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

March 4, 2016

Turquoise + Yellow Inspiration

Just as I was bragging about a warm winter, the temperature dropped and we got a ton of snow.  Earlier this week I cleared the driveway and it was fairly cold (-29 Celsius) and windy.  No matter what direction I tried to blow the snow, I ended up with a face full of it.  When I was finally done, I was so chilled that I just crawled to the sofa and curled up with a cup of tea and treated myself to a little guilt-free Pinterest scrolling.  I pin so much, so sometimes I like to go back through my own pins and get re-inspired (and trim the fat).  This time my eye was drawn to a particular color palette: aqua and yellow spaces!  Yellow just complements aqua home decor so beautifully.

I think this aqua brick house, with its happy yellow front door (captured by Alex on the Road), might be my favorite photo of all time.  These people are my people and it's a shame they live in London because I know we'd be fast friends.  How could you not be ridiculously happy coming home to this colorful house exterior everyday?  It makes me want to paint our garage aqua instead of the charcoal grey I have planned

Aqua Brick House
Alex on the Road
As we moved from the townhouse to the lakehouse, I edited our belongings and, in the de-cluttering process, weeded out a lot of the warmer colors in favor of a cool, watery whole home palette of blues, aquas and greens.  To me, the cool colour palette is calming and relaxing.  There are so many different shades of blue, green, and turquoise that in real life the palette feels quite lively - something difficult to capture on camera, which makes many of the different shades look the same.  Despite my rigorous editing, I did, however, keep small doses of yellow and orange decor.

Aqua Kitchen Cabinets
Dark Grey Painted Fireplace
Retro Posters as Art

Despite my best editing efforts, I guess I can't help but love a little bit of yellow or orange paired with my aquas so I rounded up some inspiration because a big change is coming to the living room soon and it might just mean a splash of warm colours... 

This aqua front door looks a lot like mine, so I think I might need to track down a yellow chair for beside it.  Hmmm, maybe I should paint the siding white instead... I haven't been able to paint the exterior of the lakehouse for two years and now I'm starting the waffle.

Aqua front door
Better Homes & Gardens
Morgan Tinker's home was featured on A Beautiful Mess awhile back and I started pinning her home like crazy!  There are so many reasons to love Morgan's style:  she dyed a slip-covered Ikea sofa turquoise (awesome), has a gorgeous mint kitchen with retro touches, and has an enviably art collection.  And that retro mustard chair with hits of turquoise!

Yellow and turquoise home decor
Via A Beautiful Mess
The rooms below are from a house tour featured in Style at Home that I just love.  The home owners have a mint green stove and fridge (!!!) which I like to drool over from time to time.  The home is quite colorful and the bedroom boasts a cheery colour palette with heavy doses of teal & yellow.

Yellow and Turquoise

The room below, from Maisons Du Monde, is likely a staged space but look at the perfect pairing of teal and yellow!  I love how they mixed all of the different shades of teal and aqua.

What colors to pair with teal?
Maisons Du Monde
A mustard yellow chair looks perfect against turquoise floors!  Why, oh why, do I not have turquoise floors anywhere?  I was really smitten with the aqua floor in the townhouse laundry room

Aqua and yellow living room
Ranch 54
This mid-century modern home below is very colorful, but the palette in the living room is the most reserved of the entire home, offering up mostly yellow and aqua on a neutral background.  I love how spacious the room feels, thanks to light coloured walls, floors and furniture - plus the big windows don't hurt.

Turquoise and yellow accent colors
Home Adore
Turquoise and yellow accent colors
Home Adore
All white kitchen + pops of colour is a look I don't think I will ever tire of, no matter the trends.  I'm currently plotting the kitchen renovation because I know it will take some time to figure out the details.  I'm torn between walnut lowers, to match the bathroom, and white uppers, or just a classic, all-white space.  In this bright kitchen, the mismatched dining chairs are so fun and I love how one of them matches the backsplash perfectly.

Teal + yellow kitchen chairs
Via SF Girl by Bay
This laundry room makeover boasts bright aqua cabinetry, white paneled walls, brushed silver fixtures and beautiful Amy Butler wallpaper with a yellow and teal floral pattern.  (Picture me singing, "these are a few of my favorite things....")

Yellow and teal laundry room
Uniquely Yours or Mine
A different spin on this color combo: a bright yellow squishable sofa paired with an aqua ceiling.  I've often been tempted by an aqua ceiling because I feel like it must really bring the outdoors in - like you're sitting under the sky on a bright day.

Aqua painted ceiling
Via Desire to Inspire
The artwork sets the tone in this bedroom, which pairs bold hits of turquoise with a lot of textural neutrals and just a tiny slice of lemon.

Aqua and Yellow Coastal Bedroom Decor
Via House of Turquoise
 A yellow toaster looks cute in Melissa's kitchen (which boasts gorgeous aqua cabinets).  Sometimes it is all in the accessories!

