“Not an Option” Print »

New Print in the Shop Now!

This print was requested by my high school friend, Lydia. She was in need of a motivating poster that said ‘Not an Option.’ Here is what Lydia said:

When I was in school and I had a hard time getting up early or doing my
home work, periodically I would write on my hand or wrist “not an option“. That would remind me throughout the day that going to school or doing my homework is not optional. I have
to do it. For some reason in my brain certain things are optional and
other things aren’t. I spend a lot of time convincing myself to make
important things set in stone. Not optional.

The Design

Lydia is a very inspired person. She loves photography and composition. I knew that the poster could have a deeper meaning for her. I took Van Gogh’s Iris painting:

Took it into Photoshop and used the Mosaic Filter to pull out the colors of the painting:

Then used the eyedropper tool to pull out some greens. When I think of Lydia, I think of green - because she has great crazy red hair, beautiful freckles, and she looks really great in green. Here is the finished print:

Perhaps this print could motivate you? I’ll be posting these in my shop this week.

“He’s Just Not That Into You” Design Style »

Having seen the movie, “He’s Just Not That Into You” with my girlfriends last weekend, I haven’t stopped thinking about the interiors. While I absolutely LOVED the movie {for reference of my movie style, my favorite movies include Cold Mountain, Love Actually, and currently, Burn After Reading}, I was very distracted and enamored with the interior design style that was used in each of the revolving character’s respective homes. I’m still digging around for better pictures, but I’m going to show the ones I found and what I think there is to learn about these interiors.

KEEP IN MIND: Reflect on how you decorate your home as you look at these images. I have started a post on ‘Throw Away The Rules’ decorating for all of you matchy-matchys out there. Do you love the looks of these interiors? Are they in keeping with the ‘purse matches the bag’ rules? Likely not. If you choose to continue reading this post, you are making a silent vow to ditch the ‘rules’ of decorating.

What I take away from this bachelor pad, is the use of multiple textures; The leather couch, the exposed brick wall, and different surfaces lining the windows. I also noticed the use of colors that break the rules; brown sofa, grey chair, and black shelving. Didn’t we learn not to mix our blacks and browns? While many of these things ‘break the rules,’ they look great together.

Now, the bachelorette pad, with the overuse of pink, and vintage fifty’s-era touches. This room was too cute - and did a great job of mixing patterns. I wish I could find more images of this room because it really did a great job of breaking the rules. Yellow walls, pink shelving, an awesome-bizarre horse lamp {who doesn’t want one of those?}, red curtains, and pretty much anything you could pick up at a flea-market.

This renovated house made me fall back in love with mid-century modern. They had the greatest built-in shelving and beautiful neutral greys with honey colored wood. I guess you’ll have to see the movie to get a better glimpse of this one.

This home had a crazy eclectic style.  Everything was browns and neutrals, with patterns that don’t match, and rugs that don’t match the sofa, and I loved it. What stood out the most was the artwork that covered all the walls. There was no rule to the artwork - there was a print next to an oil painting next to a photograph, and it all looked amazing. It had this great lived-in masculine feel and I thought it did  a great job of breaking the rules.

SO, Lesson learned: You are now going to break the rules with your next decorating project, and you’ll be amazed at how much personality gets put into the room. Out with the stiff and boring, in with the eclectic and fun! Good luck!

Image source: media.movies.ign.com

ohbrooke’s entry to Style Me Pretty »

Ok, we’re all a little addicted to blog contests, are we not? I’m no different. I’m a work-a-holic, and anything to keep my ever-growing rump placed firmly in my computer chair peaks my interest.

Style Me Pretty is a wedding blog that features really great ideas for DIY wedding projects and beautiful imagery. They recently had a call for entries for an inspiration board for a pretty pink wedding. I entered, and was chosen amongst some of the top entries. You can see the post here.

Cross your fingers… this one has a $500 CASH prize! I could laugh all the way to the Design Center…

Jessica’s Townhouse »

Jessica is moving into her first house, a townhouse, and wanted to know how she should decorate it. She emailed me some pictures and gave me a rundown on her style. This included:

• 80% traditional and 20% modern.
• timeless but with a little bit of sass.
• a few accent pieces in a fun color (red?).
• mostly something we’ll like for a long time but with a few pieces that we can change if we want to.
• We like some modern things but not really futuristic things.

I like Jessica’s direction. Although, with one alteration. Red can be a great accent color, but the more I see it, the more out-of-date I think it is. Remember how there was this period where everyone thought they’d go crazy and paint one red wall? Well, everybody did it, and I didn’t like it then, and I definitely don’t like it now. I don’t think that Jessica was suggesting that, but the hotter colors to accent with are orange, greens and yellows.

