Leopard Love- Leopard rugs

I do love leopard, but one needs to be careful with leopard as it can loose the classic look quickly! However, today I was at Don's Carpet One and found not one, but two different leopard carpets. i am wondering if I have spotted a trend in patterned carpeting!
Dense, high quality, small print, leopard. Now, wall to wall plush leopard might not be for everyone, but you could have it bound for an area rug or a runner. Here's a few examples of some great leopard wall to wall carpets! Some wool, some blends.


wool carpeting from Laundt and Arcari

Great wall to wall from Hemhill Carpeting

Leopard can be subtle as this rug



A Pink and Orange summer

Pink Grapefruit, Tangerines, Pink Lemonade, Blood Oranges- the new citrus- pink and orange
The colors of citrus is typically yellow, orange and lime green. I want a refresh on citrus! Let's let go of the 1970's Sprite commercial for li-mon and bring in the fresh hues of Summery Pink and Sunshine Orange. Here is a few of my picks for these combinations from my favorite online shop for handmade items- Etsy.com as well as some ideas on incorporating the colors in your space!

Taza Pink and Orange Drum shade from Sassy Shades!

Pink and Orange with Black Grosgrain Ribbon and Burlap Pillow Cover from BouteilleChic

from Central interior design

Pink and orange shabby chic upcycled gallery frames with cast iron candle holder and pink butterfly retro home decor by lollipopfigurine on Etsy

I would have loved the above room as my college dorm room! Function, fun and good storage!

Dog Jacket - Pink and Orange Striped Fleece Dog Coat- Size Small- 12-14 Inch Back Length from KozyCanines on Etsy

Sophisticated space in vibrant pink and orange from apartment therapy

Pink and Orange Modern Pillow Size 14x19 from LekaliaInteriors on Etsy

Tangerine Orange and Hot Pink Indian Paisley Elephant Silhouette Giclee 11x14 from the pink pagoda on Etsy

bakers twine and gift bags- new product lines

Normally I do not promote my new products from my Etsy store on this blog, but I am in love with these new items I am carrying and I thought I would share!  They are brilliant gift bags from Whisker Graphics and Divine Twine bakers twine. I have paired them with gift tags and seam binding for a gift wrap set that can make the laziest gift wrapper look like a professional!  Here's a few of my collections. You can find all of them by clicking HERE!

Red White and Blue Chevron bag, Twine, and Seambinding set with three blue tags- Happy 4th of July

Whimsical characters- best of the web

Nature gives us the most inspired shapes. We alter, glorify and celebrate the natural world by bringing it into our homes in the form of figurines, wall art and sculpture. Here is my best of the web- whimsical characters, the animals of the web. Enjoy!
These modern characters are from Design Within Reach and as they are on sale, they are in reach at $24 to $31!

I love fiveoeight's whale wall art with it's damask pattern and blue tail. At 16 inches by nearly 6 inches this medium size makes a whale of the statement on your wall. Need more whale? The super size is nearly three feet long. Beach house here we come! You can find more at www.fiveoeight.etsy.com!


Is it me, or is a Snake Bouquet hard to resist? When you care enough to send the very unique. Mixed messages maybe, but all whimsy! www.WoodDoodle.etsy.com brings us this great collection of folk inspired snakes.




Though these are teethers, they are also sculpturally beautiful. I would add these to a collection of small hand carved boxes or sit on top of a dimensional box-type painting. These three teethers comes from www.SmilingTreeToys.etsy.com.



Twisted Fish 132... need I really say more? This is one of the fantastic pieces coming from Fig Jam Studios out of Sarasota, Florida. You more whimsical creature can me found at www.figjamstudios.etsy.com. With a price of under $70, you can afford a school of Twisted Fish!

Neutral no more- adding color to your home interiors- part 2

The second part of my adding color to a neutral interior space address a family room/den area. (To see part one of the series click here). In this typical neutral cream to taupe space, I have chosen complimentary colors to accent the space in blue and red-orange. As in the previous space, I have used olioboard.com to create the space. This color palette can take a room to an Americana space, Eastern influenced space, or can go quite modern. I have gone with a hybrid of Eastern and Americana.

