First Day of School

I had some serious déjà vu last week when I left for my first day of Interior Design classes.  As I walked out the front door of my parents home, dew still on the car windows, book bag slung over my shoulders, Mom asked me if I wanted her to take my first day of school picture.  I eagerly replied with a Hell Yes.  This girl has always been excited to start school!

Yes, I did bring my teacher flowers on the first day of pre-school, thankyouverymuch.

There is no denying that I’m living at my parents house with my husband, starting school again, fully willing to accept my mom’s offer to pack my lunch.  Life is weird.  But, here we are. 

One of my assignments this week is to find five things that inspire me.  Inspire literally means to breathe in.  So I’ve been thinking about where my style and taste derives from.  What nudges me in the direction to like something enough to put it in my home?  What aspects of my life breathe their way into my design? 

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Travel: One of the most inspiring things is to discover new places and cultures.  I have a very clear picture in my head of riding on a train in the south of France when I was 12 years old, speeding through what felt like endless fields of sunflowers.  Miles and miles of racing through bright yellow and green flashes with a bright blue sky background.  The colors alone have stuck with me all those years.  Unfortunately, I don't have an actual picture of this... but the one in my head does just fine for me! 

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Killarney, Ireland

 Fresh flowers: Whenever I see fresh flowers in a home, it instantly feels more put together.  Flowers inspire me to go the distance and complete a home, not just leave it in progress forever.  They inspire me with their colors and natural beauty – I could plan out an entire room based around one big vase of hydrangeas.  They just make me smile… and shouldn’t the space you spend all your time in be a place that makes you smile?

Seasons: Seasons show us the vast range of colors and styles mother nature has to offer.  They literally explode our color palette with changes and surprise and delight me every time we transition from one to the next.

Imagine a cold, grey winter in Ohio… the trees are stripped to their branches and their natural brown’s and ivory’s sparkle in those few days of sunshine… our color palette is full of neutrals that set a perfect background.

Quickly comes Spring and bright green grass peeps through the white snow.  Crazy blue skies and almost too-perfectly pink and yellow tulips are everywhere.

With Summer comes the many blues of water… deep blue at lake homes and sea blue at beaches… aqua and celadon blue during vacations to tropical islands.  All the while, the bright yellow sun sets the stage and the Kelley green grass is stronger than ever.

Then comes the oranges and reds of fall… and purples too!  There are the quintessential images of children playing in piles of crunchy brown leaves, running around the orange pumpkin patches and settling into a more rustic color tone before we arrive back to the neutrals of winter. 

Homes: This might sound obvious… but the structure of a home can make me go crazy with inspiration!  Have you ever taken a walk down the street and looked around at the homes?  Probably.  If you’re like me, then you’re simultaneously dreaming up what is inside.  How does the floor plan flow?  What are their colors?  Have they re-modeled the kitchen?  Are the wood floors original?  And then, I can get going on imagining how I would fill the space.   This can keep me busy for hours.  In our old neighborhood in Columbus, we were surrounded by very old, historic homes.  John and I would go on these walks and literally oogle over them, sometimes catching ourselves standing still in front of one for a tad too long… forgetting that someone actually *lucky for them* lives inside.  For me, looking at the structure and history of a home is incredibly exciting – it is a blank slate with the potential to be whatever you want it to be.  It’s a rush!

My challenge to you is to take a walk through the streets of historic Georgetown and imagine yourself in one of the 18^th century brownstones – what would you do with it?  Ohh, I’m excited just thinking about it!

     

I’m stuck deciding on my final source of inspiration, mainly because I can’t narrow it down.  There is so much around me that is inspiring – the ocean, the trees (ok, nature in general), my family and friends, Pinterest (no denying I find TONS of inspiration there), blogs and magazines, books and movies, art – old and new, pieces of furniture or shapes and structures.  Too much inspiration really isn’t a bad problem to have. 

xxx