You make me happy...when skies are gray...

via apartmenttherapy.com


You know, I have to permanently strike from my vocab the words "I will never do...."because 1. I used to swear I would never do pink and now I love it and
2. that I would always be loyal to and never sick of red and now it makes me wanna barf and
3. that I would always hate gray and now I'm obsessed.

Cause those aren't such tasty words and I've been eating a lot of them lately. I am crazy in love with gray.
Another thing I'm crazy in love with is the website pintrest. You have to be 'invited' to join
( which makes me special!!! HA HA) but you can type in things like 'kick ass dining room' and you will actually get 1000s of photos to thumb through. (Relevancy google, that's all we ask!!!)
But the downside is, original sources are iffy. Who knows who designed or photographed most of this stuff? Another downside to pintrest is the lack of sleep I've been experiencing since being accepted into this secret inner world of people who like to collect photographs of cool looking stuff.


So if you want to know my simple rules for using gray here they are:
1. For the love of Mike, add a dash of something warm or else you will be constantly looking for your sweater.







2.if you can't ( or don't want to) add something warm, add something fun.





3. Avoid colors like 'garage floor' and 'battleship' and 'the economy'.
consider 'greige'...
...it's warmer and less depressed.



4. Realize that gray is kind of trendy, but hopefully this 'trend' will last at least as long as blue and brown has, which has been like, forever.


5. Add some movement or pattern on the walls. A faux finish will do the trick!



or a stencil ( we never say the 'wallpaper' word around here)

or some hand painting.


6. Go girly with it! Pink and/ or ruffles keep gray from being too serious.
to see the world's most adorable pink and gray nursery, visit pink sugar photography's blog.



7. Anchor it with a dark floor.

8. Choose carefully. Gray is one of those colors that can be pinkish, purplish, greenish....make use of Sherwin Williams AWESOME color to go program and try out a few 5 dollar sample quarts before you commit.
For more help, look to House Beautiful and their ongoing commitment to great color by clicking here.

It's Spring!

I'm really into butterflies lately, and there is no shortage of butterfly stuff to be found.
The past couple of years of my life have marked incredible change for me in every way; I barely recognize myself anymore sometimes, but I like who I see! Somedays I feel like my past was the big cocoon from which I have emerged fresh and clean and different.
Butterflies are a symbol of rebirth and change...and spring!

In my daughters' bedroom I have a similar version of this, but with white butterflies on a pale aqua wall. I have another 'butterfly explosion' in my kitchen. (Oh, that sounds kind of bad, doesn't it!)
There is a lot to love about this room ( taken from Traditional Home Magazine) aside from the butterflies. I love the indescribable shade of gray on the bed. I love the 'granny sofa' look of the headboard and footboard.
I am finding myself drawn to rooms that are really light and airy now, too. I'm always going to be crazy over color, but I am seriously considering painting my own bedroom a pale shade of gray. Possibly in a Venetian Plaster finish.