Blue and White

 

The other day I looked at a gift registry online, and it reminded me of the day – not all that long ago – when Ryan and I registered for gifts for our wedding. We did a tour of stores, walked around with the scanning gun, and picked out things we thought we might need. That feels like such an archaic story now, but then I remember back back in the day when registries were all handwritten, and if you wanted to make a purchase, you had to go to the exact store where the couple registered. You couldn’t go to one in another town. They wouldn’t have the handwritten registry on file.

                Those were also the days when couples would pick theme colors for every room of their home. Do you remember that? Living room colors? Bathroom colors? Bedroom colors? They were likely all different.

                That was a very long lead-in to say that I think we have finally learned, after 40+ years of life and 12+ years of marriage, our colors and our style. Better late than never, right?

                I’m not sure if it comes from living by the water or being married to Ryan, but I have realized that I love blue (in varying shades) and white, little accents of vintage pieces in wood tones, and some industrial touches on the side.

                It simplifies shopping choices so much. From stores to yard sales, we know the pieces we look for now fit within a small range of colors and materials, and it’s easier to pass by things that don’t quite work.

                To be clear, not everything in our house is blue or white. We collected some items before we figured out our style, but we don’t want to throw away perfectly good things just because they’re the “wrong” color.

                For example, we have many red pieces (appliances and dishes) in our kitchen, and we’ll use them until they wear out! We have black bedside tables, and one of these days I’ll get around to painting them navy blue.

                But I love our little blue and white home. I love the continuity of colors and textures that flow throughout the whole house. I love it that we have figured out what describes us. And I love it that we don’t have to make fresh design decisions for every room.

                What’s your style? Same throughout the house or different in every room?