{inspiration board #74} An Elegant Affair

Many of my favorite things make up this wonderfully elegant board. I love the instance appearance and sense of grace when one wears a beautiful shoulder bearing dress, and anyone who has ever visited my humble blog knows that my preferred palette pleasers are pears and French macarons. I have a love of ornate and grand doors and recently I have thought myself a connoisseur of vintage doorknob. Could I have been influenced by the crystal doorknobs on every door in my childhood home? As a child, I thought very little of all those glistening doorknobs. Now, I wish I had every one of them.  And please tell me who does not love twinkle lights…all year long? They can make the dullest of rooms or gardens magical.

It’s funny how all of us have our “things” that make us happy and past memories that shape what we like and appreciate as adults. I sometimes wonder. of my online friends, what little everyday things fills their day with joy. What quirky things make you smile?

Dustjacket Attic, Call Me Cupcake, This Is Glamorous,

{inspiration board # 71} Chic Rusticity

Contrary to what one may guess about this reformed city girl, a part of me absolutely loves the more rustic side of life and nature…especially around this time of the year. When our family left the city, we moved to a small town on Long Island, NY that was surrounded by woods, with tree lined street with old cape cod styled homes {I grew up in one} and lots of antique stores to forage for treasures. In these stores, these so-called “treasures” looked like someone’s old junk but once in the possession of my mother’s hands they were treasures once again. This inspiration board is about the things remembered and things that should never be forgotten…like the smell of your mom’s pumpkin pie baking in the oven.

Incorporating various gold and brown tones into a creamy vanilla palette will create a warm and inviting palette, perfect for this time of the year.

I hope you had a great Halloween and I hope that your memories of your childhood town are as wonderful as mine are.

{door, tree, violin, frame, bunting, pie, girl, invitations, horse, sign, washtub, file cabinet}

p.s. I cannot wait until the launch of my new site…the inspiration boards will be a bit larger and there will be so many new things to share with you! Yay for change!

{inspiration board # 66} The Fairy Bride

This board, inspired by fairy folklore, is a rich and earthy palette.The colors are perfect for an outdoor wedding. Being surrounded by nature will further enhance your wedding day décor, naturally.

Look for a clearing in a forest and create your own magical oasis.Who knows maybe a fairy or two might crash your wedding!

Inspiration Board # 57 – River’s Bend

I am in constant awe of nature. The colors, the textures, the changing of Earth’s canvas with the start of every season. In nature, you can stand witness, right before your very eyes, to the perfect ever-changing canvas painted by an invisible hand.

Colors in nature never clash and unlike other elements in nature they do not fight to be seen or heard…they just are. Like a beautiful flower, or a tree sometimes as in nature, to be noticed all one must do is be still.

Inspiration Board #51 – The Lion & The Lamb

I, too, have been mesmerized by the story of forbidden love between mythical creatures and mortals. In anticipation of the big premier of Eclipse, the next cinematic installment in the Twilight saga, it is easy to see where I gathered my inspiration for this board. A little dark but all in good fun…

“It is not the darkness that scares me, it is the things that are done in the darkness that does…”  Naomi

Inspiration Board # 44 – Keepsakes

Keepsakes are items we usually put away, kept out of sight, sometimes, in the back of a draw or forgotten closet until something, like moving into a new home, brings it out of hiding. This rediscovery causes an instant flood of of memories and emotions that we have temporarily put aside.

We find it hard to let go of a sweet love letter, old photo booth picture, movie ticket, or pressed flower because its presence reminds us of a time and place or a past love so strong that just by sight this keepsake takes us back to the very moment it became irreplaceable.

David and I decided that we needed a fresh start before we move into our new home. So of course, that meant getting rid of 3000 square feet of stuff. I came across many keepsakes that I wanted to keep. A few old letters, a few carnival stubs, plane tickets, the list goes on. We are moving into a home half the size of the home we will leave behind today. Why? We realized two people and a dog do not need a four-bedroom house with three bathrooms. It has forced us to reassess what really is important to us.

Call it what you may downsizing, scaling back, getting rid of stuff. We decided instead of filling a home with tons of furniture we hardly use or need (who really needs two living rooms, or two dining rooms?) we will now concentrate on filling our lives with more meaningful things like memories. We will add more memories, to the many we already have,  by spending more time together traveling, exploring new places, and the most beautiful discovery of all… the continuous task of discovering one another. We will try to become each other’s living keepsake.

Of course, I will keep some of the things that can never be replaced; pictures of me and my deceased father, my grandmother’s sandalwood fan that I carried the day of our wedding, and my mother’s gold  bangle bracelet, to name a very select few. The other stuff that I have let go of are not really gone for good… they will always remain in biggest storage box I have…my heart.

Naomi

Wedding Inspiration Board # 29 – Desert Bloom/Sedona Sunset

This inspiration for this board was twofold. The first was my trip to Sedona with my husband and the second was an unexpected call from a bride in tears. She was crying because she was told that her wedding palette (very similar to the colors in this board) where autumn colors and should not be used during the spring when her wedding would take place. What???

Your day, your way is what I believe. Do not let anyone dictate to you what your wedding day should look like. A good great wedding planner is there to guide you on many different levels; however, she should not make your wedding day hers. Your style, your taste, and your wishes should be the focus and be present in all the elements of your wedding day. Try to remember during the frenzy of planning and all the unsolicited advice you might receive that this is one of the most important days of your life. It is your day and it should be your way!