Pepper Design Blog

Rooms Inspired by the Month of May

May has come and gone… and so quickly! One minute you’re enjoying your first truly warm weather days and the next Memorial Day is celebrated and over. But it’s too sweet of a month to be forgotten! Here’s a quick roundup of my favorite May inspired rooms.

There’s something about shades of coral, fuschia, magenta, pink, raspberry… these colors remind me of May.

Accent colors can be as overwhelming as painted walls or as subtle as a few throw pillows or a bowl of fresh flowers. I love how all of these rooms use various shades of pink in different and unexpected ways.

I love the wall collage and the pink striped ottomans in the above picture – and the soft burgundy accents in the below image keep the room a step above neutral. See the below occasional chair? Only the outside is upholstered in that fun, geometric pattern – what a great idea.

This room would be fun inspiration to modify into a parlor (we should bring those back again…) or dressing room or little girl’s room:

Here’s to May – we will see you again in twelve short months!

For more Rooms Inspired by the Month, check out this link. Images courtesy of Decorpad, Country Living and Full House blog.

Favorite Fabrics: Calico Corners

I owe a big thank you to my fabric sponsor for the Stylish Spaces Interior Design Expo and TV appearance – Calico Corners provided the beautiful fabrics you’ll see over the next few weeks as I get a chance to post these projects and their easy step-by-step directions. ($20 coupon link at the end of this post!)

Projects included updating an old wooden headboard into a beautiful upholstered version, covering several lampshades, creating fun canvas boards, building a magnetic wall board (from an old dresser mirror) covered in a chic aviary print, covering chinese paper lanterns to really ‘spice up’ a party theme, simple diy night lights, using fabric for matting b&w pictures, lining an Expedit Ikea bookcase (this idea is so quick and easy for any bookshelf…) and a few more!

Calico Corner prints are modern, trendy and so fun to sort through to find the perfect look. I have had a wonderful time building quick and easy fabric projects out of the vast online selection and since my expo theme was a ‘design on a dime’ version of how to update your space, I knew that featuring home remodel ideas that involved small amounts of fabric (usually just 1/4 to 1 yard of fabric) was the perfect solution.

Here’s a quick link to a $20 off coupon from Calico Corners to get you started. To find the store nearest you (or order online – that’s the easiest for me!) plug in your zip code on this page.

The Painted Patterned Door Project

Before: your average ho-hum plain wooden door. After: a modern, spruced-up entryway with a subtle touch of glam.

Inspired by this amazing wardrobe makeover, Leah Moss of Apartment Therapy created her own diy trellis door with a bit of painters tape and a quart of paint.

She used 3/4 inch painters tape to create the overlapping trellis pattern (which is a series of squares stacked on their corners) and then painted the door in Benjamin Moore’s Barely Teal mixed with their self-priming Aura line.

If you’re interested in contrasting colors, try painting the entire door prior to taping with another color/priming blend.

Cool idea, right? Here are three more, starting with two closet makeovers and one front door that’s sure to grab a bit of attention. All images from Apartment Therapy.

I especially love the idea of taking lackluster sliding closet doors and giving them a quick update. Painting isn’t the only option, what about wallpapering or covering in corkboard squares?