bring in the orange accent with pillows... Via House and Home photography by Michael Graydon.

I love these orange chairs! So fun!

I really like the giraffe in the back, a great contrast with the white walls (same as what I am working with!) Both via All things lovely.

I like the repetition of orange here, and the blue. I think I would add more blue though.... House Beautiful, ken fulk design, via On interiors.

Year Round Sunshine

Love a little yellow in the bedroom to brighten up those rainy fall mornings.... (some of these images are old....)

Via Domino

Jason Martin

Via Domino

Via HGTV

Mel Yates via This is Glamorous

This bed is still my favorite frame to date! I love the painted detail!

Sweet Dreams Andrea!

My dear friend who's boyfriend I posted about just below is also trying to decorate her room. Andrea is an amazingly adventurous and has traveled extensively. She has Italian heritage, but also embraces the Spanish culture, speaking the language and dancing the dance (salsa). Her pastimes include cooking, yoga and being outdoors. For her room I want to incorporate many of these themes into her room, especially her travels to Turkey, yoga, and bright Spanish flair! Here is what I have come up with.....

Some ethnic elements....

Ara via Desire to Inspire

Elle Decor via Coco & Kelley

Some interesting ways to show art... they also inject some lovely colour! I love the decorative frames, which are feminine and add visual interest!

Photography by Damian Russell via Desire To Inspire

This one might be a little much, especially for a bedroom, but I wanted to illustrate how mixing and matching frames and mats can really add an eclectic, romantic flare! (I am sure James will not like this room, but Andrea just might like some elements!)

Elle Decor via Coco & Kelley

Since Andrea has a cream bedspread, we can bring in the colour with pillows and a other fabric.

Via Desire to Inspire

Via Sfgirlbybay

Appeasing to the yogi in Andrea, and the green thumb, I would love to have a Buddha in the room, and some plants. A plant in front of her window might be the perfect way to diffuse the light and street noise!

Via Desire to Inspire

I do have a question for Andrea though, are you more romantic....

Via Coco & Kelley

Or bold?

Via Desire to Inspire

For the love of a good place to sleep.

James, my friend Andrea's boyfriend, moved into an apartment last month and is looking to make it feel homey on a budget. He had me over to show me around his new pad and describe what he wanted. I don't have any pictures of what it looks like, but will take some this weekend and then post them... In the mean time I am going to post some inspirational rooms to see what he is feeling. I am really excited to hear what James has to say with my suggestions!

For the bedroom James has this great blue duvet cover which I wanted to work with to create a beachy (yet slightly northwest) feel...

Let's start off with some inspiration...

Warm summer bonfires near the beach....

Via Elements of Style

Via Elements of Style

With a dash of tropical....

Via Sfgirlbybay

And making sure that water is the focus....

Photography by Cody Pickens via Sfgirlbybay

Bringing this all into a room....

I don't know where I got this photo from! Does anybody know?
(I just love the waves print... it inspires so much openness... I also love the use of the earth tan colours, they warm up the cool blue but maybe it will need to be a bit more masculine, like this next one...)

Via Elements of Style
(James look at the drift wood mantle... I love it! I also like the brown, and tans and wicker...)

Via Elements of Style
(Or this one, with more blue....)

Via Coco and Kelley

I really like these muted blue colours, I think if we bring in a darker blue it would really add depth to the space....


And, just randomly - an idea for your hat... get a whole bunch of them and hang them in a corner, adds some wonderful texture to the light walls, is totally beachy, and super cheap!

Via Elements of Style

So what do you all think? Would you let me take your bedroom to the beach?

Misc Items...

I love minimal clean design.... but I just can't seem to make it work in my life! I live in a relatively small apartment with a roommate, so the only real space that I have to myself is my bedroom. I have some storage, and try to organize all of my stuff so that it fits within the confines of the storage but I always seem to have extra things popping up here and there and creating a clutter! For example, I have a birthday present that I am waiting to give someone, all wrapped up, my gloves, which I don't have to wear everyday but still need some mornings, an inspiration board that I need to cover with fabric, spray paint cans that I have to return to the depot, some magazines that I use for ideas every now and again, pens and pencils, mail that I need to deal with, my pile of bags, I take a different one to work almost every day, pillow covers that need to be sewn, the list could go on and on and on.

Oh and I forgot about the constant pile of clothes that need attention! This one looks good though! Via Dwell

I clean everything up, but it all way, and then I turn around and it is all back like this! Via Dwell

What should I do? What do you do? It is getting to the point where it is keeping me up at night. Last night for instance, I had to get up and clean my whole room because I was feeling like I was sinking into a pit walled with clutter. (I think I have a clutter fear!)

My pit walled with clutter.... Via Apartment Therapy

My only solution is setting up an entrance area (if my roommate is cool with it) where we can put our miscellaneous items... Or is that just diverting the clutter? Should I just give up on many of these projects and throw the items away? I don't know what to do... I think it is time for a good spring clean.

