Monday, November 12, 2007

The View



No, not the TV show with Barbara Walters. I've been thinking, lately, of the view from one room into the next. Our Little Red House has a very open floor plan; you can easily see from one room into the next. This makes it both hard and easy to decorate. Hard, because you always have to keep in mind the transitions from one wallpaper or color to the next. And easy, because your colors are pretty much dictated by what's in the next room. There are not endless choices!


The picture above is the view from our dining room into the library. That window is old, and not particularly weathertight, but I wouldn't replace it for the world. That's my "sit in the morning sun and read" window.



One of my favorite views is from our tiny den toward the kitchen table. There's alot of pattern in this house, including an ever-changing variety of tablecloths, to protect what was my mother's dining room table. I love flowers, and can't afford to keep fresh, so I have faux arrangements that I change with the seasons. (Yes, I know, faux are a no-no! This was like dogma on HGTV's Rate My Space, so of course a few of us had to tweak the powers that be, and post our faux arrangements. Ask BJ, over at Sweet Nothings, to tell you that story.) Anyway, this scene changes with the seasons.




Here's the scene from our den into the library. We just had the fireplace cleaned, so we're looking forward to lots of cozy nights in front of the fire! Can you spy all my decorating books under the end table?





Finally, here's the view from the library to the dining room. Can you tell why I like this one? The dishes, of course! :)


But do you see what I mean about transitioning colors? Pretty much everything here has to be some mixture of red, cream, beige, brown and green. Makes it easy, but also hard, especially if you also love blues!


How do you choose the colors in your house? Do you change them frequently? Are they dictated by what's already there?








Do you have a favorite view in your house?









30 comments:

  1. Good Morning Mary! Thank you for the tour of the lovely views in your home. I am with you on the beautiful old window, I have one that is very similar and would not change it for the world.

    I have always been a fan of cream and green but lately I have started experiementing with dark, deep red. I like it in the family room, it brings out the warm tones in our old pine paneling.

    Hope you had a peaceful Sunday.
    Rhonda

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  2. Top of the morning to you, Mary, girl.
    As always, I really enjoyed seeing the different rooms of your splendid little red house. There is a warmth in your home that comes thru very strong in the pictures of it. It always gives me the feeling of not only beauty and taste but strength and comfort and a feeling of well being. As if it evolved with time and thought and care. I love your house and I know that you love it with all your heart...it shows!
    And, thanks for giving me smiles this morning, thinking about the silly postings on Rate My Space. We had a lot of fun with them!
    hugs,bj

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  3. That was great Mary. It really felt like we were walking around with you....coffee cup in hand.... peering through your doorways....discussing color transitions. Of course, I was being side tracked by your pretty dishes and I had to sit down in your Den and start browsing through your decorating books....sigh. It was such a nice visit.....just didn't last nearly long enough....

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  4. Mary your home is so warm and cozy and pretty! Thank you for the tour. I find that as much as I think I would like to change my colors I am drawn tothe same ones over & over. The warm colors of red black, cream, yellow and green. Usually when I want to change a room I do it with paint and then sew some new window treatments. Right now I am trying to settle on a color for our master bedroom, ugh! I cant seem to decide! But one of these days I'll just pick a color and go with it, if I hate it I can always repaint:>) Thanks agian for showing us your pretty home!

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  5. Morning Mary!
    I checked and checked your blog and you hadn't posted yet. Now I come back and you have not only posted but already have 4 comments! HA!

    I love your house. And I love open floor plans. If I could design a house with only four walls (save for the bedrooms and bathrooms) I would! I hate walls. I hate feeling cramped in. Our living room is a pale pink because I used to have all pinks and greens. DONE with that! Slowly I'm changing over to all country, including Americana and the pink has got to go! I want to do some faux painting of log walls in my living room. God help me!

    Love,
    Julie

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  6. Mary,

    Your home is gorgeous! As I think I said before, so warm and inviting! And cozy! I know what you mean about transitioning. We have a very challenging floor in our entry way that dictates what I can do in the living room and dining room. We looked into having it ripped out, but it was too expensive. So I try to work around it!
    Happy Monday!
    Annie

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  7. Cara Mery, your house is beautiful, delicious items and batteries of your books are intellectual elegant. Colors are warm and welcoming home make this a harmonious and inhabited house. Italy is said in a home with the soul "is certainly very difficult having to be careful with the color, but I see that you can you very well and should give advice on furniture.

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  8. Thank you Mary for the Monday morning tour. Because I live in a new house in the West, of course all that I long for is an older home in the East. But I am lucky to have a very open floor plan where the family room and the kitchen are one huge room and I love looking from either end. I am so glad I found your blog. Thanks

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  9. I am really enjoying hearing about all your homes, and I would love to see pics!!! I have lived with this style of home, and these colors for so long that I wonder how I would feel if suddenly transported to a home all in white, or blue! I am sure that color, and space, really make a great impact on how we feel in a room.

    Thanks for sharing your colors and preferences, and please post some pics! :)
    xoxo,
    Mary

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  10. Hi Mary!
    When was the house built? I think you could put some bright splashes of blue, you'd just need to put them in every room! Now there's another entire group of collecting for you! :) Thank you for the lovely 'view' of your rooms. It is a most charming house, full of lovely treasures that make it a home.
    :) Abbie

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  11. Mary,
    Your house is beautiful and very warm and cozy. I have always had blue in some form or another. Maybe it is because I always had blue dishes. Remember the Pfalzcraft "Yorktown" pattern. I loved those dishes until I hated those dishes, know what I mean? and I have my Grandmother's Blue Willow. My color scheme has evolved to blue/russet/gold (at least downstairs), but I am finding myself wanting more browns now. So, the quest is on for just the right brown accents...transferware anyone?? Maybe darken the dining room walls from the terracotta to a richer russet. As if I don't have enough painting projects to finish, oh well, c'est la vie.
    Janet

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  12. What a delightful tour! Many thanks for the eye candy! My fav view is looking through my computer monitor and seeing all the lovely homes in blogland!

    Jan at Rosemary Cottage a very open plan here and I have used the same colors throughout the rooms ....

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  13. Just want to add that there are MANY faux arrangements here at Rosemary Cottage! Love them because you can change them -- and stash them until the next time around in the seasons! LOL!

    Jan at Rosemary Cottage

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  14. WOW! What great views from room to room. I just love home tours.

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  15. Hi Mary,
    What a wonderful tour of your house! It's so cozy and warm, and I love all the beautiful wood. Your colors are great and transition well. You can always add a splash of blue. I decorate with reds, golds, black and olive green and I also add a bit of blue! Of course, I love color!
    Have a good day!
    Donna

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  16. What a lovely home you have Mary. Thank you for the tour - I especially love your stacks of books! I have the same color scheme in my house :)

    Hugs,
    Dena

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  17. Your home is so cozy and warm! I bet it feels so great to be in there on a cold, rainy night!

    My floor plan is even more open that yours so all my colors are the same, blue, white, yellow and a little green. I also have faux flowers and I like them!

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  18. Thank you for the lovely tour....love the colors in your home....they are so warm and inviting!

    Have a very, very, very blessed day!

    smiles, kari and kijsa

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  19. Wow....I love all the views of your wonderful home :o) I never tire of seeing pics and enjoyed the tour!!!
    ~Des

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  20. lol @ the faux flowers. I have them all over my house, because firstly, I cannot keep them alive and secondly, I have cats.

    Thanks for sharing your views with us. In my new place there's just too many. I take pictures all the time to help me decide my next decorating move. It's not easy.

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  21. I love the photos. I do like mine to all pull together .

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  22. What a beautiful home, full of warmth and love.

    My dining room is the room people are most drawn too.. center of the house.

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  23. Your view is so lovely... I love it that you can see other rooms... my home is open also....

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  24. Mary -- I love all the wood in your house! I want a library too :-)

    God bless,
    Sallie

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  25. Mary I do the same things I sit in one room and think how I can make a transition of color form one room to the next.I use sage green as my common color in all my rooms except my bedroom.I also have red all through my house.
    I think your house is lovely it reminds me of the house I grew up in.
    Best wishes Brenda:}

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  26. Mary, All of your views are just lovely! I love your house and color choices. I am jealous that you have an actual library room!

    I seem to have yellows, greens and reds. Lately I have been adding blue in different shades into the mixture. You can see most of my main rooms from the living room, so I stick with that color scheme. However, the guest bedroom has lavender with the green...
    Penny

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  27. All of your views are lovely. That is one of my favorite things, to see my rooms and how they flow into the next. Yours are especially nice since they are more open to each other!

    I have to admit I too have some faux flowers, even though I realize it was listed as the #1 top decorating mistakes on HGTV! But like everything, I think rules are fine to break if you do it deliberately!

    I need my faux flowers to add some tall foliage and a splash of color up on a piano. I think the ones I have a really pretty, and they are not trying to fool anyone, nor are they outdated and yucky!

    So there, HGTV!

    Pretty post!

    Melissa

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  28. Hi Mary... Just stopping by to say hi... what a delightful tour! Thank you for allowing us into your lovely home...

    Love,

    Cielo

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  29. Your home seems very inviting and cozy. I don't see why you couldn't use dark blue accents with your existing colors.

    I love looking down into my living room and dining room from the stairs that lead from my husband's studio.

    ~elaine~
    roz_etta@yahoo.com

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  30. Little Red House reminds me so much of our first home. I love it!

    The home we live in now is not as open as yours but the color scheme is red-green-gold...and it plays out through out most of the house. In one room red is dominant and in another room green is, etc. The foyer wallpaper is tan with red and green. I do like rooms to compliment on another.

    Have a great day!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment. I love to hear what you have to say!