Feeling Green (Color Theory)

I have always been intrigued by the psychology of colors. Especially their impact on how they make us feel when they are used in our environment. I had quite a few college classes dealing with this - both when psychology was my minor, in art classes when I changed my major to textile design and then in a marketing/advertising focused class or two when I was a journalism major. Perhaps I should have taken a class on committing to a major. No need, my dad handled it by letting me know it was time to wrap things up as my life as a college student was coming to an end. Or at least the parental funding was!!

It all worked out but I still think about color psychology often, especially at the beginning of the year when paint companies and designers make their color trend forecasts or when I'm about to start a project at my home. So, I thought that perhaps this intrigues you as well and maybe we'd all like to know more about why we are drawn to certain colors. 

I could have gone in ROY G BIV or rainbow order but I keep seeing the statement "Green is having a moment this year" or people stating that they are really drawn to green lately. So I'm starting with green. I love green, I use it a lot and I think green as a color is great but an even better addition to a room is a green living element - plant, flowers, branches. 

Green is the color of nature. It is considered calming - it is actually shown to slow human metabolism and the result is a calming effect. Many feel that green reduces stress. So now that we know it's calming, reduces stress and connects us with the outside is it any wonder that we are seeing green everywhere right now?? If ever we needed these three benefits from a color it is NOW!

Over the past few months, four major paint brands announced that some type of green would be its color of the year for 2022. Behr went with a light sea-glass green called Breezeway; PPG Paints chose a neutral gray-green called Olive Sprig; Benjamin Moore picked a soft sage green called October Mist; and Glidden chose a creamy plant-inspired green called Guacamole. It’s no coincidence that the names and descriptions of all these shades hint at something natural or organic. According to environmental psychologist Sally Augustin, PhD, principal at Design With Science, this influx of green likely stems from our deep-rooted connection to nature and its supportive qualities. via wellandgood.com

These are some "green scenes" from my own home. I use a lot of green - painted and live. I almost think of green as a neutral in many of my spaces. 

Do you use green in your home? Are you thinking that it might be time to add some green to your spaces. Do you like plants? 

I love plants and I have a theory about having them in our homes. I hear people say that they don't have live plants in their rooms because they don't have a green thumb and they die. Well, when you buy a $10.00 floral bouquet at the grocery store you have zero expectations of it lasting more than a week. Even if you don't have much of a green thumb a $15 plant is going to last a month or two at least. And some of them might surprise you and do better than you think. I have a pretty green thumb but I do lose plants from time to time. And some do better than expected. They add so much to your space - take the risk!

This $8.00 Jasmine from Trader Joe's has doubled in size in 2 weeks and is about to burst into blooms. I just make sure it is not completely dried out and has good light. It has surprised me!

And the topiaries (first picture) on my green bamboo table on the porch? I call them "faux-piaries" because they are all fake - pretty good looking ones and they add a nice touch of green to a room. 

Here is a favorite green from Sherwin Wiliams: Talipot Palm . It's about to show up on a small project at my house.

And our porch floor is Lounge Green. I get asked all the time!

Not sure about the power of green paint. Look at this before and after!

Go green! That's my advice :)

BOGO Roses!!

 BOGO Roses at Publix are my favorite thing that happens in January.

 I hope that you live near a Publix or another grocery that does this. It helps January a lot!

This pretty much sums it up for me:

I also love to buy what Trader Joe's calls "spray roses" because a $5.00 bunch will give me three small arrangements to put around the house. I'm not much of a flower "arranger" but I've found that simply cutting off all of the stems to approximately the same length and putting them in a small container results in a cute display.

I know that fresh flowers aren't always in the budget but, if you can, 

every once in a while Buy The Roses!

Here's to warmer, brighter days ahead.

January!! How Did That Happen??

 My previous post was titled "December!! How Did That Happen?" and before I could post another thing we are 10 days in to a new year. How DID that happen??

I don't have any resolutions to post. I don't have a word of the year. I am starting to think a little bit about a project or two but really, honestly, there isn't much going on around here. You are probably thinking "then why is she even putting a blog post up right now?" I've had that same thought ;)

We have been admiring Cooper's ability to ease very, very slowly in to the new year!

