Good morning and happy Monday my dears! Happy Monday? Yes, that’s right, I like to make a point of celebrating the first day in a fresh new week rather than dread it. I’ve found that just by deciding to have a good day and a pleasant start to the week I usually can. If you need a bit of perking up this morning, I dare say you’ve come to the right place. : ) Today I have a post bursting with visual inspiration from Car Moebel, a German site I love drooling over – sadly, all I can do is drool, because shipping furniture here would be crazy expensive. But come along and we can drool together, and discuss how to freshen up our homes and tap into our personal sense of style in 2013.
Let’s start with color palettes, shall we? For spring, I am feeling drawn to rooms that feel linked to each other with a pale wash of color on walls and floors, and grounded with charcoal, slate, or black in the form of sofas and rugs. Using the same treatment on floors, walls, or even windows throughout your home can help everything hang together, allowing you the freedom to build on it with layers of color. In the living room shown above, I love the contrast of the dark sofa on light floors, though alone it would feel much too stark. The patterned blue-gray rug provides a sort of bridge between the light and dark – a great tip because so often a rug can make the room! Then you are free to layer away with colorful cushions, poufs, throws, vases, artwork, etc.
Beyond color, I would like to see more spaces meant for living and not built around our tech devices. We all use our laptops, smartphones, tablets, and on and on, but at home I feel it is so important to preserve some spaces that are meant for real human (and furry friend) contact. Cozy corners like the one above invite you to put down the keypad and sink into the cushions instead with a great book or stack of fresh magazines, pour tea, and catch up with a friend.
I would also love to see more kitchens design for really enjoying and hanging out in. I appreciate my home, so I am really not complaining…but if I were the one who designed it, I would not have chosen granite counters and closed cupboards! A bit of freestanding furniture and painted wood in the kitchen makes things feel so much friendlier, don’t you think? Luckily, there is always something that can be done with accessories to bring more of the mood you desire into a room, even if you can’t change it all. Colorful Turkish tea towels, potted herbs in the windowsill, woven baskets for storage, and a worn wood step stool or chipped vintage cafe chairs are easy additions.
I am always a sucker for Moroccan style, anything from tile patterns to hammered silver, tiny tea glasses, or leather slippers – these things have my name written all over them! This little scene caught my eye because it looks so inviting, don’t you agree? I wish I could plunk all of it down in a sunny corner of my living room and settle in for a little snack and fresh mint tisane.
Proper storage is so key, and ideally you have a good balance between closed and open storage. We all have things that no amount of styling can make look good, right? Ha. So for that, closets and closed cabinets are your friend. Of course in our petite 1920′s house we don’t have nearly enough of those, so it’s a constant process of editing and giving away that keeps the place from getting overstuffed. But every room needs balance, and part of that comes from what you choose to leave out on display – what is arranged on your open shelves, in glass-front cabinets, on counters, tables, and the like. Flexible storage like the piece above (it’s on casters!) is great because it can be used in countless rooms, holding dishes in the kitchen, books in the living room, or linens in the bedroom.
And as for bedrooms, I prefer to keep this space really quiet and peaceful, with a collection of items that thrills the senses – lovely smooth sheets, fluffy blankets, freshly cleaned floors, a shelf of favorite books, a place to keep your mug of coffee or tea, and soft lighting. What about you? I’d love to hear about what has been catching your eye lately – did any of the images in this post speak to you? If so, why?
You can find out more about all of the things shown here on the Car Moebel site; they carry some of my favorite brands, like TineK Home and House Doctor, RICE, and more.
PSST: In case you missed it, we are running a giveaway right now for 2 beautiful prints from artist (and Lolalina sponsor) Anna See!! Go enter right away! : ) xo Laura
(images: Car Moebel)
