Black Entryways

Last week, Lonnie and I went to an open house and we kind of fell in love.  It was a gorgeous 100 year old, 2 story craftsman with sooooo much potential. Sadly the house was already off the market, but I can't get it out of my head.  It's one of those houses that you see and you immediately start packing up your current home and move in all in your head.  I have wall colors and ideas picked out for almost every room in the house.  It's definitely my "dream" home.  One of the best features of this house was a gorgeous entryway with beautiful wood work and leaded windows.  Living in a small house that definitely doesn't have an entryway, this felt like a very grand and luxurious feature to have in a home.  So, while I'm moving into this fantasy home that has a real entryway, indulge me while a dream about being dramatic with paint and consider painting the entryway black.

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Black might seem dark and dingy, but I found some really great examples of black paint done well. I love how dark paint colors highlight white trim and moldings.

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So, what do you think? Too dark, too dramatic?  Or does it feel sophisticated and modern? I won't be painting a room black anytime soon, but it's fun to dream.  

Cafe Design

I thought I'd share with you a little sneak peek into a design job I've been working on for the last month or so.  My favorite little bakery in town is opening a little eat-in cafe/bistro and I've been helping design the space. I can't wait for it to open. I've got some fun DIY projects happening in there and lots a modern copper touches.  

Here's a look at the mood board to give you an idea of where we are headed with the space.  The color palette is quite feminine, but there's lots of fun geometric pattern and shapes for contrast.

Stay tuned, it will be opening very soon!

Grid Pillow // Have a Nice Day Pillow // Teal Pillow

Geometric Tile // Floral Tile

Metal Pipe Pendant Light // Geo Pendant Light

Rifle Paris Print // Floral Print // Grid Print

Teal Planter (CB2 sold out) // Blush Vase (Similar) // Rose Gold Tea Light Holder

Paper Roll

Copper Wire Baskets

The Home Depot Halloween Style Challenge

I'm really excited for you to see our living room all decorated for Halloween.  I took on The Home Depot Style Challenge and gave our living room a simple black and white halloween makeover. It's just an itty bitty bit spooky. I've also got a couple easy DIYs for you, like a pretty walnut cheese board and some creepy eyes for your plants.  It's clean and modern, so you don't feel like you are living in a haunted mansion.  

Head over to The Home Depot Blog to see all the details.

How to Put Together Perfect Pillow Combinations

I have a pillow problem, well that's what my husband calls it. But, they're are such a great way to add and little color and pattern to a space. You just can't have too many, right?  

Pillows are a great way to break free of the matchy matchy sets of furniture and decorating of the past.  But, with so many choices out there, it can be hard to put a perfect pillow combination together. I recently discovered that Tiny Prints has AMAZING pillows that can be personalized with monograms, initials, names, dates and even photographs. The Happy Home pillow needed to be on my couch.  My pillow choices can sometimes look random, but here's how I usually put them together. I'm basing this on groups of 3, because odd numbers in design are so much better. So, here's what you need to look for when grouping pillows. 

1. A solid (or something very close to that).

2. A large scaled pattern.

3. A small scaled pattern.

And as far as color goes, pick one accent color.  That color should show up in each of the three pillows (unless the other pillows are completely neutrals - black, grey, white, tan, or brown).  So, if you look at my examples, in the first combo, green is the accent and the other two are neutrals.  In the second combo, gold/yellow is the accent color. And in the third combo, coral is the accent.  Other colors can appear in the pillows, but there needs to be one color that ties them together.  

I'm sure there are a lot of formulas that designers have put together before, but this usually works for me and seems like a plan others could try as well.  

1 + 2 + 3

1 + 2 + 3

1 + 2 + 3

I hope this makes sense. To clarify a little further (not because you're not smart), but because I might be stretching my own rules a bit, here's what I consider a solid, small pattern and large pattern in the combos above.

Solid + Large Pattern + Small Pattern

Small Pattern + Large Pattern + Solid

Large Pattern + Solid + Small Pattern

The beauty of this formula is you can take any pillow away and it still works.  Try it, take one of the pillows away from one of the combos and the pair remaining still look fabulous together. You can add more to the mix as well and you should be golden.