Design Inspiration: Bringing the Outdoors In

This week we were out and about enjoying the beautiful, sunny weather! After a couple outings, picking strawberries and a trip to the gardens, it made me realize how everything around, especially nature, is an excellent source for design and color inspiration. 

Red is typically not a color I'm drawn to, but just look at the vibrancy and all the various shades of red in these freshly picked strawberries! Beautiful!

Something like this red Ikat Bed Cover, paired with some crisp white linens, could add some of that "strawberry" inspiration to a bland bedroom without being too overpowering.

These red flowers have so many different shades of red to them, and they have such a unique shape to their petals.

A decorative piece of pottery, like this bowl, would bring in some of the darker red tones from the above flowers as well as the irregular petal shape. Plus, it would look great on a nightstand, as a soap dish, or on an entry table for catching keys and loose change.

This bathroom design by Sarah Richardson uses a stunning pink patterned fabric as drapes in a black and white bathroom, and it looks elegant!

Check out the cool shape this flower has! I love the light green and golden balls on its tips! 



A gold beaded urchin chandelier is almost an exact design complement to the above flower! It's sputnik-shape is modern and would look stunning over a dining table!

Periwinkle, amethyst, and lavender are always fun colors to incorporate into your home. They scream spring and summer.



These fun, graphic pillow covers would look great mixed together on a bench or sofa to update your room for spring or summer!

Look at these delicate yellow flowers, clustered together against their lush dark green leaves...so pretty!



I translated the flowers into this bathroom from Better Homes & Gardens. Isn't it so fresh and inviting? The beautiful shower curtain is the star of this bathroom with its lovely yellow and green pattern, taking this white bath to the next level!

Orange definitely makes a statement in nature and can in your home as well!

 

This orange dresser is the star of this room designed by Lee Kleinhelter. A show stopper for sure!

Design inspiration is all around, so open your eyes and take note on how you could incorporate it into your home.

Emilia

Patio Dreams

I'm dreaming of a beautiful patio...





Maybe one with a pergola for a little shade...



One where I can sit and sip some lemonade, read, and daydream as I look out onto a beautifully landscaped garden...



a garden with lots of vibrant colors...



Of course, I would need a fire pit to keep me warm on those chillier evenings...



And since I'm still dreaming and have an endless supply of money to spend on my dream patio, I'd like either flagstone



or blue stone...



OKAY, time to wake up!!! BACK TO REALITY...

We live on a wooded lot. We share this wooded lot with squirrels, chipmunks, deer, turkeys, raccoons, and a woodchuck. A couple years ago we had 7 raccoons removed, which had been living in our attic. It's a long story, but they made quite the MESS up there and tore up a ton of our insulation.

Anyway, we discovered that after kicking them out of their attic home, their friends moved in under our back deck. I guess they considered this home to be their wooded retreat too, but I had other plans.

Operation: Remove the Deck began! The deck was rotting in several places, had a tree in the middle of it as well as an awkward layout with 3 levels, so this is what swayed us to remove it rather than just remove the troublesome raccoon family.

With two kids under the age of 5, though, our progress was slow going and is, in fact, still going. Here is a snapshot of where we are as of today.

Now you know why I'm dreaming of a beautiful patio!

I'm hoping this weekend we can make some major progress in getting this deck removed and being one step closer to my dream patio.

Emilia

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

Nailed It!

Gallery walls are popping up all over the blogosphere lately. Here are some of my favorites:


Young House Love


House of Rose


Better Homes & Gardens


7th House on the Left

I love a great gallery wall, and after receiving many frames as gifts last Christmas, I decided it was time to nail those babies to the wall! Sprucing up our small stairwell became my goal.

 

In the photos, you can see that we have textured walls, which I eventually want to remove and replace with smooth drywall and paint, but that's for another day. Anyway, I decided to go with black frames, since it seemed most stores around me had a plethora of black and brown frames, but a limited selection of white ones.

 

I'd like to provide you with a nice tutorial on this installation, but alas, I sort of just winged it. I started by cutting out paper the size of my frames and taping them to the wall to visualize a layout, but then the papers just stayed on the wall for a month or two. Then, I decided to just go for it! What did I have to lose? I hate the walls anyway, so what's a few extra nail holes?!? After nailing a few frames to the wall (about 5), I made rough measurements with a ruler to get even spacing between the frames, but due to my impatience, this quickly turned into eyeballing the placement of the rest of the frames.

As you can see, I still want to purchase a few more frames to fill out the bottom. I also need to fill about 3 frames with some artwork. For the art, I used a mixture of photos, note cards, watercolor paintings, old calendar artwork, and even some sand dollars.

When I needed some more frames, I searched my house and found some cheaper frames that I no longer used, and after some black spray paint, they were perfect for my project. I think the variance in size and frame style makes it interesting.

What do you think? Are you a fan of gallery walls?

Emilia

Seeing Stripes

One of my favorite designers is Sarah Richardson. Ever since I watched the episode Boho Chic Girls Rooms in Sarah 101: Season 1, I have wanted a channel back chair upholstered in horizontal stripes. Isn't it lovely?? I dreamed of putting it in my oldest daughter's bedroom.



So, I scoured my local Craigslist to no avail. Then, about a year ago, I found this beauty at a local antique store for $75. I know most great design bloggers can score great furniture pieces for $20 or less, but I never seem to have that luck nor do I have the patience to keep the search alive for something cheaper once I've stumbled upon a suitable find.

So this beauty came home with me, and then it sat in my garage (head hanging in shame). I always have such great ideas for projects, but either time or money always seem to thwart my best laid plans. Anyway, I have decided that in the next two months I will purchase some fabric and take this chair to get reupholstered!

This is where I need some help. I've come up with a few options for striped fabric, but I'm not quite sure which fabric would be best. Here are the fabrics I have found thus far and like as possible options:

1. Waverly Valentina Stripe Spring



2. Tempo Indoor/Outdoor Carnival Stripe Red Green



3. Sunbrella Steeplechase Malibu


4. Deck Chair Stripe Beach Glass



5. Deck Chair Stripe Algae



6. Sunbrella Dolce Mango


These are the six choices I like, and just so you have an idea of where this newly upholstered chair will reside, here are a few photos of my oldest daughter's bedroom. The chair will be placed under the window to the left of her dresser. The lime green pouf will be used as an ottoman in front of the chair.

I hope someone can help me with this decision, and as soon as it comes back from being reupholstered, I will post pictures of my beautiful channel back in its new room!

Emilia

Welcome!!

Hello! Welcome to The Wooded Retreat! This is a blog where I will share my love of interior design, DIY projects, and anything else I find interesting. Our home was built in 1965 and sits on a large wooded lot. It is a HUGE work in progress! I hope you join me as I work on transforming our home into a beautiful wooded retreat.

Emilia