It was 85º here in Florida yesterday...and today isn't looking much different.
So...I'd say it's completely appropriate to go ahead and share some simple "Spring" touches I made in our master bedroom yesterday.

I did a quick refresh starting with adding some simple greenery to my rustic, sparse, winter-ish and otherwise simple grapevine wreath.

I didn't use any tools...just the built-in "harnesses" (aka braids + twists of the grapevine wreath) to secure the green garland.

I used two 6ft. long faux greenery garlands - actually, the same two I used to create my Thanksgiving table garland and my Christmas table garland, and I just tucked the longer ends of each in-between and through the grapevine. Thats' it. And it took me less than 10 minutes to do...maybe even only 5 minutes.

Talk about versatile. The grapevine wreath is one of my favorite multi-seasonal decorative items and now I love that I've been able to move these garlands to various places of my home and for a variety of seasons.

After I made the wreath I was then inspired to make up my bed using a really pretty mix of my Georgina Anthropologie bedding and a new Bamboo Turkish Bedspread from Thimble + Cloth. 

I then added this simple marble tray filled with some of my favorite things - a stack of green vintage books, a handmade tassel from my friend Pamela at August + May Design Company and an adorable handmade pinch pot from Black Oak Art filled with more faux greenery. I'm thinking a live maidenhair fern would look exceptionally pretty in this spot too.

As much as I loved the simplicity of it I was still wanting to add a little more warmth and "cozy" to the bed. Adding a blanket was my first thought but I ultimately decided to use this Turkish Peshtemal from Thimble + Cloth instead.

The peshtemal is technically a lightweight, absorbent towel but I knew it would create the Spring-vibe I was going for vs. using any of the standard blankets I had laying around. *wink*

I think it worked like a charm.

Are you inspired to start adding some simple Spring touches to your home too?

A few minutes or your time and creativity can make such a big difference, am I right?

PS - Let's stay cozy + connected in-between posts...find me on Instagram for daily inspiration.
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KEEPiNG iT REAL

Jay continues to remove my gorgeous Georgina duvet cover because of the current duvet insert I have....it makes him too hot. 

I purchased the Bamboo Turkish Bedspread from Thimble + Cloth as a quick fix but I'm currently looking for some new bedding and linens to make our bed extra super cozy and inviting (but simple + timeless), and without the "heat" factor.  Check out my some of my recent pins to see the vibe I'm going for.

If you have any affordable suggestions, please send them my way!!

LET'S TALK TUESDAY | No. 2 :: Book Club, App + Paint Color

Brrrr! It's another cold winter day here in Florida my friends!!
(currently 39º - high of only 55º). That's cold for this Florida girl.

Let's warm up together with our "Let's Talk Tuesday" No. 2 today. (click here if you missed No. 1 and find out more about the inspiration behind the NEW LTT blog series here on Pen + Paper Flowers if you missed the original announcement).

I have another set of fun questions I'm excited to answer today.
I'm just loving this little bit of time we are carving out each week to connect for a few minutes on a very real level - like friends meeting up over coffee or hot cocoa!


QUESTION #1:
Q: I loved the Book Club you were doing last year but I haven't seen any updated posts in awhile. What happened? Am I missing something? - Maria B.

A: Oh my! I'm embarrassed to admit this but the truth is...life is what happened. After going strong from January until August, I missed posting in September...and then October and before I knew it, it'd been three months and there was no way to catch up at that point.

The good news is, I've been brainstorming some ideas to update the PNPF Book Club to make it a little more simple...a bit LESS complicated. How about I skip the "review" part of things, which was the original concept of the Book Club, and just do a quick list of my current reads every month? What do you think? BTW: Here's one for you: "Whatever You Are, Be a Good One" by Chronicle Books. (Clara gave it to me for Christmas).

QUESTION #2:
I just love the inspirational thoughts you share on Instagram and I'm wondering if there's a specific app you use to create them? I think it might be the Rhonna Designs app but I thought I'd just ask.  - Amanda G.

My favorite app to use is called Phonto. It's SUPER easy and allows me the flexibility I prefer for manipulating fonts and letters. I actually just select the "plain image" option and then select the blank white square to add my wording. That's it. Now, having said that, I do love using the Rhonna Design
App when I want to add some cute design elements. And of course, I'm always using my favorite design program, Adobe Illustrator, for designs as well.


