Mood Board: Fabulous White!

my girl haley and I made a stop at home goods the other day. big mistake. i can't stop obsessing about all the beautiful white i saw. good thing i don't have any money. i'd throw out everything i have and start over (do you ever dream of doing this?). here's a few of the lovelies occupying my mind today. ahh. i'm a great consumer, just not such a good capitalist.

love the shape!

too gorgeous!

cute!

i try not to be greedy and occupy my mind with things, but i need this white caged vase.  so gorgeous.  like sculpture.  at $29 not in my price range.  i like pretty things, but i'm cheap.  ahh, time to get out of the house and enjoy this beautiful weather.  hope you are having a good weekend, dear readers!  xo

Hard and Soft: Mixing in Wood Pieces

Here's a look I've been seeing a lot of lately, and loving it!  Mixing in wooden or organic forms with clean lines or light colors.  Love the balance of hard and soft.  Here's a particularly great example:

This beautiful dining room combines hard and soft elements very gracefully. The room is airy, soft and a little bit funky.  Because the well chosen objects are graphic in shape, there is still a simplicity to the room which adds a peaceful feel.  The soft painting and white walls lend an airiness to the room.  The lovely and simple table runner looks like a cloud on the dark table.  The table also grounds this airy room.

Here's another view of dining room.  Love the balance of the old with the new.  The light and dark.  The simplicity of the Eames chairs is perfectly juxtaposed with the heaviness of the table.  The unexpected mismatched chairs  provide a rugged touch while remaining airy as they are painted white to match the walls.  In the corner a proud ethnic piece has gained prominence by not having to compete with a jumble of art.  The look is skillful and perfectly balanced.  There is also a perfect balance of masculine and feminine in the room.

As you know, my preferences always lean toward the simpler, uncluttered home.  But I do love beautiful things, color and texture as well.  To satisfy these needs and yet remain uncluttered is what I strive for in decor. This type of restraint is all about balance.  It may look simple, but it's not easy.  However, if you are able to pull it off, the peaceful feeling you enjoy while spending time a room like this is so worth it!   This couple managed to pulled it off in their entire home and with a child and dog!  Proving it can be done.  A fine achievement in decor.   I highly recommend the rest of the home tour.  To see the rest of this gorgeous home:  Courtney & Michael's Scandinavian Comfort via Apartment Therapy.

Blog Love and a Love of Scandinavian Design

Every where I look, people are looking to simplify their lives and their homes, so it's no surprise that Scandinavian design is popular.  It's long been one of my favorite design styles.  I adore the generous use of white - as you know my fantasy is to have white floors and walls.  Like living on a cloud.  I love how airy this type of design is.  I love the use of geometric shapes, soft colors and pottery.  There also elements of the hand made, organic, industrial and purely functional.  When done well, these elements are combined with a restrained hand, achieving a simple and serene environment.  I love reading Scandinavian blogs, I recently found a new (to me) blog and I had to share.  I could not find much personal information about the author (and the text is in Finnish), but the writer is exceptionally creative and talented.  Her home is beautiful, her photography is wonderful.  The blog is an absolute joy.  It's called Weekday Carnival and I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it.  Get your cup of tea or coffee, pull up a comfy chair.  You'll want to stay a while.  The images are so gorgeous I had trouble selecting just a few.  

Beautiful painting done by author and son.  Dig that coffee table.

Her styling is so skillful.  Beautiful vignettes are everywhere.  I always see beautiful wooden bowls at the Goodwill.  She makes me think I may need one or two...

Ahhh.  How I adore all that white!  I need that shelf unit for my pottery collection!

Love the pop of the turquoise hanging lamp and the concrete table top.

Another skillful display.  I adore the simple forms.  I have a thing about objects - they must be beautiful and functional.  So I am really digging those stacked white canisters.

I love this vignette in her kitchen!  Usually I am squeamish about knife display.  Not sure why this one works for me, perhaps the black helps it be a little more modest?   I am really digging that gray color block, the abstract vase by Michael Geertsen and the salt mill by Muuto.

Really clean, simple office space.  Love it.  Simplicity fuels my creativity.

Beautiful and soft Christmas display!  I love that branch with the lights so much I'd keep it up all year.  Also really love the pink painting.

She and I share a love of boxes.  I love her DIY projects.  On the right, is an origami-inspired cardboard box she made.  She has a great tutorials on how to make these and other origami projects.  I may try my hand at these.  Be sure to check out Weekday Carnival.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!  I'll be adding this blog to my link list.  Have a great weekend dear readers!

Pottery Jones, Vol. V

I am itching to add this lovely, sophisticated lady to my collection of white vases.  It is the Dame vase by Marlies Neugebauer.  The vase is a beautiful matte finish with glossy pearls.  Alas, it's only available in Europe.  Image via Cloudfactory.  I think this vase would make a great West Elm collaboration (and it would go great with the Shane Powers vases I'm coveting).

Pottery Jones, Vol. III

I believe in good design for the masses.  Designers sometimes tend to look down on items that are mass produced.  But sometimes, mass produced items surprise.   They can be beautiful and affordable.  After all, every one deserves beauty in their home, even on a tight budget.  Here's a good example.  Have you seen the beautiful Shane Powers ceramic bud vases from West Elm?

These two are my favorites.  I love the simplicity of the shapes.  At $16.00, they are very affordable.  I hope I can order before they run out!

Pottery Jones, Vol. II

Not sure how to accessorize your room?  How about a collection of simple white pottery?  Pottery is a wonderfully tactile experience.  These beautiful shapes and forms beg to be touched.  My personal favorite is matte finish, and I love to miss vintage and modern.

