For the Love of Colour

Picking out paint colours for your brand spanking new home is hard ... nobody tells you that.

Photo credits: kkerrdesign.blogspot.ca; http://maisonboheme.blogspot.ca; www.heatherpetersondesign.com via Living etc; livingwithlindsay.com; 2.bp.blogspot.com;

Recently, I've been lost in a multitude of ombré colour options, trying to decide between: clean whites, lemon yellows, bright teal, cozy grey, sailor navy, eggplant – the list goes on and on. You ask yourself, do you want to feel cold, or do you want to feel cozy? Calm and tranquil, or revved up and ready to party? Lately my desk has become a hot mess of pencil crayon colours, paint chips and penciled out sketches. As someone who lives for design and design projects, as excited as I am for this fresh space, it can sometimes all get a little overwhelming when it comes to making decisions. But, keeping that in mind you can't fail if you don't try. So why not have fun with colour choices – it is only paint, and your spaces should speak to your personality. Design rooms you will love coming home to see and don't worry about the rest. Select colours and accent pieces you really love and trust in those decisions. Even if you think they might not work well together, more often than not (regardless of what people may say) they do once everything is in place. Worse case scenario, if you really don't like the design, paint over it! In just a few weeks we get access into our new home (the countdown is on and the project lists are growing!). So, it is time to live a little, and by george, be excited about colour. I will share how it all turns out, once the paint cans are purchased and the brushes have smacked against the walls.

 

D i Y: Summer fresh buds

Now that summer has basically arrived (hello mr. heat), it is time to add a little more vibrant colour to our living our spaces. I recently took an old 25 cent bud vase from a second hand shop and added some new razzle dazzle to it. I love the result. It is much more colourful and an item that can be used to house flowers on a table, make-up brushes in a bathroom or pens at the office.

What You Will Need: A glass vase of any size (personally I like to collect lots of little bud to have around the house), acrylic paints, masking tape, ice cube tray,  two paint brushes, small amount of mod podge.

The Process: Start by cleaning your glass vase so it is nice and fresh and rid of dust. Next decide on the pattern you want to paint and mark it off with tape. If you are doing lines, be sure to try and get them as evenly spaced as possible. You can also try cutting out dots, or various shapes on paper and then tape the paper to the vase much like a stencil. Next decide on your colour choice, or try mixing various colours and shades. I like using ice cube trays when pouring and mixing paints. It keeps the colours seperate from mixing and are very easy to clean afterwards. Once you have your colour being to paint and be sure to put a nice thick layer. While the paint is still wet pull off the tape slowly to ensure nice clean lines. Then set aside and let the vase dry (I recommend leaving it over night). Once it is fully dry take a little mod podge and apply a thin coat over the painted area by hand to give it a  final seal.  Then just add your items or flowers like these homemade craspedia.