QUESTION #3:
Q: I just love your simple style - both with your designs and some of the images I've seen of your home decor. You'd mentioned awhile ago that you were in the middle of deciding on a paint color for your master bedroom. I'm in the middle of a master bedroom makeover and I'm curious as to what color you ended up choosing. Natalie P.

That's so funny you asked about this because I was at the paint store just YESTERDAY having a gallon mixed up to test out on the master bedroom. I never did paint the master as previously mentioned a year or so ago because I still wasn't convinced of the colors I'd chosen and I just sat on them. In fact, I've still got paint swatches on the walls and I just keep adding to them any time I'm inspired by a color I see on Pinterest or social media and any color recommendations from family and friends.

I'm not sure why, but I've been really stumped with what to do or what direction I want to go in for that room. I can't tell you how many "this is the one" moments I've had with paint colors only to sit on it for a few days and then change my mind altogether. (what is that?) Grrr. So...in keeping with my One Little Word (LESS)...I'm doing less second guessing, less procrastination and I will be moving forward..with confidence by the way...with the custom paint color I had mixed yesterday!

It's a color of happenstance because it was two different leftover paint colors Emalyn decided to mix together on a whim when she re-painted her bedroom a few months ago. Can you believe that? I LOVE the color she ended up with (shown on the top paint stick) so I had it custom matched and then used 50% of the formula for a lighter/brighter hue in the master bedroom. (bottom paint stick). And...yes, it's another creamy white neutral. My mom is SO rolling her eyes right now. And maybe you are too!? *blushing*

I'll share before and after pics soon! For now, I wanted to share a photo of the final Behr paint formula I'm using in the master bedroom, just in case you want to run right out and try it yourself!! 
Let's call the custom color: Happenstance.

Okay, and one more thing...
Have any of you seen the SureSwatch™ sheets? I noticed them for the first time at the Home Depot paint counter yesterday while waiting for my paint to be mixed. The concept sounds pretty cool - but I left without paying the $3 for one sheet. Now after having watched the how-to SureSwatch™ paint and SureSwatch™ Primer Decider videos online to learn more, I'm even more curious about whether or not they'd really work and if they'd be worth it? If you've used them I'd love to know what you think!! And if you haven't, would you consider using them?

Was that fun? Feeling a little more connected? I know I am.
Until next week friends...keep your questions coming!!

DIFFERENT WAYS TO SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS
1. Email me directly: pnpflowersinc AT gmail DOT com
2. Leave a question on my Instagram feed anytime.
3. Leave it as a comment here on the blog.
If you ever have any issues at all being able to leave a comment on my blog, please email me directly to let me know so I can figure out how to resolve it for you: pnpflowersinc AT gmail DOT com

xoxo!!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
I thought it'd only been a little over a year ago that I started putting different paint swatches on the walls in the master bedroom but when I went back to look at the original post about choosing a paint color I realized it was from August of 2013! Oh my goodness. That's just ridiculous. Now I'm embarrassed. See!! I've REALLY been stuck. For too long. Here's to LESS procrastination! *blushing*

LIFE | A Good Night's Rest

A photo posted by Jessica | Pen + Paper Flowers (@pnpflowers) on Jul 14, 2015 at 8:37am PDT

We have had a crappy mattress for about 8 years now.
Over the last 2 or 3 it's become almost physically unbearable...
I've had ongoing back issues and J and I often feel as though we've been run over by a truck when we roll out of bed every morning. I'm not even kidding.

After years and years of dealing with it...
months and months of putting it off...
and just not wanting to spend the money...
We finally took the plunge...and as I see it...invested in our future!

We bought a new Tempurpedic mattress and have had it for about 2 weeks now.
As neat as it is to not be able to feel the bed move or shake when the other person gets in or out because of the memory foam, I'm still not convinced it was worth the money as I'm still not sleeping like a baby - which is completely what I was expecting. 

We were told to give it 30 days...so I'm giving it two more weeks to rock my world...
otherwise I'll be calling Tempurpedic to discuss our options. *wink*

On top of having a new mattress to adjust to, which is absolutely a wonderful "struggle" to be having, we also jumped from a Queen size to a King - which I'm not sure was the best decision.  
J is not a snuggler which means there's even more distance between us now. *frown*

Of course, now we need all new sheets + bedding because of the jump up in mattress size...
which, again, is an absolutely wonderful "problem" to be faced with.

