Design | anordinarywoman

13/11/2012

Words / 212

Words – they seem to be in vogue right now, more than ever … maybe not so much for the sake of reading but more like a visual experience or as (un)spoken graphic aesthetics. If that make any sense to you. Letters in themselves are very appealing. Whether they are handwritten or as shop / vintage signs or mirrored letters kids do when they learn to write. There’s something about the shape that appeals…at least for me. Now I’m not particularly focused on letters today. It’s more about proverb. Proverbs arise for some reason & I guess they have different meanings depending on cultures. There’s a lot of knowledge & insight behind most so they are a source of wealth, if one is willing to learn.

Proverbs are something I rather recently discovered that I’m very fond of. I wasn’t aware of that nor that I wore a great deal of proverbs within me, unconsciously. At least not until I changed the language from Swedish to English. Suddenly they showed up & still today, I don’t know how it happened. I think it was because I lacked a lot of words & they became a support, as a transition. They often have the same meaning regardless of language & it became a common denominator in a foreign country. It’s funny how it can be sometimes. Now, I see them everywhere just because I’m aware & interested. But not all appeals to me – I choose those that feel right or fit my way of thinking. You have to be picky so they don’t loose their appeal 🙂

PS. Some aren’t proverbs but I like them because of the graphical expression.

Perhaps it’s some truth in this / Etc

Right, for sure / Frenchbydesign

Words & meaning / Curioos

A clear need to be over-explicit / Fancy

So through / Fancy.com

My favourite – even if I don’t fancy the word kill / Unknown

So refreshing nowadays / Google.com

You are your own obstacle /Google.com

Hhmmm / Wisuella

Wise advice / Flawedperfection

Requires a great deal of determination / Frenchbydesign

Awareness / Pinterest

Positive thinking / Justbesplendid

Say no more / Lylablu

Sometimes it is hard to overcome a habit / tumblr

Love & friendship / FB

Take care / Marie

Tagged home decor, letters, Proverbs and Sayings, quotes, truths, wisdom, Words

16/08/2012

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Design, Food, Homes / Interiors

Something in red / 183

Hej there friends,

I’m going with something red today, just like that, with no specific reason. Not that I’m a bearer of red, but on the other hand, things can change. I went for a stroll during lunch & happened to fall in love in a red thin knitted sweater in soft material. Last time it happened was about a year ago & that love is somewhere in a drawer now. It will surely be different this time 🙂

Everything in moderation is a very common phrase in Sweden. I think this phrase fits into red, because it’s a strong & energizing color … which can dominate depending on where & how it’s used. The taste is of course different, but I for one, prefers red accents, whether it comes to fashion or interior design. It’s very much as shown below, actually. Moreover, I appreciate red with basic colours as white or black. I’m fully aware of how boring & predictable I am, but I’m an ordinary woman, you know! I leave with a warm hand, the extraordinary & exciting to someone else.

Red is a color that must have the correct red tone to appeal to me. Not too yellow so it slopes towards orange, not too blue either, so it becomes pink purple etc. It can look too watery in the expression together with white – it’s nicer whit contrast. Fresher in some way – take a look, what do you think?

The icing on the cake, with the red wall mounted lamp in bright red / Annixen

Energising red fridge to brighten up the kitchen / Interiorphotos

Exciting red details that makes a difference to the whole expression in the room / Keltainen

Beautiful styling/ Annixen

Nice contrasts & a beautiful old sofa bed / Ustagiremez

Classy accessory suitable to every outfit / Classycolours via Tumblr

Scandinavian style is fresh, bright & simple / Thefancy

Nice styling where the feature wall makes the impact / Keltainen

Sorbet, anyone? / Technicolourmyworld via Pinterest

Small work space with energising red accents / Dengodafen

Great combination with the stairs & the painting / Skonahem

Cute & certainly excellent mini pastries / Pinterest

Staircase painted in red in the middle with white on the sides / Flickr.com

A fun way to recycle / Sanna&sania

A little red splash of colour / Lokal54

Take care / Marie

Tagged Color, colours, design, Fashion, home decor, Interior design, Red

02/08/2012

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Design, Food, Homes / Interiors

Randomly brown / 179

Hej friends,

I had coffee in a beautiful little chocolate shop a while ago & the coffee part is located below the ground floor. The store it self is not so overly special but the serving area is very nice, cozy & inviting. They have obviously decided to work with the shop fittings in various shades of brown which in this case was the right choice. The lighting, colors, furniture & store expression was quite appealing & inviting. The environment was excellent together with the range … lovely pralines of all sorts, sizes, taste, shape…that is just waiting to be chosen! And when you add to the smell of coffee, then it’s easy to think that you are in heaven.

