Dining Under Autumn Leaves

Wouldn't it be nice to live this life?

The simple dinner party out of doors. A table, some linens, some place settings, some fruit.

A hat, a velvet blazer and a skirt, some boots.

A pretty setting, nothing fancy, out of doors.

Created by Chelsea over at frolic. And here is even more in this story and some instructions of a few details.
The funny thing is... I could do this. I have the Autumn yard, surrounded by fall colored leaves, I have a round table I could take out, a table cloth and place settings, a bowl for the fruit. I have blazers and hats and scarves and boots and skirts.

The only element I don't already possess are those cool wine colored chairs.

What I don't possess is the energy to pull it all together.

Well. Hm.

Is creating something like this worth the energy output? Are the memories good enough to make the work worthwhile?

Am I just too lazy? It might be a nice reward for a job (all that work) well done. It might make for some nice pictures too.

Gorgeous Clutches from Red Ruby Rose

How beautiful is this purse? I could really imagine it in place of a bouquet as a bride walks down the aisle, maybe with a corsage on her wrist. A beautiful white peony on a teal silk ribbon.The thing that really knocks me out about this purse is the pop of teal inside. Loving this color scheme. Totally makes me willing to change the colors I was thinking about.
However, I also have a soft spot for Lotuses. So I like this one, too. It has a rose colored lining. I'm not as thrilled with pink and green color scheme. Hmm.Maybe this one? Rosa the Romantic? I wonder how that would look with a teal interior? Although, now that I think about it, with the flower on the purse, I wouldn't want to do the corsage.

Any way you cut it, RedRubyRose has some awesome clutches in her etsy shop.

Let's Talk Purple and Such

Oh so pretty, found through sfgirlbybay. She has lots of purple there, but this one is my favorite.

Love this living room. Anything with lilacs gets my heart, but also, I love that black chair... although I don't usually like black leather furniture... too oppressive. But this one looks good. Maybe because it's a small chair. I like the patterned rug. I like the piles of books. That's another thing I find calls me. Books. A room needs books in order for it to feel finished. At least for me. I also like the art. A room needs art. And strangely, I really like that radiator. I know everyone wants to hide them, but maybe radiators are nostalgic for me, growing up in NYC. Or maybe I like the graphic pattern. The stripeyness. The industrial feel.

Now let's talk about purple. I really like purple and have found it is great on walls. I used a darker shade than this in my living room once, Benjamin Moore Tropical Dusk. And my kids had a lighter shade from the same paint chip in their nursery. That was an amazing color. So warm and light and fresh. Not girlie at all. I wish I could remember the name of it.

The best thing about those shades of purple were that they were not that purple. They were muted and had a great deal of gray in them. Like shadows. I would definitely use that paintchip again. Maybe not as dark as Tropical Dusk, because that has to fill a need, but that light color was wonderful. Not as pink or as bright as the picture here.

Imke Klee

A photocard by stylist Imke Klee, found via Visual-Notes, a lovely blog.

I've been seeing these things all over the internet, and every time I do, I get the almost irresistible urge to gather up my collections and start photographing them on a white background.

And then a messmaker or two comes barelling through the room with peanut butter fingers akimbo yelling like a banshee and swinging a light saber, so I never get around to it.

I still love the idea of documenting loved and beautiful things. I love the ideas of collections. I love the idea of coordinating a color theme with them, to give some unification of the disparate items.

Looking at this one here, though, I start getting an idea to allow the things within them to not be random, but to tell a story. These little animals put me in mind of fairy tales and getting lost in the woods. I feel like there should be a red riding hood in here. But that wouldn't fit with the color tale, would it? She's got more color collections in her flickr photostream.

What kind of "random" items can come together to create a mystery? I am intrigued by the concept, although I might never get the opportunity to try it until the kids are in High School.


Look at that. There's a whole flickr pool for organized collections. I have got to figure out flickr. Any suggestions for an overwhelmed newbie?

White and Pink? Not usually my thing. But I love it.

Would this image be as cool if it weren't in a 20 foot tall room? If it didn't have that neato worn cement floor or those awesome double doors and that amazing brick ceiling?

I'll tell ya what I like. I like the raspberry couch and the teal next to it. I like the green door coffee table, and the round pottery. I like the ladder turned into shelves and the guitar in the corner. I like the rough edges and the white walls. Again, it reminds me of being a kid in the 70's, growing up a rainbow baby. Ah, the hippie days.


By the way, this is from sfgirlbybay's ode to pink from her Deco files. There's also this one. I could totally see creating a room for my little girl out of something like this. It also makes me want to start collecting striped sheets. I remember a very similar striped sheet from when I was a child, although I believe it was gold and yellow. There was another sheet in green and blue. Am I going on a nostalgia kick, brought on by the loss of Domino?Then there's this one. This is totally not my style, way too formal and girly, but it stopped me in my tracks. I do love the deep rose of that velvet couch, and the black and white peacock painting took my breath away. Something about it reminded me of that scandalous Madame X painting by John Singer Sargent. And the white walls are nice. So is that immense secretary desk.

Pink and Orange Celebration

How adorable is this birthday party that I found over at Inchmark? I love these colors and the polka dot theme is simple and festive. This party is for a three year old girl, but I think it could be adapted for any celebration, from a baby shower to a casual, fun wedding. Fine, a wedding might be a bit more elaborate, but it's all about the ideas.

And frankly, I think contemporary weddings are way too big and over processed. A nice little home made wedding like you might have seen a couple of centuries ago... a celebration and acknowledgment of the union of two people in a community... that's a wedding, not some princess fantasy. Okay, enough of my philosopoophizing. :)

Tell Me To Go To Sleep

I love this blog, Snippet & Ink with all it's inspiration boards, especially the budget friendly variety. So great at getting rid of the fuss and pomp and leaving unique, personalized things... plus with hints about how to save money. So many. Great ideas. This one is very similar to ideas in my head, with a few more I never considered.