Sunday, July 9, 2017

In Pursuit of "Pretty"

As I seek to create a calming oasis in our little cottage home, my husband reminds me that I am outnumbered
 (i.e., 1 female, 2 males in our home). 
  Even so, we all want the same thing from our home:  To discover a place for ourselves, and to make that place
 as beautiful as possible. 






At the moment, my "space" exists only in my dreams as our Bedroom walls are being stripped of wallpaper and re-sheet rocked. The room in my dreams has a cushy, plush chair for reading, a collection of impresionist-type sea-shore prints on the wall, and fresh hydrangeas or roses on the bedside table daily.

  But I.Will.Get.There! Until then, I will keep learning many easy ways to bring a "little pretty" into my life. My teachers are my friends, church sisters, family members, and creative women who write decorating magazines.  


I love the blues of my sister Natalie"s Bedroom... So calming!


I recently visited a friend who lives in New Jersey. Simone has turned every surface of her home into a chance to showcase something beauiful and usefull (from shapely french jars where she stores flour and sugar, to the vintage chandelier over her bed. Did I mention that she does it all on a shoestring? 





Simone's kitchen tablecloth is Dollar-a-yard burlap (but it looks like a million bucks). She says she never knows where or when inspiration for decorating will strike. 





Thriftiness is essential for my family these days. I love to draw beauty out of the humblest objects! I use junk mail to scribble quotes or decorating sketches on, stapling the papers together and making inspiration notebooks. I currently have several of these "inspiration journals" going.  




 I love to constantly dabble and tweak my accessories, pulling things together and moving things around the house.
 Mike says I have a style like that of a tumbled-down French Chateau.




 But I would rather believe our humble cottage is a romantic mix of old-world French and Italian influences, from a New Jersey Shore perspective.


No comments: