I am looking forward to a relaxing visit at a local tea room this weekend with my friend Zoe. On Saturday night, Tom and I have a friend coming to help us eat the season’s remaining raclette. Yum!
I hope that you have a sunny weekend!
Even though I like to read about interior design, working with colors and interior features doesn’t come naturally to me. I agonized about wall colors when we moved into our house years ago. The hours spent on the effort were worth it. I love the colors we eventually picked. When it comes to colors, I’m split between cool color combinations (Teresa’s Green from Farrow & Ball with white trim comes to mind) and warm colors (Dutch Boy’s Autumn Hue with oak stained trim for example).
When we were picking paints, an interior designer saw our little house and recommended that we paint the wood trim white. I could see her point. The wood wasn’t anything special. But I couldn’t bring myself to cover it. We went with warm colors in the living room, dining room, our bedroom, and hallways. We chose cool colors for bathrooms and a couple of the bedrooms. I haven’t looked back. I love the warm colors in our small, low-ceiling rooms with the original wood trim. The space is cozy and welcoming.
It’s surprising how quickly interior design trends become outdated. It won’t stop me from reading about design trends, but I’m not one to quickly update a space and I can live a long time with a design that makes me happy.
- Cameron Diaz’s wood kitchen cabinetry is making a comeback for kitchen trends in 2024 — A trend back to wood in kitchens. (Homes & Gardens)
- I enjoyed these House & Garden articles about gardening designers:
- Butter Wakefield’s dos and don’ts of gardening — I’ll never have such well-planned gardens as these, but the gardens are beautiful. I love the grass walkway with gardens on either side.
- The evolution of Sarah Raven’s gardens in East Sussex — Check out the beautiful green-walled space filled with botanical watercolors! Also, the book shelves in the study, the pink wallpaper in the bedroom (with the blue bed), and all of those amazing flowers!
- I Am Not 80 Yet, but Among These 80-Year-Olds Is Where I Like to Be — I stumbled across this article and I’m so glad that I did. The sentiments are wonderful. (The New York Times)
- Here are a few recommendations for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner:
- Corned Beef and Cabbage (Delish)
- Irish Seafood Chowder (The Kitchn)
- Colcannon – Cabbage and Mashed Potatoes (Sea Salt and Sailor Stripes)
- Irish Soda Bread (Sea Salt and Sailor Stripes)
- Guinness Brownies (Food Network)
- Goodness: Don’t toss out old stuffed animals. They can have a second life. — I love that these stuffed animals can have a second life!
About the photo: A great blue heron stands on ice at the Arlington Reservoir, Arlington, MA.