So, without further delay, here's the lovely Maria from Dreamy Whites.
My name is Maria from Dreamy Whites. I just started a blog about 2 months ago! I feel very blessed to be apart of your amazing world. I am a Want to Be Decorator. I love white and love to paint everything white. When Marian asked me to guest post on her blog I was very excited and very nervous! Marian said she liked how I decorated with white. Thank you Marian! She asked me if I could do a workshop on how I decorated my home with whites and how I keep it from looking stark. So I am going to try and give you a few tips on how I decorate my home with whites and how I try to make it look fresh. I am going to give you a peak into my living room.
I live in a modular home. First thing I picked out was my lighting. I wanted my home to feel old not new. The lights you choose can have a dramatic effect on how your room or home feels. I think this is one of the most important aspects of a room. I found this chandelier for a great price. They are a bit of an investment though. Their value continues to go up with time. This chandelier would add a lot to any room.
My husband added old ceiling tin to the recessed ceiling. I was so excited how this turned out. I am fortunate enough to have a sister who lives in New Hampshire and she found this at a salvage yard for me! It was an inexpensive way to add a dramatic effect to the ceiling. The chandelier against the ceiling gives a layering effect of different textures. When you are decorating with white I think it is important to keep it interesting with different textures.
I placed a farmhouse table under the chandelier. I really like mixing something simple like this table with a beautiful chandelier. For me it grounds the over all look. The table has its original paint on it. I think it makes things more interesting when you have some things freshly painted and some items looking shabby. I added apple green bistro chairs around the table. Now I have added a bright color to the room. But it is in small doses.
The seltzer bottles I found on ebay for $8.00 a piece. They add a lot of color to this room.
I have white denim slipcovered couches. I love these slipcovers. I can't imagine life without them. I have 5 children and whoever thought of the slipcover is a genius. I keep mine covered with vintage sheets as well. The reason for this is my washing machine is too small so when I do have to launder them I have to run to the laundromat, the sheets I can throw in the wash anytime. However, I do like how the sheets look though. I think they create a more inviting atmosphere and add a layering effect. People aren't as scared to sit on them either.
My slipcovers I only have to wash once a year. I have never had to use bleach. Oxiclean does the trick!
Pillows, I am obsessed with pillows. I am lucky enough to have sisters who will sew for me. All my pillows are made from vintage materials. I wanted the pillows to have different textures. Some of the pillows have embroidery on them.
While others are made from vintage matelasses, like the one above. I think these different patterns are a subtle way of adding different textures.
I found this old mantle at a local antique shop. It had a lot of peeling paint, I don't necessarily like a lot of peeling paint. So I scraped the paint off and painted it wedding veil white from Benjamin Moore. I painted my walls in this living room pearl gray from Lowes. It is a Martha Stewart color. I originally painted the walls a cream color, but everything just blended together. It made a big difference when I painted the walls gray. It really made the white pop.
I was excited when I found this clock. It looks kind of industrial and is a bit unusual. If you notice I have the violin in the chair. I had started my daughter on violin lessons and she found out she would rather play the guitar. Well it has ended up being a great prop in the house. The dark wood adds a different texture to the room.
On my mantle I have some quail eggs, their coloring adds a lot to a mostly white atmosphere.
My kids found an old bird's nest for the eggs.
I love this little lamp. I don't know anything about its origin, I just know I haven't ever found another one like it. Those delicate flowers adds a lot to my mantle.
The color of these mason jars make me feel like I live by the sea.
The little tag you see here is from my talented blogging friend Ness. She made it out of clay and stamped a french love letter design into the clay. It is pretty special. I made a little grouping of all the things that I adore.
This little french basket is under my fireplace. I think it is unique and adds a different element to the room. It is filled with twine (a must have) and design books. I love displaying my design books. They always have the prettiest pictures on the covers. They are like art.
Flowers! I love adding color with flowers. It is the easiest way to add some vibrant color to a room. These enamelware jugs came from ebay. They make the best vases!
The bright blue sap buckets add a vibrant color to the room. It is little things like this that I love to use as a pop of color. It livens up the room.
I use sea colored class all around my home. It makes any room seem magical when the sun is shining through them.
This is my coat closet. It was a dark brown stained cabinet when I purchased it. I painted it Benjamin Moore's Decorator's White. My husband added the molding to the top. The bright yellow shutter to the left is an unexpected color. I chose that chandelier knowing it would hang over this simple cabinet. I added the mirror to the right so that it reflects the image of my mantle and chandelier. This is what you face when you walk into my front door.
This is a close up of that mirror. A mirror can be so effective when put in the proper place. I always place mine so that they are going to reflect the images of my favorite things. I also use them to bounce light to where I need it most.
This mirror is put on the wall to the left of that white cabinet. This wall doesn't have any windows and is kind of an awkward wall. Once I decided to put mirrors against this wall it didn't seem so awkward anymore.
This mirror used to be an old door!
Depending on where you are standing it reflects many different views of my living room. If you have an area you love a mirror is a great way to duplicate it. The picture below was shot looking into this same mirror that is in the above photo. As you can see I love doors, it is another way to add settle texture to a room.
The picture below was shot through a mirror as well.
I hope you have enjoyed a quick peak into my living room!
I want to say thank you to the talented Marian for giving me this opportunity to share with all of you, her readers, how I decorate with whites. I am really honored to be here today. I hope you were able to get something from it as well. I am passionate about decorating and I love to be inspired. Thank you Marian!
I think I just ruined my laptop from drooling all over it. Maria's home and photos look like they belong in a magazine...and I'm sure we'll see them there some day. I am seriously thinking about the pearl gray for my living room. I love how soft and subtle it is. Thanks so much, Maria, for giving us these great pointers!
Come back next week when we start our series on Painting and Refinishing Furniture.
PS - In case you have not caught on...Marian and Miss Mustard Seed are the same person. I wear glasses when I'm Marian and I don't when I'm Miss Mustard Seed, so no one can tell. Shhh...