Pepper Design Blog

Rooms Inspired by the Month of June

Once again this month’s post comes all too late! But since we have one last day in this beautiful month {hoping it’s not June Gloom where you are} here is a bit of inspiration pulled from the soft blues, turquoises, indigos and cobalts that remind me of June.

I love the use of both contrasting and complimentary colors in rooms that favor the cool hue. How great is that yellow at the top, or the layers of soft blue at the last picture in the bottom right corner (that quatrefoil chair is pretty amazing too).

This wallpaper is gorgeous!

Teals and turquoises bring a coastal feel to any space and the solid walls are a beautiful backdrop to accessories like the gold bamboo coffee table, chinoiserie pillow cases and backless sofa above.

Blue bedrooms are one of my favorites… I’ve always been partial to warmer colors in living rooms, dining rooms and kitchens, but I can’t get over how great a blue bedroom looks.

Here’s a darker take on blue. Bringing in a strong navy, cobalt or indigo can be a great substitutes for black and dark brown in rooms.

That’s my June blues round-up… to see more ‘Rooms Inspired by the Month’, click here.  Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Images: House Beautiful on Flickr and DecorPad

Favorite Trend: Dressing Up a Room with Branches

There’s a trend that I’ve been loving lately… and it’s incorporating nature and the outdoors in a new way beyond indoor plants and floral bouquets. Recently I’ve noticed that editors and stylists have covered magazine layouts and online spreads in rooms with blooming branches, and it’s beautiful.

Whether the branches are flowering like a rich pink cherry branch or bare like classic manzanita, they bring in outdoorsy texture and help to break up an ordinary space.

To recreate this idea at home, try pruning back a favorite tree in your yard with small branches ranging from 2 to 4 feet. You can also find an assortment of branch varieties from magnolia to palms at your local florist shop or request clippings from your favorite nursery.

Searching online brings up a few great real and artificial resources for branches such as grape wood, pussy willow and birch. A few of my favorite sites include Nettleton Hollow and Save on Crafts. If you have sources you love, be sure to share!

I love these branches as a centerpiece – and also when leaned as a group against a corner or wall. I’d love to find tall branches to stack in a vase between a bookshelf and corner chair in my living room.

More ideas and inspiration after the jump. Read more »

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.