Tidewater Landing, a lovely palette

A coastal home in Virginia:
Entrance hall painted in Benjamin Moore's Hazy Skies (OC-48) with Acadia White (OC-38) trim.

I've just come across a lovely coastal home in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, featured in a past issue of Coastal Living. This gracious home encapsulates a colour palette I've been considering for a while...you see, I've been smitten with the notion of painting my main floor (dining and living rooms) blue! And I'd like to carry the blue into the rest of the house, along with lots of white and touches of linen brown (at least this week...)

Currently, our whole main floor (living, dining, foyer, 2 stairwells and upstairs/downstairs hallways) are a pretty chartreuse-green colour, which is warm and inviting. But the walls have a lot of nicks and chips and need a fresh coat. So, why not try something new?

But I'm struggling with this blue concept, since blue can be a little cold if you don't choose the perfect one. And I don't have an ocean outside my window for context (and to make it entirely unnoticeable). My living and dining rooms (not to mention the foyer) are naturally what one sees when one opens the front door, so I want these rooms to be as welcoming and warm as possible. Luckily, the foyer and living room face south, so the whole space gets tons of natural light. My furniture is sage green (and the new rug is beige and blue and green), so it's already a warm-enough space. But the existing greens are so inviting and cozy that I'm afraid to change. So I'm tempted to be a bore and repaint in the original colour or do a greenish version of blue.

But I'm so fond of those gentle pale blues, as shown in the living room and dining rooms below:
Living and dining room in Benjamin Moore's Woodlawn Blue (HC-147) with trim in Acadia White (OC-38)

In these rooms, I also like the use of those linen browns and whites with small dashes of brighter complementary colours. I love this combination and it seems a natural fit for our house since the downstairs (family room floor) already has lots of brown (a brick fireplace, wood library panels, off-white berber, brown linoleum in the hall, taupe walls, brown linen curtains, etc.)

If I go with blue on the main floor, I'd prefer a different colour for the two stairwells and hallways that lead to the other two floors. For these, I'm considering ivory (like my master bedroom, which is White Down from Benjamin Moore). But I also like the idea of a warm pale brown (like Maritime White by Benjamin Moore, which is a beautiful milky coffee-ish colour) or perhaps a greige/grey colour, like that shown in the main entrance (first photo above) and the landing below:
I really adore the pale blue, white, light brown scheme in this house. I find it oh-so-soothing but would definitely need to spice things up a little with some brighter colours. I happen to love pink, but I also like the whimsical guest room below, in which they've used fresh oranges and corals and such, a perfect foil to the nautical blues and whites.
I think the possibilities are endless here, don't you? Now, if I can only stop changing my mind long enough to paint...

~ Spring Tree ~

My Spring Tree, in the kitchen

Spring Tree, at night

Since David loved our miniature kitchen Christmas tree so much (and loves sparkly lights) we kept the little tree up until late January, when I finally decided I'd had enough.

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But David really liked plugging the pretty white lights in every morning (while getting ready for work in the dark!) and in the evening, so I decided to transform the tree into a pretty Spring Tree. I left the white lights on, removed the Christmas balls, and bought a box of great chipboard shapes with pre-punched holes, through which I installed absolutely lovely fabric-covered brads (which cost a small fortune). I plan to change the garland to something spring-like and would like to add more cardboard "ornaments" of other kinds, but it's a start. Now where to find pink or grass green garland?

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I will admit, the tree is a little cutesy for this house, but I love the idea. I wish I'd had more time to put my ideas together as I'd like to make more unique paper decorations by hand. But I'll save that for my next lifetime when I'm a "kept" woman of leisure...

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A spring tree is especially important when it looks like this outside (we got 3" of snow overnight). Spring doesn't arrive in this part of the world until May...

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P.S. Notice in the first photo: in the distance I have a giant hand-painted "chip" of a Farrow & Ball blue on the wall, testing colours against the drapes...the colour is SkyLight and I am quite fond of it, but have to wait until the new rug arrives (it's been delayed until March!).

