Monday Happiness

Happy Monday dear readers!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are off to a great start in this new work week.  I know we have been 'busy as little bees' around here with design projects...ordering fabric cuttings, wood samples, room layouts, putting together design inspiration boards, hovering over our vendor catalogs for the right mirrors and artwork, etc.....it's crazy, but we LOVE it.  

However, it was a pretty relaxing weekend, giving me time to look through magazines, both tangible and online and in doing so I found something to share with you...in case you didn't get a chance to see it.

THUS, the name of today's topic...Monday Happiness!  Doesn't THIS picture just say that?  I fell in love with this charming little house (well, it may not really be all that little!) and the lovely pink and purple blooms...and of course, that palm tree in the front yard.  It was just too lovely to not read on further...which I did.  This is the Florida home of Betsy Speert, a former designer that closed her design business to follow other passions...designing furniture, selling antiques and writing books.  

She found this lovely hat rack at an antique store...isn't it unusual?  Fun thing about this piece is that she embellished the middle of it with an image from a tambourine.  Talk about creative....who would have "thunk"  of that?

She didn't want the typical tropical Florida home so she went for a little more of a West Indies vibe.  All of the walls are wrapped with grasscloth too.  Isn't this living room a great blend of new and old?

These two chairs here were the first pieces she bought, which set the tone for the entire house...and they were an eBay find at that.

I just had to show you this close-up...I just adore it.   Isn't it cheerful?  Oh, and even these were all eBay finds.  It makes me want to go shopping on eBay....now!

Would you believe these are MORE eBay finds...oh my!  I love them all, but especially this lamp!!  I'd say she definitely now has a nice, colorful tropical flair in here.

Look how well all of her colors flow from room to room....no doubt it's the interior designer in her!!  Check out the faux bamboo detailing of this desk...and oh how I love this fabric.

Now, are you ready....where is the DIY'r inYOU?  This group of artwork here is all paint-by-numbers that she did.  What a great idea...she said it would be fun to do and it would add that little bit of "silliness" that she wanted in her vacation home.  I wonder HOW LONG it took her to do all of these?

Simplicity in this room, but look at this antique table and guess what the chandelier is made from.  Creative Betsy turned an antique drying rack into a...chandelier! 

 

I just adored seeing this bedroom here.  Such a soft color palette and I loved that it was surrounded by BIRDS.

A closer view...and another fact that I found interesting.  The bird prints were originally way to "crisp and white" for this room...so she scrubbed them with tea (sort of like tea-dying) to give them more of an antiqued feeling.  How neat is that?

And the bathroom is even in grasscloth...and I love it.  These were dark mahogany mirrors that she repainted to give them more of the tropical look.  I love how she popped the green in with plates and small pictures above (and in between!) them.   Look at this vanity chair...it fits right in with her style!

A closer view to enjoy...

As if all of that wasn't enough...this charming little bedroom just STOLE MY HEART!  First, I think I just love the fabric in here...but mixed with the grasscloth walls and the sisal rug and the right combinations of antiques, the clean white bedding, shutters on the window...ok, enough, I'll admit...it is "SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE" in every way!!

But, HOLD ON...it gets even better.....look!

The other side of this room.  I was at a "loss for words" when I saw this...and spent the next thirty minutes, or longer. examining every inch of it!

Can you tell how well the colors flow throughout the home?  Well done!!

And then I found out that if this room weren't enough, just the way it's designed and decorated...it's right off from the POOL.  I am in LOVE, my friends!

She's thought of EVERY detail...even down to carrying the colors out here.  Look at the pool tile...and of course the cushions!  I also read that outside curtains and awnings have since been added.  If I were visiting her, I'd be back and forth...inside to outside...because that's how much I loved every inch of this tropical, West Indies feel Florida home....how about YOU?

I saved a few pictures in the article that I didn't share (believe it or not) so if you want to see more...go HERE to sign up for your FREE online subscription.  It was a web exclusive article that was in my emails.  See, I told you I enjoyed my weekend!!

Have a "Simply Irresistible" Day!

Image Credits:  Traditional Home, Betsy Speert

*I TRY TO CREDIT ALL IMAGES, IF THERE ARE ANY PHOTOS OR IMAGES HERE THAT ARE NOT CREDITED CORRECTLY OR YOU WISH THEM TO BE REMOVED, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL GLADLY OBLIGE. THEY ARE BEING USED HERE FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSING INTERIOR DESIGN. THANK YOU!