He is basically a professional!

I haven't been much more energetic either.

It's cold in the South (20's at night and we aren't very tough when it comes to the 20's!!) 

I'm channeling Cooper and being lazy and wearing thick wool socks. Mollie and I are hooked on these socks from Target!! They are the only thing keeping my perpetually cold feet happy right now. 

Another thing I wanted to share is the link for one of my zebra rugs. I have been answering the "where do you find your zebra rugs?" question on my Instagram pretty often lately.

The zebra rug in the Library (foreground) is one of my all time most amazing thrifting finds. The whole story is here. It is an Ethan Allen wool rug that is amazing quality and huge.

The zebra rug in my entry way is an Amazon find and available at a great price. 

I have it in the gray colorway but I've always been tempted to buy it in the black and white version as well! For those of you thinking I have two many zebra rugs - you may be right!!

In addition to  snoozing with Coop and answering DM's about zebra rugs I have been doing a deep dive into this Instagram account. Lots of inspiration!

And I've been trying to figure out how to make and where to put a chandelier like this one. Once I saw this image I was hooked. They are in a boutique hotel in Orlando - all the info I have. I'm thinking sticks and coral-y red paint would be a good starting point. Where, oh, where could I hang one??

That's truly all I've got for now. Hoping for more motivation soon. 

And warm sunny weather!! That motivates me :)

December!! How Did That Happen??

 We know it's coming but somehow it's still a bit shocking when December 1 shows up! And now it is already 5 days in, only 2 more shopping Saturdays until Christmas!! It is moving so quickly! And I don't seem to be :)  I'm not sure why I haven't gotten more decorating done but now that I see the date I am on it!! Are you finished or, like me, amazed that it's flying by??

We just haven't hit our stride yet. We never start until after Thanksgiving but we are lagging more than usual. We've always been motivated to get the house ready for our "kick off the season" Ladies Mimosa party on the first Saturday of December but for the second year in a row we are unable to host. We have a conflict this year and we are bummed! 

Since 2 heads are better than one, I'm sharing a couple of my bust planters decked out for the holidays. 

I'll be sharing more "in the moment" Christmas decorating over on Instagram.

 I hope you'll join me. 

Bringing the Ferns Inside

 I have a lot of ferns and they have gotten big over the last few years. Really big.

I have had some pretty good success wintering them over and the result is that they have gotten larger each year. This is exciting and concerning. It gets harder and harder to find the perfect winter home for each one.

(Ferns hanging out with an elephant in the Family Room) 

When I decided to change things up and redo the room below I wanted it to have a bit of a sunroom feel. It doesn't have but 2 windows but they do get great winter light. It's the closest thing I'm going to have to a true sunroom so I wanted to include room for some of my plants to overwinter. It is the Living Room in our traditional plan but it's never served that purpose and I think this particular transformation is going to be the most beneficial for how we live.

These 3 ferns are so large they are monopolizing the "plant area" in this room right now. 

I'm lucky in that I also have a great little "greenhouse/cold frame" situation in my backyard that has helped me successfully winter over a lot of plants in one space. 

We purchased this frame and cover at Tractor Supply for a little over $100.00 a year ago. 

I would love a charming, English Conservatory looking greenhouse but this utilitarian, less charming set up served its purpose. I filled it up, put a small heater in there last Winter and crossed my fingers!

Almost everything made it through the Winter and some things blossomed and thrived!

I did learn a lot about regulating the temperature and about the amount of watering required - more than I expected!

It did not cost much to use the heater to keep the plants from freezing and the savings from not buying new ferns each Spring was significant. And a bonus is that the ferns not only survived they grew and have long, lush fronds. 

I'm hoping that I will be able to rotate my ferns between the house (where they dry out more and drop leaves) with ones from the greenhouse (where there is more humidity and they happily grew and stayed very green last Winter.)

