Home Design Cool

It’s funny how our styles change throughout the years, right? In college and in my early 20’s I was ALL about maroon and green. I had ivy everywhere. Then it was red and gold soon after we moved into this house 11 years ago. Whoooeee…all the things were gold and red. After that I hit a paint-everything-black phase too – mixed in with the gold and the red of course. It was getting a little dark around here. ;)

It’s funny, but back then I would never ever ever have put blue in our house. I’m quite sure I said it out loud – “I will never use blue in this house.” Foreboding. I didn’t like it at all…and now it’s my favorite color. Lurve it.

I realized as I was finishing up the last of the 17 (!!) pillow covers I’ve sewn over the past few weeks that blue is in almost every room of our house:

Got both of those fabrics from Calico Corners by the way – they had a 20 percent off sale over the weekend, look for those.

Here’s our family room way way back:

It was warm and cozy for sure. We loved it!

But blue feels classic and cozy to me too – whether I go light or dark with it:

Here’s another look back at a more recent photo (four years ago) with the gold and red tones:

I think it was lovely – I’m not one to knock my old style. But blue is my newer love and has been for years now:

Our drapes in the family room are a lighter, almost a gray blue:

They were on those windows when that room was my office – I think that room was the first one I started pulling the blue into years back. It was the start of my love affair. :) I waffle between these drapes and a slightly bolder design, but until I find something that strikes me these will stay. I do love them!

I showed you the new window seat pillows last week:

You can’t go wrong with green and blue – it’s fresh and fun!

There’s blue all over the place in the “new” library:

It’s more of a gray blue but it counts. ;)

What a difference compared to how the room used to look, yes?:

See, I told you that gold and red was my JAM!

I walked through the house finding more and more examples I didn’t even think of. Ha! I told you it’s all over the place:

You can see more about the DIY art here!

That dresser was black when I found it on Craigslist:

I’ve mentioned how much I love a little bit of black in every room, but the back of the front door and the bench are enough for me now. Seriously…the black accents got a little out of control for for a while.

One of my favorite rooms is the mud room – it’s a peacock blue and I LOVE it:

I take it back – the gold and black laundry room I do regret:

I was thinking pretty pale yellow and black. I ended up with surface-of-the-sun yellow and black. :)

The only room in the house with actual blue walls is our son’s room. He wants to change up a few things in here soon but the wall color will stay:

His room gets the least natural light in our house and yet the color still doesn’t make it feel closed in. Paired with the white it feels classic and timeless!

If you would have said to me five years ago that I’d have blue walls, furniture and pillows I would have been all EW. (Jimmy Fallon voice.) Now it’s what makes me happiest when decorating our house.

Is there a color you love that you said you would NEVER use in your home? I’m guessing it’s safe to say orange won’t happen here but I’ve certainly learned never to say never.

*Pretty sure I said blue 89 times.

Hey there! Hope your weekend was wonderful! My sister’s shower was just lovely and I’m pretty sure they are all set with the most adorable baby girl clothes I’ve ever seen.

I don’t know if it’s because it’s finally spring or that the sun is out again or that the temps are finally warming up (for good this time), but I’m getting really excited to start working on more kitchen projects. I’m tackling building in the fridge next but what I’m really dreaming about is taking down the microwave and cabinets above the oven:

My plan is to put a microwave in the island, add a hood where that was and then replace the cabinets with open shelving. I know this idea isn’t for everyone but I am SO excited to see it come together. I think it will really lighten that side of the room and will add to the functionality of our kitchen.

I’ve done my research though – if you are thinking of open shelves I suggest you consider some of these aspects (good and bad, depending on what you like) that I have. I’m covering the biggies here, with some pretty pictures for eye candy. :)

First up, yes, the shelves will be near the stovetop:

Veranda Interiors

I’ve been warned about greasy messes from cooking, but really the only cooking that would be an issue is pan frying. I don’t fry much – at least nothing intense that causes a big mess. Well, I take that back – about twice a year I make prime rib and I do fry that to get it started, but I’ve figured out how to cover it to minimize the mess.

If you are constantly cleaning grease off of your stove or the wall behind it, the open shelves may not be for you (at lease in that spot).

