inspire: navy + pink

In case you haven't noticed, nautical is a big deal right now.  It is everywhere!  Nurseries, clothes, shoes, jewelry, living rooms.  You can hardly avoid it!

Well, I live in the good ol' Midwest, and the ocean is pretty far away.  We have a beautiful view of the muddy Mississippi (it is called that for a reason, by the way) and that's about it.  So, the full-on nautical thing isn't really my cup of tea, but I do like the navy paired with a punch of color, like pink.

Now, when I ventured out on the wide world of Pinterest to find some good stuff for this post, I was not prepared for what I found.  If you choose to do your own research, just know that I have spared you from some of the more, how should I put this, daring? saturated? blinding? versions of the navy + pink combination.

As usual, I like to stay on the more neutral side of the spectrum when it comes to color.  Here are some of my favorite photos:

All of these and many many more ideas can be found on my { home + decor } Pinterest board.

Head over to my Etsy shopping cart: navy + pink for some great finds!

inspire: white kitchen

My dream kitchen is white, with beautiful hardware and tiles that are a mix of glossy, iridescent and stone. My dream kitchen is also about three times the size of the one I have now...  and I think the ceilings would be much taller.  Check these beauties out!

ok so this isn't technically a kitchen, but I want one of these in a breakfast nook

those high ceilings! whoa!

the wood really warms up the space

All of these and more are pinned on my { home + decor } Pinterest page.

Happy dreaming!

inspire: black + gold

I've seen a lot of black + gold decor pieces at the stores lately... I must say, I really love it. There is something so bold and chic about it. My husband loves the color black (about 80% of the clothes he wears are black) and if he had things his way, everything in the house would be black -- including the walls! I'm not so much of a fan of the dark and heaviness that it brings, especially in a small house. But the black + gold details are definitely growing on me.

One of the approaches I take when decorating my home is to purchase things that work in more than one place or more than one way. This is also why I recommend choosing paint colors throughout the house that coordinate (not match, and yes, it is different). That way if one piece doesn't work in the room you thought it would, it has a greater potential for working somewhere else (read: less potential for having to return it). This is also why I don't love painting walls very very dark colors; you can quickly grow tired of them and let's face it - painting a wall is a lot of work, and quite a bit of hassle.

Let's take a look at some of the more practical black + gold combinations I've found:

Okay, maybe this one is less "practical" but still beautiful

What do you think? Do you have a lot of black in your decor? Are you brave enough to paint your walls black??

(All of these pins and more can be found on my { home + decor } page on Pinterest)

Check out my Etsy shopping cart: black + gold