Or Green?

Well, I was thinking blue walls, but now I'm thinking green. I've had light mossy-sage green sort of walls before and loved them. Hmm, I think the blue is just making me nervous! Ah, we shall see. What's moved me more towards green is thinking of John Derian. I love his rustic, natural sort of flea market style, and I was thinking, what would he choose? I think he'd definitely go for green. We shall see. These few examples here I found on Katy Elliot's blog. 

Also, Kim asked me to tell you 7 things about myself. I guess I should choose 7 things you wouldn't already know because that's more fun! So...here are 7 things about me you may not know: I like to eat tomato paste out of a can, I prefer eating over cooking, my mom is one of my best buds, morning is my favorite time of day, I love cotton candy pink clouds, I think my husband is awesome (I just don't talk about him too much on the blog), and I make my bed every day. 

Hatching Ideas

It looks like we'll be moving soon! I haven't said a peep because it's not totally official yet, but it looks like it will be next week. We're just moving across town, north of the river, but I'm soooo excited. The neighborhood is great, and I'm excited to fool around with decorating a new place. We've been in our current place for a year, but I still haven't quite figured out what to do in certain places, so I just haven't. Instead of seeing it as a challenge, I've though of it as a drag, blah. It hasn't been too fun. One issue is choppy walls--walls divided by a lot of doorways and windows, which is the complete opposite of our last place. I just don't think I have the right stuff to work in the right places, if that makes sense, and I haven't taken the time to hunt for the right stuff. Ah, well, I don't have to worry about it anymore. Our new place is sort of boxy like our apartment in San Francisco, with two big, long walls in the living room. I felt sort of over that by the time we left San Francisco, but I'm looking forward to it again. I understand how to arrange my things better on walls like that. I'm also thinking of color. Our last place had neutral, beige walls, but I'm thinking of a very pale robin's egg blue. I love the way deeper colors look against that shade of blue--rusty orange, reds, navy, green, golden yellows, etc. Deeper, darker colors look really good with that color to me. Lisa has blue walls and I love the way all of her things stand out against it. Here are a few pictures I've come across for inspiration. These shades vary, but I think my favorite is the second one, just below. I like that it is a touch grey compared to the others. I've put them all in my pinterest, where you can see links to the sources. 

Color Me Happy

Lately I've been thinking in color. It has been so dreary here these last few months that daydreaming of bright things has been the best way to chase my grey day blues away. Today though it's actually sunny, finally, and so nice outside! I went out for a stroll earlier to see the blue sky and get some much needed vitamin D. I'm also thinking of random colorful things to keep my spirits up. To start with, tulip fields in the Netherlands, and...

Color it wallpaper. 

A door in Mexico. 

Balloons.

Norway.

Dresses.

Gee's Bend quilt.

The Bahamas.

Patchwork sweater throw (it is still winter after all). 

But I'll think of ice cream instead. 

Think happy. Be Happy.

Sources are in the links. 

I like Pinterest

My new favorite thing (fairly new to me anyway) is Pinterest, an online inspiration board of sorts where you "pin" favorite images. I'm not totally sure of all the ins and outs of Pinterest since I just recently joined, but if you love online image eye candy and are like me and have messy folders on your desktop of random saved inspiration images, you will LOVE Pinterest. When you pin, it credits the source of where you found it (though often that's not the original source of the actual image, and I imagine this could be an issue for pinterest at some point, hmm). I hope source issues don't cause too much trouble because I really like the service. Here's the link to my boards. Right now I've just focused on pinning images of interiors, but other folks have boards of so many other things. Below are a few things I've pinned to my board this week. All the sources are linked to the pins on my boards. (The image above, "things I like" is by John Derian--possibly my favorite designer, one of the few whose name's I can even remember!)

Daydreaming of Wallpaper

I've been thinking of wallpaper lately, specifically Deborah Bowness's wallpapers. I love her bookshelves wallpaper. I might have to make a trip to Caravan to get a roll. I also love her vintage frocks wallpaper. Actually, I like all of them! They've made their way around the design blogs for some time now, but I don't get tired of them.  

Images: One, two, three, four. 

Le Chandelier

Yesterday I visited Le Chandelier, a beautiful cafe-restaurant and atelier in East Dulwich. I always love discovering new tea spots here in London, and when I read about Le Chandelier on Tea for Joy, I put it at the top of my list. It was as beautiful in person as it is in pictures. The light-filled space, with white washed walls is narrow and long, with high ceilings, and the cosy atmosphere and decor make you feel like you're in a 17th century salon. You can choose from more than 25 loose leaf teas, which are selected by Le Chandelier's very own tea master. They also serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner (dinner on certain nights), as well as a beautiful selection of sweet delights from their patisserie. As you sit and sip your tea and indulge in a nibble, it's easy to be dazzled by all the beautiful chandeliers overhead, which are for sale, and sourced primarily from France. Le Chandelier also has a vibrant Moroccan room, which can be reserved for private parties, and the entire space can be made available through 1st Option for photoshoots as well. If you go to Le Chandelier, I'm sure you'll leave feeling refreshed and inspired like I did. I can't wait to go back.

Le Chandelier

161 Lordship Lane
London
SE22 8HX
Tue-Thrus 9:30am-6pm
Fri and Sat 9:30am-11pm
Sun 10am-6pm