Yellow Toaster
Hello Yellow Blog
I am so smitten with this square art, maybe because it reminds me of a painting I did, ages ago.  What a simple way to bring some colour to a space - and the wood grain peeking through the lighter colours has such a subtle, organic feel.  The bright yellow bench cushion under it is perfect.

Easy Plywood Art
Better Homes & Gardens
The spaces above all offer a BOLD burst of saturated colour, but this yellow + aqua pairing can be so soft and subtle too.  A slightly mellower take on this colour palette, this kitchen boasts soft mint cabinetry and the prettiest yellow floral wallpaper .

Mint + yellow kitchen
Zillow
In this bedroom, pale aqua pillows and a few mustard accents punch up a room of neutrals - and look so rich with those copper pendants!

Relaxed Bedroom with Copper Lights
SF Girl By Bay
Which space is your favorite?

Teal, Mint, Blush, Yellow Macarons
Jenna Rae Cakes
Can't get enough aqua?  I have a whole Pinterest board devoted to all things aqua, plus another one that just features pretty colour combos
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October 20, 2014

Back in Business!

Our Etsy shop hiatus lasted a bit longer than planned.  It's been almost a year and a half since it was last stocked.  In my defense, you know I crammed a lot of living into that time.  I defended my PhD, sold the townhouse, moved 1500km, bought the lakehouse, and started sprucing it up.  We also added a bull to our China Shop ;)  Yep, I have a litany of truly fabulous excuses but we're open again, and I'm sure you'd really rather just see the goods, right? 


With three people picking (myself, my Mummu and my Mom), our Minden Shop has a pretty eclectic vintage offering.  Looking through the shop, it says a lot about our aesthetics - one day we should play a game of who found what.  Someone clearly has a secret love for gold and gleaming brass...  I can't help it!  (We also have a set of gold chevron glasses that are so pretty).

Solid Brass Butterfly Box; Hand Blown Polka Dot Glasses; Solid Brass Tray with Wood Handles

Our Finnish lineage is evident in our inventory.  That Arabia strawberry jam jar and my Riihimaen Lasi Oy score are such fabulous pieces that it was hard to put them up for sale.  But Hubs and I downsized to a much smaller home in the townhouse to lakehouse transition and I just can't keep everything.  These beautiful things need homes where they will be used and loved, not hoarded and boxed up.  Really, I'm ready to say good-bye, I swear.

Arabia Jam Pot; Riihimaen Vase; Arabia Sotka Coffee Set, Iittala Kasthelmi Cups, Saucers, Cream & Sugar

We've been even more selective stocking the shop this time around, looking for timeless design and unusual finds (Iittala! Rosenthal! Dansk! Howard Pierce! Figgjo! W German Pottery!)...

Rosenthal "Balance" Vase; Howard Pierce Vase; Figgjo Lotte; West German Pottery

But, as always, we've got some fun pieces that I'll categorize as cheap & cheerful.  We've got lots of goodies for under $10 and $20:

Bakelite Cake Serving Set; Dansk Warming Pot; Orange Coaster Set; Iittala Niva Shot Glasses; Stainless Steel Egg Cups; Bakelite Glo-Hill Bar Tools; Copper Bowl; Escargot Forks; Teak Ice Bucket

We've decided to start to curate our offerings in a more seasonally-aware way.  We've stashed boxes of really spring-y things for now (aren't you curious??), and we've stream-lined our current offerings largely to entertaining, cooking, and barware - plus some really special gift ideas.  We're also mindful of the cold hard winter some folks (like us) are facing and so, hello YELLOW (to heat things up):

West German Vase; Dansk Bowl; Swedish Figurine; Dansk Fish Trivet

Weirdly, many of my favorite items are such a departure from the look I'm aspiring to in the lakehouse (bright + colourful).  The very cool 1970s glasses, designed by Inuit artist Germaine Arnaktauyok, might just have the top spot, but the Pyrex wine decanters with cork stoppers are a close second  Also, that faux horn bakelite cutlery set...

Inuit Glasses; Bakelite Cutlery Set; Pyrex Decanters with Cork Stopper; European Table Runner

Can't you see these things in a space like this (earthy but minimal):


That's why we named the shop "Minden" (which means "everything" in Hungarian):  our shop consists of nothing we don't love!

Because Thunder Bay is so close to the Minnesota border, right now I'm shipping domestically to Canadian and US buyers - so no international shipping fees!  I'm not sure how long I can offer this service, but for now it's awesome because the savings are huge.  If anything does catch your eye, contact me for a customized shipping quote and you might save even more. 

Now that the shop is open we have no plans to close, and I'll be adding new goodies every week.  I'll give sneak peeks on Instagram, and occasionally here on the blog, so you can get first dibs!  I'll also be holding more Instagram sales (a Pyrex/Fire King/Hazel Atlas sale is coming up a week from today).  Before I sign off to package my first two sales for shipping (yay!), I wanted to say thanks.  Thanks so much for all of your support over the years - especially to those of you who encouraged me to open the shop in the first place.  It's been fun to work on this with my Grandma and Mom, and it's made all the better by being able to share it with you.  So thank you.
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