Colour Trends 2023

 The colours of the year certainly change over time. We could update our houses every year to keep up with the trends. But should we?

I am a person who believes (for me only) to have one colour on the walls in my house. When I decided on this, I realized I had to make my colour choice wisely. The first time I did this was in our house in Kamloops. I chose Which Is Witch from Home Hardware.

It was a mid tone colour and went well in the house with bright white trim, white/grey counter tops, and dark floors. It actually help sell the house as it was updated and clean looking. 

This house I  am now living in is a challenge. The paint colours are a darker tan and have a yellow undertone. I hate yellow undertones in paint. Add to it an array of different browns in the house and you never have the feeling of restfulness. There is a mix of browns with yellow, pink, and grey in them for cabinets and flooring. You are always noticing how nothing flows in this house. 

When the basement flooded, we chose to have it painted in a light grey with white trim and a grey floor. The reason was to have it light and airy. I enjoy going to the basement as it is cohesive and my brain can rest. It also allows me to use colour in the soft furnishings. 

The colour does change during the day depending on the light. I love that. 

Though the grey is not a colour for 2023, I am going to use it upstairs to give the house a light airy feeling. It will be the base for the rest of the ideas I have. I don't need to follow trends for this year to have a home I love. The paint is the canvas for the soft furnishings which can be what I like or on trend. It is the base for having a look I hope to achieve in the next couple of years. 

Colours for 2023

I looked at them in the link above and cringed. But I started to relax when I realized I can use some the colours in soft furnishings. 

Vibrant Red - My Christmas colour of choice. I use a lot of red and cardinals in the main part of the house for 6 weeks. I don't have a lot of Christmas items, mainly cardinals which I love. 

I am adding two cardinal quilts and a cushion. I have placemats in the dining area and on the end tables in the living area. It gives the house a warm and bright feeling on those darker winter days.

Terra Cotta - Unless it is the orange cat in the placemats I use in the summer, it won't happen in this house. I know it is a great colour for autumn but it isn't one of my favourite colours. 

Natural Greens - I am not a big fan of green but am trying to introduce a bit into the house. I have green in the placemats I made for summer. 

The bottom green is more a mint colour rather than a dirty green as in the picture. 

I also made Elliott a quilt which has green in it. I don't really like it but it is appropriate for a cat. I think it is because the one green is too bright. 

I will put it away at Christmas as he is getting a cardinal quilt.

My biggest feat of the year is to add some green to the spare bedroom. I chose a print that I like and am using some green. Very hard for me as I am not a green person. 

Green Blue - just the dark in the cat placemats. Another colour I am not fond of in big amounts. 

Water Blue - 100% my colour. Anything from the palest blue to indigo. I want it in the house for most of the year. I am going to do my bedroom in blues using William Morris prints. I am looking at a quilt using white and blue. 

I can see this as a single Irish chain using white and this fabric or the lighter version. 

Or this fabric.

White (neutrals) - I like whites. I do not like creamy colours. 

Beige - though most have red in them they still don't appeal to me. 

Greige - One colour I don't mind. White with a greige undertone is fine. I like griege as it looks grey in one lighting but a nice off white in another lighting. I don't have it in the house but it is one I would lean towards if I wanted darker walls. 

Light Purple Grey - the colour I had in Kamloops and I did like it. The house had large windows which kept the colour light looking. Where it was the darkest was in the front entrance. But not too bad. 

In the end, I like most of the colours but not all of them. One of the main colours for this house will be all shades blue. The greens will come out at specific times of the year as will red. I have decided that I don't need to like all the colours that are on trend and to choose only those I like. 

Guest Bedroom Update #1

 I have been busy with the spare bedroom. It has been fun thinking about my spin how how I can combine the farmhouse and English cottage look in that room. 

I have had to look at several things when designing this room. One is my clutter thresh hold. At the moment, it hasn't been met in that room so I know all is good. But I do know it will come if I add too many pieces so I am taking care. 

I have also looked at prints I like and don't like. I was always choosing solids as I felt more comfortable using them. No worrying about matching prints up. I still like to have things coordinated. Having mismatch does cause me a bit of stress. I am learning how to play with it but it is hard. 

The fabric I chose for this room is Indigo Blue Kelp (Turtle Bay by Northcott fabrics). I did not like the collection as it wasn't me. But the kelp spoke to me when I paired it with the blue Crackle fabric. Adding the minty green Burlap fabric made it sing. The fabric reminded me of leaves not kelp. 

The starting point of the room was the colour. I decided on blue for this room but not a pale blue. Darker blue; almost what I call a denim blue. It would allow me to add other shades of blue that are in the print plus a bit of green. 