Also, I’m not adding these throughout the whole kitchen. I think it can be done beautifully but we have too much stuff that isn’t pretty that I need to hide away. I’m just doing the one area as an accent.

I love the idea of having shelves above a sink like this!:

Houzz

If you don’t have a window above your sink this is a lovely option:

 BHG 
(This is a blogger’s kitchen, I can’t remember the name! Let me know if you know.)

My favorite use of open shelving is when they are combined with upper cabinets as well.

Another thing to think about – do you like your dishes? Do you keep them fairly organized?:

Montana Prairie Tales

If the answer is no and you don’t want to buy new dishes, then I’d say stick with cabinets. I don’t want a perfect look though – our dishes will not be all white, although it’s beautiful:

Our Vintage Home Love

I need contrast so ours will be a mix of colors that work with the space. (AKA, the dishes we already have.)

Some question how dirty the shelves and plates will get – I don’t think that’s an issue if you’re actually using the items on the shelves, which we plan to do. I hope to keep glasses, bowls and plates on ours. Our kitchen isn’t a big dust magnet in our home anyway, so that doesn’t concern me at all.

If they were just for looks, maybe. But ours will be functional for sure.

One more consideration – do you have enough cabinet space elsewhere? Some say you lose space when you take away cabinets but I don’t think that’s always the case. I’ve planned ours out in my head and we’ll have the same amount of surface area if not more. Right now our cabinets on that wall are different widths and when I’m done it will be more symmetrical (therefore adding a bit more storage).

I’m not sure of the size just yet (it will depend on the hood that we get), but even if they’re smaller I’ll still have plenty of room for stuff: 

Joanna Gaines Farmhouse

Overall I think they are going to go a long way to brightening and opening up our kitchen even more. I cannot WAIT to get started on that part!!

There are so many options when it comes to open shelves – floating or brackets, industrial or farmhouse, white or stain. I haven’t figured out all the details just yet. I think I’ve found brackets that I want to use but I love this idea as well!:

 Southern Living

Isn’t that cool? I love this look!

There’s a lot to consider when adding even a few open shelves to a kitchen. I don’t do anything in our house without thinking on it for eternity…it’s a curse and a blessing. But I’m pretty sure I’m going to love them. I can see the finished product in my head and it looks really great. ;)

Do you have any open shelving in your kitchen? Are you considering them for your home?

Hey hey all! Hope you have a fun weekend planned! I have a quick post for you today because I’m off to prepare for my sister’s baby shower tomorrow – can’t wait!

I shared this on Instagram the other day because I was just so excited to get this done. I picked out the fabrics for the window seat pillows a couple of weeks ago:

I definitely wanted something colorful against all the white in the bay window and I LOVE how these all work together!

When it comes to mixing fabrics I usually go for a large print, a stripe or a solid and a smaller print. I find those work well together best – it can be hard to find a good combo!

All three are from Joann’s – the one on the left is an outdoor fabric, the one in the middle is a stripe and they had a few different versions of that. The one on the right is an HGTV fabric, love it!

I used old inserts I had laying around (hence the lumbar pillows) and I like how the different sizes work together: I LOVE IT! Love love love. I know the dark blue especially will fade in the sun, but I’m going to do my best to rotate them often. Lately we rarely see the sun at all anyway. This was taken this morning and the sun is already gone. Boo.

Anyway, if haven’t mentioned it, I love them. I haven’t even sewn them up all the way yet, but they still look good. Who knows if I’ll get to that before the shower but I’m sure no one will notice. (If they do they get a cookie.):

It makes it so much more comfy! I’m still deciding on the window seat cushion fabric – I think I’ll go with a lighter solid so I don’t have to worry about the sun.

I was getting so much done I worked on some new pillows for the family room too, including this blue ikat from Calico Corners:

That one has a whole side that isn’t even sew up yet, gotta get that one done. I had some left over so I railroaded the fabric and did a lumbar pillow for my favorite chair – love!

I have sewn FIFTEEN pillows this week! That’s crazy. Fabric is such an easy way to update a space! There are always great sales at Joann’s and they let you use numerous coupons with each transaction. That is always awesome.

I’m off to clean and pick up supplies for the shower – hoping the sun comes out for that tomorrow! Anything fun planned this weekend? Have a great one and I’ll talk to you next week. :)