Come on in! I’m busy painting so I thought I’d just share a few pictures with you today. When you walk through my home you’re sure to see a few recurring themes or motifs! Not so many that you can actually say something like “Wow, she really likes cows!” type of thing, but enough so that there’s a unifying feeling that flows from room to room.
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Today I’ll just show the check & harlequin patterns. The first thing you see is that red harlequin door mat outside on my front porch. Then when you enter you see this black check doormat. The risers say “There’s No Place Like Home”, for those of you who haven’t seen the steps before.
Up the steps and the first thing you see is the black and white checkerboard floor of my kitchen. I really love it. We did black and white marble tiles (peel and stick) instead of the solid white and black you usually sees. It’s much better at hiding dirt!
The kitchen isn’t really this fluorescent green! It’s a kiwi or pear green.
I’m sure most of you can guess at some other recurring themes I have ~ smile.
Small checks or big checks.
I’m always looking for things that have a harlequin or check pattern and surprisingly they’re really not that easy to find.
Harlequin bathmat
As you can tell I like black! I pretty much stick to black, white, and red with some apple green as an accent and I think of my yellow walls as a neutral. I find that makes shopping for things so much easier plus I love those colors and have never gotten tired of them.
I try not to go overboard with any of the themes or motifs I have, but that’s just me and what I like. I know a lot of people are into roosters, or sea shells, nests, or flowers. What themes do you having running through your house and do you find that people buy you things with those themes? Do you like that? I personally don’t like it when people buy me things for the house unless they know me really well and have been shopping with me. Just because I like dog paintings doesn’t mean I’m going to like that one with all the dogs in clothes sitting around a poker table!
Manuela,
Your home exudes personality and warmth….
I, too, use black and white toile in a bathroom, sage green in a bedroom and bath, several of the colors you use…my dining room is an English red…soft yellow in the den…
I like harlequin but I don’t have any….mmmh…maybe that will be on my browsing list…
Have a blessed day…Betty
Um I thought i was looking at my own house. Lol. I would love to see more of your bathroom and kitchen. Love your taste sweetie! Oh, and since you got the candlesticks I had to go out and by myself something Harlequin too. they r not candle holders though. But i feel a little better now. lol. mishelle
I love the Harlequin too Manuela! I am a lover of Black also. I love the splash of green too. So pretty. Jamie
Good morning, Manuela –
Your is lovely, as always. I love the way you’ve tied things together with colors and patterns. I have a bit of that. I love pale yellow and I collect yellow depression glass and yellow pottery, especially old American pottery. That’s the recurring theme through our home. I’ve used a bit of this and a bit of that in each room. It’s all still coming together as we work on redoing and updating our home. Some day it will be finished enough to share. I have a couple of theme rooms. My main bathroom is coast and lighthouses (we lived on the Oregon Coast twice) and our guestroom/library is an internatiional theme because of a foreign doll collection I started when I was young and from our travels in Mexico when we’ve gone on missions trips. A few things in there are from dear long-time friends who were missionaires.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful home with us.
~Adrienne~
your home is beautiful! thanks for sharing it with us.
I could just as happily live in your house as I could my own! I love all the harlequin and especially your kitchen floor. Of course the toile…and the transferware. All of it 🙂
I have keys and fleur de lis (the symbols from my sorority) and I also like doors. I have lots of pictures of doors.
I also have a very subtle harlequin pattern in my living room wallpaper and I’ve repeated it in some of the fabrics I used in there but it’s not really that noticeable. I notice it because I know about it, I think!
Everything you do has the underlining theme of CLASS… you are one classy lady…… nothing you do is over the top and all is done with a great sense of style and class…
Hugs
Linda
I totally agree with you about others buying for your home….
I always enjoy seeing portions of your home – it is so welcoming and comfortable, but also elegant. I don’t really have a theme running through our home. It is just decorated with things of meaning to us. Sally
Hi Manuela,
Everything is so pretty…you have amazing talent for putting it all together…I also have a fondness for checks and the color black. Every room needs a little black and red…
Warm wishes for a wonderful week,
Susie
I love the colors you use Manuela. Your home does exude your personality as betty says. Thx for sharing.
Oh please show me a picture of your staircase! I have a staircase that needs some serious fixin’ uppin’, and I see you have a little something going on with yours….please show and tell! 🙂
I love all the harequin, and black toile. Your home looks so wonderful, all dressed in its finery for the holidays. Yes I am a chicken and rooster, kitchen. A native American bedroom. Parlor of all things old, Dining room is this and that. Family room is comming together, after a few rugs tried. I ask, Please no more what nots or rooters or Buffalo. Old country rose china, yes! Love your bath.
All of your pictures are great…where did you find your shower curtain? I love it!
