Somewhere before the age of ten, I landed on my favorite color — yellow. Yellow does one thing for me that no other color has the power to do. It makes me smile. A bed of undulating yellow tulips makes me smile. A field of dandelions makes me smile. I love yellow.That will explain a few of my portfolio choices today. My plan is to juxtapose what I have with what I would prefer. We are all familiar with the way that this happens...an inherited piece of furniture, a gift from a dear one, a home where the extra funds just aren't available. I am no exception as you will soon see.
Today, I'm beginning with the exterior and moving inside to the living area. Tomorrow, I'll move on to the kitchen, bath, and bedroom. Perhaps, if I am brave, I'll even toss in an office. I am not excited about sharing my desk area...we've already been there so perhaps we can move on. LOL!
I've been looking at so many homes. Simple is my thing...sort of. McMansions are not my style; don't want a mansion until glory; my dibs are actually in for a simple cottage by the side of the road, if heaven will allow.
First up...two homes that I really like. I'd like the first more if it were, you guessed it, yellow.
To see what I really have, scroll back to January 15 or look here.
Doing this little exercise has shown me that I am strongly influenced by my environment...I live in New England; New England defines my preferences. That's fine, I suppose, as long as I am now aware of it. I visit sites where the French style or the Southwestern style or whatever style is featured and, while I can appreciate the variety and the beauty, it is not my style.
On to living rooms...
Everything about this room impresses me from the yellow, the blue, the white, and the white woodwork, which is typically New England. I don't like the grass carpet. I don't like one white shade and one black shade, but overall it's pleasing to me. I even like the picture arrangements on the wall. I probably would feature the oil painting behind the door more prominently.
And this is what I really have...
or, as I so fondly call him...Blue Boy. Blue Boy and his little brother (the chair) have been with me since I moved to this home and the wallpaper in the former living room dictated the color choice. That and the pocketbook. Blue Boy was bought at a discount furniture house and he is comfortable, huge, and terribly, terribly blue. The wood planked walls were going to be painted; they won't be now...I don't like that look at all, but I can deal with it for the short time that I'll be dealing with it. Still, it's nice to know what I would prefer.
Here's another living room where I could be content...
and it's pretty light on the yellow factor.
And another where the yellow is subtle...
Nooks and crannies are some of my favorite things. In a home like mine where strange architecture reigns, I have a number of them. This is one in the addition above the main beam that ties the new to the old. It could be so charming, I'm sure, and I need ideas. This is how it looks now...
If you have any thoughts, I hope that you'll share.
Now that was a truly interesting post, Vee...I never thought about how our environment shapes our preferences until you brought it up. Yes, I can understand this...and red is my colour...I don't know why but everything important to me is red...my favorite Lantana (Dallas Red) my truck, my drapery, my carpets...hmmm...much to think about, now...am I a Scarlet Woman???
ReplyDeleteVee..I'm a misplaced New Englander...after being raised and living there for most of my life I get SO disappointed when I go other places...in Colorado a lot of the houses were done in the adobe style..not my taste at all..and we live in a "new" suburb of WA with lots of new cookie cutter houses with no architectural details like crown moulding or wainscoting...so I try to make it as much a New England home on the inside as I can...it's a challenge but I love antiques and old STUFF so it goes OK in a new house....one of these days I'll own my dream house....
ReplyDeleteVee,
ReplyDeleteMy favorite exterior house color is yellow, too. They always looks so cheery. I especially love the second little cottage picture. It looks so much like the original PlumWater Cottage...merely a rental, but torn down to make room for a McMansion along the Ohio Riverfront.
Vee, why don't you try incorporating some yellow ... how about a throw on the couch that has some lovely yellows in it.. ..perhaps even with some little bits of blue in it to pull it together? look for some yellow or yellow and blue cushions... you sew don't you?... get some fabric and make a few cushion covers.. fabric and cushion forms are cheap. Try using bulbs in lamps that give off a more subdued and yellowish glow....buy some new inexpensive shades..more to the creams than stark white..or look for a lamp shade tutorial, ...and cover one with fabric of your choice... Buy a chunk of yellow silk... go with your heart and your eyes... get what you love. How about painting some piece of furniture yellow.... I can't bring myself to paint wood furniture...but some of the girls are doing it and with great success. Look for punches of yellow wherever.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are planning a move...but if you don't move... why not paint the walls in some light creamy yellow? I wouldn't go for a dark or bright yellow.... but some lovely pastel creamy yellow, so that if you eventually find a couch that you love it will also fit nicely in the new "space".
And if you ever move into a new space that has wallpaper or is painted some rude colour< don't buy furniture to match it!! Rip paper off ...or roller over ugly paint...tout suite. then...buy something you love to sit on. Failing that..... slipcovers, in fabric you want to look at or run your hand over every time you go past the couch and chair.
And, since you asked...yes.... guess what? There is lots of round stuff over here at Hobbit Central!
oh, and... better not ask us all to take a pic of what our computer desks look like.....aackkkkkkk!!!! I could hardly find the phone under the pile of bills and receipts today.. now, let me see....hmmm where is that coffee cup... time for seconds......
