August Inspiration: 🌴 Tropi-FALL!

I'm never really ready for summer to end... even though our summers here in Southern California have become triple-digit adventures filled with insane afternoon winds and wildfire smoke. I only venture into our sunny backyard before 7 AM and after 9 PM.

Over the past few years, I've found a way to extend my own tropical style summer decor by including a nod to autumn: Pumpkins that look tropical! By creating some with tropical style, I embrace what I call 'tropiFALL' - a slow transition from summer to autumn that will be enjoyed from August 1st through September 30th. Our heat waves last all the way into early October - then the fall decor and pumpkins get their spotlight! (If you don't know this about SoCal, our 'Locals Summer' BEGINS after Labor Day Weekend - when all of the tourists have exited the beaches and amusement parks 😉)

As always, I'm sharing these ideas to inspire you to try new things in your home decor. I hope that even if tropical style isn't your jam*, you'll see some ways to 'bridge' your summer decor with touches of autumn decor - in YOUR style, and your favorite colors...

View these ideas below without thinking you have to do exactly what I do - picture them in different colorways, with different natural materials that will work in your home, with your theme!

beachy summer color palette

In my mind, all seasonal inspiration begins with nature.

The combinations of color that appear in every natural setting on Earth are flawless... consisting of perfectly coordinated shades and hues, contrasts and compliments.

So when people ask me 'How do you know what colors go together?' or 'How do you pick a color scheme?', I tell them to go outside. Literally! Because it's outside, in nature, every season, that you'll find the 'perfect' color...

Case in Point: the photo shown above, snapped at Newport Beach, California. It contains a perfect summer color scheme inspired by nature...

The palette of varied blues, grays, tans, browns, and whites

is crisp, fresh, and perfectly balanced between cool and warm tones, lights and darks.

This palette can be translated into a sleek modern look or a cozy country style, depending upon your preferences.

Here's one way to create rooms around that palette:

Spring Inspiration for April 🍃

..

'April showers bring May flowers'... after we've done a LOT of work in the garden!

Working in the yard or garden is an activity that we garden lovers can really 'dig in' to in April. Whether you've got pots of herbs on your kitchen windowsill or a full herb, veggie, and flower garden in the back yard - or anything in between - enjoying the relaxing pastime of growing plants is inextricably linked to springtime. 

Even if you aren't a gardener or plant lover who loves having dirt under your fingernails, you can still bring the beauty of a garden into your home as Spring decor - with art, books, fabric printed with flowers, and faux foliage and florals.

I'm sharing some garden-inspired ideas for this month, along with something to help with your spring cleaning enthusiasm, and a few new publications to inspire you. I hope that you'll incorporate the garden aesthetic into your spring decorating and activities... enjoy!

Spring Inspiration for March 🌱

D is for Daffodil. And Delight. And Deb!
This month, in honor of my birthday, I'm sharing some of my favorite things about Spring with you...

I've included a lot of references to flowers to get you into a springtime mood. I'll be picking up some bunches of daffodils and a basil plant at Trader Joe's, as well as wandering through some plant nurseries and garden centers, selecting annual herbs for our garden. 

There's also some beautiful music, a few inspiring quotes, a candle that I can smell even when it's not burning, a sip of something delicious, places I love visiting in springtime, and of course a few decorating ideas and tutorials to help you bring spring inside your home right now... 

Winter Inspiration for February 💗

February has become synonymous with romance, love, hearts, Valentines, and cupids. While we're still in the depths of winter, the focus on 'love' brings hope and warmth, guiding us toward connection.

I recently learned something about this month's history, and it led me to an expanded understanding of what the end of the winter season has to teach us... but I still don't get why February isn't pronounced the way it is spelled!

Continue reading for what's inspiring me in this last month of winter... 
(links included for your convenience, they are not paid ads)

Winter Inspiration for January 🕯

Hello, my friends... I hope the new year finds you well!
I'm currently enjoying these rare rainy January days by embracing a slower schedule - filled with reading, journaling, refreshing the house after the holiday season, and considering ideas for future projects. Rather than rushing around making plans and exhausting myself, I'm finding this new approach fills me with much more joy!

Isn't that what we all hope for in January? Energy for a fresh start? 

How nice it is to be able to choose for ourselves just how we will embrace that in our own lives - and as I shared in my last post, I'm listening to Mother Nature and my own energy cycles to make that 'fresh start' one that isn't fueled by expectations and habits that just don't work for me anymore. For instance, I've made the decision to change my habit of creating 'one project per week' content to share here on the blog.

Instead, I'm going to be publishing a post the first week of each month, sharing the things that are currently inspiring me... something I've changed or created in our home, resources I've discovered that I think you might enjoy, books, quotes, music, scents, places I've visited, even a simple recipe once in awhile! You'll still see a full-on project tutorial occasionally, and posts sharing my content when it is published in magazines. 

