Creating a Happy, Colorful, Handmade Home & life on the shores of lake superior

January 26, 2015

An Airy Home Tour with Pops of Aqua

For awhile I had kind of abandoned my Pinterest account but recently I've been pinning again, with wild abandon.  (I credit the phone app, which is accountable for a fairly impressive piece of my monthly data usage pie.)  A board I called "Inspiring Spaces" (not such an inspiring name, I know) is where I stash photos of any rooms I like - in no particular order.  Sometimes I lazily scroll through this board to see what kinds of themes my pinning habits reveal.  I really like so many different styles (and other colours, I swear), but since the big move it's been my mission to sift through and really hone in on what I like the most; what makes Hubby and I the happiest.  I've also been trying to ignore the noise about what's in and what's out, so I can just focus on figuring out my style: things I can love for the long term and things I want to have fun with in the interim.  I like Pinterest for this.

Some of my choices for "Inspiring Spaces" might surprise you, but there are some very predicable ones in there too (aqua everything!)  In each space there's at least an idea or two that tickles me.  There are also rooms that have made me fall head over heels in love.  This home tour, for example, from Collected Interiors, is just incredible and I find myself ogling photos of it everyday, flagging ideas for the future, planning ways to adopt and adapt some of the fabulous design decisions, and just relishing its prettiness.  It's my absolute favorite home tour, so I wanted to share.

Collected Interiors
For our "forever" kitchen (and, to some extent, for our impending bath reno), I've been thinking of walnut lower cabinets, white uppers and white back-painted glass as a backsplash, but this kitchen has me dreaming of all-white again.  (Darn, does that mean I might be happier with an airier, all-white bathroom too??)  The hint of mint in the backsplash is perfection.  I love that it barely looks like a kitchen, which is smart for an open concept space.

After seeing this kitchen, I'm on a mission to add more gleaming surfaces (like our ceiling fan, the credenza doors and wall unit), to bounce a little more light around.  Using glossy surfaces in muted colours - preferably just white - will also help balance out my very liberal use of colour.  I could stand to add a bit more white/lightness, overall.

Collected Interiors
A pair of rogue pink chairs are a brief detour from an otherwise aqua-aqua-aqua palette.

Collected Interiors
I love the television above the fireplace, across from the kitchen.  I wish we could mount our television this way (as opposed to across from the windows), because then I could watch it while I'm cooking.  I swear I'd watch cooking shows, and not the Gilmore Girls on an endless loop.  I wonder if I'd have more cooking casualties...

Collected Interiors
I love the contrast of the warm wood grain against the cool white walls and watery accent colours.  Similarly, warm copper looks gorgeous with aquas and blues.  Note to self: copper in the lakehouse.

Collected Interiors
The bedroom (especially that luxurious looking headboard and coordinating artwork) might be my favorite room, although I do prefer the symmetry of matching end tables and lamps.  I know that mismatched tables and lamps are more on-trend and lend a more causal, collected-over-time feel, but my brain really like pairs of things.  I blame Catholic school and hearing about Noah's Ark during my formative years ;) 

The white curtains in this home make me miss our abundance of easy breezy sheers in the townhouse, but I really wanted to try patterned drapes in our new space.  I've really enjoyed trying something different - it was time for a change, you know?  But I do love the look of the white drapes, especially in this space - it's a classic, effortless look.   

Collected Interiors
Sigh.  I'd happily to move in.  

What do you think of this home?  If you're as smitten as me, there are more photos on the Collected Interior website; click here to take a peek.  Their entire portfolio is mesmerizing.
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November 20, 2013

Let's Talk Trim

One day, when we re-do the floors (whether it's some or all), I'm going to replace our trim with something thick and substantial, but with a clean and simple profile.  I've started noticing trim in every picture I see.

via
If the trim we currently have hadn't been skinny, dated oak that matched our floors in no way whatsoever, I might have kept it as-is because wood trim can look lovely, especially against white walls:

Via Dust Jacket
Via Dust Jacket
For now, painting out the trim was an inexpensive, if somewhat labour-intensive, option to modernize the lakehouse.  Soon I'll post a full how-to, but for now I wanted to talk about why I left the wood on the window frames that open, even if I painted the fixed windows and all casings white.


For reference, here's a glimpse of these three spaces (living room, master bedroom, and bathroom) before:


At first I thought I might want to stain or paint the window frames black, while painting the trim white, but I quickly decided against it because it would break up the views too much.

Matchbook
Even though I decided early-on to go all-white, by the time I got to the lakehouse to work it was too cold!!  I barely had time to get paint on the door, and I needed a space heater to ensure the paint cured.  I decided to just tape off the areas of the windows that I couldn't paint without removing hardware and opening them, and resolved to tackle them next spring when it's warm enough.  For now, the bulk of the woody-goodness has been axed, and I'm thinking a little strip of wood isn't a crime, even in a space I'm trying to modernize.

Design Shimmer
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