Until last week, when I received notifications that there were some new subscribers. Grateful, of  course, that my work was being read, but  horrified that I had let this blog lie dormant for so long. So, this is my apology letter to those of you who clicked the button, and wanted to follow me. Honestly, thank you so much for clicking the button, and enjoying what I write. My blog, Wendy and the Blue Giraffe, is now over at Blogspot, and I would love it if you would join me over there! Hope to see you soon!    –  Wendy p.s. The photograph is borrowed from: http://www.reallycolor.com/free-coloring-pages/animals/giraffe/giraffe-and-car-0

One thing I get asked, time and time again, is how to pick a new color for a room. Many of us watch design shows, and are often told that everyone “should” have color on their wall. The theory being, that color makes the furniture and accessories “pop”, it brings a room together, and it kind of says that we are not afraid to take a decorating risk. We all covet a room that feels warm and welcoming, and often, the room that we admire in the photograph has more color than we would have in our own home. However, if  you feel like a change, and decide to pick up the paintbrush, here are a few thoughts before you begin….. Color will:  – Cozy up your room.  – Enhance your furniture and accessories.  – Hide dirt, fingerprints etc.   – Be a definite style statement.  – Need more cans of paint to get effective coverage (and a colored primer). – Show imperfections in the wall (spackle fixes etc). – Appear darker in the Winter months. How to choose a color:  Always find an inspirational piece to give you a direction – look through home magazines, watch design shows, choose a favorite painting, a color from a piece of clothing etc. Get a sample (s) and paint it on a large (3 x 3 foot) piece of paper or cardboard. Move it around the room, in different spots, to see what you think. If you are not sure, try another color. Upload a photograph of your room to a Room Visualizer on-line. While not perfect, it will give you a good idea of what your room may look like with the new color. Useful Links: Benjamin Moore Paint Room Visualizer Sherwin Williams Paint Room Visualizer For more by Wendy and the Blue Giraffe, go to: http://www.thebluegiraffe.com/ #Color #paintcolors #PickaPaint

Have you been to look for paint recently? Last weekend I went to the local hardware store to do some research for a friend. Two hours later, armed with paint chips and several “helpful guides”, I went home to look (again) at the miniature pieces of colorful information laid out before me. As I got out my pencil and notepad, I reminisced about the easy, lazy days of Red, Yellow and Blue. In their efforts to help, Paint manufacturers have given us far too many choices, making it so overwhelming that many of us buckle with fear; after anxious nights, looking at various shades of taupe, we finally end up with walls that look suspiciously like antique white. Honestly, I never go to the paint store to choose a color. It’s too much, it does my head in. I am lucky in that the colors that I choose are usually inspirational, happy accidents, that I find along the way. I will photograph something, rip it out of a magazine or borrow it from someones house, anything so that I can copy and recreate that color in my own home. If I need to paint, and I have not found something that I love, then I will go through magazines or the Internet, looking at homes to see what others have done. Seeing a photograph of a completed wall is far more helpful than imagining a 2 x 3 inch pigment covering your 15 x 20 foot living room. Often, these beautifully decorated rooms provide the name, number and manufacturer of the paint, which can help a great deal if you decide to use it. If the details are not there, just take the page and match it as best you can (or use the color matching machine available in most of the larger stores). Paint is fun; explore your options, but don’t become lost in the process……. Thanks to: http://www.atticmag.com/…/paint-swatches-rug-style/ for the paint swatch photograph. For more by Wendy and the Blue Giraffe, go to: http://www.thebluegiraffe.com/

