But that has not deterred me from making our home feel more summer-like...about two weeks ago, I was inspired by my trip to Faded Elegance to lighten up...bringing in more white and light and banishing the dark. After a day or two of rearranging/restyling/reviving the first floor of our home, I feel ready for settling down with a gin & tonic, kicking off my shoes and indulging in a good summer novel...to wit-
Gone are the brown and gray wool blankets, the dark wood lamp bases and the black iron side table...replaced with yellow & light teal blue paisley pillows, a bright teal rusted radiator cover now a charming side table and two light colored lamps (one a stone base and the other a ceramic base). Changing the lamp shades to a nubby linen helps to shed more light into the room.
I also replaced our drab tan footstool with this 36" square ottoman with the white matelesse slipcover that I picked up at Faded Elegance...
Its plenty big - everyone can put their feet up regardless of where they sit...and there's room for a vintage wire basket to hold reading material...and a cotton knit throw (because, who am I fooling...it will still be a tad cool now and then!)
I also bought a white painted table on casters...thinking it would work as a sofa table...but the scale was too small.
I put it in the front hallway and will keep the display here to a minimum...with the table on casters, it will be easy to wheel wherever I need it for photo shoots in the house...given the dreary days we can have, a mobile shooting station is a plus! For now, it has daisies and baseballs...both of which speak summer to me...homage paid to Linda of Itsy Bits and Pieces who inspired me to dig out the baseballs and put them on display...
I also rearranged the artwork on the living room wall...the vintage Paris postcards that were my mother's had been hanging in the same place for the last ten years...it was time for a change. I composed a salon-type installation using the theme of birds...though its a combination of original art with reprints, old museum matting with contemporary framing, it all works because the subject remains the same.
Even the simplest details echo my bird and art theme...a slew of used paintbrushes fill a tall glass vase while a charming old book with an abandoned nest are placed on a vintage white enamelware tray...
Its the details that can make a room...more about such details to come...
meanwhile...I'm linking up to Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special...under the Picture Perfect full room makeovers section...bound to be lots of ideas to get your home in a summer mood...