The first item I made was a runner for the dresser. It is ready to bind and I am pleased with it. 

I am adding 2 cushion covers that are quilt squares, table toppers, and a piece of the fabric stretched over an artist canvas for a wall hanging. 

For this room, I have 2 pictures; one is pansies that I cross stitched for my mom years ago and the other is a wedding wish my uncle gave my parents when they were married in 1945. I have 2 dark vases they got for a wedding present on the dresser. I will lighten up the room with white flowers and a few white knick knacks (rabbits from the sewing room). This room does need white or very pale blue in it to brighten it up. 

I am excited to add more posts on this room. 

What Is My Decorating Style?

 I have been thinking about my design style for a few weeks now and am not sure what it is. My tastes are changing now that I am alone and am no longer involved with the western way of life. I still believe in the values of that lifestyle but I am moving away from living in a ranch style home. I have dedicated the family room to having our favourite pictures and items that we liked and brought with us to Nova Scotia.

What is that I like?

First of all I love blue and want that to be the main colour in the house. I love grey as it is a nice neutral to use on the walls and if light, it brightens up the house. 

I am leaning towards the above colours for the house except the cream would be white. In areas I would add a bit of sage green to the mix. Not all rooms but one or two. 

I love things to be neat and tidy. Everything in its place and not a lot of clutter. Minimal but not minimalistic. Not industrial as I don't like the hard lines. Farm house? To a degree. English cottage? To a degree. Traditional? Contemporary? 

I still like the farm house look but not like it was pre-pandemic. I like white kitchen cupboards with a nice light counter top. But the farm house sink is not a priority like it use to be. I like the light colours that are a part of the farm house look but I don't want shiplap. I'm over having that in the house. I don't want billowy sheer curtains as they don't keep the house cool in the summer or warm in the winter. I still love dark hardwood floors especially narrow board hardwood. They still have a place in my heart. 

English Cottage look has come to the forefront in my thoughts lately. I love how they use heavy curtains to keep out the heat and the warmth in. I don't like print curtains but plain ones which are popular also. I don't like the clutter but a few well placed pictures and items are more my style. I like print fabrics but not all floral. I like to combine prints with textured plain fabrics. 

When studying fabrics for the English Cottage style, my first thought was how they used a lot of floral fabrics. I really shut down until I saw this print used. 

The people had bought the wall paper and put it up in their hallway. Then they showed it as a pillow in a place they stayed in. I was then on board to thinking about prints in the house. Not wall paper but soft decor like table runners, cushion covers, and wall art. 

So what is my design style? English cottage with some farmhouse thrown in. Everything will be chosen with care so it isn't cluttered but it is what I love. A few items will be included upstairs that the Spousal Unit loved (which I do love also). I am starting in the spare bedroom as I can experiment as I go. 

Here is to moving forward with a new design style.

The Master Bedroom

 The master bedroom is big. It is one of the biggest we have ever had. It is also painted in the yellow tan colour that I don't like. And, yes, it will be painted grey and have white crown moulding. 

Here is a picture of the bedroom when we first moved in. 

This bedroom has been kept very minimal as I have a sleep disorder. The room is to be peaceful so I can sleep. Because of that, I have struggled decorating the master bedrooms we've had over the years. 

I have decided to update the bedroom to something that is has a bit more personality. I changed the curtains to a light grey black out curtain and need to get one more panel to finish the window. They really help me sleep at night as the neighbours leave their porch lights on most nights. 

I also put out the lovely knick knacks we acquired over the years. They were put away as Elliott, our cat, use to push them off the dresser into the laundry basket. He no longer does that. It is nice to have them out where I can enjoy them. 

Next I turned my thoughts to how I want the room to be like. I have white sheets for the bed and need to get a white duvet cover. I will put a navy throw on the bottom of the bed. 

Choosing fabrics for the room has been hard. I keep thinking what "we" want vs what I want. I know blue as that is going to be the common colour upstairs. I also decided I want some floral prints though I also like stripes. I have decided on the following three prints plus a white fabric for this room.

The table runners (3 of them)

Choosing the first fabric was a huge leap for me. I like that it has both flowers and foliage. 

The second fabric was easier for me. I am not sure if it will be this stripe or the lighter version. Both have been on my list for my bedroom for months. 

The white may be a solid though it may be a white on white tonal print.

The last fabrics I found is this one plus the navy version. 

One of them will be a cushion cover for a smaller pillow for the bed and something else. The other one will be in the dining room. 

I hope to buy a black metal headboard for the bed. I may paint the dresser and wash stand white. The treadle sewing machine will get cleaned up and waxed. I have fluffy mats on each side of the bed that breaks up the floor space. I will not have a rug in the room as I have to move the bed to clean under it. Allergies dictate the room is cleaned to within an inch of its life every 3 weeks. 