Anyone who comes to my house knows that, if possible, we will sit in the sun room. It’s my favorite room; I love feeling like I am outside, while still being protected from the weather. Even at the worst of times, my garden energizes me, it reminds me of how lucky I am to be able to sit and watch the natural world go on around me. That being said, the table in the sun room is surrounded by wonderful, old folding chairs. They are about 50 years old, folding in and out of zig-zag shapes; sometimes it takes time just to figure out how to open them. Age and paint have made them look equally charming (my words) and disgusting (a dear friend’s). Because of their age, they are very small. The seat barely 12 inches square. However, with my ample bottom I know they are far more comfortable and sturdier than they look. Despite their look, lead paint chips do not attach themselves to your clothes, and they do not collapse at the slightest glance. I sit on them all the time. I work out there sometimes and I often sit at the table for hours, writing or dreaming of what I am going to do next. The last week or so we have had several people over for dinner. Each time, as we go to sit down at the table, I see the sideways glances of the adults. Looking at the old, wooden chairs, trying to decide which would be the safest (and cleanest) one to sit on. I always laugh, and show people the chair that I think suits them the best. One of them is covered in layers and layers of very old green paint. I often approach the chair, with new paint or polyurethane, but I just can’t do it. The paint tells it’s story and I didn’t want to erase that part of it. Sometimes, noticing their hesitation, I would run and get the chairs from the dining room and bring them out for us to sit on. But, last week I knew it was time to face reality. Three dinners in a row, with friends and family, convinced me that making my guests uncomfortable, time after time, was not worth me sacrificing function for character. I don’t like to buy new furniture (unless I really have to), so it was with a lot of reluctance that I went looking for chairs. Many hours later I came home with dark red, outdoor, wicker dining chairs that I had fallen in love with. Of course, they needed some tweaking once I got home (ie. redecorating the entire room around their red “newness”…) but as I see them, settled, in the room, I know it was the right decision. Honestly, in hindsight, I was just being stubborn. The romantic beauty of the old chairs had captured my heart. The truth had become blurry, and I couldn’t admit that it was time to let them go………. p.s. I’m not really letting them go. They are going into my office where I can still sit on them. I love them so. For more by Wendy and the Blue Giraffe, go to: http://www.thebluegiraffe.com/

Many years ago my parents went to the Greek Islands for a holiday. When they returned they decided to paint their newly renovated bathroom a warm shade of terracotta; they were inspired by their trip and wanted to recreate the sunny, Mediterranean feeling back home. They bought the paint, mum went to work for the day, and dad was left to paint the bathroom. When she got home that night the bathroom wasn’t terracotta – it was a very pale peach. Apparently, when dad opened the can he thought it was too dark, applied to the wall it was even darker, so he took it upon himself to add half a can of white paint. The striking orange had become a pastel. My mum took it in stride (or so I was told), hastily changed plans and turned the bathroom into a relaxing spa-like room instead. I think of this story often because putting color on the walls is a daunting task for most of us. The walls take up so much space in our homes that we want to get it right, we don’t want our homes to look boring but neither do we want them to look cartoonish. When I moved into my home I painted every room in the house cream. Because that’s what people did. After a few years I got bored and decided to paint my kitchen green. Not just a light green but a dark, mossy green. The minute I painted it I loved it. My kitchen is tiny and dark but it has been green for over 10 years. I have changed the counters and the cupboards many times since then, but I have never tired of the green walls. After the kitchen I began experimenting in other rooms. I knew that if it didn’t work I could always paint over it. Although my living room is still white, several of my other rooms are now quite colorful. All of them are very small rooms (8 x 10 at best) and all of them have colors that we would traditionally shy away from with smaller rooms. Interestingly enough I found that having color on the walls created personality within the room, the shapes became more interesting and the room was easier to decorate. At the moment I really want to paint my living room. Well, I don’t really want to paint it, I want to decide on the color, then pay some nice person to paint it for me! But that’s beside the point. As I’ve mentioned in previous entries, my living room, although edited, is still filled with a lot of stuff and a lot of color. Its the color that is already in the room that keeps tripping me up. It is starting to resemble a Frida Kahlo painting and I think there is a fine line between eccentric and downright strange. I love Frida’s work but I don’t want to feel that I am living in one. With that in mind I decided that choosing paint would be an interesting topic for this week. The first and easiest option is to go with your gut, choose a color for no reason other than the fact that you like it and want it in the room. If you are making a drastic color change then I would recommend getting a sample of it to try before you commit to the whole room. I know it seems like a lot of work but it is important to see how the color looks in your home, with your furniture and surroundings. Buy a small sampling of the color. Some paint distributors have testers available in the form of a sachet or a miniature bottle (I saw some the other day for just $2.97 each and they had them in every color). These will usually cover a three foot square area. If you don’t want to paint the actual wall with your test color then paint several pieces of paper (even newspaper) and hang them up around the room. While not perfect it will give you a visual reference that no tiny paint card can. Live with the color for a couple of days and then make your decision Also, I hate to say this, but if it is a very dark color you may need to prime the walls first. I did not prime my kitchen and bedroom but I can honestly say I was foolish not to. Both times I had to return to the store to get more paint. To get the true color I had to apply three coats of paint, it took me longer than if I had primed it in the first place. The next color option is always white and cream. Although these are often frowned upon they do have their place (downstairs in my living room apparently). The good thing about these colors is that they are a blank canvas for your home, anything you put against them will stand out. My only caution would be to think carefully before you use bright white paint. The difference between cream and white is subtle but if you use cream (or a light butter color) your home will look warmer. Of course there can always be beautiful white rooms but take extra care in how you decorate them, without the right accessories it can be a bit harsh. My absolute favorite way to pick paint is from something that inspires me. I need to touch or see the color first before I tackle all those tiny paint cards. I need a starting point. My strategy is that when I see a color that I love I will try and do whatever I can to remember that color. I’ll rip the page out of the magazine, pick the flower, photograph the window, write a description, anything. Once I have what I need I am ready to go to the store. When I get to the store I head straight to the color matching scanner in the paint department. These are ingenious; take the item that you have and hold it against the screen, it will analyse it and give you the coordinating paint color. Once the formula has been printed out the store will mix up the color for you. You’ll be surprised what they can process (fabric, old paint cans, flowers, magazines etc). For my kitchen I matched the inside border of a painting, for the bedroom a piece of suede on a quilt that lay on the bed and for my bathroom I took a photograph of the wallpaper in the hotel that I was staying in and matched that. You can begin with anything you want. Maybe the stitching on a pillow is the perfect shade of green, or maybe when you got a special gift you decided that the silver jewelry and the blue box were exactly what you were looking for. Once you start looking to be inspired you’ll be surprised at how much there is right in front of you. The world is filled with color and there is nothing better than something you love to get you motivated. Sometimes you’ll find that an item can’t be color matched with the scanner (eg. a car, the belt on a strangers dress, clouds) but at least you know what you like and how to find it. Knowing what you want is half the battle. I meant to keep this post short but alas I am not very good at editing myself. One thing I forgot to mention was to look outside for inspiration too. Colors from nature always go together and are always, well, natural. Maybe you want some color but are afraid of being too bold. Try shades of green, brown, red or yellow and see if they would fit into your home. Experiment by bringing branches or flowers inside. Anything you can do to create an image will help you make a better decision. As for me, I think I want to paint my living room a very light yellow. I wonder if I can scan a piece of cheddar cheese….. (p.s. yes, you can scan a piece of yellow american cheese). For more by Wendy and the Blue Giraffe, go to: http://www.thebluegiraffe.com/

