Guest Post: Summer Reds, Whites, and Blues

Thank you to Anna and Mari from Arcadian Lighting for contacting me to do a guest post on my blog! I am honored to host this beautiful article full of gorgeous pictures and great ideas. Check it out...

Hi, all! I'm Mari, a writer for Arcadian Lighting, a fantastic place to discover sparkling pendant lights, chandeliers, and lighting fixtures of all styles and finishes online. I'm so excited to be visiting here at Rebecca's Roundup today with a guest post about reds, whites and blues for summer.

The Fourth of July has come and gone, but its colors lively red, white and blue are here to stay through the summer and beyond. I've brought along eight images that illustrate my take on summer reds, whites and blues. Please enjoy!

What says summer more than a visit to the beach? Here a lovely retro kitchen in red and white opens onto a wide deck and the blue waters of the ocean beyond.

Reds, whites and blues are just right for a cottage porch that's all set up for a bit of relaxation and a refreshing drink. A pale blue quilt and striped textiles are charming additions. Can one ever have too many potted blooms? I love the shiny blue pots!

Not all red, white and blue rooms belong at the beach in a cottage, this stylish living room shows just how chic that color palette can look. Aren't the blue and white patterns gorgeous?

Rooms for children, both boys and girls, are wonderful places in which to go red, white and blue for the summer or all year round. The blue on blue plaid carpet is charming and so is the striped fabric used on the window shades and pillows. A beautiful Moravian star pendant light tops off the room's design.

This lovely feminine bedroom is decorated in faded shades of red, white and blue that give the whole space a soft gauzy feel. This one may have a beachy theme, but it's a distinctly creative and original look.

Don't want to commit to red, white and blue all year long? This traditional kitchen illustrates a quick and easy way to add red and blue to an all white space for a look you can enjoy for a day, a week, a month or more. Slipcovers, textiles and accessories will do the trick nicely.

Here's another beach cottage room that uses stripes to great advantage. Joining twin white lamps is an unexpected green ceramic one. The white-fringed slipcovers are something I want to tryósuch a great look!

We leave you with a summer dream in reds, whites and blues. This beautiful tablescape may be set on a yacht with an ocean backdrop, but it would also work beautifully for a summertime gathering on a city patio or country porch. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

What do you think of these red, white, and blue designs? Let us know your thoughts below, and visit our website for more ceiling fixtures, wall sconces, and other lighting fixtures!

Before and After: Master Bathroom

I have been working on our master bathroom. I was going to wait to post pictures until it was COMPLETELY finished, but who knows when or if that's ever going to happen :) Ideally, I would love to change the light fixtures, frame the mirror or put up a different one, add beadboard, replace the floors, do some stenciling in the little toilet space and replace the door with a pocket door. But for now, I love the way it turned out.

Here are some BEFORE pictures we took before we bought it:

This was when I decided to paint and had to make sure I got a pic of that lovely purple flower wallpaper border before I took it off!

This was the first coat of paint. When it comes to wall colors, I love neutrals. I'm not a huge blue person, but I loved the idea of a blueish gray for the bathroom. I fell in love with Benjamin Moore's Glass Slipper, however that is an old color which I couldn't find a paintchip for. So then I saw a picture of Woodlawn Blue on pinterest and someone had written that it was a good substitute. I did have a paintchip for that one so I decided to go for it. This is how it turned out :

A little too bright blue and not enough gray for me. Not what I was going for and hubs didn't care for it either. So I went back to my paintchip stash and found one that I had originally liked before we even moved in when I was picking colors, one that my dad had picked out for me. I should have listened in the first place to dear old dad :) 

This color is Benjamin Moore's Coventry Gray and we LOVE it. I was nervous because it looked very gray on the chip and in the store and I'm not a huge gray person either. But once it was on the walls, it's  very blueish gray. It looks great with black or espresso, it feels very "metro" and modern to me. You could also go the other way and do very white, silver and beachy.
We did replace the towel bar and hand towel rings with a satin nickel finished, beaded hardware. It looks really great. (You can see the bar still in the package in the pic below :) ) They are Better Homes and Garden brand and were on clearance at Walmart. (Score!) I still have not got the guts up to buy the matching vanity light sconce for $45. I'm just SURE I can get one cheaper on Ebay!?!?

The monogrammed hand towels were from Kohl's on clearance which I bought with one of those awesome $10 Kohl's cash thingies you get in the mail. So they were basically free. I love the espresso wood frame above the towel bar, I think the brown and blue combo looks great. It is an art print of one of me and hub's favorite Renoir paintings which we saw in the Musee de'Orsay a' Paris :) The rug (you can't really see) in front of the vanity is one I got along time ago from Target that has the blue, brown, and black colors that works so well in here. 

So there you have it. And once again for kicks, here is the BEFORE:

And the AFTER:

My Summer 2012 Living Room Decor

Here is a tour of my current living room as promised! It has been really fun adding a new color that I've never used before and incorporating my summer vacation souviners.

Make sure you look all the way through for a list of sources for things found in this room.

When you first walk in, this is what you see.

This is the coffee filter wreath I made last year and I just switch out the ribbon every holiday/season.

This is another bigger coffee filter wreath I made this week specifically for this space. These curtains were not here during my spring tour, I will post later how we made this extra long curtain rod from scratch! These adorable pillows were the start of it all as far as adding more color into my living room. I'm just loving this pop of aqua!

Added this aqua stripe frame using an old wood craft frame and recovering it with scrapbook paper.

This is where most of my vacation shopping went. Found these lovely blue Ball canning jars, fish plate, votive holders, bowl, and boxwood ball all in one successful trip!

Here are my sand and seashell souviners I collected at a fraction of the Pottery Barn cost.

Standing at the other end of the room, this is what you see.

Here is the funny "nook/ledge/space" I never know what to do with.

Covered decorative balls with aqua tissue paper.

More ribbon to pull in the color.

And lastly, more beautiful sand, seashell, and driftwood souviners from the ocean.

GET THE LOOK: Click on each item below for buying information.

Tonal Geo Grosgrain Ribbon in Blue

Louis Betts Mid-Winter, Coronado oil on canvas

4"-5" Real Bleached White Starfish like this one on Ebay

Pillows in Waverly Lattice Lagoon fabric

Frame covered in Robin's Egg Tiny Dot reversible paper by Echo Park Paper Co

Blue Ball Canning Jars and Fish Plate - thrifted

Crate and Barrel Pop Turquoise Candleholders 

Crate and Barrel Parker Light Blue Mini Bowl (both tealight holders and bowls on sale right now!)

National Geographic World Map

Decorative Seashells

To see my Coffee Filter Wreath tutorial click here

To see my tutorial on mod-podging scrapbook paper to wood go here

To see where I got the beach sand and driftwood look here or for the inspiration look here or here

To see how my living room has changed since Spring enjoy here

Trends for 2012

According to my own online research, this is what I found for the hottest upcoming trends this year!
Spring Fashion: birds, pastels, baroque flourishes, drop waist, deep sea, digital imaging, matte satin, and abstract art.
Home: the color "tangerine tango," building green, warm wood furniture, textured upholstery, decorative wall murals, reclaimed wood, woven & knotted rugs, and second-hand decorating.
Beauty: luxury natural products, keratin treatments for sleek hair, magnetic nail polish for marbelized effect, and customized skin care for lifestyle instead of age or skin-type.
And my own predictions for Handmade/crafts: elaborate cupcakes, and even more handmade scarves, cowls, and jewelry.
Looking forward to 2012 and a Happy New Year to you!
~ Rebecca

Inspired by: Fall 2011 color pallette