Featured Designer: Diamond Baratta

I love that Diamond Baratta Design's make blue look like a neutral. Sigh.

Happy Tuesday. Are you feeling blue today?

A (Back)Splash of Blue

I love this kitchen redo that was featured on Design*Sponge so much, that I had to feature it here:

The Kitchen.


The Mud Room.

Love the simple awesome statement of crisp white with the blue tiles in the kitchen, and let's be honest, I'd just be over the moon if I too could have a mud room. Jealous!

Pop on over to Design*Sponge for a full look at the before and afters.

What room in the house would you consider a 'splurge room'??

A Bit Blue

Feeling a bit blue; like I am trying to ride the wave of live and not quite succeeding. Taking a few days off of the blog world to set myself straight.


source.


Thanks to A Cup of Jo for sharing these posters featured on Minga.

Hope you all are hanging on. I'll be back soon...

Style Board: Sage

One of my very best friends is moving into a new place with her Boyfriend. Currently, one wall in the bedroom is Burnt Orange, which totally conflicts with their more natural color palette. The good news- the landlord will paint the wall any color of their choosing!!

I started to jump for joy when she asked for help. Here were my parameters:
1. They have this sage green comforter.
2. The room is a bit small- so they want a color that will lighten up the room.
3. I needed to create a whole look with a little money. I limited my accessories to flowers, throws and pillows.
4. Their bedroom furniture is dark brown.


Here they are- my first Style Boards:

Option #1: Light and Airy in Blue and Greens.

Paint Options:
(A) Top Rt: Restoration Hardware Light Silver Sage- will totally lighten up the room.

(B) Bottom Lt: Restoration Hardware Blue Sage- for more of a pop.

Accessories:
Pillows from West Elm

Agni Pillow, $29.

Bengal Tiger, Pear, $34

Big Sur, $39

Flowers: whites and succulents.

This option really provides a punch of color, but lightens the whole space up with some airy and neutral accessories.

Option #2: Neutrals: Sage, brown and grays.

Paint Options:
From Top Rt. To Bottom Left all Restoration Hardware:
(A) Flax
(B) Spanish Moss
(Sage Bedding)
(C) Gravel
(D) Silver Sage

The top colors will bring a huge pop to the room while the light colors will add subtle contrast and light.

Two Accessories:
Pillows from West Elm.

Mountain Flower, $34

Pheasant Pillow Cover, $34

Bengal Tiger, Fig, $34

Embellished Leaf, $34

Flowers: Succulents.

Option #3: Modern: Sage, purple and taupe.

Paint Options:

(A) Top Lt: Martha Stewart Purple Agate. Softer, but still a bit silvery.

(B) Top Rt: Martha Stewart Blueberry- for a dark rich pop of color, and still manly.

Accessories:
Shams from West Elm- on sale for $12.99 each, and a throw- any of the colors would work, $49, each.

Wild Flowers.

I love this purple option- I think with the sage and the dark purple adds just enough masculinity.

Option #4: Traditional: Sage and Reds.

Paint Options:
(A) Restoration Hardware Spanish Moss
(B) Alternative paint color: Martha Stewart Red Persimmon

Accessories: Myrium Shams from Pottery Barn, $29 each, and a Windowpane Velvet Pillow in Red from Pottery Barn, on Sale $34

Flowers: Red Carnations

Just in case she wanted to go traditional- I threw in the last option. Plus, I know that red is her favorite color.

---------
After waiting on pins and needles, she told me that she LOVED all the options. While she was initially leaning towards purple, she was afraid that her BF wouldn't go for it- so I think she's going with choice No. 1.

I have to be honest- sage isn't usually in my color palette, so it took some thinking to put these boards together.

Want a Style Board of you own? Email me your greatest design dilemma with a link or picture. I'll provide the design input- email me at sugarspicelivin@gmail.com- I promise to do my very best!!

Finally. The Sun.

The Sun is here and it is hot!!

Love it.

While I am out basking in the unbelievably hot weather, why don't you enjoy this divine living room/patio that was on the cover of an Australian Magazine called Belle, but introduced to me by Desire to Inspire. Wish I was there:


And speaking of inspiration from Desire to Inspire, check out Huck and Ferris on Pets on Furniture.

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

Green and Blue Chairs

Maybe because I am visualizing summer,* maybe because these spaces look so relaxing, but both of these pics totally have a wish I was there vibe for me.

That said, more chairs.

A pair of green:


And a fantastic pop of blue:


Anyone else jonsing to be somewhere else??

*Hi Summer, I live in San Francisco, I would love it if you could pop over to our area for a couple weeks of sunshine. K, Thanks.

Perfectly Patriotic Kitchen

Don't hate me, but I am not really a red person. But to me, this kitchen is sheer vintage patriotic perfection..

source.

Or do you think that it's taking the whole 'Go USA' thing too far?

A Pop of Color. Turquoise.

Turquoise was the color of the year last year. And I can believe it. Erin at the House of Turquoise always posts the most amazing rooms.

Here's a recent one that caught my eye.


I can feel the sea breeze just looking at the picture.

We have landed...

Into our mini apartment house tour.

And of course, I had to start with the entrance or landing strip if you will. I had three objectives.

1. Add a super cool hallway mirror.
2. Add a pop of color.
3. Be organized.

My friend Kara and I found a plastic gold mirror at a garage sale one day while on a walk. I didn't even have $$ so she spotted me the 15 bucks to carry this puppy home.

So I started with this:

And using this as inspiration:

I ended up with this:


My inspiration for our living room is gray, white and yellow, so I decided to bring the gray into the hall way with a bit of a twist and used a bit more of a blue gray. I picked up a small paint sample jar of Valspar Lighthouse Shadows (4008-3B) to paint the mirror. Yes, I was a very bad organic blogger- I didn't take the time to use low VOC paint, which I completely regretted later as the smell wafted through the house. You can see how small the paint jar was in this pic. (and my trusty helper- too bad he doesn't have opposable thumbs)


I used the glue gun to secure on the orange embellishment that I bought at a fabric store, and I had enough paint left over to paint an old hat rack to match. Since the small paint jars only come in matte, I spray painted on a sheer gloss to give it a bit of shine.



A magazine rack that we bought from Ikea years ago provides storage for keys, doggie bags, and all the other bits that you empty out of your pocket when you enter your apartment. Plus, it gives us handy storage for our umbrellas- which we've needed a lot this winter. Ideally, we'd have a larger piece, but for now we're using what we got.

I added a few more pops of orange, including a bunch of the colorful scarfs that I wear almost every day, and called it done.

Total project cost: $15 mirror, $5 can of paint, and $4 for spray paint. Total: $24 bucks give or take.

I love the splash of color and I love getting one last glance at the mirror as I leave for work in the morning- I've been known to have tooth paste everywhere.

So what do you think of the orange? Did I accomplish my goal?