This system worked well last Winter, my ferns grew crazily this Summer on the screened porch so I'm feeling confident that we can repeat our success this Winter BUT I'm always open to any good plant tips!! Please share if you have a any plant "survival" tips!!

Here's one of my best tips:

It's how I get rid of possible  pests before I bring my plants inside!

I use Dr. Bronner's Castile Soaps for everything!! They are clean and safe for our use and the environment. I dilute 1 tablespoon of Dr. Bronner's unscented soap in a spray bottle and generously spray my ferns especially. I turn them every direction and spray underneath. Then I spray with a bottle of clear water. The ferns love all of this moisture! I also dilute a tablespoon or two of the same Dr. Bronner's in a gallon of water and pour through the soil followed by a watering of clear water. Then I wipe the post clean and let the plant rest a bit before bringing it inside. 

It seems to make the ferns happy and I rarely find any pests inside!

Looking Forward...

Fall is flying by.

 I started a post last week (which I never found a moment to even get back to) about Fall things and the beginning of November and here we are in the 2nd week of the month. It's hard to keep up - for me anyway!

I love fall flowers and plants plus the gourds and pumpkins were so interesting this year. I just stuffed all my fall favorites in a galvanized tub and it looks great. 

I'm still using my little marbleized pumpkins and my real ones too - right up until Thanksgiving. Then we will pull out the stops and go crazy decorating for Christmas.

I have a couple of spray paint marbleizing projects I want to try for the holidays but we can't buy spray paint anywhere in our area!! This supply chain crisis has resulted in the most random shortages. 
I'm hoping I'll be able to share my ideas soon - I check the spray paint aisle for the right colors every time I'm out. 

So do you still have fall decorations around or have you moved on to Christmas?

To be honest, I'm not ready to put up MY holiday decorations quite yet but I like to look at everyone else's and think about my soon-to-come Christmas decor. We keep some things the same and switch other things up. What about you? 

Whether you are still enjoying pumpkins or happily decking the halls, hang on to your hats because November is flying by!!

Progress Is All About Perspective.

 Progress is all about perspective. In so many things. Not just decorating!!

The room below has been a slooowww work in progress. I began in May thinking I would complete the bulk of it that month. It's October and I'm still slogging away. 

(One day I will steam the wrinkles from the daybed cover. Promise)

It is better, in my opinion, to take time and find the right things. That wasn't necessarily the hold up here but between interruptions and the amount of work involved in some of the steps I am still pulling it together. 

The gold mirror is a bit smaller than I want but for $1.99 at Goodwill it was an excellent "filler" for the time being!

I posted a sneak peak of a small nearly finished area on my IG recently declaring myself the Queen of Slow Decorating. 

Shortly after that I saw an IG story from Rachel at Serene and Co. about comparison on social media when it comes to big, spendy, sponsored accounts and the rest (and probably majority) of us who have to plan, save, thrift, etc. to create homes that serve and comfort our families. 

I love the inspiration on Instagram. I started on IG in the very early days because it was visual and inspiring and a lot less "opinion" oriented than other social media outlets. It has changed a lot in the years I've been here but I remind myself that I actually control what I see and if an account is just about selling product or has unrealistic projects and materials that don't really relate I can unfollow (and I do that sometimes.)

 I like to look at high end, good design because it is beautiful and can be educational. We, as IG consumers, have to control our responses to it or limit exposure. It's really that simple. 

I want what I share to be realistic and attainable. My house is probably 90% thrifted, slow decorated and well used. We live hard in our house and nothing is precious - dogs on the furniture, white slipcovers can be bleached after spills, we eat in front of the TV if we want to and we put our feet up on the coffee table. That doesn't mean we don't care for our things, we just really use them to suit how we live. Our screened porch always gets a big response on IG and it is truly one big thrift find!! Even some of the wood used to build it. You can read about it here. 

(A quick screenshot from the other day. It doesn't have to be instant or expensive!)

And if I save for something special I still don't want the price or the wait to cause me to be less comfortable about how we use it in our daily lives. 

I think my definition of a really beautiful home on IG would be that it has spaces that serve its family well. What about you?