New Pillows, New Color

Let me just say that I love Home Depot.

It is by far my home improvement store of choice, and even though the Big Blue Store is closer to our house, I will drive further just for some Big Orange love.

I went in today because I'm out of white spray paint and I'm only halfway through transforming my mirror and owl (see previous post - Weekend Thrifting).  I already finished checking out and I saw clearance indoor / outdoor pillows on my way out.

I immediately loved the sky blue ones, because this cheery blue is the perfect shade and will go with a lot of other colors -bright yellow, kelley green, orange or coral.  They had coordinating coral ones that tied in the blue in their patterns, but they only had one left of the one I wanted.  I bought it anyway.  Because you know what? They were $5 a pop.  At that price, I should have bought all of them.

I started with just the 3 from Home Depot, but it looked a little sparse, and I needed a solid color to break up the patterns.

I've been really wanting to tie in grass green with the new house decor and loved the idea of having these blue and white pillows as an accent.  So I stopped by Big Lots on the way home and picked up two grass green pillows for $10 apiece.

I started with them all lined up in a row, with the colors / patterns working their way toward the middle.  But it ended up looking like a pillow parade, or like we were living in a pillow showroom.  Good for a furniture store, but not for my life.

So then I tried them this way.

And I decided that's how they're going to stay.

When using accessories, odd numbers always work best in groupings.  Here, I have an odd number of total pillows (5) and an odd number of colors / patterns (3).  Plus, I've broken up the two different patterns with a solid in between them, so you don't have pattern on pattern.

Not that there's anything wrong with pattern on pattern.  The best way to mix patterns is to have one be a smaller scale than the other.  In this case, the blue and white pattern is on a much smaller scale than the single coral pillow's pattern, which is why mixing them works.  Always go bigger or smaller.

Also, I know it's hard to tell in this photo, but there is actually a small amount of the light blue color in the coral pillow.

You can see here that the patterns are different scales, yet go together well.

I'm happy with my pillow purchases today, and at just $35 total for all five of them, I think it was a great buy!  I'll be able to use them again at the new house, either out on the deck, in the living room, or maybe they'll just stay in the bedroom!

Inspiration Board: Bedroom

So, as promised, I finally finished my Master Bedroom inspiration board for the new house.  Since we just purchased our bed and dressers from Ikea in the last year, I have to incorporate those into the scheme.  But I did get to add lots of goodies for fun.

So pictured above is our ASPELUND bed frame and our 8-Drawer HEMNES dresser.  I love both of these pieces, and knew that they would work with a lot of different design schemes when I bought them.  Even though they're not expensive, I still wanted to be able to use them for a long time and not be limited or pigeon-holed into one style or another.

I'm also planning to use the same walnut-stained wide-plank hardwood flooring throughout the house, also featured in the kitchen, living and dining areas.  The curtains and the mirror are both from Ballard Designs.  The bench is one that we already have (currently in the living room in our little rental house), and the end table are both from Home Decorators Collection.  The chair is also from Home Decorators, and at just $373 is a total steal.  The bedding, wall sconce, lantern and antique drapery hardware are all from Pottery Barn.  The chandelier is the same one I used in the dining room (A little wacky to use a dining fixture in the bedroom? Maybe, but I'm okay with being wacky!), is also from IKEA.  I just love its simplistic design.  It really could go anywhere.

I put the topiary, the milk crate and the antique crystal doorknobs as inspiration for accent pieces, to reinforce my theme of getting back to nature, and to a more simple, rustic way of living.  My goal, with whichever house we buy, is to replace all the builder-basic satin nickel or (eek!) brass doorknobs with a crystal antique one.  It's just one of those small little details that really adds up to building a house with a little bit of character.

I also added the French door as a reminder that my goal is to replace a window in the master bedroom with a French door, so that we can expand the deck/patio area and have access directly from the bedroom.  I'm just imagining a hot tub on the deck, and the convenience of being able to run from the hot tub to the bedroom (naked, perhaps?).  Not to mention the added natural light and letting the dogs out in the middle of the night if needed.

So there we have it.  An overall theme of Modern Rustic Vintage, featuring primarily modern style furniture with clean lines, with natural colors and textures plus timeworn, aged metals, and antiques used as accent pieces throughout.  My design plan for a house that flows from one room to the next, with plenty of wiggle room for impulse buys and fun stuff added in along the way.  A place to relax, a place to work (especially for me, since I work from home) and a place to enjoy with friends and family.  My goal is to create a house that everyone always feels welcome to just drop on in, hang out and relax together.