What Others See

In the last few weeks, while I have been absent from social media, other bloggers were so sweet to feature my accounts.

Last week, Kristi of French Creek Farmhouse did a shout out to Steve and me on both her blog and her Instagram account @frenchcreekfarmhouse .

Brenda of Cozy Little House wrote a post titled, Living Large in Little Houses: Carol's House, where she talked about our colorful home and how much we use our outdoor spaces.

Kristi had us both in tears as we read her sweet post, but I laughed when I read this paragraph in her post.

I laughed because I think of our house as mostly white these days.

I created my new blog header before I read Kristi's post.

White linens,

white dishes and 

white decor are what I see.

Then I looked at the photos Kristi chose to use in her post and I saw that while there is white, our house is definitely full of color.

I thought most of the color at our cottage was in the garden.

 I snapped a pic this morning and I notice now that the white walls, windows and furniture are merely a backdrop for bright colors.

If you were to walk around our garden you would see a few white flowers, but mainly

you would see color.

Color, Sparkle and a Bit of Whimsy

It took me 6 days to decorate the house for Christmas.

Much of today was spent taking photographs for the two Holiday Blog Tours am joining.

But, I don't want to share any of those photos until the parties

so I made a second tour of the house capturing portions of vignettes or rooms.

I noticed that I am drawn to sparkle and shine this year -

bright shiny ornaments

appear in at least one spot in every room.

I found a beautiful glass bulb and bead garland at a local shop that was a perfect gift for my sister

and I had to go back and buy one for myself.

In addition to sparkle,

you can see that red & white

are the dominant colors

 in the house right now.

This little display in the guest room

will easily segue into Valentines Day by simply swapping the Christmas postcard with a Valentine.

As I was shooting small details rather than the "big picture"

another thing I noticed

was the childlike nature

of Christmas at our house.

Color, sparkle and a bit of whimsy

definitely describe the decorations this year.

After a morning at the spa, Lulu thought she fit right in with the decorations.

She might even be mistaken for a stuffed bear.

Be sure to stop by next week for the Cozy at Christmas Blog Tour.

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New Season . . . New Colors

Spending 4 days sitting on a trial as a juror left me little time to take pictures this past week, but I created a collage for the Instagram hashtag - #mysummer2016.

As I scrolled through my IG gallery looking for photos, I noticed that blues, aquas and whites filled my sumner.

But as fall slowly awakens in southern California, I am seeing new colors around the house.

Baby pumpkins in white and orange on my little green table are a departure from my usual palette.

While I was on jury duty, our painter was working his magic on our walls - my green pie safe looks crisp and clear against a white background.

Bouquets of colorful flowers are my usual centerpiece in the dining room, but pumpkins in a green box are a nice seasonal change.

Even the garden is sporting flowers in fall colors

and those fall flowers look lovely in vignettes.

Steve changed the painting over the mantel so I am trying out different ideas on the mantel that will compliment the colors of the sky and ocean.

The colors in the living room are softer - especially with the cute pillow I won on an Instagram giveaway from Bianca of  With Lavender and Grace.

The house is decked out in whites and pastels this season,

but you can see from the bench on our porch and the accents in the entryway

that my seasonal colors are all across the spectrum.

What are your seasonal colors this year?

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