Decorating

If you had to pick a happy colour – it would be Yellow, wouldn’t it?  I do enjoy a nice sunny yellow around my home!  How about you?  Does using yellow in your home scare you? Or do you love the sunshine it brings in?

There’s nothing like a dose of yellow – just a bit here and there.  And not a soft buttery yellow, but full-on bright lemony yellow.  I think it goes back to my love of sunflowers.  Sunflowers just make me smile.  They bring me such joy.  That’s why there is a sunflower on this website, leading you to my Finding Joy FB group.

I do have yellow throughout our house, no yellow walls and only one nightstand that’s painted in a bold hit of yellow.  But in my hallway, well, I have sunflowers and signs that brighten up the shadows.  Which also means it’s truly hard to get a good picture…nevermind the awkwardness of the stairwell blocking the best view.  But it adds a hit of vibrancy that would be lacking if I used any other colour.

Yellow as a wall colour can get tricky, it reflects off the surrounding walls and intensifies.  So what can look like a soft, buttery yellow on the chip turns into the inside of a highlighter in a room.  Not what we aim for….so here is my favourite yellow to use on walls from Benjamin Moore, Weston Flax

I love what yellow does for a home.  In a bright vibrant colour, it is very stimulating and increases energy and creativity but then if you mute it down and soften it’s tones, it becomes very relaxing and peaceful. So, keep that in mind when adding yellow to a child’s room – the tone and intensity of the colour can affect the mood.  Yellow is also associated with hospitality, too, which I love.  { I was away over the weekend and the lobby of the hotel was filled with the pineapple motif which is the symbol of hospitality – I loved that!! }  Check out the colour of our front door – I think it says Welcome, no? It’s Shop Door from the FAT Paint Company.

Yellow in a sunny room will intensify but in a dark hallway will brighten the space up.  Yellow is great for those trying to boost their happiness level and creates an environment of optimism, just like the sunshine outside makes us feel better, so do sunshiney rooms!

You can read about the yellow goodies in the hallway HERE.  You’ll see weird angles in the photos as I struggled to get good pictures, imagine me sitting on the stairs, crouched, camera lens through the railing…the things I do for you!

And our bedroom makeover with its shiny yellow nightstand is HERE – I still love that nightstand.  Sometimes you just find the best things at the thrift stores and you know I love to shop the thrift stores and drag something home for a makeover in the studio!!!

Our pyjama lounge has lots of mustardy yellow tones in it, thanks to the ever-growing gallery wall.  HERE is where you can see what I mean!  I love the retro shades found in the needle points and the chair that we were left in the studio!

It is my hope that you will not shy away for using yellow throughout your home.  Even if it is a sunny bunch of tulips or a colourful piece of art work on you wall – yellow is meant to bring the sunshine in!

Colourfully yours,

Lori

This month we’re going to look at the colour Green in honour of St. Patrick’s Day!  The handsome Mr. Byrne has some Irish blood so this is a nod to his roots.  And a nod to one of those classic colours that is always in style in some various shade, tint or tone!

I enjoy the colour green and have it throughout my house and have had it throughout all our homes, in fact.  It’s timeless, easy to live with and surprisingly, it goes with so much.  In our first home in Caribou River, I painted the main living area Grasslands by Benjamin Moore and thought I might be limiting myself for what other colours I could bring in, but I found I loved it paired with other greens, pinks, oranges – all sorts of colours, it wasn’t limiting at all.

Our bathrooms are both green now, along with our laundry room, it is the only real colour we have on the walls, as far as paint goes.  And it’s restful and pretty in those spaces that don’t allow for much other colour.  I don’t mind it in the bathrooms but I’m looking forward to painting the laundry area – it hasn’t been painted yet!  But that’s been talked about HERE.

The most green we have in our home is all the plants.  So many plants.  But I’m not complaining one bit.  I love all the plants in our home.  Yes, they may be taking over….again, I’m not complaining – but I do feel like I need to rein them in a bit.  Anyway,  I love the fresh, vibrant pops of green they bring to whatever room they are in.  Plants just add so much life to a home.

