Despite my love for minimal blog design, I love lots of color at home, and I’m not opposed to taking risks. When we redecorated our house last year, I was definitely inspired by French cottage style. And while I still love the quiet of light blue and ivory, I’ve been slowly adding color back to my rooms. Remember when I freed my couch from the bondage of slipcovers? And I also like to mix the modern and the traditional, since I have to work with what I’ve got.
I’ve loved my West Elm Cotton Canvas Window Panels for a couple of years now (they were a jumping off point before the renovation), and they were inexpensive and really easy to care for. I even cheated and hung them up wrinkled to imitate (in my mind, at least) the look of more expensive linen, like custom draperies you’d find on Cote de Texas. But lately, I’ve become bored with all the beige, and I want to add some color. So, I’m thinking of taking the leap and going bolder for the new year.
(My dining table and living room.)
Here’s how our kitchen table and living area currently look, with the flax-colored curtains. We had to fake the photography a bit, because it was afternoon and fairly dark, but in real life, you can see outside through those windows. I originally wanted plain curtains to draw attention to the light outside (it obviously worked!), and since we’ve got that odd formation of one window on the left and two on the right, I pretend it’s just one big window and only frame the outside edges with curtains. Otherwise, it just looks like way too much fabric, in my opinion.
We also have solar screens on the windows, so they don’t let a ton of light (and summer heat) inside. The curtains themselves are purely decorative, and for privacy at night, I close the blinds, which are white, so there’s a big wall of blandness to gaze upon when I’m doing dishes. I realize I’m probably breaking the “high and wide” rule for curtain-hanging, but everything is bigger in Texas, and those windows are pretty dramatic on their own.
So, in my twisted mind, I’m imagining a bold pattern on the curtains, to contrast with the traditional rug and plain couch. I’m currently drawn to dark blue, which most design catalogs like to call Indigo or Ink, or something else pretentious.
Here’s my top choice.
These curtains are gorgeous, in my opinion, but they are also dry clean only (not great for the kitchen area with my little guys still spilling their chocolate milk), and they are pretty pricey. I’m also not sure how they’d work with the dark couch, and if I’d quickly become frazzled by their busyness. But for right now, I love them.
And here’s my second choice.
These panels from Ballard Designs are definitely more traditional and French cottage (isn’t everything from that store?), so they will more easily go with my things. They aren’t as busy or as bold, and Ryan likes them better. But they aren’t my favorite. I could definitely work with them, but it’s not quite the image I have in mind.
I can’t decide which pair to use, and since I’m in no hurry (I have to save a bit of money first), I thought I’d see what you think. Am I totally crazy, or would one of these work?
(Feel free to be honest, but please don’t mention anything about painting with stencils or sewing my own curtains. I’ll save that kind of time for blogging.)
We don’t have cable, so I’ve been waiting patiently until I could get my hands on the first season of Girls, the HBO series by Lena Dunham. I watched Tiny Furniture, her independent film, twice and loved it, so I knew I’d probably enjoy the series, as well. Ryan found it on Amazon Instant Video, so I spent the week before Christmas rationing my nightly television viewing, desperately trying to make the ten episodes last as long as possible. And now that I’ve finished the season, I think I’m going to watch it over again.
Seriously, it’s that good!
I won’t wax poetic about Girls’ plot and characters (I’m a season too late for that!), but I can honestly say that it is one of the most realistic depictions of young adulthood that I’ve come across in a long time. And I’m ten years older than the main characters; “old, like a mom,” by their standards. Plus, it’s produced by Judd Apatow (think Freaks and Geeks), so it has a solid backbone, too. Dunham just doesn’t hold anything back, and her authenticity (a word you know I don’t throw around) is incredibly refreshing after the hype of Mad Men and Downton Abbey.
I will always hold a special place in my heart for Don Draper and the entire Crawley clan, but I’ve fallen really hard for Hannah Horvath, just like everyone else in the country. It’s incredibly cliché to admit, but Lena Dunham is most definitely a voice of her generation.
Now, I just have to wait for the second season, which starts on Sunday, to show up on Amazon.
I know, I know. After totally snubbing my nose at New Year’s resolutions and gushing over how much I love my blog, I just couldn’t leave well enough alone. But, I was reading Alt’s blog over the weekend and came across this post with ten free script typefaces, so I started playing around a little, and well, look what happened.
I adore my awesome wildflower header that Shayla patiently made for me, but as I’m adding more photography, I began to worry that it might compete for attention with the pictures in my posts. And I’m really loving minimal blog designs right now, so I thought the simple black and white lines, which look a lot like the spiral notebook I keep on my desk, fit with my focus on writing. I also like the feminine style of script and the pretty little loops that hang down below the lines, always a favorite detail of mine when writing in cursive. Plus, I’m really proud of myself for making my own header, so I’m going to stick with it for now.
Ryan always hates it when I change things on my blog (he says it makes me look flaky), but he did approve of this header. He suggested adding color, which I will consider, and maybe I’ll dress it up every now and then with little details. But for now, I’m enjoying its quiet elegance at the top of my blog.
I’ve yet to work out the details of a new blog button (and I am graphically challenged), but we’ll see what I can do.
I hope you like my new header as much as I do, and feel free to share your opinion in the comments.
