ORANGE

 I don’t know why, but I like orange and dislike red.  I’m sharing some sprinkles of orange in my sunroom.

The ottoman is in a Trina Turk orange print, the throw is orange with orange tassels, and the finials are Christmas ornaments that I just couldn’t put away.

Branches that I painted orange reflected in the mirror.

I decoupaged the elephant on to some books I covered in orange wrapping paper.

I used this pillow as a seat cushion to protect the caning on my Chippendale chair.

Coral on a pillow.

Coral candleholders, coral on a book cover, and more coral on the print.

I also have some coral prints in mirrored frames.  This is one of them.  I have six different ones layered on my windows.

Do you accent with orange in your home?

ACCESSORIES DON'T JUST FILL A SPACE, THEY DEFINE IT.

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BEACHY DECOR WHEN YOU’RE NOT AT THE BEACH

 I don’t live at the beach but I love adding  beachy decor.  

GLASS BEADS, CORAL, SEA LIFE PILLOWS AND SHELLS

Notice the design book in the tray too, BOHEMIAN SOUL, by Valorie Hart.  The author has been my design inspiration for many years.  I followed her blog many years ago and currently follow her Instagram account @visualvamp.   The images by photographer, Sarah Essex Bradley, are of the “Vanishing Interiors of New Orleans”.    I’m really enjoying it.  If you love to scroll through inspiring interiors, follow her on Tumblr too, The Visual Vamp.  Of course garlands of glass beads and some coral look good in the tray too

BOHEMIAN SOUL INTERIOR DESIGN BOOK WITH GLASS BEADS AND CORAL

FAUX CORAL ON A STACK OF BOOKS ON A BOOK SHELF

 

PAINTED BRANCHES IN A SHELL-FILLED CONTAINER ON MY MANTEL

My fireplace is non working so I layered a small cabinet, some “coral” candleholders and a chinoiserie print over it.  Can you see the coral in the print?

CORAL CANDLEHOLDERS AND CORAL REPEATED IN THE CHINOISERIE PRINT

I have six of these framed coral images layered over my windows.

ONE OF SIX FRAMED CORAL IMAGES LAYERED OVER MY WINDOWS

If you’re a regular follower you’ve seen my fabulous faux shell filled with shells.

SHELLS INSIDE A SHELL REFLECTED IN MY MIRRORED TABLE

ONE OF MY SEA LIFE PILLOWS

What do you like to add to your rooms?

REPEATING CORAL

When I was painting my chinoiserie table and chairs coral, I impulsively took the paint brush to some branches in a vase.  At the time there was no plan.  What I later realized was that those curly, gnarly branches repeated the coral in the room, not just in color, but in form too. 

CORAL BRANCHES ON MY BAR CART

Those turned and twisted branches repeat the pattern of coral.

GNARLY "CORAL" BRANCHES

The coral shape repeats itself in the coral framed prints and reflects and repeats in the mirrored frames.

CORAL BRANCHES REPEATING AND REFLECTING IN FRAME

REPEATS AND REFLECTIONS FROM ANOTHER ANGLE

The coral pairs and compliments the copper in the room. Notice the sculptural metal coral on the stand in the upper left corner behind the leopard shaker.

CORAL AND COPPER COMBO

I added a sea life Pottery Barn platter on the bottom shelf.

POTTERY BARN PLATTER ON BAR CART BOTTOM SHELF

I also have some "coral" candlesticks on my table.  I purchased them at West Elm many years ago.

CORAL CANDLESTICKS ON MY TABLE

One of my all time favorite books, CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, rests on my coffee table.  Of course the cover has what else but some coral.

MY FAVORITE BOOK WITH CORAL ON THE COVER

Do you repeat design elements?  Do you have a plan or does it just happen?

ALTERED SPINES

Before I start this post I wanted to let you know that if you follow my blog with Feedburner and like receiving an e-mail notification when I post, you"ll need to follow me with Bloglovn' instead.  Blogger/Google has deleted the Feedburner notification feature.  You can find the link to Bloglovn' on the side bar on my blog web page, or click on this link to sign up for e-mail notifications :  Bloglovn' 

Thanks.  Now, on to altered spines---on books that is.

Sometimes I'm inspired to do some creative project.  Several years ago I did just that.  I found some books that were the same height and covered them with wrapping paper, much like we did in high school with our text books.  I lined them up and decoupaged images to the spines.  The link to the blog post with the tutorial is at the end of this post.  Check it out if you feel inspired.

You know how much I love orange.  I used orange wrapping paper for these books.  The elephant is a copy of a vintage cardboard children's animal toy.  They're on the bottom shelf of my favorite bamboo side table.

ELEPHANT ON BOOK SPINES

This image of coral was from a calendar of sea life images.  I used the pages from this calendar to create a gallery wall in my daughter's apartment.

CORAL IMAGE ON BOOKS

I collect architectural prints/book plates.  I made copies from my originals and added them to books.  Currently, these books are on the brass and chrome bookshelves in my family room.

ARCHITECTURAL PRINT OF BUILDINGS WITH A SANTOS BOOKEND

This is another copy of an architectural print sandwiched between vintage faux marble bookends.

ARCHITECTURAL PRINTS BETWEEN VINTAGE FAUX MARBLE BOOKENDS

I don't know what this "building" was used for, but it's the perfect size for this image of a clock face.

IMAGE OF A CLOCK FACE INSIDE A "BUILDING"

If you'd like to see the tutorial on how I created new spines, go here.

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SUN AND SHADOWS; BLUE AND WHITE

At the first sign of warmer weather I hurry to open our screened porch.   It's our favorite place to enjoy the Spring.  As I noticed the sun and shadows flickering over the porch,  I

had to capture the way the light was working the room.  

