farmhouse industrial

Is anyone as obsessed with Sarah Richardson as I am? I was perusing her site yesterday and came across these images from the 2011 Interior Design Show (under her "Portfolio" tab):

I started thinking how fun it would be to do a house with mostly white walls and each room would have a different pop of primary color. The kitchen could look something like this, with a fun mix of different patterns:

Maybe one day I'll have a little cottage on my own private island like Sarah.

1. Pehr napkins

2. Mason jars

3. Radial wave pendant, Barnlight Electric

4. Modernist Mug, West Elm

5. Awning Stripe Table Cloth, Anthropologie

6. Tea and Toast Butter Dish, Anthropologie

7. Groceries Sign, Pottery Barn

8. Lucky Number Knob, Anthropologie

9. Cooper's Small Stool, Wisteria

10. Achla Flower Carafe, Vintage Tub

11. Modernist Bowl, West Elm

jamaican' me crazy

Today is the start of a new week and therefore the start of my resolution to start blogging again! So I thought I'd start out with finally sharing pictures of the pink living room (ps-my last blog post was sort of a joke...I don't really think that you NEED to know about my pink living room. But, you might WANT to, right?) This is a shot of the room before, in the midst of prep (HATE prep, by the way and I no longer use painter's tape...more on that later):

I settled on pink begonia, the darker of the two pinks and loved the way it turned out. It really warmed up the large space. I added some dark brown furnishings that I already had and the lovely paris chair from Home Goods:

Here's a shot of the other side with the pink anthro pillow on the couch (please pardon the horrible photography):

I loved the bohemian vibe I had going and hubs was even into it. But after living with it for a few weeks, something wasn't working. The color of the couch (a grayish brown) wasn't working with the other dark brown furniture and the white shutters were looking too "beach cottage" next to all of the warm furnishings. It wasn't gelling. AT ALL. I got so frustrated that I completely stopped all decorating. I didn't want to think about it, I didn't want to blog about it. I needed time to clearly define the direction I was going in before buying anymore furniture or painting ANOTHER wall.

Add to that the fact that my kitchen was already lime green (Benjamin Moore's chic lime)...

and my dining room a robin's egg blue (Benjamin Moore's arctic blue)...

and it was getting a little too "island mon" up in there! I mean, my house IS pink and green, but let's be honest...I don't live at the beach. I needed to tone it down. Rethink my whole house scheme. Did I want to go warm bohemian or beachy cottage? Stick with me to see what direction I chose and the end result!

hot hue: cobalt

I've noticed this color everywhere lately and I'm loving it. It pairs well with so many colors...red (for an Americana look), kelly green, pink, yellow, orange, or even just crisp white.

1 & 2: Crate & Barrel

3: Serena & Lily

4, 5, 6, 7 & 8: Target

9: West Elm

the living room

So the living room is coming together nicely. As you may remember, I was going to use this fabulous Orla Kiely pillow as a jumping off point:

I was also going to go with a cute little yellow danish modern sofa from cb2. Hubs was NOT into the tiny yellow couch and I must admit that it was pretty impractical. We like to curl up on our couch and that petite thing was not conducive to curling. I'm glad I was patient because instead, I got my DREAM couch! I had seen this couch used in a few of my favorite design magazines (Cottage Living, Domino, etc) and hunted it down. It's made by Lee Industries and low and behold, most of Crate & Barrel's furniture is made by Lee. I was also informed by my favorite sales associate (yes, it's sad...they know me well over there) that I could order any Lee product through Crate & Barrel AND get 25% off during the custom upholstery sale...YIPPEE!! Without further ado, here she is...

I love everything about it...the single cushion, the low track arms (that prevent cricks in the neck when lying down to watch TV), the fluffy down back cushions and the clean lines. I went with a soft grayish-brown linen to hide stains and hold its own against a toddler. It's also made with a removable slipcover so I can wash it or switch it out if I get bored.

I tried the Orla pillows on it, along with a rug that I had bought on clearance awhile back:

The rug is cute, but SUPER annoying. It's wool (not soft), shows dirt like nobody's business and super thin so it slides around easily. Kennon HATES this rug. With a passion. So, it was back to square one. I decided to use the pillows with my African patio furniture in the sunroom instead, since those pieces have a mod egg shape and the pillows have a mid century feel. So off I went in search of a different scheme and wouldn't you know it, I came right back to a pattern I fell in love with ages ago:

It has gray in it, so it looks fabulous with the couch. And then there's my favorite color, robin egg blue. I decided to do pillows and two chairs from Target that I blogged about here in the pattern and I found a Dash & Albert rug that compliments the scheme perfectly:

I spray painted the wicker coffee table (previously icky brown) a bright white, but I'm not sure about it. I feel like it sort of looks like a white blob. It may look different when the chairs are in, but I may need to repaint it a lime green...or repaint the walls robin egg blue so there's not so much white.

I'd also like to use this fabric as an accent, maybe as drapes or on a long pillow for the center of the couch:

I'm really excited about it and hope it all comes together!