Spring Fever!

I know we all have Spring fever.  Like you, I'm craving sunny colors.  Check this fabulous room done in yellow, hot pink and orange.  Dig the vintage TV and boot on the shelf.  Dig the Asian table used as night  stand.  Image via Horchow.

Bedroom inspiration

Here's a few more pictures from my inspiration file that fit with my current thoughts on color.  As always, I am digging hot pink.  I love it in small pops in a black and white room.  Sage is a color I've recently fallen in love with (see previous post here).  I've always loved chartreuse.  Sage is a more subdued, mysterious green.  It looks great with pink.

I have been seeing these head dresses everywhere.  I love it in hot pink.  Image source unknown.  My bad.

Beautiful pillows.

Love the sage lamp.  Above two images from Horchow.

Pink and Red

I'm addicted to color.  Especially pink. I've said it many times - pink looks great on everyone, it goes with every thing and it is not just a girly color.  It can be used in a thoroughly modern way.  Yesterday, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Casapinka.  She reminded me that pink and red is a beautiful color combination when she showed this lovely pattern:

Heather Bailey via Casapinka.  It would look great as a pillow, or stretched on a canvas.  Here are some photos from my inspiration file.  I'm sure you will agree pink and red look great together.

Local vintage store.  Image by Peggy.

Pillow that I passed on at local vintage store.  Now I'm kicking myself!

Beautifully composed living room and dining room.  Love the neutrals with the hot pink and red pops.  Also added for interest is saga green.  Love it.  Image Atelier Ligia Casanova.

Beautiful bedroom.  Vivid color in small doses looks great in mostly white interiors.  Love the pillow and the lamp.  Image source unknown.

I need a couple of pink poufs!  Image The Style Files.

Again, a mostly white interior.  The mural really pops with the red rug.  I am reminded of Antonio Ballatore when I look at this room.  He says, "Go big or go home."  Bigger art provides a nice punch in a room and keeps the room from looking cluttered.  Makes a great impact in a small place.  Image Marie Claire Maison.

Beautiful bedroom.  The white walls keep the room looking simple, even though vivid color and pattern are used. Image Living Etc.

I've had this room in my inspiration file for a long time.  I love it.  There's no pink in the room, but it seems to fit in with this theme.  One could easily see a pink pillow in the chair.  Again, the vivid red works because of the generous amount of white.  I love white floors!  Image source unknown via My Mod Style.  Please contact me if you know the designer of this room.  Like to see more pink and red?  See previous post here.

My living room - for today

Here's a picture of how my living room looks today.  I love being surrounded by hot pink.  I'd love to have my sofa professionally reupholstered.  I'd love to paint the walls hot pink, but it's a rental.  I'm on the look out for a hot pink lamp, but I might have to settle for a can of spray paint.

I love my new genie vase from CB2!

In the pink, two

Sometimes I think I should devote a blog entirely to pink.  I love it so.  I just can't get enough.  It makes me happy, and it's always been that way.  Especially hot pink.  I just can't live without it.  And I feel as if it's part of my mission to bring as much pink as I can to my readers.  So in honor of that mission, here is another pink sofa for your viewing pleasure.

Isn't that sofa darling?  I love the orange polka dots.  I love pink combined with red.  I love pink combined with yellow.  Image Jan Rundgren by Purple Area.

In the pink

This weekend I had the pleasure of going to the mall in Troy, Michigan.  Simply put - it's huge.  It extends across a four lane highway and has a sky way complete with people mover connecting the two malls.  It was packed.  I was in shock.  Cleveland has nothing like this.  And I kept wondering why.  Now, I'm not usually a mall person, but people were plopping down lots of money.  In Cleveland when we want to shop, we leave the city.  And that's a damn shame.  Sorry, I digress.  This is not a post about Cleveland politics.  This is a post about pink!  I was so excited to see the store of the fab Betsey Johnson.  I've written about Betsey on this blog (see previous post here).  I love her apartment!

I had to go into this shop.  The dresses are adorable, but I was taken by the decor.  The sales clerks thought I was odd, because I was busy looking at the  lovely pink walls.  The lovely pink flowered curtains covering the fitting rooms.  The industrial looking benches with flowered plastic pillows.  In other words, I could live there.  Because I just can't get enough pink.

Cabin Fever and a Strange Little Alcove

My new apartment has a lot of strange little alcoves.  You may remember the one in my kitchen, where I store my dishes.  I live in an attic apartment, which accounts for all the strange angles.  The cupboard doors in this alcove were non-functional.  You could only get them open a crack because they hit the ceiling.

 

Since I've been spending more time at home due to the freezing weather, I finally got around to this project.  Here's what the area now looks like, with the doors removed and shelves painted.

All the boring details are below, if you are interested.

Here's how it looked with the doors removed before paint.  There was water damage.  I used Kilz to eliminate the stains.

I usually prefer flat paint, but since this is a kitchen I chose a high gloss paint.  High gloss is easier to clean.  The color is by Behr and is called Blue Jewel.

The counter was a bumpy ugly mess that was difficult to get clean.  I decided to cover it in contact paper.  I chose a faux leather look from Home Depot.  Contact paper is hard!  I had a heck of time cutting the corners.  But it turned out pretty good.

Then there was the problem of this ugly pulls.  Anthropologie has a great selection of pulls and knobs, but there is no Anthropologie locally and I was too impatient to wait for a mail order.  I searched all over town for knobs.

I finally settled on these ones from World Market.

I'm fairly  pleased with how the alcove turned out.  I'm not that good at DIY projects.  I get good ideas, but execution is a problem for me. 

I filled the shelves with white dishes.  I like the way they pop against the color.  I'd like to put one more small shelf above the top shelf, but that's beyond my skill set.  So I'll probably buy a tall piece to balance it out.

This beautiful coffee pot from Le Souk would fit in nicely.  I'd love to have it.

Inspiration every where - store display

I love creative store displays.  They provide tons of inspiration.  Here are some great ideas I saw at Pier One the other day.

I love this idea.  I have a few cute scarves.  They are great accessories and satisfy my need for luxury textiles and provide a pop of color.  I never would have thought of pairing them with beads.  But after seeing this mannequin, now I will!

I'm not usually a fan of embellished lampshades, but I love this one!  It's simple, elegant and chic.  I may steal this idea.  What about you dear readers, do you love store display?  Have you ever gotten an idea from a display that you used in your decor?

Inspiration every where - at the record store

Inspiration is every where.  Here's some inspiration I saw recently at a record store.

Hooray for upcycling!  This cute purse is made of 45s.

The floor was covered in album covers.  It was very durable because it was covered with high gloss polyuerthane.  This would be so cool in a teenager's room or a musician's loft.

 

 Cute art installation at vintage store. 

I want this sofa

dear hot pink and orange.  no matter how hard i try, i cannot get over you.  image designspiration.

if i had this sofa, i would wear matching eye shadow.  image fashion is on.