Guest Post - Green and Blue

Hi everyone, due to the lack of posts here, I was more than happy to get an offer for a guest post by Arcadian Home blog. Just to keep everyone informed, I'm actually expecting a new member in the family, thus the rare updates on my blog! Have been resting for the past months. My actual due date is this Saturday! Hopefully the little one arrives on time or earlier. Pregnancy is tiring during the finals weeks.

Anyway, I'll let Mari take it from here. Hope you enjoy this guest post... xoxo

Hello, everyone! It's Mari here from Arcadian Home blog, a fantastic place to find lots of decorating inspiration, including winning ways with beautiful table decor, interesting wall art and lovely lighting fixtures. I'm so happy to be visiting with you at Weekend Escapades to share a guest post about spaces with wonderful green and blue color palettes. Amnah inspired me to choose this topic with her post about how much she loves blue, but is becoming interested in green. I've pulled together eight images that illustrate the versatility of the great color combo—blue and green. As you will see on our little virtual tour below, greens and blues are lovely together in all sorts of rooms, from the traditionally elegant to those with a contemporary minimalist look. Whether it's just a pop or two of these lively hues or a room saturated with vibrant blue and green, I hope you'll find inspiration for your own colorful interior or outdoor spaces. Please enjoy!

 
 This formal dining room is kicked up a notch with a brilliant green wall and eye-catching shapely chairs with gorgeous backs dressed up in chartreuse and turquoise burnout velvet.

 
 With a much softer background color on the wall, this living room also includes touches of deeper shades of blue and green. I love the blue sky peeking through in the canine painting.

 
 This lofty bedroom is a restrained blend of blue and green—stylish and inviting. It's one of my personal favorites. The pale walls are painted in a perfect blue hue.

 
From pale blue walls in a bedroom retreat, we turn to soft green walls in a lovely dining room with watery aqua chairs. The embossed pattern on the chair backs adds texture and visual appeal to the design. Buffet lamps are pretty in a color that seems to be a beautiful blending of green and aqua.

 
 Think green and blue rainbow. This living room and nearby office are dressed up in a lovely array of green and blue hues, from pale seafoam to a toned-down version of chartreuse. A contemporary striped rug ties
the room together.

 
 This pretty pale corner vignette gets a bit of color with a blue unframed painting and green buffet lamps. I love the wide gold detailing against the muddy shade of green on the lamp bases.

 
Pale turquoise walls and apple green cabinets create a spa-like space in this large bath with marble floor and shower surround.

 Green and blue is a great color combo for an outdoor space. Here a vintage porch goes for cool contemporary style with stripes, patterns and solids. The hanging ferns are fabulous and so are the contemporary floor lamps created from a classic form.

Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 

What do you think of these color combinations? Leave us your thoughts below and be sure to visit our website for more home decor and lighting inspirations!

Thanks, Mari! Oh yes, due to the amount of spam I've been getting lately, I've activated the word verification in the comments section. Hope it doesn't put off genuine human beings from commenting!

My pins over the year...

Hi! I'm back with a short update :-)

It's probably been more than a year since I joined Pinterest, and I was looking at my pins back then to see how my preference for decor has changed over the year. You know how when you keep a diary and read back to the days when you were younger, and thought, "really? I wrote that?"

Well, in this case, it would be, "really? I pinned that?"

Okay, my pins from last year were not bad at all. Let's take a look at a few of them, shall we?

Source here

I'm still into neutrals and blues and browns like in the photo above. This room is still pretty - clean and modern.

Elle Decor

I like the herringbone floor and again - clean and modern.

Rue

At the time, I was sourcing for inspiration to decorate my sister's bedroom. I like the image of this room. I particularly love the patterns on the bed sheet and the texture from the grey-blue velvet pillow.

Houzz

This is a nice dining room - and I've always loved lanterns. Loved and still love white upholstered dining chairs, too.

Source here

Another handsome living room made of greys, blues and browns - my favourite colours.

Though all photos above are beautiful in their own ways, I now find myself gravitating towards rooms that look less than perfect, lived-in and maybe a little under decorated?

Let me share with you some of my recent pins to show you what I mean.

Source here

This is what I call an effortlessly beautiful room. It just doesn't look decorated - the rumpled bedsheets, the aged wood of the side tables, the 'real' reading books in the niches and a cute personal photo of a baby. This could be anybody's room - and it just happens to be beautiful.

