Color palettes.

I cannot live without color. I love a neutral with a bright punch of saturated yellow or red or green or pink to liven it up. Decorating my home is like painting strokes on a blank canvas - it is my artistic expression and a way to welcome others into my world...and hopefully, to make them feel comfortable here.

So, after much online-fabric-browsing, dreaming, and tearing-out of magazine pages, I'd like to share my color palette for the guest room. I like to think of it as natural.cheery.joyful.serene.asian.bohemian.

(Click the image to see it larger)

Ahhhhh. Just looking at it makes me smile. In fact, I'm thinking of moving into the guest room permanently. With the new, FREE King size bed that our friend's Granny gave us (to which I added a fluffy white comforter and white sheets), it's even more tempting! I'm not sure which paint color to choose, as I love them both equally. The fabric is all from Anna Maria Horner's new line, Garden Party. The fabric on the right is going to be perfect as a headboard, which is so easy to make on your own! Top it all off with paper lanterns from Luna Bazaar and white branch curtains from IKEA. Now, I just need to put it all into action!

The other room in progress is my office - where I spend the majority of my days. I just painted it "Rain Washed" by Behr a few weeks ago, and now it's the perfect oceany calming blue, so that's one step in the right direction. Now, I need to add some more splashes of color! My inspiration began with this photo I took in India...

(Click the image to see it larger)

Here's how "Rain Washed" looks currently on the walls...


It's amazing how my tastes have changed over the last 10 years. My freshman year of college, everything was about sunflowers. I had the sunflower comforter, matching sheets, throw blanket, picture frames, photo albums, and even posters of sunflower fields on the wall - you know, the ones you buy at the campus bookstore. And all my accessories that weren't sunflower were either hunter green or royal blue. Oh, the horror. Then, after college, I wanted my entire house to look like the beach, so I replaced everything with natural wood and seafoam green. Getting warmer...

Now, I'm into bright flowers and vintage/bohemian patterns, and I think I'm here to stay. Thank God my husband lets me decorate how I want to. When we moved into this house 2 years ago, he wisely designated the inside of the house as my domain and the outside as his domain, and oh, how I love him for that! Men, we realize you have to remove 150 decorative pillows from the bed before you can go to sleep each night, but please, if you know what's good for you, let it lie. Just...let it...lie.

Inspired...

Lovers, keep on the road you're on
Runners, until the race is run
Soldiers, you've got to soldier on

The new Coldplay CD makes me want to...

...walk through New York City in the snow in a big, fluffy classy coat with a cappuccino in hand.

...take a train through Europe, getting off on a whim to roam small villages and exciting cities.

...ride my bike through a town in Tuscany and eat bread and drink wine in a piazza for hours and hours under an umbrella in the sun.

...go to the Christmas Market in Munich in tall boots and a pretty scarf on an early, gray, December day.

...lay on the grass and listen to the London Symphony Orchestra in the rain.

...stroll through the streets of Prague, taking photos of colorful buildings and people.

...drive with the windows down always.

...sit on a dock on a lake with my husband at dusk with a towel wrapped around us and setting sun on our faces.

...drink up, savor, and enjoy every single day of my life.