Vee,
ReplyDeleteBlue boy and little buddy chair are wonderful basics for adding your favorite color yellow to. Add a Yellow throw or pillows to him and watch him pop or add a bowl of lemons or yellow flowers to a side or coffe table next to him and let him be their backdrop. Maybe add some flea market finds of blue and white china on a stand or wall as display and you are off and running!
That yellow house photo is adorable. A yellow house is to cheerful! Happy day!
Miss Sandy
Can't handle this whole entry, in one comment. I'll have to come back, with more, later. {Now there is a *Surprise* to you, hu? More from Mari-Nanci! LOL}
ReplyDeleteBut I WANT the little house that is painted yellow! Oh sigh how precious! And they both have a front porch. Gotta' have a front porch! :-)
My fav color was yellow when I was young. It moved over to all shades of warm reds, later. :-)
Mari-Nanci
Love your header which I see is part of your room. It certainly is coming on since you posted on the blue seating some time ago.
ReplyDeleteAll looks very New England to me and I can se the sense in turning your dining table around. More people can look out.
I'm afraid it would be too much to expect Alan to decutter. If I can persuade him to agree to get rid of some of the stuff he has nto used for years then that is progress.
My favorite color is and always has been red.
ReplyDeleteI love small cottage style looking houses too. They are so cozy and warm.
I live in house that is 110 years old and love it, even with the uneven floors and walls. :-)
Lots of red lovers here! (My father's favorite color.)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments and suggestions. I will try to keep my eyes open for ways to incorporate a little more yellow. No lemons here, but I do have grapefruit. LOL! They're looking terribly cute in the large bowl behind the sofa. ;> The lamps were a gift from me to my sis so I can't recover them even though I just saw a great lamp shade tutorial...blast!
I agree with the others that have said to use a nice throw and some pillows to keep Blue Boy from overpowering the landscape. I'm intrigued by all that wood planking, is it like beadboard? Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThat second little yellow house with the picket fence is simply perfect. I could move right in and make in my own. As far as the inspiration rooms I'm in love with that third room (just a hint of yellow). It's so peaceful and organic. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
Your house looks so cozy...really lovely. I love little nooks and crannies, too. Do you have any colored glass bottles or old apothecary jars and bottles? How do you think something like that would look in that little space above the beam? My house is heavy on African knick knacks which has influenced my color scheme - earth tones with some splashes of color here and there.
ReplyDeleteI am a misplaced New England gal too. I especially love the old gardens I saw growing up in MA. And those cozy looking bungalows. Well I have been blessed in an odd way with all my New England sentiment. Living here in the state of WA all the way on the opposite side of the country, we built a home in a new development, and as it turns out we are surrounded by a builder that learned his trade in New England. I wake up and look out my windows, and I see that New England charm looking right back at me. But what I will never see again is all that wonderful white fluff you get buried in. I loved looking at your home devoured by snow. Such wonderful memories your pictures brought back to me, of frozen toes and warm mugs of hot chocolate, and yes alllllll that shoveling :]
ReplyDeleteI agree with Barb, I love your living room, it has that cozy New England charm.
P.S. Re: the teapots. I do have a black secretary in my front room where I have managed to display most of my teapots and cups. I have much more in storage, alas. I also have room for three of them in a kitchen corner cupboard with a glass front. I am tight on space though with out a dining room and hutch that I gave up when we downsized.
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ReplyDelete...and lots of misplaced New Englanders, too. One of the most "New England" style homes I've ever seen was in Tulsa, Oklahoma so I know that the style can be faithfully reproduced. Yay! I'd love to see more of it around.
ReplyDeleteA bungalow is also completely charming. My sister owned a bungalow for years...a Sears house...oh the quality and the delightful features! My great-grandfather built a bungalow in Moncton, NB, and it was another lovely home. Ahhhh, memories. But give me a Cape Cod any day or something close and I'll be perfectly content.
Zanne, the wood is not beadboard, it is 5.5 inch wide white fir without knots.
Thanks for your questions...no, Sandi, you are not a scarlet woman just because you love red, unless you're trying to tell us something...and thank you again, everybody, for all your terrific suggestions. CC, I really like the idea of old bottles...that would reflect a lot of light coming through the French doors and the transom above...hmmmm...time for a flea market run today????
Help!! Another "Vague Alert," coming!!!
ReplyDeleteI read your {following} words. I know the meaning of each word. I can not put the meanings together, to know what _you_ mean.
"The wood planked walls were going to be painted; they won't be now...I don't like that look at all, but I can deal with it for the short time that I'll be dealing with it."
Please help the *Clueless*!
Please and thank you,
Mari-Nanci
Great to have found your site. I love yellow, too. I have an orange bathroom (which I also love orange), but I'm thinking of incorporating yellow into our kitchen remodel - if/when we do it :)
ReplyDeleteSandy