Thoughts on The Professionals & Victoria Hagan

A lovely Nantucket living room by Victoria Hagan
I rarely find myself utterly smitten with a particular interior designer. I’ll see one or two homes I love (or the odd room) and then they go and spoil it by designing something horrific the next time.

A designer will do all these tasteful genteel rooms with quiet palettes and then suddenly inflict a gold room on our senses, filled with gilt religious iconography, for example. Why? Because they can, I suppose. And I guess it is all about the client's tastes.

Another problem with the professionals, besides their urge to be "creative" (i.e. wacky), is that the houses they design often look rather “done”. They positively scream "the decorators were here". Rooms are contrived, perfect, coordinated to a fault. Accessories are so synchronized you know everything's new (even if it came from a flea market this morning). Nothing’s out of place, everything is like the other things. Everything is proper. What do people do with all the things they loved just a week ago?

I understand that it must be nigh impossible for designers to work with lots of existing furniture and accessories and still create their sleek rooms. I get that it’s sometimes easier to wipe the slate clean, or to pick a couple of favourite things and work from there. Putting together these rooms must take months of hard searching and coordinating and is nearly as complicated as open-heart surgery, so I respect the effort. But still, the rooms can seem a little too perfect. Like eating too much candy.

That said, of course I see loads of professionally decorated rooms that I love. And if the decorator is interviewed in the spread, I always appreciate a room more after reading about all the copious decisions that had to be made and the provenance of various pieces (like having a work of art explained by the artist). Sometimes I’m in the mood for ostentatious, contrived rooms and sometimes they make my head ache. So I try to compare apples with apples and admire them for their “special type of beauty”...their perfection.

That’s why I like the work of American designer Victoria Hagan. If I had to chose one favourite superstar professional designer, I’d probably pick her. She was named one of Architectural Digest’s Top 100 Architects and Interior Designers, but I liked her before I knew that.
When she does contemporary interiors, she injects lots of classic details to make the rooms less functional-looking (i.e. plain), and when she does traditional, she likes to de-clutter and “clarify beauty and function, edit gestures down to their most communicative essences” as she says. Brave little soldier!
Her work is definitely for the horsey set and is quite serious, not like the whimsical eclectic rooms you see in Domino. Domino has rooms that look thrown-together from ones far-flung travels, but they are heavily styled too. Everyone suffers from contrivance.

But of the uber-designers, I like Victoria's philosophies. I love her consistently pale and gentle palettes, her light-handed style, her use of traditional, refined furniture (some from her Victoria Hagan Home line), and most of all, her ability to know when to stop. I like the openness of her rooms, their refinement and yet their simplicity.
All the photos I've included are her work, from Architectural Digest. There’s also a wonderful feature on her Hamptons weekend home (poor thing) from Country Living. I can’t copy the photos here, so please click the link and have a look at her sublime, airy home (my favorite of all her work I've seen so far). I hope you'll like what you see.

New Lamp Arrival!

New Rosedale lamp (formal) with sample Annapolis lamp (informal) in background New Rosedale lamp with miniature carnations in foreground (yes, they're still alive!).

My new crystal lamp arrived yesterday! I was so excited, I picked it up at the shop immediately and lugged it home on the train (rather heavy!). I've set it up on the sideboard with the smaller sample lamp (which had a different pattern...and now needs to go back to the shop!).

Large Rosedale lamp, with chrome trim

The new lamp is far more formal, with a pattern called Rosedale. It's very tall and elegant and I find it quite beautiful! Despite the traditional look, I chose the chrome (silver) finish, which I prefer.

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I'm still on the fence though. The more informal, curvy Annapolis pattern (the smaller lamp, below) has grown on me! I'll need to decide this weekend which pattern I like best, and perhaps re-order the lamp. I'm definitely happy with the size and scale of the new, taller lamp, as it better fits the space.

