Tag Archives: Design

Hello, Gorgeous!

Good morning! I hope you had a *lovely* weekend! We certainly did. I hope you won’t mind me bragging just a bit…

Nashville pictures including Grace Coddington, The Southern, The Frist

That’s right! Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This weekend we traveled to Nashville to visit Bestie, to eat some really incredible food, and to meet the Grace Coddington! The Frist put on a great Q&A with the infamous creative director of American Vogue  hosted by model/musician (& ex-wife of Jack White, who was also in attendance… *swoon*) Karen Elson to promote her new book Grace: A Memoir. It was fantastic! The relatively small room, which made everything a bit more intimate, was full of people trying too hard & wearing shoes they couldn’t walk in. Grace was such a friendly personality and so gracious to stay and sign books. Anyway, enough gushing… I just couldn’t resist.

Here are a few other random links to start your week off on the right foot…

Read

I’ve been a fan of the site Brain Pickings for a while. Structured like a blog, it’s a compendium of readings, facts, and essays that are the perfect thing to get your brain moving in the mornings. So I was really excited to finally see an article on the woman behind the site (& excellent Twitter feed), Maria Popova, in the New York Times this weekend.

Listen

I rarely listen to music when I work, but I often listen to podcasts and old radio shows. Lately, I’ve become addicted to Design*Sponge creator Grace Bonney’s podcast After the Jump where she interviews various creatives. Here are a few that I’ve especially enjoyed lately…

episode 3: Genevieve Gorder
episode 7: Sibella Court
episode 24: Thom Filicia 

Cook

Today, I’m going to try making gingerbread for the first time using the new Band of Outsiders cookie cutters I scored at Target this weekend. I’m using this recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen (adapted from Martha Stewart). Wish me luck!

 

 

 

Picking an Exterior Palette

Yesterday, I shared the Before & After of our recent paint job. Today, I wanted to share with you just how we got there.

Picking a color palette, especially one that is such a bear to get done as well as quite costly like your exterior paint, should not be taken lightly. However, I am also a firm believer in ‘just going for it.’ What’s the worst thing that could happen? If you are going with your gut, the odds are that whatever colors you choose will be great. Here’s how I like to go about choosing a palette.

First, I go to Pinterest. I look through all the images that speak to me at that moment and see if I can spot any similarities. Above is a collage of some of the pictures that were really singing when I was choosing the palette for our home.

Next, I go to the paint store and start looking. Live with the paint chips for a while. Carry them around in your bag. Get them out and mix them up. Odds are, after a couple of days, you will be looking at the same few every time you get them out. When you find a few that work, I highly suggest trying them out online. In the world of computerized everything, each paint brand has a way to “try on” their colors. We chose these 3 from Sherwin Williams.

Finally, look at accent fabrics. For this step, go back to your original set of pictures. What are the accent colors that are repeated in several photographs. Then, start sorting fabrics by what type of fabric you need (in this case we needed Indoor/Outdoor fabric.) and colors.

I chose the 4 fabrics you see above on Fabric.com, and then let Husband make the final decision. If you have a significant other, this is a great step to do together. To be honest, the fabric he chose was just one I’d thrown in the mix. It seemed a bit much for me at first, but now I am completely in love! Significant others have a way of seeing things that you may not even know you like, but you’ll be surprised at how much this stretches you!

Finally, don’t be scared! Try something new. If you don’t want to start with your whole house, maybe you just need some encouragement to liven up that old guest room. A little fabric and a fresh coat of paint can totally change your outlook. Just take my word for it!