Dream Design: A Colorful Breakfast Nook

Right now, I am so in love with the idea of a breakfast nook. I've always liked the idea of having two dining spaces; one formal and one casual. When I saw this particular nook, just fell head over heels. It's bright, it's airy, and it's colorful. Three characteristics I covet in design!

Source: DIY Magazine

But what most appeals to me about this room is that it can very easily be emulated. Find the colors and patterns you love and throw them together! With a neutral backdrop, it can all pull together easily! Enjoy all of your favorite colors! And for your enjoyment, I whipped up a little design board for more inspiration on how to create your own colorful nook!

1. For this room, I chose to go with a true gray as the wall color. Gray is actually my favorite neutral. It's a bit more modern than your typical beige and cream. Benjamin Moore's Silver Dollar is a great "true" gray. It will make all of the colorful accessories really pop.

2. Perhaps the focal point of the nook is the pedestal table. White keeps it crisp and, again, neutral. The key making this room work is to keep the major items subtle and then fill in with lots of colorful accessories. For this board I chose the Odyssey White Dining Table by CB2 ($199.00).

3. Start the color parade off with your chair choice! These Tutti Frutti Stacking Chairs by Target (2 for $69.99) are a fun shape and come in several different colors. We actually own them in blue. Of course, any color would be great. I chose pink for this board because

4. I love this pendant lamp! The photo above displays a simple white lamp, but I really loved the pattern and color of the Retro Honeycomb Drum Shade Pendant from Shades of Light ($129.00). If you have a similar set-up as the photo. This colorful lamp can break up the white space if you choose to forgo curtains.

5. Textiles is where you really get to have some fun. These throw pillow are all from The Inglenook Decor, and while they are gorgeous they are a bit pricey ($64, $95, & $80 respectively). You could easily hunt down fun fabrics from your local craft stores or even design your own on Spoonflower and make your own. Same with curtains, if you choose to use them. Short, cafe styled curtains would be another fun way to break up the large windows.

6. I kept accessories down to a minimum for this board. There are so many cute things out there, it's hard to control myself, but this space doesn't necessarily lend itself to lots of knick-knacks. Table decor should be kept to a minimum, to keep as much room open for actually eating. This cute Peacock Blue Recycled Glass Vase from Pier 1 ($39.95) and this Ceramic Owls also from West Elm ($9.00) are adorable table toppers. I also added this Oversize Seagrass Basket by West Elm ($129.00) to stash extra pillows that might get in the way with extra guests.

Do you love breakfast nooks? Or are you more partial to a different dining space? What characteristics do you favor in design? Share below!

Dessert Design: Cameo Pink & Black

I felt like a design board for a gorgeous dessert table would be a fun way to say sorry for not being a diligent blogger! But hey, before you scold, I should tell you that I've been working hard on task number one for my creativity checklist. So there!

Lately, I have been loving anemones. They are such a gorgeous, simple flower and when I saw that pale pink bouquet with the striking black centers on Martha Stewart, I felt the inspiration flowing. A simple concept and color palette with great details that won't overwhelm the table. Macaroons, the delicate pattern on the cake, and a pink champagne all tie together without being too "matchy-matchy".

I know pink and black has been done so many times before, but the blush pink of this board is too beautiful to forget about. And *hint hint*, I do believe this design board will be coming to life very soon!

Anemone Bouquet from Martha Stewart, Pink Macaroon Recipe, Black and White cake, Cameo Jewelery (again) from Martha, The Katharine Bridal Gown, Pink Champagne image here.

Dream Design: Living Room

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! I was blessed enough to spend time with old and new family. Being home has inspired some thoughts of becoming a home-owner and having another opportunity to design and decorate. Since, this won't be happening any time soon, I thought I'd give a shot at creating design boards of my "fantasy land" home.

I decided to start with the living area. (Click for larger image)

I found the color palette from this post at Young House Love. I was drawn to it because our couch is very close to that shade of purple and after we bought it I contemplated how we could incorporate it into multiple color schemes and life stages. Our current palette is very bold with black, white, yellow, and purple but I figure that in our future house we will want a more subdued palette. And how killer is that wallpaper? I love that this medium has been given a makeover. I found this and a lot more beautiful patterns at Walnut Wallpaper. I thought it would be amazing to have around the fire place to make it an accent wall and keep the other walls the pale blue so things don't get too cluttered.

The Leaning Wine Bar/Bookcase from Crate and Barrel is a great statement piece and (along with a fire place) it is substantial enough to take the place of a television. We don't currently own a TV and, if we acquire one in the future, we do not want it to be the center of the living area. There will be ample seating with our current sofa and a few lounge chairs from Target. This modern coffee table (also from C&B) provides hidden storage and promotes a circular flow for the seating arrangement.

Glass accents like these candle holders and the beautiful Firefly Pendant Lamp by CB2 (seeing a pattern here?) keep the airiness of the color palette

So, while, I'm in no position right now to purchase anything, there is no harm in thinking about it. I really had fun putting together this design board and have plans to do many more. I hope you enjoyed it to.