In making our house into a forever home I have learned that using the same elements over and over again in each room is what grounds me. I don't feel weird about having one room bright pink and another room right next door bright turquoise as long as I use the same repeated elements in my rooms to bring the whole house together.
I seem to be drawn to the same five elements and having a ton of each of them is what makes our home feel pulled together for me. The Hubs probably thinks I am just spreading out my hoarding tendency ... little does he know there is actually a real plan.
Well, sort of ...
Blue and White Porcelain ~
It may have started with my love for porcelain and trying to place pieces of my collection ... but then I realized if I used some of it in each room of the house, it felt pulled together.
And now having blue and white elements in the way of my growing porcelain collection is just the way it is. Some of it is hanging on the walls (yes, I may have a plate hanging issue), some of it is gathered in groups in other rooms ...
and other places its just a single piece.
It may be inside a drawer to gather tools or on a counter to hold flowers, or in the case of the bar it is both of these.
In our daughter's room it is pair of lamps with fabric covered shades ... the perfect compliment to her Lilly Pulitzer fabric filled room. The lamps balance all the mix of the pinks, greens, oranges and yellows.
That photo is by far my favorite of the two of us ... riding the Carousel at Disney which is by far my favorite ride in the whole entire park.
In the master it is splashes of pottery around the tub, a dish to hold a monogrammed candle and one of my favorite pieces ...
a foo dog!
I love using my porcelain to hold flowers and to pull together for entertaining. It may take me a while to gather it up for a table gathering ... but walking through the house to chose pieces always makes me smile.
And putting it away sparks changes in how things look which is always fun for me. The same things in different spots is like shopping for free!
Monograms ~
This element might not seem like an obvious choice but with my passion for all things monograms it really works for us. I have three different monograms I use most in the house ... and I mix them up quite a bit. I also love mixing more than one monogram style in a room.
I swap it up between my custom vintage monogram from Number Four Eleven ...
an oval monogram with side elements ...
and Fishtail.
Our towels are always monogrammed in Fishtail, I love how each of our monograms looks in the classic and traditional font. My monogram looks the best in more block font ... the script just doesn't seem to flow well with the P on the right. (One day I will have to share with you how I decided to use my first and middle name instead of keeping my maiden name. It's a good story ... pinky swear!)
I do play with more monogram styles for napkins but those aren't seen every day. I find that I do better only mixing three to sit out on a daily basis.
Though ... I may need to change my mind and add a fourth monogram to the house in a more permanent form. That bamboo monogram from my sweet friend Emily is absolutely one of my favorites!
I am old school when it comes to choosing monograms for the house. Emily Post says the monograms in the house for linens and the like are the lady of the house. The man of the house has his monogram on bar ware. I completely follow this rule of thumb. We don't have any mixed monograms in the house but if we did I would stick to her rule and place the lady's monogram first.
It is no secret that our house is full of color. Both the Hubs and I grew up in Florida and colorful homes were always a part of us. His mother had a pink bedroom when we got married and I always loved it. Her hallway was turquoise and it made me happy to see all that happy color. My grandparents always had a white house with white walls but they had a yellow and white gingham kitchen, the guest bedroom was pink and the one bathroom in the house was blue and lavender.
Color is who we are!
Color on a ceiling for me is like an amazing pair of earrings, it makes the outfit ... in this case, the room. As soon as I chose the color for the walls for these rooms I went directly to the ceiling. I know painting ceilings isn't something everyone loves ... but for me its a must do.
Wallpaper is an amazing punch to a room ... and for me the bigger the punch the better!
Thibaut China Seas for the master bath ...
Meg Braff Sampan in the bar ...
... and Rifle Paper Co Peonies in the laundry room.
Thibaut, Meg Braff and Hygge and West ... all favorites of mine. I have four more amazing papers in my dream room file I can't wait to use. Two for walls, one for a butler's closet and one for a ceiling. Maybe I should start buying wallpaper stock ... clearly I have a love affair with it.
Flowers ~
I absolutely love fresh flowers in all areas of our home. I have a few places I just need to see flowers when I walk by ... it makes my day so much better to see them. I usually head out at the beginning of the week and gather up a few bunches of flowers and split them up between my favorite spots. I am not a fan of the
I use the same arrangement of flowers for each location to pull them all together. My go to is usually two different color roses that I mix together. If I change the water out mid week I can usually get about 10 to 14 days out of my roses. When they start turning for the worst, I just pull out the ones that are dying and fluff the rest in the vase. It gives me some more time with my purchases and as they open up in the containers I usually don't miss one or two that couldn't hang around.
This week it was hot pink garden roses and yellow roses. I almost knocked over the flower cart reaching for the hot pink flowers thinking they were peonies. Garden roses are just as amazing! I can't wait to see those tiny buds open. I will need to make sure they have fresh water so they last as long as possible.
In my ideal world I would have a cutting garden I could cut fresh flowers from each week, but since I have both a black thumb and a disdain for dirt I am left without said cutting garden. As the kids gets older I should find a way to turn my thumb green and to tolerate dirt. Maybe if I find a good floopy hat and some darling monogrammed gloves. My friend Maggi always laughs at me when I gono thank you, I don't like dirt.
Books ~
From my early years spending afternoons in the library I developed a love for a bound book. My passion for coffee table books began about six years ago and really doesn't seem to be tapering off at all. My collection has grown and has ended up in almost every room of our house ... with the exception of the dining room, laundry room and the bathrooms. Yes, I do even have one book in the kitchen.
In my dream house there would be bookcases in most of all the rooms. And ... they would be covered in plastic just like a library book. Those are by far my favorite to collect!
I pull these pink stools out for seating when entertaining and I find people start flipping through the books I move ... great conversation starters.
Books in the bar? Yes! Palm Beach bars needs books on Palm Beach.
One of my favorite stacks ... and of course a tiny set of brass slippers on top takes it to the next level for me.
Books in the entry way ... but, of course!
Do you love books as much as I do ... do tell!
See ... I am definitely not hoarding at all. I call it strategic planning and placement of items. And it works.
That is the story I am telling myself!
Happy Tuesday loves!
Hi Paige,
ReplyDeleteI met you at Haven. (I'm half of The 2 Seasons). I love the blue and white lamp with the green gingham shade. Can you let me know where you bought the shade? Thank you!
Janette
Hi Janette! How could I ever forget you and your darling daughter?? The shade came with the Ralph Lauren lamp from Home Goods and I covered it myself with the green and white gingham fabric. I have quite a few custom lamp shades in the house and I love the way they look! xo
DeleteI love your colorful home. I wish my hubs would agree to bring wallpaper back into our home. He was the one, though, that stripped all the old wallpaper off when I got tired of it in many of these rooms! thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI started collecting books as a young girl, Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden, were my favorite. I'd save my birthday money or allowance to buy my own that didn't have to go to the the library. Then I started purchasing coffee table decorating books in high school, I thought they were a better investment to magazines and my best friend thought that I was so cool for that. So, when we purchased this house and I got my own office with a built in bookcase I was over the moon, to have so much room for my books. But, like you I find they look so nice placed through out the house with the many other items I love the collect. The hubby likes to joke that he only gets the garage undecorated! But that may change...
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