Let’s see…themes around my house. Toile, harliquin, checks and roosters. In reds, blacks and yellows…A touch of green thrown in for good measure. I think we really are sisters Manuela! We have so many of the same things! BTW, I love your harliquin sphere!
Very pretty!!! I have a lot of themes too…mirrors, shells, nests to name a few!
We have so many things similar in our homes. I love all those black/white harlequins and checks too, as you probably already know. I even have some similar bathtub prints with harlequins in one of my guestbaths like you do. Love it!
I love black and white checks too. I have a lot of them in my home. I also have some roosters and chickens since raising them is a hobby for me. Unfortunately I often get inundated with chicken theme gifts and have had to tell people I have enough. I dont want to be that crazy lady with chickens all over the house!
I love all your black and white in your home but it’s so subtle I hadn’t really noticed it before. You have great accessories and such a natural decorating sense.
Gretchen
Great Harlequin collection.
I could not agree with you more. I DON’T like when people shop for me for my home. I like to do my own shopping for my home (and clothing too) myself. Nothing worse than receiving a gift and not liking it then feeling obligated to display the item in our home so we don’t offend anyone.
Give me candles, gift cards, or CD’s I always say!!
Blessings,
Sher
I love your home! And I, too, love to use black accents everywhere. So elegant.
Hi Manuela,
Love the black!!
As you know I have black and white toile as well. I always try to add a bit of black to each room.
Thanks for sharing,
Rosemary
I love everything! You really have some gorgeous stuff! I would love to see more of your kitchen if you ever want to do a post about it. I have got to go and drool over your pictures again!
In my early college days my kitchen was decorated in cows:) It didn’t last long but the love of things black and white did:)
All of your pretties look so…pretty:) Thanks for sharing!
LOL at the dogs sitting around the poker table.
I went through a lighthouse phase 12 years ago and everyone bought me lighthouses! I hated it. I just wanted a few here and there but they were lavished upon me. 😉
Love the black and white throughout your house. I have just gotten into black and white with khaki walls and pops of blue.
Dear Manuela,
I love your home, it is so pretty! You have an eye for decorating! The colors you love are beautiful and all go together well!
Thank you for sharing!
Have a good week! Paula
I love your home! I’ve been checking out your blog for a few weeks, but this is my first comment. 🙂 I also love black and white–it’s so classic and it looks great with any other color as an accent.
WOW!!! Loved the tour. Thanks for inviting us along. Such lovliness! : )
M.L.
Love all your black and white. It is such a neutral, goes with everything, I think. Once I told someone I collected snowmen. That was all I got for years and years from all my friends. It got kind of weird. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. It was just an ocean of snowmen. Mimi
I like your home so much. I'm a big fan of black&white too! Some thinks it's pretty cold, but I think it's pretty cool!
Blog alert!
http://southernlagniappe.blogspot.com/
The harlequin you have used adds such continuity to your home! *taking notes*
No, I don’t ike it when I am given things that I collect as gifts. I don’t collect “things” per se, I collect stuff that speaks to me. How’s anyone else going to know if I hear it or not. ;o)
I like black and white, especially checks! Oh and black and white toile too! Yours all look great.
Hugs, Rhondi
Manuela,
This is absolutely adorable! I was reading some of the comments on a friend’s blog, and I happened to click on this link. Boy! I’m glad I did! I’m a check nut, too!
Thank you for sharing the pictures of your home. I’m happy to find your suggestion about the peel and stick tiles and to get them in marble. I’ve got an area where I was thinking black and white tiles, so now I’ll consider this option.
So cute!
Sheila… who could move right on in!
Manuela, You never cease to amaze me! I reallly want to get to work on my house, after reading about all of the amazing projects you do…but I’m finding it hard to pull away from your great blog! Ahhh…the irony!
As always…thanks for sharing your great ideas!
Warmly,
Tracey
What a fun blog! I am a such a home body, so just had to visit your blog. I don’t have any harlequins in my home, but loved your wall color!
I love seeing the little parts of your home! Sure looks like it has plenty of personality! Everything looks beautiful. Jean
Your decor is so fresh and beautiful…thanks for sharing.
I am sensing a theme here. I love it. Clarice
Beautiful, beautiful!!!! I love your toile curtains with the red gingham. Tooooo fabulous!
xo
Becky
Have you ever heard of MacKenzie Childs? They have an entire line called "Courtly Check" that I think you would totally love! http://www.parkleigh.com/MackenzieChilds/MacProductList.cfm?Category=Ceramics&Subcategory=CourtlyCheck&Subcategory2= check it out!!! ~Abigail
I love the repetition of a pattern–I have found myself leaning to more diamond shapes, too. I was realllly impressed with your black and white marble tile. I want to do that in my work room in the basement. I didn’t know about the marble design—what a great choice. Loved your photos! You are a wonderful decorator. Dana