West Elm makes it look so easy to be organized! Via West Elm

What do you think? Do you have the same problem? Is your home bursting at the seams with stuff?....

I wish I had an extra room to store all of my unfinished projects! Unfortunately they have to reside in the same room that I do! via Doorsixteen

Time Off

Sorry dears, it doesn't seem like a week of photos has restored my energy levels. I believe I am getting hit with some sort of bug going around. I need some time off.


I'll be back soon!

Monday Snoozes?

Yes it's Monday... I had the whole weekend to sleep and I have the whole week in front of me... but of course... I am still on weekend time and I have a little bit of the Sunday Snoozes... Wouldn't it be lovely to be curling up here instead of going to grab a coffee?...

Country Living

Via Apartment Therapy via Apartment 34

Sorry for the lack of creative posts my dears. Hopefully a little more in one of these will bring me back for tomorrow!... Until then!

Re-globed

I just can't seem to get away from these Globe lights! I was my first one a couple weeks ago and now again today! Maybe it's a sign? I was going to put up the Chandelier in my room this weekend, but now I am having serious second guesses!

House Beautiful via If The Lamp Shade Fits

(I'm in off site training all day, so unfortunately this is all the posts for today! I'll be back tomorrow with the follow up for Katie! xo)

The Domino Effect

So the news is out, Domino Mag is done. 6 Feet Under. Finito.

I have a different view of the whole situation however... I'm not shocked, saddened, depressed or wondering what this world is coming to. I am optimistic. Why? Because this is a new era of media. Just how the radio was eclipsed by the television, the Internet blogs and magazines just might be taking over the world of paper...

I will miss simple rooms like this

This isn't the only magazine to bite the dust in recent past and I am not sure if we can solely blame these closures on the recession. Could it be that this is the re-invention of the shelter magazine business? I am not sure how relevant receiving our monthly pounds of glossy paper is to us anymore, especially since we can now find inspiration online everyday (and paper free!) through websites and blogs. I think it's sad for employment in the creative sector, however I am optimistic that in the future it might be possible that Internet magazines will have budgets to hire stylists, designers, professional photographers, editors, writers (I'm sure I'm missing a lot of people) and the support staff...

And funky ones like this....

I don't doubt that us bloggers had a role to play in the demise of Domino. I find myself drawing inspiration from other blogs and Internet articles more than I find myself rushing out to buy a magazine, scanning the images and posting them. We all know from Apartment Therapy, Design*Sponge, InHabitat and TreeHugger that blogs can create employment, and be a viable business, (note I don't know for sure that they pay their employees, but I assume that they would have to) so that makes me wonder is the closing of Domino a sign of where design communication is headed? And if so, is it such a bad thing?


What to blog? I wonder if many of the other shelter magazines follow the same fate as Domino, where will us bloggers go to get our beautifully styled images from? I better sneak over the Domino and grab as many photos as I can!! (I'm just joking, I don't even usually post domino sets! I hope this gets people out there looking at non-professional work, and maybe even discovering a diamond in the rough!)

Back to Black

It has been a while since I last posted about a black and white bedroom... don't worry, my obsession is still here! I was just waiting for the perfect room, and here it is... thanks to littlewoodstock on flickr! I forgot how dramatic a large amount of black is in a room, it really does make it feel cozy yet elegant... (some would disagree I am sure) But I love it!

The black wall paper reminds me of why I hung black fabric on my wall in both my last two rooms... drama! Hummm... Should i do it again?

Even though it is quite a small room, the black doesn't make it feel too closed in. I think it helps the area, bringing the focus to one wall, rather than making you feel boxed in... or have you focus on the window. Stunning!

Saturdays are for...

Staying in bed and pulling the covers close to your chin! Forget about all that de-cluttering and just roll over....

David Hick via Desire to Inspire

Globelier....

I was sure I wanted a chandelier in my bedroom... I was almost certain what exact chandelier I wanted. But then I came across this Globe Pendant from West Elm, and it has me second guessing....
It is so completely opposite of what I wanted but I surprisingly love it. What do you think of this light?

Rich[ardson] Bedrooms

Sarah Richardson is a well known (almost famous?) Canadian designer and stylist who has had several shows (Room Service and Design Inc.) and has her own line of furniture. Her latest project is inviting HGTV viewers into her newly purchased house and watch her renovate the whole thing, while pregnant! The show is called Sarah's House.

I haven't watched many episodes, but I did catch a bit of one focusing on her master bedroom. The room was so simple and elegant, I had to share.

Before:

After:

While browsing for the Master bedroom before and after photos I found some images of her new guest room, even more inspirational ! (I especially love it because of the Black, White, and Green - the colour pallet I wanted for my bedroom...) Maybe Sarah will want to redecorate her guest room in the near future and donate all her 'old' items to me!

I can't believe how much light there is in this basement room! It's like it isn't even below ground!
And this is how it looked before!!

All images from HGTV