Daily Creativity: Your Unique Living Space

What you choose to surround yourself with gives others insight into your personality and your charcter. For this reason I never believed in "Interior Decorating" for others. In my mind, this is different than design. Design is solving space and functional problems, Decorating is adding the personal touches that make a house a home.
For several months now, we've been in a new space, and not sure how long we would be here... so I haven't taken the time to personalize much. It has gotten to the point where I need to do something to make it ours. I have started in some small ways... putting up art work and family photos. But there are some large pieces of furniture that I really don't care for and that don't really function well for us. So those are on the To Do list to design and get built. But until then, I don't really know what to do with the space. I guess I can go ahead and plan and dream.
To make matters worse, I have recently realized how much I have been neglecting myself. I am now making it a point to at least take the time to put on makeup each day. Next step is taking a serious look at my clothes and weeding out those that don't fit or have holes in them, then replacing them with items that look good and say what I want them to say about me.

So... what would my ideal living space say about me? It will be comforting and inviting. All the furniture will be functional and look good. My overall color scheme are what  I call "Fresh Nature"... Dark Denim Blue, Sky Blue, Leaf Green, Kahki, and White. These colors to me say, "I'm kinda laid back, but far from boring beige." I like to have and overall color scheme for the whole house, and then give individual rooms their own accent colors. This way, there is no worry about "flow" in the house, every thing will work well together.




My Colors

  I like this color scheme, because I can add a pop of orange for energy in the boy's room or some dark sage green to be more calming in our bedroom.

Boy's Room Color Scheme

We are in a new space. We've been here for a little bit, but weren't sure how long we'd stay. Now that it looks like it's not exactly short term, I'm trying to make it feel more like home... especially for the boys.



My Little Man's Nursery at our old place was inspired by Where the Wild Things Are. I love how the colors a more muted and softer. But now that we are in a new space and he's in a big boy bed, I need to decide on a new color scheme.

I really like this quilt. The colors are fun without being too young. It will go with whatever character sheets the boys want. (Right now it's Spiderman... or as Little Man says "Batman") I think that this is something that could last through the teen years. It's just a matter of saving up... their room has a bunk bed and a seperate twin, so 3 quilts isn't exactly cheap.

Daily Creativity: Themes & Schemes

Often when I create something, I'm driven by color. Color is a powerful thing. It can create a mood or evoke an emotion. Choosing a color pallet for a project, whether it's a painting, a quilt, or a room, doesn't have to be hard. One thing that I do is find something, anything, that has the colors that give the mood that I'm looking for. In addition to simply looking at what colors appear in your inspiration, also look at the ratio. Which color is there the most of, and which are just accents.

This is an amazing kid's room based on Dr. Seuss. Even without the theme Cat in the Hat sheets or the clock mural, you still have a fun and playful vibe.

I love Amy Butler's fabric designs. She always uses really fresh color combinations. I love how the stormy grey and blue is punched up the the bright yellow-green color.

I like to pull colors straight from nature. You can tell that I'm ready for it to be fall already. I'm thinking about apples and changing leaves and curling up next to a fire with a good book. These are cozy and comforting colors to me.

There is lots of talk about Peacock being the "it" color this year. But the range of colors in a peacock feather is amazing. I had a hard time picking out just one green or one dark blue for this color scheme. The Peacock Feather has colors that seem fresh, but not out there. It goes with a multitude of styles.

I find this Green Orchid intriguing. The main green color keeps the pinks from being over bearing. There is just enough pink to make it feminine without being girly.

Color Chart

Take a look at the chart below and pick your favorite color. Then read the description and see if it matches your personality.

Foodie Fridays: Low Country Shrimp & Grits

This is one of my favorite Summer-time Comfort Foods! You can always grill the shrimp and sausage if you like.
Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2 (15 oz) can chicken broth

2 cups Quick Cooking Grits

1 (15 oz) can Evaporated Milk (or whole milk)

Salt & Pepper to taste

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese, shredded (optional)

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 (16 ounce) package smoked sausage, sliced diagonally into 1/8 inch slices

1 small onion, sliced

1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms

1 ear corn on the cob, kernals cut off

1/3 cup chopped fresh tomato

1 pinch kosher salt

1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, bring the chicken stock and milk to a boil (watch carefully... it will boil over in a heartbeat.) then stir in the grits and salt and pepper. Cook the grits until thick and the chicken broth has been absorbed, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up grits. Add cheese and stir to combine. Remove the grits from the heat, and set aside.
2. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook and stir the sliced sausage until the edges brown. Add the onion and cook until the start to turn translucent. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook and stir the mixture until the mushrooms and corn have released their juice and the juice has been almost cooked away, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato, sprinkle with salt to help bring out the juice, and stir in the green onions and shrimp. Cook and stir the mixture until the shrimp have turned opaque and pink, about 4 minutes.
3. Stir in the parsley and serve over hot cooked grits.
 

Daily Creativity: Crayons

There is something freeing about using crayons. You don't have to think about technique or how to make realistic colors. You just draw. Most days at work, I am drafting furniture designs in black ink, or maybe some brown wood tones if I decide to break out the markers. I had forgotten how happy it can be just to  work in those bright colors.

2 Koi in crayon

Daily Creativity: The Girly-Girl

I have been in a bit of a rut lately. It's hard for me to get excited about creating much outside of work. In order to help get over this rut I picked up The Crafter's Devotional by Barbara R. Call. Today's exercise is to reuse old photographs. I'm not usually one to use old pictures, but I've got to start doign something different. I found this girl online... and of any old picture that I could have chosen, I pick a Girly-Girl. As I am looking at her, wondering what to do with her, I start thinking about how often I go without make-up, or just throw on whatever clothes are at the top of the drawer. I've never been a Girly-Girl, but I used to pay more attention to my appearance. Getting dressed and putting on makeup hasn't been fun lately... it's more of a chore. I want to get a little bit more of the Girly-Girl in me... just enough. I doubt that I will wear flowers in my hair... but we'll see about a dress.