Did you know that green is considered to be the most restful colour?  It promotes unwinding but isn’t too cool, it has warmth to it that keeps it comfortable.  That makes it the perfect colour to relax in.  Of course, a bright, florescent green isn’t quite so relaxing….

My favourite green item in our home has got to be this old Hickory Chair Company chair I got at a local yard sale for $10.  It was a hideous gold when I bought it, and eventually I recovered it in a green stripe and I have to say, it’s the most comfortable chair in the house.  It currently lives in our pyjama lounge and you can quite often find me reading or writing this very blog there.  And the desk chair here is green, too.

I also have a pretty little bowl from my grandmother, Lena, that is green and loaded with texture.  I inherited it when she passed away and I love and treasure it.  Such a simple, small thing and yet…

There’s green in the verandah, too – the floor, the chairs at the table, lots of little bits of green.  You can check it out HERE.

Miss Mustard Seed makes some fabulous greens – Boxwood and Luckett’s Green are both beautiful greens I have used.  In fact, the desk chair I mentioned is even painted in Boxwood!!

Anyway, I’m off to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with the handsome Mr. Byrne!

Colourfully yours,

Lori

Descriptive words used to describe your style are my favourite.  I so enjoy meeting with clients and talking about what their style is and how they want their home to feel.  Words get thrown around like modern, causal, retro, comfortable, cottage, farmhouse, country, urban…I could go on.

Hi, It’s been a bit since I was here!  Life has been busy and honestly, this time change foolishness is kicking my in the butt.  But I’ve been thinking about this a lot.  Can you define your home’s style?  It’s fun to start throwing words around.  I’ve nailed my current style down to Boho Vintage Farmhouse.

I’ve talked a little about Boho in the past, you can read it HERE.  I love Boho because anything goes.  It tends to be colourful and have a very gathered feel to it.  Loads of texture, plants, and natural elements and rich in stories.

And it’s no secret that I love vintage goodies.  They are fulled with such character.  I love chippy paint and furniture that comes pre-worn so that I don’t have to worry about keeping it perfect and pristine, because let’s face it, I want to live in my house and not treat it with kid gloves.  I love pieces with history and age, that have stood the test of time and are still around now.  If it has dings and dents and is older than I am, chances are that I’m keen.

And well, farmhouse, we live in an old house and even though I don’t believe this was ever a working farm, we’re in the middle of farming country and it has all the ‘farmhouse feels’.  White siding, beadboard, back staircase, old wide trim and well-worn hardwood floors – sounds farmhouse to me!  We’re surrounded by old farmsteads and fields.  And since we have our own version of a farm going, I’m running with the farmhouse feel.  There are things in this house that have had previous lives in a barn…

I used to be a kitschy country primitive girl but over the years my style has definitely changed.  Weathered sheep and cutesy signs and plaid galore was definitely my past way, I need to find those pictures of my first place and share them here.  As we mature, it’s common that our styles would change, too.  I still have some pretty strong country feels happening but it is a style that I think has matured with me.

Back when I did some teaching and presenting on decorating, I always talked about personal style.  And I still believe that today, I can make your home magazine worthy but if it doesn’t suit you and reflect who you and your family are then I have failed as a decorator.  I want to walk into a home and touch items that have a story and a connection to you.  I want to use things that matter to you, not just whatever was on sale at the box store furniture place by the highway.  And not just a reflection of one family member, the whole family.  That’s why you’ll find antlers throughout my home and pictures of horses, too….because even though I am the decorator in the family, everyone lives here, too.

So, let me ask you, how would you describe your style?  Are you country cottage with a flair for shabby chic?  Are you clean-lined and modern with a minimalist leaning?  Or are you a maximalist with treasures on every surface and tucked into every nook? I’d love to hear about your style!

Colourfully yours,

Lori