163

I Get By With A Little Help From My Scans

Posted by
December 1, 2010

Welcome to my brain. Here are some tear sheets from magazines and catalogs that have been bouncing around in my head lately. When it comes to brainstorming the new vibe for our new house, I love sifting through tons of ideas (online, in mags, in catalogs, in stores, in our friends’ houses, in houses we’ve crashed, and even in my favorite TV shows and movies) to see what gets me going and then adapting the most inspiring ideas for our home (see other ideas for pinning down your style here). You know I’m all about soaking things up like a sponge, right? I actually love this part of the process. It’s so fun and full of anticipation and possibility.

First there’s this happy and bright image from House Beautiful. I love the art, the pillows, and the pops of clementine and aqua.

Then there’s this beauty from Cottage Living. I love the breezy indoor/outdoor feeling and the white beamed ceiling with the dark floors.

This room’s patterned rug, colorful pillows, and sculptural light fixture make me smile (also from House Beautiful).

Here I liked the idea of interior doors that aren’t white (this pic’s also from House Beautiful). Maybe I’ll go with a smoky slate color like the ones in this picture?

Here’s another House Beautiful image with a shot of bold color on the walls (can you tell I went through my big stack of them on the side table in the den?). I’m digging deep teals and peacock blues in a major way. Who knows if I’ll have the guts to put something like that on the wall, but I’d definitely paint a piece of furniture that color…

I’ve also mentioned that I want to move away from breezy white curtains and go for shots of color, pattern, and texture when it comes to drapes (which I plan to DIY using this method). These simple greeny-yellow panels add so much fun to this white kitchen from Better Homes & Gardens. And everyone knows I’m dying to build an island for our new kitch, and this one is pretty sweet with those chunky legs and some storage on the side.

This sheet was actually torn from a West Elm catalog. I love that luxe geometric wallpaper – it just adds so much texture without feeling too feminine and flouncy (which is usually what the word wallpaper evokes to me). Plus John digs it too, which is obviously a large step in the making-it-happen process.

This white kitchen is anything but bland thanks to the fun patterned pendant and fabric on the stools (from Real Simple). And you know I love a white kitchen…

Here are more pops of color thanks to yet another House Beautiful scan. The plush striped headboard with those fun ottomans is so sweet for a guest room. And I think I would layer in another color for more excitement (just in a pillow on the bed and some art) like the first and the third scan above.

So those are the things that are marinating in my head these days. Who knows where the heck we’ll end up. Speaking of we, John and I have a “full agreement” agreement. Which basically means we agree that we both have to agree on everything that we do in our house or we don’t do it. It sounds kind of difficult but it’s not. It’s sort of like a built-in extra “qualification” to make sure we really love something and it’s worth the time/money/effort (so we don’t buy or do something we’re only feeling “meh” about). And it keeps us from feeling any resentment like “ugh, I hate that chair that John made me buy” which bodes well for future agreements and keeps things copacetic when it comes to both of us feeling at home in our home. After a few years of house sprucing we have a pretty good idea about what our better half likes or doesn’t like (for example, John hates microsuede because he thinks it leaves marks of peoples butts in it) so there aren’t too many fights over new pieces or paint colors since we’re both usually on the same page after a few years of practice.

Anyway back to the scans. Do you have any favorites among the group? Anyone else digging pops of color, painted doors, bold curtains, and wallpapered or saturated walls?

Psst- For more on the agreeing-with-your-better-half topic, check out this post on the subject.

163

  Leave a comment


   

 
Next: This One’s For You Babe
Previous: Tanks For The Memories

 

 

If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

163 Comments


1 2 3
1 2 3

Leave a Reply

We love hearing from ya. We try to keep it light & fun (it's only decorating), so we'll nix comments that are snarky/spammy (our moms are reading).

If you don't see your comment it's because they're manually approved (it should pop up soon-ish). Occasionally our spam filter eats one. Boo spam filter.