Sunday, February 23, 2014

Pattern Quiz!

And while we're on the subject of patterns, I found this fun pattern quiz in HGTV Magazine's August issue.
(Do you read HGTV Magazine??  I get the digital version for my iPad, and I luh-luh-love it!  For anyone considering doing ANY design project, it is a must.  It has great decor, color, DIY, and craft ideas.  And they always tell you what paint color is used in their featured rooms in case you want to try it out.  Two of the colors for my new house come from the HGTV Magazines!)

Ok, so here's the quiz.  Look at each picture and see if you know what the pattern is called.  If you're not sure, the descriptions below have some really good hints.





No cheating!  The answers are below, but don't look until you've finished the quiz!

























How did you score?  I got 11/15.  I was really glad to have read this because I always wondered what that fuzzy damask looking pattern was called.  Now I know!  Ikat!  (Which I DESPISE, by the way.) And did you know that that Moroccan four leafed clover pattern had a name?  Quatre-foil (literally "four leaves").  A little more history about it, it's actually a Christian symbol, a variation on the cross.  How it got to be a Moroccan thing, I don't know.  Maybe during the Crusades??  Anyway, I hope you learned something new today.  And I hope next time you're shopping, you blow the people at Pier1 away when you ask if they have anything in a Ogee pattern.


Saturday, February 22, 2014

Perplexed By Pattern

IT'S STENCIL TIME!

I wish I had a bunch of awesome updates to tell you about.  But the remodel has stalled out over the last 3 weeks.  No one seems to know why.  It started with bad weather that prevented the crew from digging the footings for the family room expansion, and then turned into a 2 1/2 week long vacation to Bora Bora from all I can guess.  At any rate, no one has worked for a while until yesterday when magically they all showed up again and started working!

In the meantime, I've been doing some behind-the-scenes browsing and shopping.  Although Big Daddy doesn't like to make any decisions he doesn't see as absolutely crucial until the exact moment they are needed, I prefer to actually plan ahead.  I fancy that what color of bedding we choose for the new king sized bed might, say, impact the color of walls we pick.  So I've been preemptively scouting out bedding.

I've also been considering wall stencils.  We have a small laundry on the main floor and a pantry, both off the kitchen, that I thought I would do a wall stencil on. They'll both have a lot of wall space covered by food/shelving/washer & dryer, so I figured something kind of busy wouldn't be too overwhelming there.

I'm in love with pattern right now, and it's taking every fiber of my self control not to want to put pattern EVERYWHERE.  But I'm forcing myself to be limited to drapes, throw pillows, and these few wall stencils. So here are the ones I'm considering.  The walls will be done in pale yellow with white stenciling, so nothing too overpowering...

Please, tell me what you think!!


































So....any thoughts?