that shade called emerald green

So many choices of how to use emerald green. Fashion houses are going nuts with

 broadcasting this colour on every dress, top, bag and whatever else you can possibly think of. 

 If you have seen the minimal posts on this blog, it's quite obvious that my interior design choices

veer towards the rustic neutrals so playing around with colour as bright as emerald green is

 uncharted territory for me but one that may be considered. 

You'd have to be a serious lover of this tone to have it plastered on your walls. If you are as weary

 as I am about having emerald green as a feature wall or door but really think it would 

work, you can always tone down your background by decorating your space with neutral 

shades. Whites, beiges, natural materials,wood and glass all work wonderfully with

 bright backgrounds. All of a sudden the green isn't so bad after all. 

Would you have a piece of furniture as an accent piece in your home? Perhaps you're not too

 keen on having your walls scream at you but you really fancy having this shade trace parts of 

your living space. Accent pieces are always a way to work out that indecisiveness. You can 

always move it around if you feel it doesn't work. And you can always refinish it when

 you decide green isn't really your favourite colour anymore. 

{via martha stewart}

I believe less is more. So if you think the way I do, decorating your home with traces of 

emerald green accessories is probably the way of trending with Pantone's colour of the year. 

My favourite, of course, had to be saved for last. Textured fabric, natural weaves, soft wool,

 greys, whites and wood. And then all of a sudden, there's that pop of emerald. 

Love it.

How would you use it? 

{images via Pinterest unless specified}

a room for the little miss

Perhaps I can start explaining to you why we've been off the blog radar 

since March two thousand and twelve.

Perhaps these pictures will explain just a little bit.

My pregnancy took all my creative juices and stuffed them out them 

window. I stopped painting, drawing, blogging, writing and 

everything else that involved having to think.

 I seemed to just want to be pregnant.

But here... here is a little project that I gave myself to work on. My son never had a 

nursery so I made it a mission to make sure I could work on one for my 

daughter. My guest room/storage area slowly became a space I knew I would

 want to spend with my daughter, not only because of the new things I had bought 

or made, but because of the old furniture that I incorporated in

 the design of the room.

Her cot was recycled from my sons. We stripped the old horrible yellow/ orange 

paint off to its natural pine. I wanted a walnut antique looking cot with white sheets 

so I used Sadolin's African Walnut extra durable wood stain which is an

 oil based stain. Worked wonderfully to get the effect that I was aiming for.

 It now look like a vintage cot that has been passed down from generations. 

This bed holds a special place in my heart. And I love that it sits in the nursery now. 

This is one that hasn't been made to look antique, it actually is antique. 

So antique that my grandfather was born on it. It is made of carved narra wood 

with a solihiya base that a thin but comfortable mattress sits on covered

 with a ethinic Ilocano woven blanket.

Aimed for a bird theme nursery with owl figurines spread out in the room,

 birdcages on the shelves and vintage bird illustrations from Vintage Printable, 

which have thousands of vintage prints to choose from  no matter what the nursery 

theme is or for any wall space you choose. Bought cheap picture frames, nailed on

 some picture hooks behind it and she now she has her own beautiful bird gallery 

hanging above her cot!

The side table, kilim rug and bed were all in my bedroom as I grew up. So seeing it 

in her room makes me a little nostalgic. The afternoon light that shines in

 is wonderful, leaving shadows and reflections for her to watch as she 

lays in her cot. Natural light is such an important factor, it changes a

 room and it's colour palette in an instant.

Old and new books sit in her growing library. The books on her side table have also

 sat on my shelves as a little girl, with its sleeves showing it's age. The new books 

were given at my baby shower from every guest, each one with an inscription 

for her to read when she is older. 

Project nursery still in the works however! 

Just a little more tweaking to do. Watch this space for updates!