Annapolis sample lamp (informal) in brass

Decisions!

In the meantime, I've not been blogging much as I have a terrible case of sinusitis and had a CT scan this week. I don't see my doctor again until Tuesday for a prescription, so I'm suffering terrible congestion and sinus headaches in my face. Ugh.

Our new living room rug didn't arrive Thursday, as planned, so I'm rather annoyed. Hopefully it'll arrive next week and I can get on with my life and can finally move forward with painting the living and dining rooms. I really like the existing green colour, but think we need a change. I'm experimenting with blues right now, painting bristol board and cutting up chips to stick on the wall...

I loved the Farrow & Ball blues and got sample tubs of Pale Powder, Skylight and Borrowed Light, but was surprised that they all read greenish-blue in my room. They are stunningly pretty colours, very historical-looking blues with a green tint, but just don't work with my more primary sage green furniture. So I've moved on to some Benjamin Moore grey-blues...

Will keep you posted on progress...

Flowers & A Housewarming Present

This weekend we had David's family over for dinner. I always use the arrival of guests as an excuse to buy flowers (I rarely need an excuse). The flowers are miniature carnations, which I adore. They are the definition of pretty!

While our guests were here, I showed off our new house-warming present, the darling crystal lamp above. This is actually a sample version of the new crystal lamp I'm in the process of ordering.

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Over a year ago, my Mom gave us money to buy a house-warming present. I bought a few things after moving in, but decided I most coveted a crystal lamp from a maritime craft company called Nova Scotian Crystal. Nova Scotian makes the only hand-blown crystal in Canada! Since the lamp was very expensive, I spent a whole year fretting about whether to buy something practical or something beautiful. I finally decided it was okay to do both!

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So last week I went back to the shop (after staring in the window for months...you see, my train passes by the front windows of the downtown shop every day!). I was undecided on the size and pattern I wanted so the lovely shopkeeper, Sue, let me bring home the small size lamp (19" high) to try in our dining room.

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The pattern shown is called Annapolis, and it's a contemporary floral pattern, with a brass base. After seeing it on the sideboard, I adore it, but think I need the taller model (22") and the chrome (shiny silver) finish instead of the gold. I'm still undecided about the pattern!

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Besides the modern pattern, the lamp also comes in a traditional pattern, called Rosedale (shown below). Note that the taller lamp also has a modified shape and a more narrow base.

I've already ordered the Rosedale, so my lamp will look like this, except with a shiny chrome base. I've chosen the pure white shade which has a heavenly glow!

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I expect to love it when it arrives, but I might be tempted to re-order it in the Annapolis pattern which has really grown on me over the weekend!

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Which pattern do you like?

My blue

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved the colour blue most of all. How does a child make a spiritual connection to a colour? And how does it last a lifetime? How did the colour blue become something I feel connected to, as silly as that sounds?

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I think it began simply because I had blue eyes. People fussed over their colour when I was a child, especially when my mother dressed me in something blue (which she did often). She realized very quickly that I looked marvellous in blue, and it became this very "Terri" colour. I felt so special to be so admired for my blue eyes. From the age of 3 or 4, I began to list blue as my favorite colour and that has not changed. Half my wardrobe is blue. My eye still loves it most when I see a line-up of coloured things. Blue is the crayon I choose, the game piece I pick, and the mug I take from the cupboard most. Most of my pottery is blue, and much of my jewellery is too! I have blue shoes and sandals, blue handbags and most of my pyjamas are blue.

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But the funny thing is, when I first got back into home decor, I never chose blue. I didn't pick blue for fabrics, nor for furnishings, and I didn't pick blue paint either. I can't explain it, but it didn't initially appeal to me, perhaps because I'd read those warnings about blue being cold and terrible for a north-facing room, and simply not warm and inviting. Blue also seemed a bit gauche, actually, with those formulaic pretty blue and white country rooms everywhere. Not the look I was after. And the nautical theme was seriously overdone by decorators everywhere (I suffer from nautical disease myself, so I know the pain of abstinence).