With the simple addition of changing the accent pieces I have taken the ivory walls, sisal rug and cream sofa to a brighter, polished finish with blue wing back chairs, on trend patterned pillows with blue and white, tones of orange red in the lamp bases and a bronze Brown cut work bowl with a blue lining. Could this space go further to add color? Surely, but for the color timid, this is a great start by adding small changeable color pieces and practically neutral blue chairs.

If you are interested in any of the item's on this board, I would love to tell you more about them! Simply drop me an email at LaurlSelf@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you.

Neutral no more- adding color to your home interiors, part one

I recently had the pleasure of teaching a community school class on adding color to your home. I would love to share some of the information from my research here in a multi-part series.

With the help of my new best friend Olioboard.com, I was able to create this mood board to add color to a neutral room. Neutral spaces seem to be all the rage on home design TV shows, but they lack some zip in real life. In fact, studies show that your brain has a hard time distinguishing edges in a space where the colors are close together. By adding color to a space, you can break up the larger areas of the same color with visual interesting pieces.

Cool greys and creams can create a soothing space, but too much of a good thing it not always good! I have chosen a taupe, cream and teal color palette for this living room and created additional visual interest by adding elements in a lighter version of the teal. I choose to layer natural elements over room with the addition on tree form based table, faux bois drum table, sconces with a limb look, and bamboo look to the shelving as well as a floral pillow and pillow with nests printed on them. The formal sofa with the french lines is made fresh with the fabric and painted wood in a similar color. And though the space reads a modern due to the light teal pieces and the lines of the West Elm wing back chair, the space has classic elements with the sofa, patterned wall paper and classic lines of the storage piece. Because I love some sparkle on a space, I have add the Bourgie lamp from Design Within Reach. Want in item from this board or want to know more about it, just drop me a line at laurlself@gmail.com and we can chat!

Storage quest!

 

I'm on a storage quest. I want vintage-esque/ used/ recycled, metal and uber functional. I care not the color or if it is a bit rusty as I plan to paint it/them lovely colors. Bringing the office home is not a new concept, but more home office probably lack the accessories that work offers and leaves you spinning your wheels searching for something.
I am making a conscious decision to purchase metal and used. For one reason, I like the durability of metal, for another I want to encourage recycling when possible. Lastly, I want to resist the "quick- fix" urge to by the plastic, on sale, bulky boxes from the craft stores. Metal always seems cleaner than the plastic items anyway! And I can paint them in the colors of my choice.
Valspar has launched an array of fantastic colors that are well suited to painting metals and changing one's mind! I'll admit part of the attraction to the product was the new can design! I love the look of the cap-less design and the new design will alleviate the "spray paint finger" I always seem to have which requires a new manicure!

 On my quest, I found a fantastic small metal file drawer at the Hoover Antique Gallery. The finish is so nice, I haven't painted it yet! And I am still thinking about a beautiful eggplant storage drawer that I didn't buy! So, today I will be questing a different antique gallery for more metal office storage!

Playin' Hookie

Summer is the perfect time to play hookie! How else will you hang up all those beach towels, straw handbags and for all you Austen-ite those flowers and herbs you're drying?

Here is a selecting of fun hooks I found on Etsy- the best place for handmade and one of a kind items... then again I am rather partial having a few stores there myself!

This gem is from the Shabby Shak, and perfect for the beach house, boy's bedroom, or sun porch!

I love the humor of an antler hook! This set, from the door stop, is actually cast iron, not real antlers.

Though silverware as hooks are not a new idea, these are particularly well done! From jjevensen, this set comes if a variety of silverware patterns!

Honoring the artistry of the blacksmith, this hand forged hook from SemiosisForge is only $15!

As you can see, hooks can make a statement whether something is on them, or not! They can express a theme like lodge style with antler hooks, or nautical with the anchor hook, without being overt. Rooms are best when they are layered, like people. A cottage chic room, can also be a white room and a nautical room or a cottage chic girls lodge! The forks can be cottage chic kitchen, cottage chic folk art dining room. Or, they can add the whimsy to a formal room with out loosing the formality, since they are silver. Once you have the bog picture of a space with wall colors and furnishings, then you can look to specifically chosen details that relate to the big picture, but add a secondary and tertiaries layer, dare I say theme, to a space.