Welcome to Day 5 of my Summer Blog Series: Color my Home! I have an amazing line up of fabulous bloggers who will be sharing how they incorporate Color into their Home this Summer! I am so excited to have Joann from Woman in Real Life on my blog today, giving us a tour of her beautiful home! I especially love her pink Audrey Hepburn art!
Hey everybody! My name is Joann and I'm a freelance writer living in the Toronto area. I blog about thrift store finds, daily life with kids, great books and yummy vegetarian food over at Woman in Real Life. I want to thank Ashley for inviting me to share my views on colour in the home. Like Lee from New Zealand, we Canadians spell colour with a "u." But, as a freelance writer, I'm used to spelling it the American way too. So that's what I'm gonna do!
Years ago, my husband and I had a wonderful little apartment in an old walk-up building in the city. Although it was small, our apartment was a riot of color. Four rooms painted three different colors - bold, bright yellow in the living room and the bathroom, rich, dark blue in the bedroom and a deep green in the tiny, mid-century kitchen. It was bright and cheerful and I loved it that way.
Funny how things change when you buy your own home. Not so brave anymore, huh? In our current home, we decided to go with a mostly white backdrop on the main floor. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally fine with it - it's peaceful and bright and it makes up for a lack of natural light in some of our rooms. But the white palette required us to be a bit more creative with our decorating.
In the family room, an area that gets lots of use, we have added color through pillows, framed prints and accessories. My sister and I fought over the blue velvet ottoman (above, right) at a liquidation store, but she eventually gave it to me for my birthday. Nice sister, huh?
Our kitchen has white walls and white cupboards. Being too lazy to put up a backsplash, we decided to put up framed pictures instead, including the colorful red and green portrait that my son drew. I also like to punctuate our rooms with family treasures and thrift store finds like the vintage floral canisters on the counter.
Our front room is a living room and home office combination. Because it's mainly used by me, I decided to do a black and white color scheme with touches of pink and blue. We added color with pillows once again.
I love books and I think they add great character and color to a room.
I think this pink Audrey Hepburn portrait adds a nice feminine touch for me without making the space too girly for my husband.
Accessories, office supplies and a thrifted jar add more color on a side table.
I found a floor lamp with a shade in blue and pink to match my room's color scheme. Of course, every office needs an inspiration board for when those fabulous ideas strike.
The dining room is a bit of a departure. We went with a buttercream color rather than white and highlighted it with a thrifted Modigliani imitation and colorful curtains.
This colorful armoire that we got at auction holds some of our inherited and thrifted china.
I hope you enjoyed the house tour. All the best, Joann.
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Taby Jean
How gorgeous!! I love your home tours-- you are just so clever with what you find!!
veganopoulous
Lovely tour Joann! I love colour too 🙂 I'm not brave enough to do it in my home now (built in 1930) as I wanted to be true to the era as we still have a lot of the original features such as dark wood panelling. We are however getting a complete kitchen renovation and although it will be white and grey, all my trinkets and thrifted goods will be on display, which means COLOURRR! I can'
Laurie
I pinned the heck out of the art/backsplash idea. I LOVE that idea so much. It's a pleasure to see more pics of your home. Still love that ruffle pillow and that amazing clock!
Loulou
Your home looks beautiful Joann. So interesting and cheerful. I love how you have chosen to add colour with art and accessories rather than painted walls.
September Violets
Great tour of your home Jo, I like how you toss splashes of colour in small ways that really show up well with the neutral backgrounds. It's got me thinking about where I can do this in my home 🙂 Wendy
JoKnows
I am very lucky to have all these kind friends! 🙂
EveryDay Bloom
I'm recognizing the fun fox and owl pillows... Are they from Taby? And I love how white is a perfect backdrop for little splashes of color...including the books in your bookcase (I love that). Love the Audrey Hepburn in pink and the picture/vignette with what looks like a Modigliani. Thanks Jo & Ashley.
JoKnows
Yes, the pillows are indeed the wonderful work of Taby! 🙂