I See Blue!!!

Blue! Do you love blue? 

Well if you have an eye for blue you must be enjoying all the trends today.  No matter which color of blue you enjoy you can find a new twist.  The combinations are unstoppable.  Just one trip down the rolls of fabric and you can image a whole household of blue and each room could feature a different shade.  The classics, the retro and the modern taste can find a blue to add to their decor.

Blue seems to be matched with every color.
Blue and Red
 Blue and Lime Green
Blue and Yellow
Blue and Pink

It has become a neutral all in itself.   Here are just a few I came across.

Hobby Lobby is one of my favorite stores.  Watch for their 50% sales and you can find accessories to add to any design style....the fan, material and lamp were found at Hobby Lobby.
Do Any of these combinations of colors catch you eye?

Lamp and pillow found at Tuesday Morning.
Table - consignment shop.
Material discount house in the area.

How about blue and yellow?
Contemporary or traditional....blue is finding its way back into our homes.

Do you like blue? What combination seems fresh and new to you?

Hollywood Glamour

I plan to have a  regular feature post exploring what can be found in local discount stores.  My camera will replace actual buying, then I will build a room from what I found.  This will bring practice to the decorating adventure, as well as, show you the items can be found on a budget.  So here we go on my first shopping post...yes, I do need to find a catchy name for the regular post, all suggestions are welcome.

Hollywood Glamour Master Bedroom

My eye caught this headboard when I entered Tuesday Morning.  I will probably use this headboard

in a few examples, because it is very versatile.

Today I will use it as the backdrop for a Hollywood Glamour Bedroom

This headboard was regular price at $800.00, but with mark-downs, Tuesday Morning was selling it for 

$350.00  I felt that was a bargain   I do know how to make this headboard, however, unless you are a DIY'er who found reasonable material, it wouldn't be worth i,t nor save you any money.  This was a queen size headboard.

To accent this bed I found a wonderful large rug.  The rug is large enough to be grounded under part of the bed.  It measured 8' x 10" - again a Tuesday Morning items for under $400.00

I also found this rug on line....more pricey, but it gives a whole different look

Then I ventured over to Home Goods...it is part of TJ Maxx...so if you don't have one, TJ Maxx carries a smaller selection in their stores.

This was the Hollywood Glamour Piece

A little too much pattern for you...remember this would be in Master Bedroom...plenty of room to handle both the carpet and this piece.  If too much, trade out the carpet.  The cream and the white would compliment each other.  The grey in the second rug would blend with the silver of this piece.  This next piece would bring white in again on top of the blue/cream rug or pop on the yellow/grey rug.

Notice the same detail as the headboard?  What a wonderful glamours chair.  White leather!

Home Goods Store...I think it was right at $200.00 

Now lamps....I could add and add to this department....each bringing in a new look

A little too contemporary?  I think a mercury base lamp would be great or cut glass.

This more traditional....both lamps at Home Goods...under a $100.00 each.

Bedding, curtains, pillows?  Oh the fun stuff that sets a room apart.  Color combinations are wonderful.

I headed to the fabric store.

Sorry it is only a swatch, I didn't take a picture of the whole piece, but it is wonderful.
This would be my jumping off piece.  Look at all the colors - grey, steel blue, yellow and greens.
I would probably use this as shams on the bed with a neutral bedspread.  I would build  forward with pillows highlighting the different colors.

What about the walls?  I hoped you would ask.
I would take the light grey and paint all the walls in a flat grey. I would then stencil tone on tone.  This is where you stencil the same color over the top but in gloss.  I would make a stencil from the furniture piece, repeating that design in the subtle way with the gloss paint.  I would only stencil the wall behind the bed, leaving the rest of the walls in solid flat.

There you have it and all these pieces could be found in your local stores.  Each at fractions of full retail cost.
I would continue to tweak this room as I shopped around more...for now this is a beginning.

Another option changing out the rug and lamp.

Remember if you have a catchy name for the regular post please suggest!!

Think Outside the Box - Repurpose

One of the funniest challenges in decorating is "thinking outside the box."  I think just about anyone can grab a picture and copy what someone else has done, but to put your own "thinking cap" on gives you great satisfaction.

I am a reluctant garage sale person. I like to drive by the place without getting out to see if I can spy from my car. I have mentioned how my husband and I tag team on my other blog.  So one day we were tag teaming when he came to his waiting wife in the car and said, "there is a small side table, but it only has two of its three legs."  I didn't hesitate..."get it."  His reply, "what for?"