Source unknown

I love the relaxed look of this area. The patina on the frames of the two identical mirrors makes a beautiful contrast to the reflection of a more modern chandelier.

Taken from here

Another undecorated room - wouldn't you just love sitting here, doing mundane daily stuff, but it wouldn't be so mundane because everything around you is so pretty. The bookshelves are messy - but that's what brings character to the whole room. It looks like a real room.

Barefoot Contessa

The use of natural materials - the rug, the basket under the desk, the wooden stool and painted desk, brings the warmth into this little hallway. It looks so inviting, doesn't it?

From here

And this kitchen, although the cabinets are modern with no handles and a clean, streamlined look, the use of wooden countertops, antique trays and aged wooden beam just brings the kitchen back down to earth that I love.

So as you can see, after a year of collecting images on the internet, my preferences have changed from that clean, modern look to a more lived-in, undecorated look.

Have you found that your preferences have changed over the years? 

Orange

If you had asked me, what is my least favourite colour, I would have said "orange".

Without a doubt.

But.... I find that orange works great as an accent colour to add life to any setting. I mean, even Blogger is using orange as the accent colour for their theme! :-)

When you feel like your home is lacking in colour, throw in some orange!

Orange and blue looks great together. Here, the orange place mats bring zest in to this neutral coloured room.

House Beautiful

Or, how about some orange trinkets styled on your shelves in the kitchen? I absolutely love this kitchen and the deep blue colour with the bright orangey-red.

Helen Norman Photography

Even an orange book in a bedroom would do. Love the little birdie on it.

via The Pink Pagoda

I love the texture and look of this single vibrant orange cushion in this grey-toned sitting room. This is such a beautifully-styled room.

via Belgian Pearls

Or you can go bolder by throwing an orange cloth over your dining table like this one. I love the velvet texture of this fabric. It looks so rich.

via Belgian Pearls

This beautiful room by John Saladino uses orange and green - colours that complement each other well. Don't you just feel like hanging out here all day?

Veranda

This room, decorated by Giannetti Home uses orange cushions as an accent.

Velvet & Linen

Orange-coloured flowers brighten up this pretty little breakfast nook.

BHG

Or, you can just use oranges - and I mean the fruit - in a bowl to brighten up your kitchen!

Martha Stewart

So how would you use orange in your home?

Have a great week!

white fan

You don't really see ceiling fans in interior photos, but when they do, I'll be among the first to notice. Why? Because having a ceiling fan in this hot humid weather of Malaysia is compulsory. Every room must have one. And I like to see the kind of fans decorators use for their homes so that I can make the right choices for my own.

Well, some people go for air conditioning sans the ceiling fan, but I've always preferred the good old ceiling fan. Mostly because air conditioners makes my skin dry. 

Anyways... we have to start looking for fans in our new house. And I'm digging white ceiling fans. Not those contractor-chosen white fans (that is being used in my current apartment) we see often.

But something like the one in this photo. 

via Elements of Style Blog

Okay, too bad that we can only see like, three fourths of the fan... well, I did tell you ceiling fans rarely show up in photos of beautiful rooms. And, might I say, this room is beautiful. Loving the window seat and the collection of blue and beige pillows. 

So, if you're a Malaysian, please tell me where I can find a white fan similar to the one in this photo! 

Much appreciated! Have a lovely week ahead!

my recent pins on pinterest...

When I'm feeling a little bit stressed, I like to indulge in some eye candy and the best place to go for that lately is Pinterest. Most of the time I'm repinning what other pinners are pinning so I can find inspiration on what I can write on this blog.

Just thought I'd share with you my 10 most recent pins on Pinterest and call this a post. Can I get away with that? :-)

via Cote de Texas - one of my favourite design blogs

I love those lovely blue lamps, all the textures used on the bedding and overstuffed pillows. Come on, don't tell me you haven't fallen in love yet?

msn real estate

I would love to have an outdoor room one day. And it would probably look like this. Loving blues, greens, browns and beiges. And those white fans. Where can I get those kind of fans here, huh? I want them for all my rooms.

via My French Country Home

My dream is to one day live on a farm and have a beautiful, big country kitchen. It wouldn't be so bad if it was in France, either I guess. I envy the owner of this kitchen.

via Boxwood Terrace

I love the clean look of this room. It has a modern feel to it, but the addition of that rustic coffee table keeps it grounded. Simply gorgeous.

Veranda - Interior Design by Richard Hallberg. Photograph by Miguel Flores-Vianna.

I love this kitchen. It's so clean and simple and modern without being cold. I love the use of textures on the wall of the stove and the ceiling. The ceiling is also curved, I love those arches.  I think I've overused the word 'love' here.

Country Home

White ironstone and fresh green herbs make a beautiful collaboration.

Skonahem

This is a beautiful boys' bedroom. Clean and simple. How cute are those flags, huh?

La Brocanteuse: L'Orangerie

Burlap and stripes on an antique chair. Pretty.

Veranda - Interior Design by Pamela Pierce. Photograph by Peter Vitale.

Another country kitchen that I love. Great big windows, raw brick walls, pebble stone floors and antique chairs. Lovely.

Phoebe Howard

And my collection of pins would not be complete without the work of Phoebe Howard who I have long admired. I love this part of this bedroom. So fresh and clean.

Hope you've enjoyed 10 of my pins today!

stripes!

If there was one pattern that I had to choose among all patterns, it would be stripes.

I am loving this pattern that never goes out of style - be it on furniture, walls or floors.

image from Ikea Family Live

This room has gone all out with beautiful grey stripes on the bed, the floors and even on the clothes hanging on those hooks. I love the beachy relaxed feel of this bedroom.

House Beautiful

I like large stripes on the walls - the stripes used in this room brings out a modern edge to this otherwise feminine room. I'm loving the colour palette of blues, greys and light browns.

HGTV

How about horizontal stripes on the wall? I love this bold and beautiful dining room.

la Brocanteuse: L'Orangerie

Stripes look great on upholstered pieces too. I adore this combination of a striped sofa and burlap pillows for an authentic and rustic feel.

Better Homes & Gardens

Colourful stripes look great on these wing chairs!

If you're not that bold to go big on stripes...

Washington School House

... they make a great pattern on throw pillows when paired together with plain ones.

via Luxe + Lillies

I love this breakfast nook overlooking a great view. Stripes on the throw pillows looks great.

Or you can bring in some stripes on your floors from rugs...

Tim Clarke inc

Ellen Pompeo's kitchen from Elle Decor

Ellen Pompeo's house from Elle Decor. Isn't that just gorgeous?

So what do you think of stripes? I would like mine on throw pillows and smaller pieces of furniture like a wing chair or a one-seater.

And I would totally consider using stripes in a kids' room!

Source unknown

Have a wonderful weekend!

bedrooms sheets

When it comes to choosing bed sheets, without a doubt, I would always go for plain sheets - preferably white, for that matter.

I always feel plain sheets will never tire me and I can always dress up the bed with throw pillows and quilts of different colours, patterns and textures. I also prefer soothing rooms that I can retreat to at the end of the day - that means soft and cool colours like white, blues, and light greys.

Here I'll show you my favourite dressed beds and what I love about them.

Better Homes and Gardens

The photo above has to be one of my favourite bedrooms - it looks so luxurious and sophisticated.  Bed sheets have a subtle pattern, and dressed with a frilly skirt and textured quilt. Beautiful.

via Conspicuous Style

I love whites and beiges. This bed has textured pillows and a lovely elegant pattern on the skirting. Gorgeous.

via The Pink Pagoda

If you have lovely wallpaper and patterned rugs, its best to keep your sheets plain white like the photo above. The olive green borders is a simple pattern yet pretty.

Source unknown

The photo above has to be another of my favourite rooms. Beautiful plain white sheets matched with a textured beige coverlet and grey throw.

Elle Decor

A white room - the pretty details of the headboard bring visual interest to the plain white bedsheets.

Source unknown

Plain white sheets paired with patterned throw pillows and a plain blue square pillow and blue throws. I love the casual elegance of this room.

 If you like more patterns on your sheets, here are some that I find pretty...

Ruemag

The photo above was one of the inspiration photos my sister and I referred to when we were doing the makeover of her room. We love the colours used - grey-blues, white and beiges. Notice that they also use white sheets, but dressed it up with a textured, patterned quilt and throw pillows.

via Create Girl

I love this blue and the simple pattern of these sheets. They dressed it up with a white textured throw and a plain throw pillow for that pop of colour.

via The Lennoxx

I find stripes are pretty too - this coastal themed room uses blue stripes with white sheets and a cute pillow with a starfish pattern.

If you don't mind bold colours and patterns, this zigzag pattern looks great, too. Notice how everything else is kept white and simple - except for the cool aqua blue nightstand. 

Urban Outfitters

So how would you dress up your bed? Plain and simple? Or bold and bright?