WISH Wednesday #37

Given that July 1st, aka Canada Day, is just around the corner it seemed appropriate to find a room that was red and white for WISH Wednesday (Weekly Inspiration for a Seasonal Home) - and what a room it is!  This room seems so Canadian to me, not only because of the red and white, but also because of the quilts on the beds and the lovely wood floors and the simple cottage vibe.  It definitely has an east coast flavour and in fact is a room in a house in the seaside town of Chester, Nova Scotia.  To me it is a study in perfection - simple, well-appointed, and cheery.

Philip Mitchell via Canadian House and Home

And since it is the end of the month here is a mosaic of the past WISH Wednesdays from June.  This might be my favourite combination yet - I love the reds and the grays with a few blue touches thrown in.  Oh, and did you notice that since I needed an even number of pictures, I found another photo of that gorgeous white kitchen with the gray island (which you can see in a larger size here).  Isn't it gorgeous?

WISH Wednesday #35

Here I go again - yet another bedroom for WISH Wednesday. I just can't help myself is seems. What I was really looking for was a beautiful room with a striped rug and it just happened to be a bedroom. Did you know I have a thing for striped rugs. I'm terribly, horribly, desperately in love with them - in all colours, and all shapes, and all sizes.  The very sad thing is we don't have one single striped rug in our house.  I really do think I need to remedy the situation.


Isn't this a lovely cheery bedroom that would grow with the children.  I would happily sleep in that room - well you might have to get rid of Ernie and possibly even that snoopy giraffe, but otherwise it is divine.  I love the orangey-red colour on the beds, in the beautiful striped rug, and in the flowers on the quilts.  And I love how painting the beds orangey-red really highlights their classic lines.

Elle Decor

Anyone else love striped rugs?  Do you have any in your house?

WISH Wednesday #32

In honour of Jonathan being in Edinburgh to do research for his next book, I decided to post a room with a Scottish feel for WISH Wednesday.  I'm not actually sure if the room is in Scotland, but it certainly looks it.  I love the blue plaid against the yellow walls, the ornate furniture with the calm white bedding, and the paintings of Scottish Highland Cattle on the walls.

Design, Decor ...

I always wonder if it would be a problem having such a dominant pattern on the headboard and chair in your bedroom. Would you do that or do you prefer neutrals so you can change the bedding?

Let There Be Light - in the Bedroom

I'm in the process of decorating our bedroom - and by in the process I mean that I have been at it for five years. Yep, I'm nothing if I'm not thoughtful and methodical ... okay maybe I'm just slow!  The truth is that I got interrupted by having to fix up another bedroom for an exchange student, entertain said exchange student, then I was sick for a bit, and then I got sidetracked onto fixing up other parts of the house ... and next thing you know five years had passed.


But all that is about to change because at the end of the week my husband Jonathan is going away for three weeks to do some research in Edinburgh, which means I am going to take this opportunity to finish the bedroom makeover.  


So far I have only painted the accent wall, hung drapes, and painted and organized the walk-in closet.  I have lots to do in the three weeks Jonathan will be away.  I'm going to:

• paint the rest of the walls
• fix the drapes as the rod is coming out of the wall and the drapes were hemmed too short
• get better storage for husband's papers and books 
• replace the ceiling light

It is this last thing that I need some help with.  Right now we have a terrible, horrible, no good builder's ceiling light and we need to replace it.  The only problem is that I have no idea what to put there instead.  I've had a look around the internet for some inspiration so I thought I would share my very important research.  By the way, have you noticed how difficult it is to find pictures of bedroom ceiling lights as so often the pictures are cropped so they don't show.  Here are the ones I have found.

There are drum shades,

House and Home via the Lennoxx.com

Candice Olson via HGTV

decor*pad

Style at Home via Echoes of Laughter

chandeliers,

Sarah Richardson via The Globe and Mail (you can read the complete article written by Sarah here)

Sarah Richardson

Style at Home

capiz lights,

decor*pad

Young House Love

star lights,

High Street Market

Style at Home

modern pendant lights,

decor*pad

Four Walls and a Roof

lanterns,

The Lennoxx.com

bookmarks bedroom

and unique statement lights.

Sarah Richardson

Canadian House and Home

Sarah Richardson 

What kind of ceiling light do you have in your bedroom?  Do you have a particular favourite?  By the way, I'll show more pictures of our bedroom later (I'm working up to it), but here is a picture of our bed so you can see the general flavour of our bedroom.

