Hydrangea Hill Cottage: February 2016

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Just a Note

Just a note to let you know I'll be away for a short time. I have to go out of town and I want to make some changes to my blog layout.

Perhaps you've noticed the banner of heading pictures has been removed from my blog. I thought I might make some changes to the layout, but it has to be done 'live' and since I'm not really sure what all is involved (even though I set it up originally), please bear with me as I make some changes over the next little while.

I have added the 'Follow by e-mail' window to the top of my blog as it was at the very bottom of the page and I'm not sure how many people actually go right to the bottom. If you would like to follow me by e-mail, please enter your address there and submit.......it's FREE and you will not receive any spam as a result. It's all operated by Blogger.com.

Also, if you like what you see on my blog, please feel free to pin, tweet, facebook and tell your friends about it.........the more the merrier. The buttons for social media are at the bottom of each 'post'. Or to pin any image, the pin icon shows up on the upper left hand corner of the image.

Also, if you are a blogger and would like to add me to your blogroll, please do. I would be happy to have my posts shared with anyone interested.

And to each and every one of you who do drop by every day, thank you so much for your interest and always very kind notes......

See you in about a week!!

Kay

Pretty Papered Dining Rooms

Imagine these designer dining rooms with painted walls.

Yes, still beautiful. However, the addition of wallpaper in these rooms adds a whole different dimension, detail and warmth.

As lovely as they are in the daylight, they must be dreamy by candlelight.

Totally dreamy........

Cindy Sherman's Hampton's home by Billy Cotton

Architectural Digest

Ashley Whittaker

Miles Redd

Nathan Turner

Source unknown

Chinoiserie Chic

House of Anais

Jeffrey Bilhuber's own dining room

Laurel Bern Interiors

Lillian August's weekend home

Lee Ann Thornton

Louise Brooks

Traditional Home

Mario Buatta

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

A Lake Cottage by Sarah Richardson Designs

Sarah Richardson's design team has been hard at work on this newly built cottage for a family of six.

Even though it's new, it looks like it's been there forever.

With beadboard, board and batten and vintage touches throughout, the cottage is a sheer delight.

Enjoy!

The soft green ceiling is a nice addition. The large windows and natural light bring the outdoors in.

And the distressed looking floors would be so low maintenance.

Antique corbels add to the aged look.

Nice pattern on the ceiling.

Country Living

Monday, February 22, 2016

Moodboard Monday - Queen Bee

Good Monday morning to all of you! Hope you had a great weekend.

As you regular followers of my posts know by now, I kind of like doing these moodboards on Monday. I started out with moodboards from Veranda magazine and then I started saving some from other periodicals. When I came upon this 'Queen Bee' moodboard in an English publication recently, I thought it might be fun to see what I could find that was 'bee related' while really thinking I probably wouldn't find much in fashion or decor. Boy, was I wrong!

As I googled and researched, I was surprised by all the other blogs on this subject, the history lessons I learned and the antiques, art, architecture, collectibles, fashion, needlework, books, home decor and gorgeous jewelry were beyond my expectations. I could have gone on for days researching, but I had to condense what I found as much as possible.

Among many tidbits, I found out that the 'love affair' with the bee motif began with Napoleon when he used it on his crest. Napoleon and Josephine popularized the motif in France and that's why you see so much of it in that country - it's popularity originated there. It became known as the 'Napoleonic bee'!

So, that's the history of it (in a nutshell) - hope you enjoy the art and creativity that has gone into the items you see below. Those Guerlain bottles!! Stunning! And the jewelry!! And everyone knows Alexander McQueen was a genius - who else would think of designing skep dresses!

Strangely enough, as I was putting this post together yesterday, the 1957 song 'Honeycomb' came on the radio......

Have a great day!