The Driving Force Of COLOR!!

   

Are you as driven by color as much as I am? Color is a driving force in my life.

  Color can change my mood!

I shop by color.

Color combinations excite me!

Color absolutely fascinates me!

Colors can change a mood, feel, or temperature  in a room. Trust me, it can totally do it !!

Just think about Summer Heat!! How can you cool down the temperature in a room during the summer months?

Since summer months in my part of northern California can be quite hot, I like to add cooler hues to my rooms.

The addition of cool blues, and greens are perfect additions to add in my home to cool down the look of the room. Think of WATER and the many colors in the ocean!!

Lately the combination of turquoise, and navy have been interesting to me.

This cool duo will make the temperature of any room go down a few degrees.

In my own personal home I have surrounded myself with walls of a warm, soft color of maize. Since colors in the yellow family tend to be on the warm side, I cool it down with the addition of blues and greens.

Recently I  thought just a small touch of turquoise might be interesting to add to the mix.

Who knows what I will come up with, but for now it is fun to imagine this cool duo in my home.

Do you try small additions of color in your rooms to change its feel, or mood? What colors do you add to your rooms in the summer?

Stay tuned I might just add a touch of turquoise  with my cobalt blue for the summer in my family room.

As Always.....

 

 

 

My DAD!!

 

My Dad! I can hardly think of him without getting big tears in my eyes. He is no longer with us, he died at a very young age (47). The tears I shed are sometimes for sadness, but other times for joy.

He was a man among men as far as I was concerned. We were raised to pretty much think he could walk on water. 

I actually thought I was going to marry him until I turned 10yrs old, and I found out that was not done.

On my actual wedding day after he walked me down the aisle he sat down, and took out his hanky and boo-hooed, my Mom had to console him.

 

I wish the pictures were in color, he had the most amazing sparkly blue eyes.

I remember how hard my Dad worked and what a wonderful provider he was for his family.What I remember above all was how much he loved his family. 

Daddy spoke with his eyes, they could laugh without making a sound. He had the most beautiful twinkly blue eyes.

I would love to watch my Dad look at my Mom, and her look back at him. Not a word was spoken, but you knew without a doubt  they loved each other. 

That gives a child so much security to see how their parents love each other and boy did my parents love each other.

My Dad made me feel loved, and protected. I knew Daddy would fix it if anything would go wrong. I knew I was beautiful in his eyes.

 

He put a penny in my shoe and helped me with my garter.

I remember when my oldest son had his daughter (who is the most precious little girl alive) I watched as he leaned over the isolette, and he bowed his head. 

I asked him later was he praying, and he told me , “I am a blessed man, I was thanking God!" I knew then and there that he was going to love his little girl just like my Dad loved me.

I told my son that day.....  

"You know you will be her first mirror. She will see herself through your eyes." 

Now how did I know that? Because I saw myself through my Dads eyes. I knew I was worth loving because he showed me unconditional love. 

So when it came time to choose a husband I knew without a doubt that I had  met the right one. 

We have been married over forty three years now. I fell in love with him when I was only sixteen yrs old so I have loved him for 47 years.

So you see because my Dad loved me like no one else could, and took such wonderful care of me, I have learned to expect the best in a man. 

In my opinion I got the best in the man that I have been married to for 43 years.

I guess in my heart I will always be Daddy’s little girl, I kind of like that. 

Even though he is no longer here to give me hugs he is with me in spirit, and his love will be with me forever. That is what I call a wonderful example of a Dad!!

 "Enjoy the Process" Of:

Telling the Dad's in your life  how special they are to YOU!!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's in My Life!!

 

 

It Is Okay To Make A Decorating Mistake!!

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Often times when we decorate a room, and we are absolutely sure that an element we love will work in the room, sometimes  it just doesn't work!

This recently happened to me while designing my family room.

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WHEN IT IS “NOT” ALRIGHT

It is NOT alright to make a mistake, and not remedy the problem. 

Sometimes we can overlook the reality of the situation because we want the item so badly, and we won’t make the proper changes to the room.

Leaving a mistake in a room is a bad choice to make.

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KILLING YOUR ROOM

 In my career I have often seen a homeowner who wants the newest color, or trend, and they will try their hardest to incorporate it into their existing design, and it just does not work, but by golly they are going to make it work if it kills them.  

It won’t kill them, but it most likely will kill the room that they were trying to make look better.

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MY MISTAKE

My recent mistake was trying to add a sail boat to my family room.

The room reads very fresh, crisp, and airy. I wanted to make a few changes for the summer season, and a sailboat seemed like the perfect addition.

When I received the sail boat I was disappointed in the actual color of the sails.

 

In the images the sails read as an off white, but in reality they were a khaki, and in my room that really did not work.

The actual sail boat was rich looking, and beautifully crafted. It would look better in a very traditional setting with a warmer color scheme, but not in my room with it's Spring-like color scheme.

( I left the light linen shaded lamps on the console you could see just how dark the sails are.) As you can see even the scale is off. We could have used the one that was closer to 5 ft than this 4ft. size.

I am still on the hunt for a sailboat that looks more light and airy and fun! Who knows, I might change the area on top of the console to something completely different than the sailboat.

Study Your Mistake

By studying the right, and wrong of an element you can make a better choice the next time around. If you ignore what you are learning from the mistake, chances are you will repeat it again.

Study the scale, color and texture that the element brought to the space as well as the feeling it gave the room.

Write down what you need in the room that this particular element did not give you.

What I learned from my mistake:

• The ship is just too heavy for the room.

• I realize the scale is also off, it needs a larger piece.

• The colors need to be light, and airy.

• Maybe something a bit more whimsical for my style would work better.

• The textures were nice, the rough texture of the sails vs. the smoothness of the hull of the boat. So I should vary my textures in this area.

LESSON

So remember even designers make mistakes, but they are not afraid  to admit it, and eliminate the mistake. Nothing is worth ruining the look of a room in your home!!