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So, although I hungrily wanted a blue bedroom (north, of course), I veered away from it and shut it out of my brain. To solidify things, I visited a stunning house belonging to friends of a friend and they had several all-blue rooms, which did feel rather chilly, especially when compared to their other warm and cheery rooms.
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So I forgot about blue.

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Then one day, sitting in my living room, I leafed through a decorating magazine and came across an utterly perfect all-white room, accented only with the most tranquil blue drapes and a blue and pink abstract painting on the wall. It was love at first sight. Those drapes whispered in my ear, "remember me, my love?". I'd found my blue again!

The drapes I saw were like these, a pale-grey blue, possibly my favorite shade of blue
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Since then, I see blue whenever it's there. Little splashes of blue, a faint blue in the corner, a soft blue blanket. It's attracts my eye like never before. And I still dream about those blue drapes (and intend to have some made for my living room, eventually). I have plans for a blue laundry room and perhaps even a blue bathroom. Blue works with my desired palette, which will eventually mean a house full of whites and creams, browns, and blues. I will still have my dashes of pink and greens, but slowly I want to move towards a very au natural earth-sea-sky inspired palette.
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I think it's all about choosing the right blue and using it carefully, artfully. It's a serious colour and despite its quiet charm, can be handled very badly and can look very flat and boring. A little goes a long way!

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So without further ado, here are some rooms that make a rather persuasive case for blue (all photos from Domino, unless otherwise stated).

Above: A traditional blue room where liberal use of white freshens up the abundant blue (from Southern Accents)

Above: Exquisite blue china, almost electric blue! Best used sparingly...to match your jewels perhaps?Above: A very fresh bathroom in a curious shade of blueAbove: A graciously restrained blue country room (Country Living) Above: Handsome slate blue. Dark slate blue is my favorite blue next to those pale grey-blues (Tom Scheerer Design)
Above: My kind of nautical...restrained, quiet references

Above:: Showcasing a smart blue china collection, definitely someone's cup of tea! (House Beautiful)

Above: Remarkably quiet for such a detailed room (Tom Scheerer Design)
Above: A traditional chair, regal in navy blue suit-like fabric

Proof that blue doesn't have to be meek!

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope your Valentine's day was sweet!

And to whet your appetite, tomorrow I will bring you a blue-themed post...come back soon!

10 Things I Love

1. I love NATURAL LIGHT:
Natural light is the most important quality in making a space beautiful. Multiple unadorned windows, pale colours, and a spare hand in decorating enhance the light in this already architecturally-stunning space.

2. I love STORAGE:

These simple and inexpensive bins are decorative and sensible too! 3. I love WHITE:
It creates the most restful spaces and gives a gallery-feel to all your special pieces...

4. I love WHITE with colour!

These white spaces with pretty splashes of whimsical candy colour make me smile all the way to my soul...

5. I love BUDGET DECORATING:

Think outside the box (or inside!)...

6. I love PINK:

I adore a dash of pink in every room. This room is a little busy for me, but the lamp steals the show. I don't know when I fell in love with this colour but it has me wrapped around its little finger!

7. I love ART:
Sophisticated, simple, naive, or exquisite...art is a glorious gift to our eyes and our minds. It doesn't have to complicated...whatever you can afford or make for yourself is fine, as long as it makes you happy and proud to display it. The choices of frame and mat shapes and styles is endless.

8. I love BLUE:

Blue has always been my favorite colour and I never tire of it, in all its hues.

9. I love FURNITURE with HISTORY...

Good quality furniture with character and simplicity doesn't need to be replaced, just loved...

10. I love that LESS is MORE...

One super-star piece is all that's required to make this hall captivating!

