Bitter Cold...

 

Well, it's probably a little bit of an exaggeration to suggest that the seasons have turned bitterly cold - what with us living in the tropical North Coast (!) - however, when you're a beach loving person such as I am - and the weather has turned chilly enough not to go for a swim - well, it's a sign that things are changing. When the weather is like this - I do like to snuggle up, pop on the fire and hide under a blanket. And with that, I tend to contemplate the colour palette (namely white) that adorn the walls of my home. Yes, sound the horns and ring the bells - the time has come to infuse a little colour onto my walls! You see, I'm doing a little shake up at home. Nothing too grand - but a simple reworking of some of the rooms. When we moved into our old farmhouse we did but a very minor renovation (painting of the floorboards, ripping up carpets etc) with the anticipation that further down the track (once the house and I became better acquainted) we would re-shuffle a little. Not too much, of course! I'm not one to tear down and start again - as I do like my homes to have a large hint of history past. But a mini move around. As it stands, a couple of the rooms just don't work. The children's bedrooms for example have no windows - and are kind of cocooned inside the house (which  would have been about keeping the warmth in the weather out in days past). But, now they are growing and their rooms need a little stretch out - particularly Joe's room (which is tiny and he is growing just too too fast to fit anymore!) And so, I am in reno mode and with that back to the colour palette. What am I thinking? Well, everything warm and deep at this stage. Not for the whole house - I could never sacrifice my white everywhere - but a a warm, slightly sombre tone could bode well for a little area that might become my mini library. And so with all this thought, I have been scouring around for inspiration. I do love the photographs of Hugh Stewart - they mix beautifully a lighthearted air with a sense of depth and often a very slight foreboding. And this pic did really strike my fancy. What do you think? It reminds me of the time that I interviewed famed Australian industrial designer Marc Newson - and upon asking him the perfect colour to paint a bedroom - he replied 'black'! Not that I could ever go black for the bedroom - but the library? Oh, much to think about...