DISCLAIMER: There are rules to my inspiration boards. Some things are pricey. I don’t intend for the reader to go out and buy every item on the board, or ANY item for that matter. I just hope it steers them in a direction so that they can make decisions for themselves. I’m giving my advice for style, colors, putting patterns together, creating warmth, etc., and the readers can take it from there.

So, with Jessica’s traditional-kinda modern-little sassy style, I have put together an inspiration board for her. Jessica, be sure to let us know what you liked and what you didn’t like, and any purchases you make that you think pull it all together!

couch {macys}

side chair {macys}

damask coffee table {artelano}

floor lamp {cb2}

pillows {inhabit}

wall panels {inhabit}

table lamp {inhabit}

side table {homer}

green glass jugs {pottery barn}

dining table {the furniture}

My favorite thing to happen this year… »

High-gloss, laquer-finished furniture. I can’t think of anything I want more. Here are my favorites:

Reeves bedside table {reeves design}

Malm occasional table {ikea}

Bergsbo bookcase with glass doors {ikea}

Rawlins accent table {pottery barn}

Charging station {west elm}

Go-cart desk {cb2}

lacquer table lamp {lotus bleu design}

Shell chair {barber osgerby}

Transition Room »

Since my mom has finished her degree that she has been diligently working on for the last few years, she has had more time for creative work. She has been really into recovering furniture, making pillows, and painting, so she thought the spare bedroom would be a great place for a craft/sewing room. This room was my sister’s, then it was a spare, and now my mom will get to use it as a little studio. Exciting!

Here are my mom’s requirements:

1. a ceiling fan
2. a modern feel
3. paint the ceiling
4. use the color teal
5. grandkids may need to sleep in this room when they are in town, so it needs to be somewhat kiddie-proof.

So here’s the room as it looks now (she recently disassembled the bed, painted it, and moved it into the guest room):

and here is the inspiration board I put together for her:

white desk with large surface area for cutting, doing her calligraphy, or other crafts. {ikea}

blue milk crates for storage in the closet, easy to organize {target}

smaller storage boxes for tabletop storage {ikea}

branch hooks for fun, to hang trim, measuring tape, etc. {urban outfitters}

wallflower decals because color and free-form shapes are always inspiring in a creative space {urban outfitters}

tear drop chandelier to make it special, pretty, fun, and to have light over the sewing machine. {urban outfitters}

wall shelf to keep supplies out of reach for little ones. {ikea}

pillar candles: modern and moody {crate and barrell}

the fainting sofa in black and white would look great with the teal walls, and make the room comfortable. {urban outfitters}

green chair for the work desk {crate and barrell}

modern ceiling fan with exposed wood echoing exposed wood of the wall shelves {lowes}

pillows to add color and comfort {etsy}
I think the room transformation is going to start this weekend - I’ll keep you posted!

Vintage Christmas »

Maybe it’s the weather, or the premature holiday marketing at Starbucks, but I just got excited about decorating for Christmas. I don’t decorate for many holidays, mainly because I don’t like clutter. However, Christmas makes me a new woman. Every year, I do my day-after-Christmas shopping, shopping carts full of Christmas decorations that I get the pleasure of opening around the week of Thanksgiving the following year. Oh, I LOVE Christmas decorations.

So with my premature excitement comes my premature Christmas inspiration board - vintage style.

The Highlights:

pine cone ornaments in greens and golds {smith and hawken}

mercury glass tabletop trees {smith and hawken}

ceramic bird {pier 1}

icicle ornaments in shiny gold and brown {target}

iridescent brown tree skirt {front gate}

vintage look moss garland {pottery barn}

sparkly silver stocking holders for the mantle {christmas people}

black, white and silver damask dinnerware {target}

berry beaded wreath {target}

silver foil stockings {west elm}

silver tree branch candelabra {west elm}

Anybody else in the Christmas mood?

Master Bedroom in Transition »

Reader, Shannon, has a master bedroom that is currently in transition. She had just purchased new bedding and pillows and is looking to tie it all together. You can see the room as-is in the picture below.

Here are my observations:

I love the matching nightstands and lamps on either side, but the lamps are too small for the size of the room. Plus, they have no form.

The sconces look outdated. At best, they could be pulled down lower, much closer to the nightstands to make it more intimate. If they were spray-painted in a shiny bright color, that could help bring them to date.

The room lacks pattern and color.

