Colorful Mondays {kitchen countertops}

I wonder what it would feel like to wake up to a very colorful kitchen. There are so many countertop options out there. Would a bright yellow counter brighten your day? Would a pale blue counter soothe you? I like to know there are options but I will stick with my very favorite… the marble. That counts as color… white with a swirl of gray. It looks perfect to me! Do you have a colorful counter?

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Friday Finds [chairs]

This post will be short because I’m baking cookies and it is gorgeous outside!! The kids and I are going back and forth between the backyard, back porch and kitchen. I love spending time outside in this weather before it’s too hot and buggy. Meanwhile, when I was looking at nurseries this week, I found a very cool rocking chair that I have to share! It’s so sleek. Rocking in this chair, the Ryder Rocking Chair, would certainly lull a baby to sleep yet in style. This Scandinavian-inspired chair transfers well into another room aside from a baby’s room. I’d like to move this into the family room where the comfort could be shown off a bit. This chic chair is sold at West Elm.

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And then there is the whimsical Bloom Chair designed by Filipino designer, Kenneth Cobonpue. I found this chair on www.Justychair.com. This site sells chairs with unique designs. This would also be such a great addition to a nursery because it’s youthful and fun. It could definitely carry over to an older girl’s room. It would be sweet to see a baby in this chair and some years later to see a girl resting in the same chair while chatting on the phone. Do you find creative chairs inspiring? Have a great weekend!

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Happy National Chocolate Chip Day!

What a beautiful day! I had no idea about this wonderful national holiday. I guess I need to make a batch of cookies then! I do find it very inspiring to sit down with a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven. Do you?

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Too Much Dust!

Do you hate to bend over and dust under the dresser and all the way under the middle of a large bed? It looks like there is a solution! I love this photo. I found it on the Swedish Elle Interior site. I can’t say this is so much inspiring because I’m not about to try this with my dresser but it does put a smile on my face for the creativity! Does this make you smile?

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Decorating a Nursery for a Baby and Beyond

It’s so fun to decorate a nursery. There are so many options… especially nowadays. A boring, typical glider was the norm but within the last five years, designers have created new styles. The designs are modern and fashionable and have stunning pattern options. The chair could used for the nursery and into the teen years and beyond. It’s nice to treat the little baby as a little person rather than a baby. Another thing that I love in a nursery is real artwork.  The little person can grow with the art. Who knows, maybe she will take it to college with her. Babies are not babies for long and therefore, the nursery is only necessary for about a year. One more baby item that isn’t necessary is a changing table. With three kids, I have never used a changing table. If a parent wants to stand while changing the baby’s diaper, it’s possible to put a pad on a beautiful dresser. It’s important to design a nursery in a way that makes it easy to transform it into a child’s room. Babies grow up so fast! Does a modern, stylish nursery inspire you? It does for me!

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Colorful Mondays {violet}

There are certain tidbits from school that I’ll never forget. One of them is that purple is not a real name of a color. My teacher said that Crayola created the name and we should refer to the color between red and blue as violet. Do you refer to the color as purple or violet? It is a color of royalty and represents independence with creativity. Almost 75 percent of pre-adolescent children prefer violet (purple!) to all other colors. That’s a great statistic because that’s what I want to paint my daughters’ room. Wait, my older daughter only wants pink… oh well. I guess we’re in the 25 percent. I’ll definitely use the color for the accents in the room. Violet is the perfect color if you want to relax or calm overactivity but at the same time, it is energizing from sadness. Do you find the color inspiring? Would you paint a room, other than a bedroom, with a vibrant violet or a soothing lavender? Which room below is your favorite? I love the top photo especially because of the very large floorlamp… and the soothing shade color! It reminds me of Alice in Wonderland.

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Friday Finds {college}

With a lot of high school graduation parties this time of year, a lot of people are thinking about useful gifts for the grad. I found a very cool trunk at Factory Girl’s shop on etsy.  The owner, Jessie Silver, opened the store in 2012 thanks to her passion for interior design.  Factory Girl sells many unique pieces of furniture with fun colors. This trunk is so original with the lively color and the rounded feet. A dorm room could certainly use all of this storage and still be able to use it as a table. I can totally imagine a bunch of girlfriends sitting around this table with their laptops… or lattes. If I were still in school and studying for exams, I would find vibrant, creative furniture very inspiring! Actually, I’d still find this piece inspiring in my home. I don’t need to be a student for colorful inspiration!

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When walking through campus from class to class, or class to mom’s house, or class to the gym, it would be nice to have one bag. I found a bag that could carry it all. This felt bag is very durable and is large enough to fit lots of items. It doesn’t look like an ordinary duffle bag. This one has style. Just because you might live out of a bag, doesn’t mean you have to look like it. I found this bag on Chanel lai’s etsy shop called Filzkraft. She works in Hong Kong and sells all items made from felt. The pieces are very clever. I love this bag… what a find!

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I Just Need a Chair Here… in Adare

I would like to put a chair right here and just gaze at this gorgeous view. Do you find this inspiring, too?

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This photo is of the Adare Gardens and Castle in Adare, Ireland. Photo: www.depositphotos.com/PatrykKosmider

Colorful Mondays {green grass}

This weekend was a great time to work on the yard. I feel like I got a lot done. I planted flowers in the front yard and in planters on the front porch and by the patio while my husband worked on the lawn. There are so many beautiful ornamental grasses and I love the variety of color. Do these photos inspire you to get out there and be creative with your grassy areas? I’d like to incorporate ornamental grass in some areas of the yard.

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