A Quest for Color!!! Where do you go?

Everything thing is bright and white out. After these past few snow storms my little corner of Chester County PA is a (slowly melting) winter wonderland! The white snow and gray trees remind me of all the white and weathered wood we've been seeing in the design world recently...It is peaceful. It is quiet. But it's making me yearn for more warmth than a white faux fur throw blanket tossed over a weathered wood chair can bring. It's making me yearn for....

COLOR!!!

Now, I love color anytime of the year. And I have certain sensibilities about what colors I decorate and dress with, as I am sure you do. But this time of year I have a particular craving for bright, juicy, 711 slushee colors. Colors that make my mouth water. Colors that sing of summer. Colors that simply warm me up.

I love seeing different color combinations in homes. It may not be what I do at my own home, but simply seeing it is a thrill....

Notice how white is used as a back drop for many of the colors in these photos......

domino

decor online

Side note! See the Cyclamen in the photo above to the right of the white chair? I just love those! A great winter indoor plant!

Natural warm architecture like exposed bricks and wood also can balance bright color...

Apartment Therapy

The soft green on the walls here takes some of the edge of the fucshia and compliments it at the same time...

Turquoise and Tulips

With a ton of color white seems to just soften it for me but I also love seeing color craze drippy deep hue on the walls...

Cote de Texas

lolalina

lonny via Zunig Interiors

I also love all the color cotton quilting fabric by designers like Anna Marie Horner, Amy Butler and Jennifer Paganelli.

This little montage from Jennifer Paganelli with the snowy trees and a colorful "sky" shows

my sentiments EXACTLY!!

I love reading Ada and Darcy when I need a nice dosage of candy colors...

Kate Spade's Ad campaigns are always full of bright color and are undeniably cheery...

lala! Spring is coming!

And there is something about spice market photos that always throw my heart for a whirl...

The same thing for piles of indian dye powder...Look at it! Does it get you going? Does it speak to you the way it speaks to me? So pretty!!

I swear I get high off color. Truth be told, I will not lie. No huffing or puffing. Just looking at color...

Homes and Markets and Fabrics and Art...Above all, my quest for color is satisfied most when I am some place warm surrounded by flowers, water, and fish and colorful skies. These things I will not post photos of because they are so much better to day dream about...

Where do you go on your quest for color? Do you get color cravings too?

Dining Room Dilema

I need to go out and get paint samples today because this weekend we paint the dining room.

The previous owners painted it the color of mustard mixed with ketchup. It's about as appetizing to me as a left over McDonald's hamburger. Sorry that sounds a little harsh, but it really is that bad.

At first I thought I wanted a turquoise dining room...but this room doesn't get much light and really will be used as an evening room so that throws things off a little bit. All the photos I see on line are taken in the day time so aren't an accurate window for inspiration. They all look bright and fresh. When when we eat in there it isn't going to be bright at all...so the colors are going to look different. I can't really rely on photos. I am on my own here.

I thought about going around to all my favorite restaurants to see what colors they painted their walls. I think that would be the BEST way to search for dining room inspiration, don't you? But really, who has the time for that? I, do not.

We don't really want red or orange or brown...they just wouldn't work in our house or for us. The present shade has turned us off from yellows. Purple is definitely out. So that leaves us with blue and green. Hmm. Turquoise? Ah! We are back to Turquoise.

It will be interesting to see what we come up with.

What color do you like in a dining room?

Found this photo on House Beautiful when searching for inspiration and I know I don't want to paint our dining room brown and we are way more traditional than this---

BUT I think it's so fun!

Valentine Crush on Blush

Red is too loud, it says too much.

Black's visual vamp speaks too highly of lust.

 But together with white, 

they make me blush....

Photos via Martha Stewart, Florica by Helen James Design, Luisa Beccaria, Etsy, British Vogue,Tibi, Etsy, British Vogue, J. Crew, Essie, 

, Martha Stewart

I'm in love with a mixer.

It's from Kitchen Aid. 

When I got married and it came time to register, my Dad said "Pick something practical", but my mom pulled me aside and said "pick something you love".

So I picked Pistachio. 

Sorry Dad.

We are house hunting right now, so I have no place to put it. It is sitting in a box, just waiting to be used. 

I day dream about this mixer.  And the kitchen it inspires me to create. And all the cupcakes it will make.

I dream of it sitting in a room that looks kind of like this.....

Next to it's kitcheny friends in a color palette of sweet treats like this....

Martha Stewart even helped me out by coming this kitchen gadget line like this...

Now all I need is a kitchen.

Do you dream of mixers and kitchens and cooking gadgets?

You may say that I'm a dreamer, I hope I am not the only one!

Photos via House of Turquoise, Paper Source, Martha Stewart