Well, it’s Springtime here in New Jersey and about two hours ago I became my own worst client. After 6 months of Winter, of looking at the same things day in and day out I was sure that my house was the most boring one on the planet. It seemed drab and in need of a good clean (not my forte). As I wandered around bemoaning how much “stuff” I had accumulated I just knew that my life would not be perfect unless I hired a housekeeper and bought four red chairs for my sunroom. After thinking about my dilemma I had a reality check and remembered what I did for a living. Remembering was just the beginning; it took me a few minutes to realize that it was time, once again, to be my own client. To forget the rules, remember my budget and get going. I tackled the sunroom first. Convinced that nothing could cheer it up, I reluctantly emptied it of its contents. I sipped on a cup of coffee as I looked at the vast amount of furniture that I had removed from such a small room. As I stared at the empty space I realized what I had to do – the sofa and table had to stay, no replacements there, they were a necessity. But everything else could be changed. The yellow dining chairs bothered me; I definitely needed red chairs instead. Unfortunately I had no red spray paint on me so the yellow chairs were placed in the garden while I contemplated their fate. I searched the basement and found a painted, wooded green chair and a plain wooden chair. They would do, a bit shabby but it was a sunroom after all. I put them in and right away the room looked better. The accessories were next. I had so many, but as I hadn’t really looked at them in a while it became clear that many I didn’t like or had been given to me by people I didn’t like (!). So, I put these in a bag to be given away. Much better. I removed a small brown table and replaced it with a trunk from the mudroom. Surprisingly the scale of the trunk looked better than the small table and it changed the whole focus of the room. Pop a plant on it and it would be perfect. I then grouped all my books together, placed them all together on a shelf so that I could pretend I had lofty ambitions of being well read. It gave it a slightly studious but natural look. Added a floor lamp and a chair to create a little reading (or napping) nook. As I went on clearing the room I knew I needed more color in it. A pillow on that brown wingback chair was what I needed. Perhaps a red pillow…………..But I have no red pillows. I searched the house and could find no spare pillows, not even anything that I could make into a pillow. Well, I did, but couldn’t find a fabric that I liked to cover it. You know, as I write this I remember I have some vintage tablecloths in a drawer. Maybe I could wrap one around a pillow and that would brighten the room up? Hmmm, will try that when I have finished writing. So, I pottered around the room, added some plants and was surprised at how nice and fresh it looked. I just needed one more chair to put around the table. Into the garage I went. Found a wrought iron doormat that I didn’t know I had, a piano leg that I had hoped to make into a table one day but no extra chair. As I was leaving, I ducked my head under the door and noticed something red on the shelf. Four red chairs! I had bought them years ago, but couldn’t find a space for them, so I had stored them in the garage (they folded up, so I told myself they were barely noticeable). With far too much excitement I grabbed the chairs and took them into the sunroom. They were the wrong height for the table but it made me so happy that I had found them. Back to the garage they go. As I went back inside I found the small brown table to be too, well, brown, so I looked at my paint collection. I found a gorgeous blue and I started to paint the table top, much to the chagrin of the cat who was just about to sunbathe on it. While I waited for the paint to dry I made a cup of tea and sat in my new sunroom. As I mused, I noticed the floor lamp by the wingback chair……Wouldn’t it look heaps better if it was red? For more by Wendy and the Blue Giraffe, go to: http://www.thebluegiraffe.com/

I visited an Art room at school yesterday, and I didn’t want to leave; it was joyfully cluttered, over-flowing with activity, and it smelled of warm crayons. The Art teacher looked so comfortable in her paint-splattered smock, and she welcomed me with such a big smile, that it made me feel like a child again.  Our children’s lives are far more controlled now; school days start at 7:58am (not 7:59am, or you’ll get a tardy slip), they are allowed exactly 1 1/2 minutes to go to the bathroom, and they are driven to sports activities that mandate entire days to practice for a game that is, well, just a game…So, when I walked into this colorful room, it really made me smile. Don’t get me wrong, I know that we all do our best, and we need rules, but we also need permission to be ourselves, at our own pace. The Art room is that place in school; a perfect oasis of mess, in a ridiculously formal environment.  It’s not just about creativity, it’s about having the freedom to discover what makes you tick, and not to be controlled all of the time. Children need to figure out who they are in-between the activities. Some crave organization, with straight, printed labels, and a place for everything, while others like to grow a mountain of stuff that crawls towards you when you open the door. Many want their favorite color from top to bottom, and others just want a place to play with toys or listen to music. (Strangely enough, they all seem to know where everything is).  I am a firm believer in giving children some place to be themselves, and letting them own who they are. And, I think their bedroom is often the easiest place for us to give up control. If I am decorating a child’s (or teen) room, my biggest goal is for them to know that it is about them, and I want to create a space that they will love. Here are some ways to do the same thing with your child: – Pretend to interview them. – Take notes as they talk, really listen, and try not to judge their answers.  – Ask them what they love about their room the most. – What would they get rid of if they could?  – What is missing? And, why do they want that in their room? – Ask them to draw, or write, about their most perfect room. Afterwards, take some time to read over your notes. Decide what you are willing to do, and why/why not? Be as open-minded as you can be. Consider alternatives to what they want. Wait a few days (this shows them that you really do care) and then write your own list. – Offer solutions eg. more, or less, storage and organization, removing an old piece of furniture, storing childhood toys, creating a wall for posting notes and thoughts, painting everything a different color, getting new curtains, having a more grown-up theme etc). – Consider giving them a small budget, and taking them shopping for some new things. Let them  spend it any way they want. – Don’t promise them things you have no intention of doing. – Plan how, and when, you will both work on the solutions. Schedule a start date. – Explain what you cannot/won’t allow (and why).  I know this might seem like a lot of work, but if we give them the time, and show them that we really care, they will learn how to embrace who they are, and create a place that they will always love… Photograph of a Girl on a Swing, by the talented designer, Kate Jackson For more by Wendy and the Blue Giraffe, go to: http://www.thebluegiraffe.com/ #Art #RoomsforChildren

With Fall nudging its way into our homes, I love to settle down with Fashion magazines. To me, Fashion and Home Design are connected. The best stylists know how to balance scale with texture; to create a look that is always interesting, and sometimes provocative. Decorating a home is exactly the same; no-one opens a magazine to be bored, and no-one ever aspires to look at a repetitious, impersonal space. What we look at should always evoke some kind of feeling. The latest Fall fashions make me hyperventilate with joy; a sumptuous combination of rich colors, tweed fabrics alongside ridiculously oversized, girlie taffeta skirts, and accessories that just beg to be noticed. While these looks are often exaggerated, their message can often be applied to our everyday lives. I have attached several editorial photographs. The first one is a classic, retro look, the second, a beautiful study in neutrals, and the third, a playful mix of pattern and texture. If you forget their original purpose, they could easily be used as pieces of artwork, or, even better, inspirational guidelines to decorate your home. Whether or not you love Fashion, pick up a magazine now and again. Notice the way that their photographs are styled. I am sure it will make you think differently about your home. With many thanks to: http://nibsblog.wordpress.com/ for the retro photograph, and two other magazines (whose names I have forgotten) from which I tore out these pages. For more by Wendy and the Blue Giraffe, go to: http://www.thebluegiraffe.com/