SUN AND SHADOWS ON THE PORCH

I changed a few things from last Spring.   I moved the small garden table to the side of the day bed and added some ginger jars.  The Thomas Paul pillow has always been in this space.  It inspired the choice of blue and white for the porch.

GINGER JARS AND THOMAS PAUL PILLOW

The cloche with coral and a mercury glass bird has also been around for a while.  It changes locations frequently, but it remains a constant in the coastal room design.

CLOCHE WITH CORAL AND MERCURY GLASS BIRD

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CLOCHE

I added the elephant last year.  The covered bottles have been around for a while.

CHINOISERIE ELEPHANT AND VINTAGE COVERED BOTTLES

SUNLIT COVERED BOTTLES

A vintage factory cart is my coffee table.  It's the perfect solution for a room exposed to the elements.

FACTORY CART COFFEE TABLE

LOOKING DOWN ONTO FACTORY CART

What do you look forward to when the weather warms?

Last year I updated the porch by adding green to the space.  If you'd like to see that post, go here.
FYI, that post shows the other side of the screened porch.

CREATING A COLLECTED LAYERED SPACE

 When it comes to layering, I'm all about stacking design element upon design element to achieve a cohesive look.  I layer art or mirrors over bookshelves or windows, stack empty frames upon each other, and even layer holiday decor.

My sunroom was no exception when I pulled it together with texture, pattern, and color.
I then tied it all together with a nature-inspired thread.

MY SUNROOM

LOOKING IN FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM

 I started with a  Stark sisal rug and layered it with a hide rug.  The rugs add texture and a base for the layering that comes next.   The zebra cushion on the faux bamboo chair is one of the patterns in the room.  You'll see that mixing different patterns with similar hues is one of the ways to make the room cohesive.

LAYERED SISAL AND HIDE RUGS

The zebra pattern on the chair cushion, the draperies and pillows in the Imperial Trellis fabric, and the West Elm pillows with the garden benches, while different designs, share a color and work together.

MIXING PATTERNS

The neutral palette needed a color pop.  You can see how the addition of the color coral adds that contrast.  The sea life classroom chart adds another pattern as well as something unexpected and quirky.  I always try to add an element of surprise into a room.  It also repeats the nature theme.

THE CLASSROOM CHART ADDS AN UNEXPECTED DESIGN ELEMENT

When I layer, I just don't place design elements in front of each other;  I also tier them.   In this next image, the  stacked rugs are the base, the next layer is the ottoman, then a tray, and a book to top it off.  Books are one of the my most-used design elements.

LAYERING CAN BE VERTICAL TOO

Note again how I've repeated the color coral and sea life theme with the book jacket. 
The branch overlaps the book.  This is layering too.

REPEATING THE CORAL 

There's more coral on the bottom shelf of my bar cart.  I placed a piece of faux coral in front of a large sea life plate.

THE BOTTOM SHELF OF MY CHROME BAR CART

You'll see that I painted the Chinoiserie garden table and chairs coral and added more geometric fabric to the chair seats and pillows.  A zebra runner repeats the pattern on the zebra chair cushion. The pair of wing chairs add more texture and also repeat a natural element.  A faux shell and coral votives reflect the nature-related theme too. The fig tree in the corner was a gift from my Dad.  It's a cutting from a tree in his yard and another nod to nature.

WING CHAIRS AND CHINOISERIE GARDEN TABLE AND CHAIRS

Adding pillows is another way to layer and add depth to a space.
 I  also eliminated the draperies on the the windows that face the back yard and layered prints of  coral in mirrored frames directly onto the window frame. Notice the texture and the natural element that the banana leaf furniture contributes to the space.  The natural fibers and all the references to sea life and nature make the room cohesive.

LAYERED PILLOWS AND PRINTS

A reflection into a mirror can also create a layered effect.  The mirror with the reflected chandelier and sea life chart creates depth.  At the same time, the partial images make you want to explore the space and imagine what the rest of the space holds.

USING A REFLECTION TO LAYER AND ADD DEPTH

How do you layer your spaces?

Un Art

Art doesn't always have to be an oil stretched onto canvas or a print matted, framed and hung on a wall.  For me, ordinary objects can be art as well.

A large garden gate is art layered behind a framed map in my living room.

A Garden Gate as Art and as a Back Drop

In my sun room, a pull-down classroom sea life map is my over-sized art.

Pull-Down Classroom Map As Art

An iron window grate is art on my mantel.

An Iron Window Grill as Art in Family Room

I filled a container with a collection of shed antlers.

Shed Antlers in a Glass Container as Art

The cloche on my porch has a mercury glass bird and coral.

A Bird and Coral Fill a Cloche

More shells fill a large faux shell on my mirrored table.

More Shells as Art

A large garden gate is art layered behind a framed map in my living room.

I placed a remnant of my Trina Turk fabric into a frame for some modern art.

Framed Fabric Remnant as Art

I applied architectural book plates to book spines.

Architectural Book Plates Applied to Book Spines in My Pantry

An architectural fragment, urns, and globes are "art" in our bedroom.

A Column Fragment, Globes and Urn "Art" in Our Bedroom

Faux taxidermy is art too.  My Anthropologie elephant trophy is a fave.

Anthropologie Elephant Trophy as Art

On my screened porch, a large metal ceiling tile is my art.

Antique Metal Ceiling Tile on My Screened Porch

A wall sconce, leather books and an architectural fragment are my foyer art.

Foyer Art:  Wall Sconce, Architectural Fragment, and Leather Books

I've had a pair of these wonderfully weathered farm machinery gears for a while.

They need to find a home in my home soon.

I'd love to know what you have as "un art" in your home.