Get the big swatch and take it home...

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

One of my friends recently asked me to meet her at a flooring store because she was trying to pick out carpet and wanted my opinion. When we arrived, the sales consultant took out the big book of miniature swatches that they had been looking at and they asked which one I would choose. My answer was "none!".

I would never make a final decision on carpeting or paint (or fabric for custom upholstery/window treatments, for that matter) without seeing it in a larger swatch in the room that it would be installed in. I'm sure there may be people that do, but I just think it's too risky.

No matter how sure I may be that I'm in love with it in the store, what I see standing there looking at a miniature swatch under fluorescent lighting is different than what I will see in a larger swatch at home. I think it's a good idea to keep any swatches for a few days and look at them as the light changes throughout the day/evening.

When it comes to paint, I paint a large piece of poster board with at least two coats so that I'm sure I have a better sense of the true color and then move it around the room for a few days to see what I think (that is unless I paint the board and immediately know I hate it - that's definitely happened!)

How about you? Take it home or choose it in the store?

The Pattern Inspiration Linky Party will be up through Thursday night so there's still time for you to link up if you'd like. Thank you to those who already have! It's been fun seeing your inspiration.

images - Traditional Home

Inspiration in Green

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

I saw the bedroom below (designed by Christina Murphy) in the September 2010 issue of House Beautiful and was, of course, completely taken with the fabulous overscaled heaboard. I had marked it knowing I would want to post it for headboard inspiration at some point, and I decided that today was the day!

Here are a few of the other rooms in this light, fresh, creative home...

I love this mirror and the sconces add some amazing dimension to the wall, don't they?

Besides just being great-looking chairs, the chocolate brown lacquered fretwork chairs add contrast and help ground the white dining area.

You know that I'm a fan of painted floors and this one is pretty impressive! The stylized lily pads were painted by Christopher Rollinson.

To see the rest of the home and read the interview with designer Christina Murphy, click here. (photo credit: Ngoc Minh Ngo)

Decorating with Maps

House Beautiful Designer Peter Dunham/Photo Victoria Pearson

I was totally amazed by all of the comments on my last post! Thank you so much! Even though I wanted to post about it because it was out there in the magazine and I at least wanted to say that it was mine, I felt a little weird after hitting publish, like it was kind of a "look at me" post, but none of you made me feel that way at all. (How's that for a run-on sentence?) You rock. (I should have said "our" bench though, because it was definitely a team effort with my husband. Couldn't have made it without him.) The comment that gave me a LOL moment was from Leanne who offered to find all of the copies of the magazine in her area and write my name in them. :-)

House Beautiful Photo by Don Freeman

In case you haven't figured it out yet, this post is inspiration and ideas, large and small, for decorating with maps. If you love maps, you'll probably like it. If not, I'm fairly certain it will be map overload and you may hate it. If you try to visualize something else you love in place of the map in each image, maybe you'll still find something to inspire your decorating. Otherwise, I promise NO MAPS in the next post. :-)

Adding maps as art can help create a pretty vignette. I love the warm colors of this one...

Southern LivingPhoto Robbie Caponetto

and the cool colors of this one (I know. I'm fickle, but they ARE both pretty!)

Trisha Brink Design via flickr

Six vintage maps, framed, create instant wall art.

Country Living photo credit: Steven Randazzo

We've already seen this in a previous post, but I still think it's an interesting way to use map art (or any other art for that matter).

David H. Mitchell for Southern Accents 2005 via House of Turquoise

Rather than framing your map, put it on the wall and hang a frame over it. (diyideas.com)

Large scale maps...
Centsational Girl's warm and cozy game room/lounge


A nautical chart of Long Island in the style of a blueprint

House Beautiful Designer Kim Coleman/Photo James Merrell

I've loved this room that Kimba at ASPTL decorated for her son since the first time I saw it. To see how she created this map art click here.

A map headboard from BHG.com

Papering the walls with maps...

House Beautiful Designer Steven Gambrel/Photo Eric Piasecki

Impress Your Kids created a map wall for her son's room. She shows you how she did it here

Pottery Barn

Map place mats...

Coastal Living Photo Charles Walton IV

Map coasters from San Francisco Chronicle (tutorial on site)

Have you noticed that butterflies are appearing everywhere in decorating? Image Surgery uses maps to create their butterfly art.

A map cupcake tower by Laurie Federico featured at mydiyweddingday.com. This one was obviously for a wedding, but would it have to be? Instructions here.

Kristi at Addicted to Decorating created this globe pendant light. Tutorial on site

Chez Larsson makes a map lampshade. Tutorial here.

Wisteria has a map chest...


And Bombus makes map chairs...

Sasha Andreev (HGTV) created a map rug by by attaching a large map to a piece of linoleum. He adhered the map with spray adhesive and finished it with several coats of polyurethane. He also made a map window shade and shadow box. You can see those here.