My hope is that sharing bite-size doses of inspiration at the beginning of each month will encourage you to enjoy the seasons in truly simple ways, inspiring you to join me in embracing the art & craft of seasonal living (not just seasonal decorating) all year long.

Continue reading to see what's inspiring me this month!

Embracing the Art of Seasonal Living...

image credit: Rose Color Creative 

Winter has arrived... along with a new year and all of the possibilities it holds.

I've always loved decorating seasonally, by bringing the beauty of nature into my home every season of the year. Sometimes it is by actually bringing natural elements indoors, or creating a replication of what I see in nature. Other times it is a hint at something I enjoy about that season (like making snowmen or pumpkins out of sweaters!).

After finding the lovely graphic image shown above on Pinterest, I visited the linked website - Rose Color Creative. There I discovered a post with a delightful concept: 'Working in Rhythms: The Power of Seasonal Productivity'.

In that post (read it here), the owner of Rose Color Creative, Mariah Scott, shares some simple relationships between the cycles of nature's seasons and our own energy levels... what I've decided to call 'the art of seasonal living'.

painted 'heart art'

Valentine's Day is almost upon us...
 i had a 'Valentine' project idea, and started on it... then stopped. 

it just wasn't going the way i wanted. 

after taking a break and surfing Instagram, i had a NEW idea!

(do you have any idea how MANY 'ideas' never make it to the blog?!!!
creating is a process - and sometimes, that process doesn't work as planned!)

the original project plan became THIS and i'm much happier with the results.

i owe that to two other people - continue reading to find out why!

tiny thread nests

springtime always brings me back to making different kinds of bird nests...

they represent spring, and also connect to the practice of 'nesting',
making a home fresh and clean as well as warm and welcoming. 

today i am sharing a new nest i've created this month,

inspired by talented artist and designer Cathe Holden.

i recently saw a photo of one of her sweet little nests made from sewing thread,

and was so charmed by the utter simplicity of it that i just had to replicate the idea -

 using yellow thread, of course!

this was a truly 'fast, cheap, and easy'TM project that i think you'll love,
and it would make a perfect treat at each place setting on your Easter table!

continue reading for the easy details... and more about my muse, Cathe!

a quiet beginning...

the beginning of a new year is like an empty room or a blank canvas or page to me...
as i open a new calendar and stare at the month of January,
i see a fresh start. possibility. space. time. freedom. opportunity. 
i like the idea of letting go of the old and embracing the new - 
even when it's sometimes scary to make big changes.

in mid-December, i read a post by one of my favorite authors, Ann Voskamp,

and felt a great weight lift from my soul when i scrolled down and saw these words:

Let go of Plan A — Go with 'Plan Be.'

it hit home because Deb is a planner, my friends. a list-maker. a 'DO-er'.
and i most definitely gauge my worth and value on my output and productivity.
i always have - long before social media made it a daily goal visible to the world.
and it's a very bad habit. it drives me into burnout in every area of my life.
i've been struggling with that since October.
 but after spending much of December not creating online content,
and thinking about what i can do to remedy the predicament i find myself in,
i know what to do now...

continue reading

sweet sparkling new year!

we arrive at the end of the year, and the start of a new one...

we've made it, and that's cause to celebrate!

whether you gather with family, friends, neighbors, or a special person tomorrow night,
or spend a blissfully cozy evening alone in a bubble bath or watching The Ball drop,

i have a few last-minute ideas to share for making your New Year's Eve sparkle!

speaking of lifting spirits, continue reading for more...

send a message with stamped dishes!

sometimes an idea comes outta' nowhere.

sometimes, nature is the inspiration.

and sometimes, another creative person does something new

that makes me realize a possibility that intrigues me...

that's the case with this 'just for fun' diy project.

i saw something on social media and laughed.

then i thought 'i have a few china dishes that i could do something like that with....'

and so, i tried it just to see how it would look.

my approach is temporary art, as most of my decor projects are.

(actually, i came up with TWO ways to do this project that are temporary)

when i tire of this look, i'll be able to 'erase' it

and return the dishes to their original condition.

and when it was all done, another approach occurred to me!

...continue reading to see where my mind took me...

celebrate home!

