living with color

The last time I was in the store I was talking to a couple of customers about cafe curtains I created from from tea towels made by Oh Little Rabbit. My husband was there, and when the customers left I said "I feel like the shoemaker whose children have no shoes". I have no business giving decorating advice to anyone. My homes have always been a jumble of things I like with little or no planning involved. And lots of color. When we prepared to move to Massachusetts I swore the new house would be cool and calm with lots of white. I ended up painting every room a different, bold color. Kind of like these Bermuda houses.

attribution note: I have none for this picture. If it's yours please let me know so I can credit you. All other pictures were taken by me.

My dining room is hot pink, family room yellow, kitchen peach, den apple green, foyer cerulean blue, bedroom hydrangea blue ... (One day I will show you pictures--I have to figure out how to take pictures of a room.)

The colors in Bermuda were amazing. Tangerine, lime, turquoise, lemon chiffon, mango, watermelon, emerald ..... It was glorious. 

And my New England colonial is decorated in tropical beach house colors.

If color and design interest you, I highly recommend The Way We Live With Color and all the other books in the series. I will be writing more about this, as I am in the process of re-furnishing the great room in our Catskills house. A process in which I forced myself to consider context, setting, and to ask for help. More on that soon.

Do you surround yourself with a favorite color palette?

Jen

home

I'm back in Massachusetts. 

As expected, having a private verandah (all 36 square feet of it--which was perfect for 2 chairs and a table) was the key to an enjoyable week on a ship with 2000 people. I spent a lot of time there, reading, writing, thinking, and staring at the water.

I learned that not all cruise lines are alike. This one had classical music, jazz, and a library, which nicely offset the casino and other bright and noisy places. It was good to get away and reflect. My life has changed in major ways in the last year, and I expect that to continue. One thing that became clear as I gazed at the ocean, at those constantly shifting patterns and shades of blue, is that I want to get back to doing something creative. Maybe need to.

Overall it was a good week. I will write more as I process the trip. A few pictures of Bermuda: