A Perfect Tan?

I have been on the hunt for the perfect paint color for our new house. I am wanting a neutral, but not "blah" neutral. I want rich, perfect neutral.

I am an interior designer, and I think with paint, the safest thing is to go with a paint color that you have already seen on a wall and love it. That's not always possible though, and sometimes you just have to go for it.

Deb from the Curious Sofa recently mentioned on her blog that Hallmark comes to her house to take pictures because of her nice, neutral pallete. Oh how I would love to see her house- I bet it is wonderful!

I decided to e-mail her and ask her secret to the perfect paint color. She so generously wrote a lengthy e-mail back, and has agreed to let me share her tips here. I hated to keep them to myself:

1. Best thing to do is take anything from your house: (a plate, a
drawer from a dresser) of a neutral color you love and get it color matched.

2. When looking at a paint swatch, look at the darkest color to get a feel of the tone of the paint. Sometimes yellows are hidden in the lighter colors and you can't really see them until you paint an entire wall.

3. Avoid a neutral with a hint of yellow or pink. Look for hues in a true white- grey- tan family, These will work with your fabrics and accessories much better as any yellow tint can throw you off. Think Mother Nature: Colors of rocks, sand, seashells.

4. Buy a quart and paint a large area of your home. Especially if you are going to do this color in many rooms. Paint it against the
woodwork, in areas light will get to and look at it for a week or so before you make a decision.

Thanks, Deb, for your advice!
I think we've decided on Sherwin Williams' Latte.

THE bedding

I saw and fell and love with this bedding on my last trip to Canton. I'm a bit of a bargain hunter though, and I just couldn't let myself buy it. It was gorgeous, perfect for my daughter's room, and it haunted my dreams. In this case, the bargain hunting paid off, and I found it online here at almost 50% off! Hooray!

Birdies and Dollies

Not everything has to be vintage, but I'm so very picky about the new things. Birds and cupie-like dolls are two of my big weaknesses. Etsy is such a fun source for new but wonderful things! I love the birdie cake topper above (really, everything in her store is cute).

I purchased one of these sock baby rattles for baby L, customized to match the colors of her room and it is just so sweet:

And I just love these new prints on vintage paper: And my mom purchased and framed a couple of these charming birdies. They have such personalities, and apparently so does their creator- see his Etsy titles!

Whimsical Children's Rooms Blog Party!

I'm joining this party a bit late, but it's so much fun! It's Katydiddy's Whimsical Children's Rooms Blog Party. Our girls' rooms are probably my two favorite rooms in our house, and whimsical they are, so here goes...

I'll start with A's room. A is my first daughter and it was so much fun creating her room. For both of my girls' rooms, my husband and mom helped make my design a reality. They painted, sewed, built furniture, and dealt with my pregnant self ordering them around! :)

Now it's time to move to L's room. I drew much of my inspiration for L's room from this Home Companion magazine article. It showed pictures of HC contributing editor Trenna Travis Lange's daughter's room. I just LOVED the colors, and really everything about the room. I wrote her and she was so sweet to clue me in on just the right color for the walls.

Happy 4th of July...

...from all of "us" here at bellalulu