earning our stripes

what are your thoughts on striped walls? i kind of love them! i think it's easy for a striped room to go horribly awry, but here are some images i've been collecting that i think get it right. what i notice that they all have in common is that the stripes are the same width in each color, rather than having one of the colors thicker.

in the case of the photo above, the stripes are two different shades in the same color family, which totally works and gives the room a soothing feel, despite its many colors and potentially busy stripe. another idea i've heard is to do the same exact color, just do one matte and one eggshell or glossy...that's a cool idea, isn't it?

the room below is also really soothing- i love the stripes in muted oatmeal and white, especially with the robin's egg blue in there too, and the use of the toile fabric against the graphic stripe.

this orange striped entryway makes me feel like i'm on vacation - love it. rather than using a contrasting pattern like the toile above, i sort of love how the couch is upholstered in a matching awning stripe to the wall. it's playful and fun.

here are a few in yellow, which i think is a great way to use such a vibrant color without overdoing it or having to wear sunglasses inside. the light totally bounces off these walls, but the interplay of the white and yellow tempers it just enough.

and look how unexpected and cool the ceiling here is. impossibly cool baby's room, btw (of course it's in the home of the painfully stylish jenna lyons).

here, in a more traditionally appointed nursery, turquoise and white stripes make an appearance and totally wake up the space. i love all the other punches of color mixed in here and how they play with the stripe.

and of course, black and white is always a classic combination in anything. check out the ceiling on the last picture here!

our downstairs powder room is screaming out to be spruced up but i don't want to paint it a solid color...i toyed with wallpaper, and i'm still considering it. but these stripes look pretty good...

photos from mrs. jones painted finishes, materialgirlsblog, hgtv, house to home uk, darling savage, in my house, apartment therapy, annechovie, lonny, apartment therapy

floors need jewelry too

this rug from west elm seems to be fantabulously priced at $39 for the size that would look perf in our front entryway. such a front entryway kind of thing, isn't it?
they make it in brown too, but i'm in more of a yellow mood at present.

now we just have to wait for the last of the winter frooooshe so we can raise the weatherstripping on the door because as of now, the bottom of the door clears nothing. such problems have we.

i'm also applauding some other west elm rugs at the moment. well done, west elm, well done indeed.




all photos from west elm - rugs are andalusia, zebra, sakura, stone, safari

a welcome hug

good morning everyone. it's serendipitous that it's snowing here in new york this morning, because it provides a nice foundation for what's on my mind. though i do love the paint color we chose for our living/dining room (benjamin moore wrought iron), the whole downstairs is feeling very cold. i think it's partly because it's the first place we've lived without a fireplace and it's so cold these days, but it's also the cooler colors. i'm used to warm-feeling rooms, and i've been missing it.

so i'm seeing the entryway, which is a nice, proper entryway and very much its own space, as a canvas for warming it all up. after all, entryways are the first thing you see when you come home or come to visit and should be like a comforting hug. here it is now below (there's more of it to the right) - as you can see, it's in need of color and soul. i've been saving some entryway pictures for a while as inspiration, and the project starts this weekend! hopefully i'll have a nice update for you next week.

i love love love the top photo, designed by heather clawson of habitually chic, and she has also written a terrific post about entryways that i definitely encourage you to read. i'm seriously loving the paint color in her design, which is benjamin moore middlebury brown. to me, it's the perfect taupe, which can be a hard color to get right. i also love the way it looks with the robin's egg blue mat on the framed picture hanging.

the above is from windsor smith's self-designed home (love her) and is so regal and dressy, but not too intentional-looking. i love how the placement of the table and the picture hanging above establishes a defined space out of what could have been just a wall passed by without any notice. could totally be a perfect entryway, right? i thought so. until i learned this was just in her master bath and saw her real entryway.



YEAH. i don't really know what to say about that. it probably says it all that there's an aerial view of her foyer.

back here on earth, i definitely love the idea of having a nice receptable for umbrellas, as martha shows above, and i love the idea of using one of these wellie vases designed by maxim velcovsky and available through koo de kir for that function. it would be a fun play on a rainboot and umbrella, perfectly at home in an entryway that often houses boots not in use.


in the two photos immediately below from lucyina moodie and jonathan adler, respectively, i enjoy how substantial staircases function as a wall in the entry, adding architecture and a certain sense of order to the space. again, examples of making what could have been neglected walkways into places with some pomp and circumstance.

i very much want our entryway to be a warm, cozy sleeve that envelops you as you enter the home. i don't want it to be cluttered, per se, but not sparse either. it's that pitch perfect balance i'm looking for - a sense of arrival, some visual interest, and function to boot. maybe even a porcelain wellie boot...

all non-original photos from linked sites