WEEK ENDNOTES: How to Be a Mix Master

What do you think is working design-wise in this photo?

What I see first is the lush, rosy-pink velvet chair. Next I notice how the pillow’s embroidery seems to echo the flowers in the wallpaper. The lamp shade does this as well with multiple fabrics in the rust color colorway from the wallpaper. Its rust trim even evokes flower petals! Rosy-pink and rust are not colors typically seen together, but they work well here because all are found in the wallpaper.

In this WEEK ENDNOTES I’m sharing reads I ran across on mixing pattern, color and styles because having a bit of a “clash” going on in your decorating is what makes a room interesting.

First up, PATTERN

Annie Selke

Check out How to Mix Prints and Patterns Like a Pro on Annie Selke‘s blog, Fresh American Style. Hint-hint: The mix in the bedroom above works because of a shared color palette. Also, geometric prints, like the dotted curtains, tend to blend easily with other patterns. My take-away from this article: Texture is also a pattern.

See more examples of how pattern-mixing principles work in Story Street Studio Creates a Cozy and Colorful Family Home in Westchester. These two bathroom photos from the House Beautiful tour called out to me because of their pattern mixing. I love how the shower curtain works with the wallpaper in the photo on the left and how the black-and-white inlaid mirror mimics the black-and-white pineapples in the wallpaper in the photo on the right.

On to COLOR

Sophie Robinson

We all know WHY color makes us happy: Because it’s, well, COLOR. This post by British designer Sophie Robinson–the color queen herself–answers the question HOW Does Colour Make You Happy?, as well as explains how to use color to make our homes unique and totally “us.”

It’s a great written summary of the free seminar of hers I attended virtually a few months back. Now I can simply pin this article and pitch my scribbled notes!

Finallly, STYLE

Eclectic decor is really hot right now–a mix of styles derived from a range of sources, and boho fits right in. Not-so-oddly, elements that remind us of what was popular when we were children are creeping in as well. Checking out “This is the Most Popular Design Style from the Decade You Were Born” on Apartment Therapy will help you understand what you may be mixing and why, as well as the story behind that style back when it was introduced.

Interestingly, I was born in the last half of the 1950s and gravitate more toward the midcentury modern era of the 1960s, shown in the above photo

Well, now that you’re all educated on using pattern, color and style…

Here’s what’s happening on Freeman Street

So the word on my back, injured in a fall nearly four weeks ago, is that I cracked the bottom rib on my left side. OUCH! Right? I know. Clumsy me strikes again.

When it didn’t get substantially better after a week on steroids and muscle relaxers, I followed my doctor’s advice and had it x-rayed. The good news is it’s better than it was and should be healed in another week or so.

BoHo Home

Meanwhile, I probably shouldn’t have pushed myself only a week after the injury to edge and plant the front flower beds. But it’s over and done with now, and at least the front yard looks great. One of my new neighbors even stopped me mid-planting to say how pretty it looked from across the street.

I placed more of my garden ornaments as well. I’m trying to get the deck box emptied of them so there’s room in there for the outdoor furniture cushions when it rains. I’m tired of stacking them in the great room.

I still need to add the mail-ordered plants when they arrive. The chocolate shogun astilbe will go into between the pink astilbe on either side of the walkway, while the lady’s mantle will be spread around to develop into ground cover.

This week I assembled two fire bowls similar to the DIY I shared two weeks ago. I already had the hypertufa pots. I placed two bricks in each to raise up the fuel source–Sterno cans we already had–and filled in with polished black beach pebbles, a bag for each pot. It doesn’t generate much heat, but it looks pretty and will do for now.

You can see in the background the Target Opalhouse rug I shared on WEEK ENDNOTES a while back. I should have ordered it when I first saw it because it was sold out most everywhere, including online. I found one in a store a bout 35 miles away, on the northwest side of Indianapolis. It was the last one left within 50 mile, but it was worth the trip. The colors in the rug are perfect for our patio.

Speaking of the patio, here are some of the spectacular sunsets seen from there this week:

Enjoy your weekend! Summer is on its way!

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