Brown is one of my favourite colours. I do prefer to combine it together with white, beige & black or just different brown shades. That is me, the predictable one. Well, it’s all about flavor & there are just as much tastes as there are people, of course, right?

Cookies in a vintage tin can / Neutralneverland

Irresistible classic design / Elleinterior

Brown, white & pale pink / Downandoutchic

Different tones / Niceroom

Empty frames on display / Joannahenderson

Modest casual clothing / Herblog

Brown in the front & brown in the back / Atelierueverte

Always nice with coloured glass / Etsy

Rough, worn & charming / Joygaleany via Pinterest

Modest casual clothing – again / Leruffianbureau via Tumblr

Appealing old suitcases / Christinekusely via Pinterest

A small cupcake on an equally small stand / Inthelittleredhouse via Pinterest

Lacquered in gleaming brown / Google.com

Carefully selected in various browns / Ideastosteal

Very nice & masculine bedding / Neutralneverland via Pinterest

Take care / Marie

Tagged Brown, Chocolate, colour, colours, home decor, Interiors, Shop, Shopping

03/07/2012

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Design, Homes / Interiors

Animal inspired / 169

Hej friends,

I’m not personally that fond of animal attributes in rooms, rather opposite actually. But browsing internet, I came up with a lot of images with animal heads, horns, paws on coffee tables, skin rugs etc. There’s a big amount of people who likes this style. As usual, I’m not judging whether it’s right or wrong. That is up to each one to decide. I’m simply stating the fact. I’ve put together a variety of images that are rather simple & basic. It’s also one type of animal theme – zebra & with the black & white colours as well as stripes, this fits in most environments, when well done.

The stool is an exciting addition to an otherwise white & calm environment / Countryliving

Exciting light setting with black floor makes the zebra skin rug stand out / Apertmenttherapy

A beautiful naturally striped zebra dressed in the pattern where it fits best / Morganstern via Pinterest

Black & white living room with a suitable addition / Avolli

Zebra patterned bikini in black & white / Monsieurwintor via Tumblr

Seems like white environments are preferable for animal skin rugs / Interiorhome

Cozy room with subdued light / Skonahem

Sometimes it’s enough with a cushion to get the feeling / The Fancy

Bright yellow scarf with black print on / Tumblr.com

A fire place & the zebra skin rug / Keltainen

Bright yellow to create a more interesting look / House & home

Tight slim dress with zebra stripes / Zsazsabellagio

Something warming under the feet / Desiretoinspire

Styling with animal theme – zebra skin rug, some kind of bird & the horns / Google.com

Take care / Marie

Tagged animals, home decor, home furnishings, Interiors, skin rug, stuffed animals, wild animals, zebra

29/06/2012

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Design, Homes / Interiors

Woolly / 167

Hej dear friends,

Woolly time – it’s getting chilly & we are in the middle of the winter here in Sydney. It’s rather nice during the day but really cold at nights. We have filled up with blankets in all rooms plus extra on the couches. Warm socks is on & the heating element is running. Thick sweaters & scarves prepared on the hall bench, ready to be in use before leaving home…especially in the evenings. I have to dress in layers, early mornings on the Vespa to work. Although it’s windy & cold on the road, it’s not comparable to the chilly evenings right now.

So therefore, it’s very fitting with sheepskin in the couches & on the floor. Warming as well as stylish. We had loads of sheepskin that we left back home in Sweden. I couldn’t imagine that they would be useful over here. We used them in the sled in wintertime, when we pulled the kids to school or for grocery shopping or just for a walk. Very handy indeed! Anyway, with the cold & chilly weather in mind, I thought it to be suitable with a woollly theme today, right?

A very common sight right now / Cush & nook