Map trays from Carolina Cottage

Art print from StudioLyon

If you like your maps in really small doses, Denise at Living Life Creatively made this cute map bird. She teaches you how to make them here.

So... What do you think? Do you/will you decorate with maps or are you completely overloaded and can't wait to get away from this post? :-)

Sunny Sunday - Yellow Inspiration

houseandhome.com Photo Michael Graydon

A couple of weeks ago we started out the week with some sunny, cheerful inspiration and I just felt like doing it again this week.

Former editor-in-chief of Country Living, Nancy Soriano, used a cheerful mix of color, pattern, texture and cozy personal touches when turning this former boy's bedroom into a family room.

Paisley Wallpaper painted this sunny yellow floor. Isn't it fun? This pattern would also look great on a painted window treatment, canvas art, desk top, focal wall... She gives you the pattern here and explains how to do it here.

We've seen examples before of how adding a new color a few times around a room can change the feel of the room. In this Williams Sonoma Home room, just a few yellow accessories bring the sunshine in.

Hope today is the beginning of a sunny week for you!

Creative Decorating Ideas - 2

These pillow shams were made from a tablecloth and the lamp shade was made from pieces of silk drapery and a bathrobe, which just goes to show you don't necessarily need to go to the fabric store when looking for fabric for a remix!

Source: Country Living

Pattern inside rather than outside of the shade.

via House of Turquoise Photographer Francesco Lagnese

I think I may have mentioned once or twice how much painted floors appeal to me AND the fact that I'll probably never have one. Don't get me wrong, I love the floors in my home and wouldn't trade them, but I would like to have just a little itsy bitsy space somewhere just waiting for me to paint the floor. :-) If you're interested in these paint colors, you can find them at Southern Living.

Southern Living

LOVE wallpaper bookcovers. More uses for leftover wallpaper at realsimple.com

realsimple.com Photo Ditte Isager

Using this many large pieces of art in a small space like this wouldn't be the first thing that would typically come to mind for me, but it's working for me here...

David H. Mitchell for Southern Accents 2005

via House of Turquoise

Happy Monday! Hope it's a great one for you...

Chocolate Anyone?

Chocolate Filled Bon Bons (recipe here)

Canadian House and Home Photo Michael Graydon

It's very rainy here today and a little coolish. This type of weather always puts me in a nesting, baking mood, which of course means chocolate! (Is there any type of baking that doesn't involve chocolate? I'm not aware... :-)) Thus, the very random chocolate post.

I not only love to eat chocolate but I also wear a lot of brown, and I love brown in decorating. It's such a great neutral and, although I've kept this post pretty straight chocolate, brown can be paired with any color. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet... It all works!

Whether it's for your design or your diet, hopefully you'll find a little chocolate inspiration here...

I love this sophisticated bedroom designed by Jennifer Flanders.

Interior Designer Jennifer Flanders

Of course I thought this chocolate wallpaper and staircase with the contrasting white was striking, but what really interested me was the fact that they covered the risers with metallic tile and encased the bottom stairs in stainless steel.

myhomeideas.com

Love the milk chocolate walls here. Also love that they mixed up the chair styles. They used a completely different chair here, but you could mix it up just by adding slipcovers to some and not to others.

Southern Living Photo Jeremy Samuelson

A little chocolate graphic punch...

Canadian House and Home Photo Ted Yarwood

My friend introduced me to this David Rio Chocolate Chimp (great name, don't you think?) Chai Tea when she bought it for me as a gift. So good... I typically just buy my chai tea at Sam's Club, but if I really want a treat, this is it!

Amazon.com

House Beautiful Photo Jose Picayo

I'm always attracted to a painted, striped floor. Don't have one and don't know that I ever will, but I like them.

House Beautiful Photo Eric Piaseki

Rustic sophistication...

House Beautiful

I thought this Pottery Barn vignette fit well into our chocolate scheme, but I especially like the way they layered the mirrors to the side of the chair. Need to find a spot to do that in my house!

Pottery Barn

West Elm

Target.com

Speaking of chocolate, I'm making these VERY simple bars for a neighborhood picnic we're having this weekend. They are seriously the most simple things I've ever made and the most asked for. You may already use this recipe, but if you don't you should try it. I also don't know what they're called so if you know, tell me! (They're not Scotcharoos because those use Karo syrup).

BAR RECIPE:

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 - 12 oz. pkg butterscotch chips

1 - 12 oz. pkg chocolate chips

6 cups Rice Krispies

Melt the peanut butter and butterscotch chips in the microwave and stir until blended. Add the 6 cups Rice Krispies and mix. Spread in buttered 9 x 13 pan and refrigerate until firm. Melt chocolate chips in microwave and frost the bars. Let them set until chocolate is firm. Cut and serve!

Hope you all have an awesome weekend!

The Shopping Gift Card Giveaway ends this Sunday, September 27th!

Linking this post to Hooked on Fridays! See what everyone else is hooked on.