Monday 14 September 2015

The Decor Anchor or North Star

While I was topping up supplies at my favourite candle shop, 
I thought I would get some unscented coloured candle sticks for a brass candelabra I picked up in Norway.
 

The choices at Cire Trudon range from black to pastel.
But I chose these pink and orange ones.
When I was picking from the wall of color, 
I already had in mind that I wanted to match 
- a dying decor practice  - 
my beloved cushions in the study.
No prizes for guessing which cushion!
It is the orange and pink version of one of my favorite toiles by Manuel Canovas called Bengale.
The brown version was sewn by me therefore just a support act for the main star.

I though I had done the matchy matchy touch for the room and wasn't going to start buying everything to match the cushions.

But last week I went to the flower market and just grabbed a bunch of dahlias by a stall that had doubled up different colors and made them into a single bouquet.

And I must have internally referenced my cushions because 
I couldn't have tried to match the flowers to my cushions any more if I tried!

I have shared with you one of mine but now I am curious to see what your design anchor or reference point is when you decorate?

30 comments:

  1. Wow, I think I would have been overwhelmed with the candle color selection...would have still picked white. I suppose I reference my artwork. Not necessarily to match it, but how to enhance it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the colours because they do certain colors you can't easily. I like to reference artwork too but it's so hard to get it right in my own home!

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. It does enliven the room a bit and is an antidote to grey days!

      Delete
  3. Love Cire Trudon candles, particularly the scented ones. Ernesto is my favourite. But also love the unscented colours you've chosen to join your fabulous cushions. At toile de jouy lover for many years that orange pink cushion is divine. Such brilliant colours! Also love Romy's same toile in blue. Pammie xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love Ernesto too!! It really suits our house and the weather here. Don't you just love toile and that Bengale is so fun to look at and I like to see what else I can find. I love Romy's toile room so much!! xxx

      Delete
  4. Great color palette and those pillows! I work around the area rug in a room often, which I sometimes change out for the season in some rooms!

    Xoxo
    Karena
    The Arts by Karena
    Featuring India Hicks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have many rugs but that is also a great tie in and wish I had the energy to decorate for seasons but just trying to do it once and for all really!

      Delete
  5. I will be matchy-matchy until they put me in the incinerator. I love what you've done with the candles and dahlias. Although it's too small to be a focal point, my living room seems to be done around my Murano glass egg in tones of evergreen and olive with little hints of metallic gold.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The dahlias were pure chance though! I like matchy but then what I find is I stress about trying to match so I try and be laissez faire for my sanity. But I love the sound of the murano egg!

      Delete
  6. Fuchsia and orange make a marvelously cheery combo in your study - you must have a hard time leaving it after a relaxing spell.

    Like you, I get my "design anchor" from the things already in my room. The terracotta paint in my entry vestibule plays on bits of upholstery in the drawing room and even the colors that decorate the porcelain. All is anchored by bits of black which acts like punctuation marks if that makes sense.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love my study as it gets so much light and is my happy place even in my house. It's funny how terracotta in the UK just does not work - so light and sun related! I also have a punch of black in the study too :)

      Delete
  7. So pretty! Loving pinks right now and I love those MC pillows! Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are my favorite pillows and still give me a smile when I look at them!

      Delete
  8. I love the candle colors you chose. I am really into deep pink right now. It's weird, it comes and goes with me, but I do love it in late August and all of September. I like to look at decorating pictures but I could still use a lot of help in this department. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I know what you mean about color infatuations personally - not the pantone of the year kind. But the light in the UK and northern hemisphere can change so much what I like when I see it in other countries but oddly the pink and orange hold their own here. x

      Delete
  9. Love the matchy matchy. I think the colours are really fun, and sometimes its nice to do something that isn't so 'serious' in an interior. As for what is my design anchor - well it changes depending on what the room is. Sometimes it's the lines of something (circles/ square angles etc), sometimes the material it's made from, sometimes it's a colour.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes I tend not to take things too seriously - well sometimes - and try and take chances. I realize I don't have many shapes in my house and rely on art for the graphic element.

      Delete
  10. I can NOT even tell YOU where I begin...........it starts with one object I suppose.I am VERY THEATRICAL when it comes to DECOR!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hhhhm good question, I'm now sitting looking around my room. I think my kitchen is where I do this matchy matchy thing the most. My kettle and toaster are the accent colours so I think I tend to buy little things to match these. The only flowers I tend to buy are white lillies and for every room regardless of the colour scheme! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would like to match toaster and kettle and this time I did only because I realize kettles seem not to last as long as they should and plus there was a special deal!! xx

      Delete
  12. I'm still in the middle of decorating, like, the basics, so I haven't gotten round to matching candlesticks! I love that pink and orange cushion fabric.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i am still in the middle of it but matching candlesticks is so much easier than the rest!!

      Delete
  13. My anchor is inconsistent at best. My mood! Haha I tweak alllll the time and it's always based on pulling out a mood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's all about the mood. My next anchor will be the candlesticks!

      Delete
  14. Love your pink and orange. Very cheerful and uplifting. The colors make me smile. The floral print is beautiful!
    Susan

    ReplyDelete
  15. Indeed, beautiful floral print and nice choice of colos.
    Since I see you are such a design addict and also, to answer your question, I would like to invite you to dive into our rug world. For us rugs means happiness and happiness is what Sukhi, our name, means in Nepali. With the rugs our lady artisans create by hand, we wish to offer confort and a sense of home to all who visit us.
    Hope you will find some more inspiration. Let us know what you think about our work!www.sukhirugs.com

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for dropping by!