WISH Wednesday #30

I am a big fan of Michael Penney's style and have followed his blog since it started.  I wanted to show a calm beachy bedroom for WISH Wednesday and thought Michael's is one of the best.  It was inspired by a trip he and his wife took to Maine and you can really feel that beachy vibe coming through.  I love the soft natural colours, the gorgeous wallpaper, the white drapes, and the bare hardwood floor.  His bedroom makes me want to move to a cottage by the ocean.

Michael Penney Style

These were the only two photos I could find of his bedroom so I included them both.  The top one shows more of the bedroom, but is less clear and crisp and the second photo has the arrow in the middle, but shows the detail in the wallpaper and the knit pillow on the bed.

House and Home (video tour)

Michael is one thrifty guy - you should check out the rest of his house for further inspiration (click on the links under the photos to see more pictures). Michael has recently opened a shop called Penney & Co. in Whitby, Ontario - one of these weekends I'm going to make the trek out there and check it out.

WISH Wednesday #28

House Beautiful via decor*pad

My mind is deep into all things green this week so this pretty green bedroom jumped out at me for WISH Wednesday (Weekly Inspiration for a Seasonal Home).  There is so much to love about this bedroom.  I can't get enough of those clean bright blue and green shades together - they are perfect companions, don't you think?  And the white linens, drapes, and trim are a nice calm contrast to the intense blue and green.  There is a great mix of beautiful patterned fabrics to add lots of interest and the rustic trunk, chairs, and natural-fibre rug add the right amount of texture. The only part I'm not sure about is the black ceiling light. I know every room is supposed to have a touch of black, but this seems a bit heavy for the room and is the only bit of black visible so it draws attention to itself. Apart from that, this bedroom is gorgeous.  Wouldn't it be a lovely girl's bedroom or a pretty guest bedroom.


By the way, if you want to see why I'm deep into all things green this week, have a look here.  You will soon be wanting to grab a paintbrush and cover your walls in green and sew up some pretty green pillows - guaranteed!


And since it is the end of April, here are the April WISH Wednesday photos in a collage.  I appear to have had a thing for pretty bedrooms this month.

WISH Wednesday #27

Since I have quilts on my mind, I thought I would show you one of my all-time favourite bedrooms with a beautiful quilt on the bed for WISH Wednesday.  I love the gorgeous red and white quilt with the coordinating red, white, and light blue cushions.  I love the wide painted stripes on the floor, and I love the white-washed wood walls and ceiling.  

Sarah Richardson

Do you want to know something crazy?  When I was googling this picture I found two versions of this bedroom.  Want to play "What's different"?  I spotted six differences.

House and Home

Here are the six differences:

• the bedside table - the bedside table in the first photo is a very traditional white-washed table and the second one is a round red table
• the things on the night table - only the lamp is the same and all the other bowls, flowers, books etc are different (an aside:  I never would have thought to put peach coloured flowers in a red, white, and light blue bedroom, but they somehow seem to work)
• the pillows - in the first picture there are blue pillows at the bottom of the pile and a little striped pillow at the front and in the second picture there are fluffier white pillows on top of some red pillows and no little striped pillow
• the sheets - in the first picture there are red checked sheets showing where the quilt is turned back and in the second picture the sheets are white
• the curtain rods - in the first picture I think they have photoshopped out the part that is used to attach the rod to the ceiling and it is visible in the second photo
• the bench - the first photo has a pretty bench at the foot of the bed and the second photo doesn't

Anyone notice all of them?  

Isn't this bedroom incredible?  I think the simplicity of the colour palette keeps the room looking fresh and modern.  If you want to see other modern quilts have a look here.

WISH Wednesday #26

When I saw this pretty bedroom with aqua walls and red accents I thought it would perfect for a spring WISH Wednesday.   I love pretty much everything about this room - in fact I love it so much I pinned it twice on Pintrest on two separate days.  Is that love or is it memory loss? Hmm, hard questions.

House and Home

This room perfectly contrasts the sweetness of light pastel colours in the white and aqua with the bold red accents and the dark wood bed frame and flooring.  I love the natural wicker in the baskets and rug at the foot of the bed.  I love the stacks of vintage quilts on the wicker trunks.  I love ... pretty much everything about this room.  


Is this a room you would pin twice?  (It's now the new Pintrest rating system)