It’s winter. It’s cold. It’s grey. And I’m lovin’ it. Why, you might ask.
I love this view out our huge glass windows along the north side of the house.
I love the long nights for cozying up with a good book. I love the grey afternoons that just beg for a pot of tea. I love having my girls home for a little while. It’s all good. My grandmother, Virginia, always said that every age has it’s compensations. I’d say that every season has its compensations as well.
I’m embracing this winter. And I’m doing so with contrasts. With the icy greyness outside, I’m creating gardens inside. I’m creating crisp, clean space. But I’m softening it with warm lighting and down cushions.
Faux greenery lasts all winter, as do the gardeny, iron lamps
Planning ahead:
I’ve also just made plans for my favorite ‘business trip’ of the year: the fabulous Roundtop, TX Antique Week this spring.
And it’s not just the great stuff I love. It’s the excitement, the party, the great food, and, most of all, the inspiration I get from the amazing, creative, sophisticated, and forward-thinking designers and decorators who merchandise the amazing displays that cover acres of Texas hill country. Check out these pictures from last year. You’ll see what I mean:
Check out the contrasting textures and how they add so much to this simple display.
Robin, of Flea Market Chicks, and I loved it all, in spite of the rain!
A feast for the eyes! I just wanted to live in this space! The lamps and all the fabric on the walls create such an inviting space. And the unity of tone and color is totally soothing.Each tent (and there were miles of fields filled w/ tenets!) was loaded with goodies, displayed so temptingly.
Tarnished silver, mossy ferns, a concrete urn. Simple. Beautiful.
Creative uses and display ideas for all that vintage ephemera we love.
Notice how the variety of shapes and textures draws your eye, while the restrained palette holds it all together.
Like the walls? They're covered in rumpled kraft paper! Great idea for a party, or quickly shaping up a rough space.
Sometimes it's just about scale. This garden display wows you because of the over-the-top scale of that amazing metal ball.
Use this technique with vintage paper, sheet music, old photographs. The charcoal grey walls are the perfect contrast. The milkglass is another nice textural element.
You will find yourself enjoying your vintage things more when they are displayed in a way that invites you to touch them and explore them. Try it!
I’ll take loads of pictures this year, too. And you’ll be the first to see them. I promise!
In the mean time, embrace your winter, and plan for spring!
Talk to you soon,
Virginia