The room looks like this today and I am still not happy with it. 

It is still not what I want but it is a bit better than it was. At least what I want it to look like is evolving. 

The Guest Bedroom

 When we bought this house, the interior was painted a yellowish tan. A colour we both did not like. It was to be painted after we got the outside landscaping done but the upstairs didn't get done. A flood in the basement, the pandemic, and the Spousal Unit getting and passing from Alzheimer's prevented it happening. The upstairs will be done as soon as I can get painters and a carpenter to do the work. 

The house has 2 bedrooms upstairs and the focus of this post is on what we call the spare room. It isn't a big room and there is a queen size bed, dresser, bedside table, and accent table in the room. I have no pictures of the bedroom before I started to play with ideas. I do have one of it after I cleaned it and added the blue curtains and duvet. The given is the walls will be grey and there will be crown moulding. 

Ideas for the room came in waves. What colours did I want besides the blue? I played with a lot of colour ideas from pink to yellow to green. I looked at fabrics and designs and texture. What could I make and what did I need to buy. While cleaning up the fabric stash, I touched these fabrics and decisions were made. The brighter green fabric is gone and the light one kept. It is a more sage green and washes out in pictures. 

Ideas I have

• Duvet cover will be blue but king size and have a light weight duvet put in it. 

• Curtains will remain.

• Blue cushion covers on the bed are gone.

• Fabrics will be made into a table runner, cushion covers, and other table toppers. I did buy another .5 meter of the print. 

• Flowers on the accent table will be replaced with other flowers I hope to get at Ikea. 

• Two picture frames will become silver rather than gold.

• Dresser will be painted white and new drawer pulls put on. This dresser needs refinishing as it is in good condition. 

• Picture above bed as I won't buy a headboard.

• Picture on another wall. I have the two pictures.

I plan on working on this room as soon as I can. I need to cut the fabrics so I can sew the items and then it will be the dresser. It will take longer as I will need to clean it well before restoring it. I had hoped to get someone local to do it but she doesn't do custom pieces. I will hang the pictures as they will be easy to take down when the house gets painted. 

Landscaping The Yard

 One of the reasons we bought this house in 2017 was the yard. It had an aggregate cement driveway and a well maintained lawn. Two things that were important to us. 

The driveway continues to be a lovely feature though it needs to be washed due to dirt and dust. The lawn has had its issues over the years. Cinch bugs and grubs did a lot of damage one year due to the company scrimping on product. Since we have changed companies, had the lawn over seeded, and products put on correctly the lawn looks as good as it did the day we viewed the property. 

The landscaping around the house was basic or nothing. The Spousal Unit and I decided to tackle it and started with the shed. The grass grew up to the shed and it didn't look grounded to the property. 

We did a lot of digging, and ended up with a border around the shed that we put river rock in. That allowed us to put pots in that area that now contain flowers. They use to have pots of cucumbers when the Spousal Unit was the gardener. The pictures show that. 

Though the bricks are somewhat hidden by the grass today, it continues to keep the shed grounded to the property. I may glue another layer of bricks on top of the ones that are there for a bit more definition. I need to add about 5 more bags of river rock to the bed. The bed does go around to the back of the shed where I have one rose bush - the first one the Spousal Unit planted. I may add two more next year. The other side of the ramp has been finished also but there are no pots due to it being shaded most of the day. 

With the shed done, we decided to tackle the front and one side of the house. The front was hilled up and eroding down into the lawn. The side was a long patch of dead grass. Heat caused the damage to the lawn. We worked very slowly fixing the front and side of the house. 

I am not happy with what we did as the bricks have been dislodged by the mower. I want to have this redone as a small retaining wall where we will add more dirt and river stones. The side will remain bare of plants as it gets too hot for them to survive. 

I have weeded under the deck. It hadn't been done for 2 years and was a mess. A job that needed to be done on my hands and knees. 

The left over decking will go to our friend so he can make planters for his place. I will have edging and gravel put under the deck so it will be easier to keep neat and tidy. 

The other area that I will be working on is the hedge. I need to weed and do some trimming on it so it can be edged and mulch put down for weed control. I will be buying a few rolls of weed barrier cloth and a lot of mulch and gravel this fall. The front and side will be done next year. Once done, it will only be maintaining it.

The garden boxes are still in the back yard and I will continue to plant vegetables in them for as long as I am able to. It keeps me busy and I get fresh vegetables to eat. I have planted less than we did in the previous years as my plan is for myself and family and not the neighbourhood. When I can no longer maintain the boxes, I will sell them and have that area put back into lawn.