Have you ever dreamed of just painting everything in your house white? I’m talking floors, walls, furniture, – the whole kit and caboodle.
Every time I see a house like this I want to run to the nearest hardware store and stock up on white paint. It just looks so simple and stunning.
Whatever you put in the room just comes to life as the walls, floors and ceilings blend into one.
Organic touches like stacks of wood and vintage tables pop against the white. Artwork also takes centre stage.
Of course being blessed with beautiful mouldings and period details helps bring the monochromatic look to life.
Driftwood inspired wood drawers, a farmhouse sink and a white painted brick wall bring texture and interest to this kitchen.
I’d be happy with those chevron floors and that stunning rectangular sky light.
A modern sink sits on top of a repurposed chest of drawers in a pale lilac colour. I’d even paint this beadboard white.
Upstairs pale blush walls are a nice contrast to the pale seafoam green bedding.
In fact this home reminds me very much of one of my other favourite homes – the one belonging to photographer Paul Massey. I even had to so a side by side comparison. I thought perhaps it had just been redecorated but I think they are indeed to two different homes.
What do you think? Could you go all white?
Photo credit:
Light Locations
Over the weekend we went from rather cold, rainy spring weather to full-on summer. We pulled all of our patio furniture out of the basement, turned on the sprinkler and uncovered the sand box. Out came flip flops and sun hats and away went winter boots and scarves. Of course, all of this seasonal switcheroo has got me thinking about what I would like to do in our backyard this year.
You might remember that last year we moved our outdoor eating table to a little alfresco dining spot in the back of the yard. It freed up a lot of space on our deck but now our deck is feeling a little empty. I think it might be nice to make it into a casual seating spot. I’m inspired by the idea of adding some butterfly chairs maybe around a central low table or even planter.
I love the look of these white butterfly chairs at this house on Fire Island. This is also where I got the idea for the low coffee table/planter. In fact I think this table/planter would also make great extra seating if you had a few more people over.
Morgan over at The Brick House created this modern patio and fire pit setup at her house in California about two years ago. Again I love the look of the white butterfly chairs although I’m a bit concerned about the white. Is it going to stay that colour? Maybe I should send Morgan a quick email and see how her chairs are faring 2 years on. (Done – I’ll let you know what she says.)
These black ones are nice as well. Of course it might just be the stunning setting.
A little search of the internet reveals that the best place to get them is Circa 50. They have them in a range of colours and sizes. You can even buy replacement covers for vintage frames.
If you’re interested in learning bit more about the history of the butterfly chair (also known as Knoll Hardoy or BFK chair) check out this post. I was fascinated to learn that the first two butterfly chairs to come to the United States went to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater House!
Image credits:
1 – Bruce Bierman Design
2 – Morgan Satterfield – The Brick House
3 – Birdseye Design
Inside Out is an Australian shelter magazine that I would love to get my hands on. Trouble is it is next to impossible to get up here in Canada. However that hasn’t stopped me from admiring it from afar. You can imagine my surprise when I heard that they wanted to do a small shout out to The Marion House Book.
Turns out they were doing a little feature on blogs to watch and mine was one they wanted to highlight. We even made it to the top of the page!
Did I mention that they wrote this article back in January of this year…sometimes it takes me awhile to get around to mentioning these things! Oh well, the summery garden cover looks perfectly seasonal for our Northern climate right now.
Media and the way we consume it has changed in the past five years. Whereas I use to sit in front of the television or open a newspaper and be immersed in hundreds of different topics I am now super selective about what I read and see. In fact, I gave up television all together three years ago and with the exception of the odd television series (Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones) rarely watch anything. Likewise I never purchase a whole newspaper anymore. Instead I pick and choose the articles I want to read online. Of course, the majority of my time is spent on social media sites – facebook, twitter, pinterest and instagram and on design blogs and magazines.
I often feel like I have fallen down a rabbit hole that is full of stunning interiors, DIY projects and beautifully curated photo shoots and not much else. The muchness is sometimes overwhelming. I’m so consumed by the details that I’m failing to see the big picture. My goal this month is to find ways to stay inspired that go beyond browsing pinterest, reading blogs and flipping through design magazines. Don’t get me wrong I love doing these things but I need to find some other ways to get inspired so that I get even more from my regular diet of design reading and browsing.
Leo Babauta of the awe-inspiring blog Zen Habits wrote a post that outlines seven different ways to stay inspired. They are:
- Work with inspired people – one of the best ways to stay inspired is to work with creative, energetic, positive people.
- Read daily – varied things, from blogs to magazines to books of all kinds.
- Get outside – nature is one of the biggest inspirations, and you’ll miss it if you’re inside all day.
- Talk with new people – they’ll always expose you to new and interesting things, if you’re open to it.
- Break out of your routine – see things from a different perspective. Take a new route home. Go to a new restaurant. Visit someplace new in your area.
- Find time for silence – it’s more inspiring than you might think. Unfortunately, not enough of us do it.
- Exercise – or at least get moving. It helps the blood to circulate, and gets ideas moving around.
My goal for the month of May is to work through these seven suggestions. Some like working with inspired people will be easy and others like finding time for silence and exercise won’t be!
I’ll be documenting the process on my twitter and instagram accounts with the hashtag – #mayinspire. I hope you will follow and even participate. Just tag your own photos or tweets with the same hashtag. Let’s see what we can find to fuel our creative fires.
Image credits:
Dietlind Wolf