"endings need grieving... and beginnings deserve celebration."

i read that line recently in a devotional, and it really spoke to me.

while many of us may not actually be grieving the end of a very trying year,

we certainly DO need to celebrate the arrival of a fresh new one!

there's a lovely song called 'Celebrate Me Home'
(originally by Kenny Loggins, and recently covered by Josh Groban)
that includes these lines:
"Come on and play my music, Let's turn on the love light in the place...
Please, celebrate me home...Play me one more song that I'll always remember,
And I can recall, Whenever I find myself too all alone, I can sing me home."

what a beautiful idea - to celebrate home.
not feel imprisoned in, not tolerate, not begrudgingly accept... but celebrate.
express gratitude for the home we have, enjoy the time spent there, really live there.

as we enter this new year, i thought it would be good to focus on 

ways that we can refresh, reclaim, and rejuvenate the MOOD inside our rooms...
celebrating our homes, if you will.
helping us to embrace and enjoy where we live our lives in simple ways every day.

continue reading for some of my top tips to help you celebrate your home...

repurposed wood crate entry decor

decorating with succulents and cacti is a hot design trend right now...
these easy-care, high-impact plants are making appearances 
in mod boho bedrooms and rustic farmhouse dining rooms,
as well as on back decks & front porches everywhere.

last summer, i was inspired by a very creative display idea at a store, 
so i re-created a budget version of it in our front entry, using succulents.
i never shared this project in a blog post, so it's time to make up for that.
(plus, it ties in beautifully to a whole new series of posts i'm prepping for August!)

continue reading for the details

colorful office makeover

i thought i'd start off the month with a #MAYkeover story!

a week ago, i undertook a massive purge / cleaning/ reorganization of my studio/office.

while it has needed a deep clean for over six months just to get rid of things i don't use anymore,
the truth is that this project was the result of color overload...

before we talk about how my creative space ended up having a BAD effect on me,

we need to go back a bit... to my 'neutral phase'....

if you've read my posts about office organization,

you've seen my neutral-tone studio that i created in my farmhouse on an island.

i loved that peaceful, serene room that allowed me to focus on my work,

and for over a decade now, i've embraced neutrals as the basis of my home decor.

sure, i sometimes add a small 'pop' of color each season to the porch or other rooms -

but i've kept my creative workspace neutral. it worked in the past, so i stuck with it.

until i realized something about myself...

continue reading for the story of how i got from there, to here, and what happened in between!

cinco de mayo mayhem!

I know, it's weird out there. All kinds of celebrations are cancelled.
We're allllll ready for this coronavirus quarantine to end. 
But hold on, my friends, there is a way to find the happy while we wait:

*This year, Cinco de Mayo is on a Tuesday. TACO Tuesday!* 
It's the perfect reason to celebrate, right in your own backyard!

SO, today I'm dipping back into my blog archives (about seven years back!)
to share three different ideas for fiesta-style tablescapes and bar setups.
With all of us staying home, these ideas will help you
to see 'what you have at home' in a fresh new way to create something fun!

continue reading for a peek at three different themes for Cinco de Mayo Celebrations:

vintage door = inspiration board

while i love Pinterest as much as the next girl, i prefer the old school method...

an actual 3-D 'bulletin board', inspiration board, mood board -

whatever you want to call it. and the bigger, the better!

years ago, i had an old door that i turned into an inspiration board

by filling the window area with a large piece of modular ceiling tile.

(you know the kind that drops into the T-bar in the dropped ceilings of every office building?)

 it worked great - but that material is messy as heck. it's like styrofoam.

  

so when i undertook the same project again recently, i needed a new material to use.

turns out, i had what i needed in the garage!

 continue reading to learn how to create a bulletin/inspiration board, 

using an old door or window frame - or even a new window frame, or picture frame.

freshening up!

as March approaches and spring arrives, 
i tend to gravitate toward greens and yellows as accent colors in my neutral home...
what's YOUR favorite color right now?

wait - what??? COLOR? ooooh, scary, right?

you can live with color without committing to long-term change!

add a few simple colorful accessories to your office or entry way

and your neutral rooms will SPRING to life! 

in this past post, i shared some of my office organization & decor ideas,

along with photos of my own studio spaces over the years.

i recently came across photos of another office space i had in the past,
that i spruced up with a shot of bright chartreuse green.

this seems like a good time to share those, with a seasonal change on the way.
giving our spaces a face lift as spring approaches is a great idea...

continue reading to see how offices and front entries can quickly look and feel 'spring fresh'!

happy Galentine's day!

Valentine's Day isn't ALL about hearts and roses and romantic love.

it's also a great time to share the love with your girl friends - especially the single ones ;) 

(and who needs roses when you have rose', amiright?!)

the idea for our party decor started with a pink paint chip from the hardware store.

i had a few on hand after helping a client select paint colors for her retail shop,

and with them, this party theme rapidly became 'Paint the Town Pink!'

continue reading to see some fun ideas for a themed GALentine's dessert party...

frosted fall leaves tutorial

"autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower..." ~ Albert Camus

that's one of my favorite quotes about autumn.
i saw something the other day that caused that poetic line to spring to my mind:

isn't it pretty? i love the 'fall-into-winter' feel of the leaves shown here.
this image on writer Ann Voskamp's website inspired me to create
my own 'frosted fall leaves' for a simple Thanksgiving tablescape...
it's a really easy project, and it turned out perfectly.

continue reading for the easy tutorial if you need a last-minute Thanksgiving idea
that won't take much time at all...