SNAPSHOTS

A RANDOM MIX OF PHOTOS AND CHAT.

Remnant Goes To The Beach.

After a very long blog sabbatical, I'm feeling a blog call-to-action. I've been extraordinarily busy here at home. As I've mentioned, our property is landscape intensive and requires attention beginning about mid-February.

The cold, blustery weather seemed endless yet the grass and weeds pay it no mind. So what I consider to be the ugly months were spent in great part outside, hard at work, constricted by warm sweaters and even parkas. Landscape intruders show no mercy. If I were to write a book about gardening in the Pacific Northwest, I might entitle it Man Vs. Shotweed, or something similar.

More recently, June Gloom has grudgingly given way and we've been blessed with shimmering blue water and sun-filled sky. Down vests and puff coats are now stowed well out of sight and out of mind.  The mode 'o day is once again cropped jeans, lightweight layers, and an appropriate sun hat.

OK, so if you know me at all you know my favorite color is "neutral". I work at color, I sincerely do. But I always seem to regress. I love all shades of beige, brown and white, and it's a struggle for me to be adventurous.

This spring however I broke the mold; really I did. I think 9 months of ever-present, oppressive damp and gray weather did a number on my psyche. There was a time when I thought the seasonal affective disorder conversation was merely psycho-babble~ not so anymore. The struggle is real.

Anyway, I threw myself at the task of creating more interest (via more color) in the living room. I made a sizable collection of new accent pillows.

In so doing, I learned new ways to make pillow covers. I tried a one piece style, which required very little cutting and sewing. And a more typical envelope style. I will do anything to avoid hand-stitching pillow closures.

Fabric shopping consumed a bit of time. At first I bought fabric at a local JoAnn's. I love shopping there. There's a coupon for everything and they have such a relaxed return policy, thankfully. My first choices did not turn out to be my best.

My online choice is Best Fabric Store. I am not paid to give endorsements so you can trust me when I say this company is amazing. Fast shipping, great customer service and perfect pricing, so what's not to like? I ordered a variety of samples and then with a leap of faith, ordered cut yardage. I am really happy with the two choices I made. The quality is really top notch.

So here you go, snaps of my new subtle beach-side look. I hope you enjoy the browse.

You might be thinking that my beach tones are understated. Yes, that's by design. I wanted to bring blue into the living room without getting all gimmicky or cutesy.

I am a lucky woman. Blue hydrangeas provide a profusion of color both outside and in the living room. And in case you haven't guessed, this is my morning coffee spot, now awash with color.

I can't say goodbye without leaving you with a link to a great tutorial on the one piece envelope pillow. Check it out here at The Happy Housie.

As an aside, the small burlap pillows are from a different source. I will share that in a separate post because there's a cute story attached.  Speaking of cute, we have a very close guy friend who is an ardent Remnant fan. He reads almost all of my posts, obviously giving some closer attention than others. He told me that although he prefers my travel writing and photos, he will (nonetheless) suffer through the table setting posts. Now that's a true follower.

I'm sure he has absolutely no interest in my pillows, although it is he actually encouraging me to use more color in my house. So I dedicate this post to our dear friend Steve.

I'm sure my long absences have cost me most of my readership. So to you that are still here, I'm sending a huge thanks.

With love,

~Dana