Which brings me full circle to the reason behind my post today!!
I've been obsessesed with the Georgina Bedding from Anthropologie!!

Photo Credit: Lovely Blonde Closet 

Photo Credit: Convey the Moment 

 Photo Credit: Convey the Moment

Photo Credit:  Lovely Blonde Closet

Seriously though!
Isn't it absolutely gorgeous??

Well...over the course of the last 3 weeks of staring at it on the Anthropologie website and searching hashtags on Instagram of other people who have the bedding to help me make the agonizing decision over whether to go with the white or the cream option, (thank you Eleni McMullin from @conveythemoment on Instagram), lo and behold, a 25% off sale popped up!!  That's all I needed to  convince my budget-minded guy that NOW was definitely the time to make my bedding dreams come true!! 

We still have a headboard to find but I have convinced myself this bedding is going to change my life because it just might be the motivation I need to actually paint the master bedroom that has had paint swatches on the walls for well over a year now.

I'm feeling incredibly fortunate to be breaking in a new mattress and to know some beautiful bedding is on it's way.  This truly could the beginning of something wonderful...a good night's rest, first and foremost.

Anyone else have some bedding that you've been obsessing over...
or duvet covers you've actually splurged on that you love? Please share!!

KEEPiNG iT REAL
My bedroom is seriously a disaster.
It's the catch-all space for things we aren't sure what to do with and it's just NOT the sanctuary I would love my bedroom to be. That's all about to change now...in about 5-7 business days upon delivery from Anthropologie. *wink*

LIFE | My search for the elusive Tendregris

I've just started the early steps towards making over our Master Bedroom.
It's been something I've been thinking about and putting off for a long-time.

My process for transforming this room started with selecting the wall color.
I pulled out the "Country French" magazine I've been keeping for years as a reference for a color
I've been searching for ever since I saw it mentioned in the pages.

"In France, the ubiquitous color called tendregris (soft grey) is everywhere. It morphs to a green or blue depending on the light and the season."

I decided THIS would be the color for the Master Bedroom.
The fact that it morphs into different colors depending on the light/season is perfect for my personality...I'm that person who tires of things quickly and is always rearranging furniture for a new look.

With about five different paint samples...

Ella and I began the process of elimination last week by putting up some swatches of color on all four of the existing "Viva Gold" walls in the Master Bedroom.

The paint colors I gravitate towards are typically very neutral.

So you can imagine the shock to my system when we walked into this home for the first time as potential buyers.

Not only was the outside of the home painted a "pumpkin" color...

almost every single wall in the interior of the home matched the exterior! *gasp*

Want proof?

Here are some of  the "before and after" photos I shared with you awhile back...

I much prefer the various "creamy white" colors I chose to paint over the gold, don't you?

So with the rest of the interior walls of the house painted...

our master bedroom has been the only room left to officially banish the viva gold from our home forever! It's been a painful wait, trust me!

After a few days of looking at the color swatches on all four of my walls...

I have made a decision!!

It's clean, fresh, soft, pretty and something different than my standard "creamy white".

Colors Swatches from Top to Bottom:

Sherwin Williams - Blue Hubbard - perfect - I'll take this one!!

Behr Ultra - Lime Light - really like this one too - a little less color than Blue Hubbard!

Behr Ultra - Pensive Sky - too blah!

Behr Ultra - Contemplation - too dark!

Behr Ultra - Light French Gray - too grey!

I almost went with the Lime Light until I remembered I had a paint sample in the garage from a previous paint project.  It was meant to be! It turned out to be just enough added color to bump the "Lime Light" out of the limelight! *wink*

The Blue Hubbard is a discontinued color by Sherwin Williams.

I'll be having Behr match the color and mix me up some Ultra!

My hopes are to get the room completely painted this weekend!!

I'm not sure that's going to happen though since my sweet Ella has been sick this week with the cold she caught from me.  I'm still not even 100% with a super annoying cough I can't seem to get rid of!!

Stay tuned for more details about the pillows I have found for my bed!!

KEEPiNG iT REAL

Although I don't recommend getting a terrible cold and being confined to bed for 3-4 days as a way to really put thought into the color swatches on your walls before making your decision...

I do have to say it worked out pretty good for me. Ha!!