Here is the inspiration board I put together for Shannon to show that her room has style, color and pattern. Here is how she can achieve that:

A pale green wall color would be a great way to modernize the zebra print. I suggest adding this subtle paint treatment (as seen on HGTV) with a lighter shade to add interest to the boxy room. {HGTV}

A green bench anchors the green in the room, and adds another formal touch. {target}

Formal pillows play nice with the bold zebra print and bring the brown and green together. {target and target}

Make the couch or bench look inviting with a mustard-yellow throw. {target}

The lamps next to the bed need to be weightier because the furniture in the room is weighty. These lamps are fun AND traditional, and they add warmth to the room. {wal-mart}

The large wall could use some color. This print ties the brown, yellows, greens and reds in one place. {cost plus world market}

Because the wall is large, the print may need some help filling the space. I chose two fabrics by Amy Butler in a vintage frame to help tie the colors together, and add weight to the focal wall above the bed. {fabric.com}

Glass fixtures add color and help set the tone. {bed bath and beyond}

Because the bedding is all one solid color, I suggest tucking a pattern underneath with fun sheets. These colors peeking out add personality to the room. {overstock.com}

What do you think? What would you add?

When to go Neutral »

I love a chaos of colors and patterns in a room, but it’s important to know what should be flashy and what should be subtle. Shannon has a gorgeous new house that she is trying to make her own. The living room is ceramic tile, so she wanted a big rug to make it more comfortable.

She has fun style and loves warm colors and modern patterns. She was drawn to yellow and red patterned rugs, but for the price (some $1,000 and above), we decided she should stay neutral.

Chances are good that in a couple of years, she might get tired of the yellow pattern and want to move on. At $1,000 per rug, that won’t be cost-effective to replace.

Below is the image of the Pottery Rug she decided to purchase. With this tone-on-tone pattern, she can add colors in so many other ways in the room. And she doesn’t have to stick to those colors. She can switch out her accessories (pillows, candles, frames, vases) according to the season or her mood pretty inexpensively.

I put together an inspiration board for Shannon for ways to add color to her room, as well as interchangeable features that could help keep her room flexible.

Wall color - slightly musard yellow, flows well with the tan/yellow in the rest of her house, and looks great with many other colors: green, red, purple, brown…

Hanging wall vases - can be switched out for real flowers, faux flowers according to the seasons - spider mums for spring and poinsettias for Christmas {arhaus}

Side table - red looks great with everything, and brings life to her beige couch. Will be a great transition from the small pieces of red and fun greens in the kitchen {eboniste}

Hanging lamp - neutral and natural. This echoes the organic lines of the woodgrain rug, and gives some curvature to a boxy room. {target}

Floral pillows - also organic in pattern, ties the hanging lamp in with the rest of the room. {etsy}

Fireplace log bucket - Fireplaces are so cozy when you use them. If you aren’t using it all the time, making it look like it has been used can have a similar effect. {pottery barn}

Block candlesticks - Introduces a new shape, and is a great compliment to raw wood. {west elm}

Meet Shelley’s Dining Room »

Shelley has a beautiful house with warm colors and rustic accents. Her dining room, however, has been pushed to the bottom of the list. Below are pictures of the dining room before she purchased the home, and then its current state. She had a cut-out window created in one wall to open the room up and allow her to see her children playing while she is with the ‘grown-ups’ in the dining room.

Below I have put together a few ‘inspiration rooms’ that Shelley likes and can help us choose the right pieces for dining room.

This is the ‘inspiration board’ that I put together for Shelley. It has my suggestions for the room, including:

1. Warm pumpkin color for the walls. (This has been Shelley’s vision and will tie her warm beige sitting room with her sage green kitchen nicely)

2. Dark chocolate rug, to weight the room and make it cozy {hillsdale home}

3. Earthy pendant lamp - ties in with her beautiful tree mural in the neighboring room, color will look great with warm pumpkin wall color. {pier 1}

4. Amy Butler fabric for dining room chair pads. Introduces green color and dark cushions make for kid-friendliness. {fabric.com}

5. Wouldn’t it be cute if each dining chair had a rectangular lumbar pillow? This would make the dining room homey, add color, texture and comfort! {west elm}

6. I can’t get enough of the candlesticks - great for color and intimate lighting. {pottery barn}

7. Cream striped curtains add height to the room, and evens out the saturated colors. {target}

8. Beautiful pumpkin-colored boroque salad plates for fun {pottery barn}

Now, these aren’t requirements, they are inspiration. So what do you think? What would you add?

Send me pictures of your home, and I’ll create an inspiration board for you! Email your pictures to ohbrooke{at}gmail.com.