Living Room Magic Carpet

Biscuit test-driving new magic carpet

Last week, David and I purchased this sample rug for our living room and have decided that we love it. It wasn't available in our required size, so we've ordered a larger one from a different store (Kensington Carpet One), which should arrive within 10 days. I'm a little nervous since our design consultant, Danah, advised us that different dye lots may have slightly different colours. I love the muted colours of the sample rug and hope the new one isn't too much darker (newer).

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If you can't tell, the rug is a creamy sage colour in the middle, with an ivory border. The main accent colour is a darker sage green and there are slate blue highlights, and pink highlights.

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This rug has answered all my prayers! And it's finally given me direction for the living-dining room. The rooms are open-plan and have a lot of different colours already and I wanted to re-use as many of the existing features as possible.

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For example, I have a sage green sofa and chair in the living room, so the rug really needed to work with them! We also have custom floral draperies in both rooms (panels and valance) left by the previous owner. These are green chintz, with large white, blue, and pink flowers, and gold trim! I really hope to re-use these for a while to save money (although they are not to my taste, they are traditional and suit the room just fine). We also have dark antique furniture.

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The main problem, though, was the dining room rug (below). It's a dark rose with ivory and taupe, and has small blue and green accents. Although the sofa creates a divider between the two rooms, I still wanted to rugs to be similar (e.g. both traditional, similar palate).

So, I really had a lot of things to coordinate with this magical rug!

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And did I mention our chartreuse (yellow-green) walls? They are very pretty and look gorgeous in the evening light. The chartreuse (painted by the previous owner) has grown on me, but I decided there was simply too much colour and I would sacrifice these walls if the new rug palate demanded it.

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And to top it off, I really wanted as much blue accent as possible in both rooms since my tableware is mostly white and blue! What a conundrum. I almost called a decorator about 40 times in the past few months.

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But the new rug makes everything obvious. It coordinates beautifully with the sofa and chair (sage) and works reasonably well with the rose rug in the dining room (much better than the various contemporary rugs I brought home to try). The new rug even looks good with the draperies. But the chartreuse walls don't work and need to be neutralized!

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I'm happy to change the wall colour, but it does open a whole can of worms. You see, the living-dining room walls extend into the front hall, which entend into two stairwells, which extend into upstairs and downstairs hallways! For coherence, I'd like to carry a single colour throughout (currently there are 3 different greens!).

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The downstairs has a lot of browns, with a brown brick fireplace in the family room (still undecorated except for an inexpensive cream rug and old oatmeal-coloured furniture) and brown flooring in the hall.

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So I've decided to paint the whole thing in a warm off-white or very pale brown. I haven't decided on my colour yet, but I like Benjamin Moore's Creamy White (light beige) and White Down (ivory). I'm sure this decision will take weeks, and another few months to get all the painting done!

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I will post pictures when it all starts coming together!

Beautiful Books by Ryland Peters & Small

Allow me to introduce a trio of friends who have brought me great pleasure in the past few years...Ryland Peters & Small.

Ryland Peters & Small is a UK-based publishing house which produces the most exquisitely lovely books on interior design, as well as lifestyle subjects like food and drink, gardening, body and soul, and babies! They have awfully pretty wedding books too. But mostly, I am smitten with their interiors...
The photos in the decor books are simply stunning, beautifully styled and perfectly-lit. All the photos appear to have been taken on a fine spring morning in the prettiest homes in England. Clear, natural light streams into the rooms...
These books are definitely the beautiful people of the publishing world. But while the architecture and character of many of the homes is sublime, the decors are not always expensive. They often appear to be more found style and slowly acquired, rooms that you cultivate over the years...
I adore these books! I've borrowed many at my library, and have even invested in a few of my favorites. If you're a serious decor junkie, you've likely already seen a few of their titles, and some of their famous photos (many of which are recycled in several of the books). I guarantee that everyone has seen at least one shabby chic photo from their The Relaxed Home book!

I know you will have some lovely moments with these books. But I cannot be held responsible if you fall madly in love and cannot look at another decor book again...