Thinking outside the box I had two projects for the price of one.  The two legged table was $3.00.  The top was round.  So on the side where the third leg should be I cut across the round table top...about 1/3 into the table surface.  This 1/4 moon shape table top became a shelf.

The rest of the table would be placed in the hall attached to the wall by L brackets (one of the many uses I have used L brackets for)  By removing part of the side table the table no longer protruded into the walk way, but gave a wonderful space for a picture display above it and accents on the table.

I wish I had original pictures of the table standing it in all its glory and how I mounted the shelf...I do not.

The second transformation was years later I renewed the table with paint and stencil.  It was first spray painted and distressed, then I glazed it with a stain and stenciled the top of the table.

Final product....now living another life in our new place.  This one piece has had countless lives...by just thinking outside the box.

Before you discard something,  instead think of a way it could be re-purposed.  Think of unusual place to put it...now letting it become a new focus piece in your room.

Where Do I Start?

The first question I usually get when working with a client is, "Where do I start?" 

In order to not guide the client into my way of thinking I start looking around their home, even noticing the clothes they wear.  Why the clothes they wear?  Usually we all wear clothes in the colors we enjoy, so it makes sense to think we will also reflect those likes in our home decor.  Now I have you thinking don't I?

Next I look for an inspirational piece.  This is how I begin any room.

A great pillow, piece of fabric or furniture, theme, color or an accent piece.

Let me walk you through the process of my kitchen.

Inspirational piece of fabric.  It literally jumped from the fabric display.  First, it was bright...I wanted a bright kitchen.  Second, it was a new fabric, I had seen all the rest for years.  Third, I wanted a retro look in my kitchen and this fabric screamed retro...well it did to me.

I would want an accent piece to go with this fabric....stroll around with fabric in hand until another piece jumps from the racks.

This shouted out...USE ME!!!!  This would line the curtains as well as be my cording around the edges.  Why use cording?  Cording helps to stiffen up the curtains and makes home sewn curtains like more custom..well worth the extra work.

Now second step...paint for the walls.  Since I was going for eye-waking, cheerful, retro-Lucy color I went with the blue.

Curtains extended higher above the window opens up the window, extends your eyes up to lift the ceiling.

Largest part of my kitchen was done. 

Taking the black and white I ventured onto the back-splash.  With paint, stencil and artist tape I painted a faux back-splash.  Since this is a rent house I decorate with temporary in mind.

Now to add retro-items on the top of the cabinets.  Nostalgia was achieved through items from my father and mother-in-law.  Always clustering similar items together will bring greater attention to those items.

Once the ball is rolling you continue to add to the room. My involved making a lamp, gathering items to display about the cabinets, picking up retro-blue bread box and a red blender.

The room was completed and I have enjoyed it from day one.  It all began from one piece of fabric!

There is the answer to the question, "Where Do You Start?"

Welcome - Come Right On In

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Welcome to my new blog, which I am creating to accompany my new adventure in business.  My new business is named Simply Your Decor.  My desire is to bring you along on my journey and share some tips along the way.

I am what the professionals would label, "self-trained".  I began filling my decorating portfolio in the early 80's, so yes, I am not new on the scene, nor am a "young thing."  My portfolio grew through the years including some interesting projects.  One job required curtains and pillows for a private plane...my family was rewarded with a private flight around our city.  Another decorating venture was the  transformation of a movie theater to become the new residence of a church.  During that renovation we home-educated in the car, allowing me to coin the phrase "multi-tasking mom" years before everyone asked if you could "multi-task".  Throughout those side-tracked adventures I was graced with entering many homes to decorate and bring the owner's vision of their home to pass.

So I begin this journey again with new excitement, which can be expressed through the internet and all the modern day resources it provides.  I would be delighted for you to  follow along as I reveal my own secrets of decorating...you might not find them in a class book, but that is the fun of being creative.

I plan to also go back into the archives to share past stories of decorating....I am a story teller at heart and to not include them just wouldn't be me.  If that bores you, then you know what to do...look at the pictures and move on.

Please feel welcome to ask questions....add what you have learned....in other words, let's share the world of decorating while I put on my fancy shoes and head out the door to an appointment.  I have heard these years of my life can be the most rewarding!!!!