A Day in the Life of a Design Blogger

I ended my day yesterday with my thoughts going in all directions and concluded that either I need more hours in a day or I have to work faster..............but I wouldn't have it any other way!

As I thought about my day, a poem began to brew in my mind.  I grabbed my pen and pad and began to jot.

Day after day,
I search and scheme
I scan and save
And plan my theme

Books and nooks
Beds and sheds
China, chairs
And every manner of pet lairs

The colors red,
Pink and green,
Yellow, blue
White and cream

Ginghams, toiles
Linen and lace
How much longer
Can I keep this pace?

Authors, artists
Designers and such
Sometimes it seems
It's much too much.

But then I rest,
I sew or read
I walk our dog
Or the garden weed

I bake a cake
I clean and scrub
Iron, mop and grocery shop
Till I near drop

And then to bed
I toss and turn
And all the while
Ideas churn

So in the morn
When all is clear and no more fog
I begin once more to sow a seed
For those who read
My designer's blog......

                - Kay Furlong

Toile Tales

Toile de Jouy is fabric that was initially designed with scenes which tell a story......peasant life, pastoral and farm life, romance, etc.  And in the beginning it was usually one color on a light background (i.e., red on cream).
'Toile' being the French word for 'cloth' and Jouy being the area of France where it became mass manufactured, it was believed to have originated in France, but, in fact, it originated in England, and it was the French who made it famous.

Now, in our age of super mass production, it no longer is just printed on fabric, but can be found on just about anything one can imagine - shoes, wallpaper, lamp shades, dishes, furniture, mirrors......whatever the mind can imagine.  And it no longer just 'tells tales', it now is available in florals, as seen below.  It is also available in many, many color combinations and no longer just two colors.....often three.

Today, I am going to feature red toiles.......hope you enjoy!  Another day, another color!

And have a great weekend!

Remember to click on images for larger detail.                                            

Image 1 Charles Faudree, Image 2 Southern Accents

Image 3 Katrin Cargill, Image 4 Traditional Home,

Image 5 Martha Stewart, Images 6 & 7 Unknown





China Displays

Photo 1 Traditional Home

Photos 2, 4 & 5 Better Homes & Gardens

Photo 3 Unknown

Photos 6 & 7 Unknown

Photo 8 Victoria

Dining Al Fresco

It has been a very short summer here on Prince Edward Island......lots of rain, cool weather and overcast skies.  And usually, our weather turns decidedly cool by the second week of  August........I can only imagine what two sunny days in a row would be like and I would really have to stretch to imagine what a month of sunny weather would be like!

But, poring over the following dining al fresco images sure reminds me of what life could be like.............and definitely puts me in a sunny state of mind!

Imagine!



Photo 5 Country Living

All others Romantic Homes

Gorgeous Ginghams

Photos 1 & 3 Traditional Home

Photos 2 & 4 Better Homes & Gardens

Photo #5 Pinterest, Photos 6 & 7 Katrin Cargill

Photo 8 Country Living

Suite Dreams in Shades of Blue

Image 1 Charles Faudree

Images 2 & 4 Architectural Digest,

Image 3 Better Homes and Gardens, Image 5 Southern Accents

Images 6 & 7 Elle Decor

Image 8 Suzanne Tucker

Doggie Decor....um?

Image 1 Melanie Acevedo, Images 2 & 6 Elle Decor

Images 3 & 5 House Beautiful, Image 4 Architectural Digest

Images 7 & 8 Unknown



Gorgeous Garret Getaways

I've had an affinity for attics since I was a little girl.......what other room in a house could be so out of the way, so invisible and yet, hold such treasures?  I spent many a day in the attics of a friend and cousins dressing up in their mother's old dresses and high heels and wrapping myself in an old mink stole with the head on one end and the tail tossed casually over my shoulder!  What a glamorous life I could lead in those attics!

Then, as a teenager, my parents bought a farmhouse and it, too, had an attic......and, once again, I was drawn to it as a complete and private getaway.  It was completely unfinished, mind you, with nothing more than a window, an old victrola and a brass bed with stairs leading down to the kitchen.  But, what a retreat to read a book in, or just to be alone and dream about it's possibilities. 

Yes, even then at 14, I was dreaming of interior decorating and even though I had completely redecorated my own bedroom in our new (old) house with blue and white striped wallpaper, floor length blue drapes that I had sewn myself, blue bedspread, painted wood floor and antique furniture with a white faux fur area rug on the floor with pictures symmetrically arranged on the walls and lamps in all the appropriate places.......I still escaped to the attic.  When I think back to that time, I had a Laura Ashley like bedroom, but it was only 1964 and I hadn't really heard about British interior designer Laura Ashley in small town Nova Scotia......we didn't really find out about her until the late 70s or early 80s.  (In fact, in 1964 Laura Ashley was still experimenting on her kitchen table with silkscreened dish towels!)  This was completely my idea of how I wanted my room to look......all that was missing was the chintz.....I hadn't discovered that yet!

So, when I came upon the rooms below, they brought back memories of good times, coziness, comfort and possibilities!  A place to dream.........!

Love the dog art theme going on in the last four rooms

All photos courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens