2010 Neutrals

To define the word neutral, I would start with a color that produces calm, breathing without thinking, and understated elegance. Recapping 2010 with my neutral blog pictures, seriously makes me want to devoid my life of hue. 
     

Wikipedia defines neutral as "a stance of tone without any bias." Very true, as love abounds everywhere with neutral decor and creations. The world dictionary says, "dull, but harmonizes with everything." Really, dull? I will agrue the first part of that definition. The world dictionay has obviously never fully taken in the visual experience of the different shades of whites, creams, beiges, and grays. It is a feast for the eyes.

Blessings,
Ele

White Out

Whites, creams, and ecru combine for white out conditions, and I'm not talking about the kind of white out conditions I'm privy to in the Midwest. The talk is all about decorating with lack of color or hue, and in artsy terms, a surface that REFLECTS EVERY color, thus appears white. 

    

My favorite white basket is filled with an off white china plate, a silver plate, and a distressed thingamajig (thingamajig: item with absolutly no purpose, but adding color or texture). My black pedestal table displays a candlestick, a vintage pottery piece, a children's tea set and a glittered star.   

When putting together vignettes of one color, (or in this case, lack of color), choose pieces with texture and variations of the same color. Think of visual texture as the glue that holds it all together. If all the pieces were glossy or matte they would seem to slide away.  The weave of the basket adds visual texture that allows the sleekness of the pottery and silver pieces to (visually) stick together.  The pottery and the thingamajig add another type of glue due to their distressed appearance.  Even the star contrasts and adds texture against a glossy tea service. I like it simply for the pop of sparkle :) 

I prefer combining white with its complementary color: black. This works well for me because I have touches of black around my home, like the table where this vignette sits. I added silver pieces because black and white mixed together makes gray (silver).  Easy peasy. Get it? But, remember the best rule when combining items, do you like it?   

My friend Mary at Vintage Patina really knows how to use white and creams in her home. The following pictures are from her Christmas post, (I know, I just can't let Christmas go).

 

Look at those textures! 
 This is the kind of white out I don't mind!

DIY: The star in the little silver children's teapot is an easy do it yourself project. You can buy chipboard stars already cut out at your local hobby store. Paint the star silver, and glitter away!

Blessings, Ele

O Christmas Tree

A Christmas Tree Wish...

in a shadow box sparkles with neutral colored ephemera. 

Ephemera (plural): paper items (posters, tickets), that were originally meant to be discarded after use but have since become collectibles. 

Shades of soothing cream, beige, and black along with the velvety texture of vintage wallpaper sit behind a glass frame. Can be hung on the wall, or free standing on a table.

 

"O Christmas Tree,  O Christmas Tree....."

A few new items are finding their way into my shop.

I am also adding a few supplies, such as paper posies, so that you can use them on your own creations. Currently Lollishops shopping cart is not working, so if you want anything from my store, just e-mail me.

Blessings,

Ele