Clockwise from upper left:  Vintage McCoy from jacklom3;  German op art vase by Jaeger from GoGoBerlinette;  small bottle carved vase by Sara Paloma;  beautiful pedestal vase designed by Bjorn Wiinblad for Rosenthal from bitofbutter;  footed bowl designed by Karl Scheid from GoGoBerlinette.

I adore simple forms, and am currently obsessing over organic forms.  This beautiful Ikebana vase from Mascara Jones.  I would love to design a simple, Zen room around this vase.

Look at his beauty!  So perfect in its purity.  This vessel is no longer available (I should have bought it!).  This vessel is hollow and finished with a process called Terra Sigillata.  Thank you to Etsy user Morphing Molecules for explaining this interesting process, and congratulations on a very lovely piece.

Mostly White, All Romantic Rooms

I've always loved the look of all white rooms, and you already know that I obsess about an all white loft.  With all white floors.  White rooms are often criticized as being too sterile.  I still swoon when I see a minimal all white room.  But if that's not for you, don't be afraid.  If you love the look of all white room, but still want it to be cozy and romantic, how about a mostly white room?  Here are some tips to turn on the romance in  your white room.  Add silver.  Or add steely, silvery blue.  Add organic touches like concrete and wood, and lots of texture.  Add gray or a pop of pale lavender and a Moroccan accessory.  Here's some inspiration.

El Palauet Living via Yatzer

Love the pale wood table.

I love the gray sofa and am madly in love with the simple shape of that coffee table.

 

 Above four images via Natasja Molenaar

Love the white pouf and the Moroccan tray!

Arcadian Home Decor

Beautiful day bed.  Silvery pillows.  Pure romance.

 Be Interior Decorator

Love the tufted headboard and how the tufting carries to the bed frame.  Love the rug.  Wonder if I could make a rug like that out of cut felt.  I get a lot of ideas, but I'm not a very good DIYer.

Love the pale lilac of the bed head and foot board.

 

 Above two images via Decodir

Love large artworks looks fabulous in an all white place!

 

Jayne Wunder via The Style Files

 

Brunch at Saks

Such a beautiful, serene room.  Love the wood table, love the white poufs.  Love the rug, looks like it might be a Moroccan wedding blanket.  What do you think, dear readers?  Are you a convert?  Could you do a mostly white room?

White Accessories

I'm a lover of simplicity.  In my youth I was an avid minimalist and everything was white.  Everything I owned could fit in my car.  I miss the freedom of those days.  Stuff can weigh you down.  Yet, a few well placed objects adds character to a room and makes it personal.  I'm a collector of beautiful glass vases and ceramic.  Collections can be a bit of an obsession, and it's important not to let your collection become work.  Collecting should be fun, and your collection should be something you love.  I always try to keep my collection pared down to my favorites, and I sell a few pieces when contemplating a new piece.  Clutter just won't do.  What to do if you love beautiful objects, yet crave simplicity?  It's all about balance.  One way to maintain simplicity is to collect objects with simple shapes, and to keep them all white.  Here are a few lovely white objects, for example.

Sake sets come in lovely shapes and are extremely collectible.  I have a rule in my collections.  Everything must be functional as well as beautiful.  I think that's why I love pottery and tea pots so much.  Image via deedee9:14.

 I adore this sake set by Masahiro Mori via deedee9:14.

 Beautiful ceramic serving tray by Ggallery.  I adore the shape of this.

Oval sushi dish by baileybowls.  You can see the pattern emerging.  When you keep your accessories all white, the variation in shapes is fascinating.

Beautiful sugar and creamer set designed by Hans Theo Baumann.  Available at  forEYESandHANDS.

 Hand thrown tea pot by clamlab.

I adore costume jewelry, and I love seeing it mixed in with a display of treasured objects.  These beautiful pieces would look great on a floating shelf next to white vases.  Available at Linea72.

White helps unify disparate objects as this beautiful vignette shows.  Image Bodie and Fau via The Style Files.  Love the cluster lights by Kathleen Hills.  And there you have it, a collection of white objects.  Virtual collections are the best.  They cost nothing, take up no room and you don't have to dust them.  My next post will feature some stylish display options.

White floors with touches of aqua and silver

As I've been searching the internet for white floors, I've become intrigued by  clean, fresh colors.  Any color can be used as a neutral.  One of my favorites is aqua.  Aqua when used as a neutral is clean and peaceful.  I love it paired with silver.  Here are a couple of rooms whose ethereal beauty has me swooning. 

 

Oh how I love this room!  Let me count the ways.  The white floor, of course.  The capis wall.  The funky dining room table and chairs and the chandelier.  The beautifully displayed pottery collection all in various shades of aqua.  Simply stunning!  Image via Design Crisis.

The simplicity of this room has me swooning.  Love the white, silver and the pop of aqua from the lamp.  I adore that lamp.  There was a similar lamp offered at West Elm a couple of years ago.  Should've ordered it!  I am obsessed with the tall, vertical shade.  Room designed by Marie Burgos.

I featured this room recently (see previous post, here).  I just love it.  This may be the color scheme for my next place.

More White Floors

I can't get enough of white floors.

I love the rustic elements combined with the feminine elements in this loft.  The white floors bring it all together.  Image Domestic Stories with Ivy.

 

So beautiful and airy.  Love the floors, love the dining room table and chairs.  And those dishes!  Those are gorgeous.  If anyone knows the designer of those dishes, please send me an email or leave a comment.  Image via Design Evolution.

 

I could live in this white, minimal home.  So peaceful and simple.  Love the pops of silver provided by the ottomans.  Image Shoot Factory via Desire to Inspire.