Coastal Tropical Chinoiserie Chic

There is one Blogger that makes me laugh more than anyone else. Fact. She is high maintenance, high style, and highly opinionated. And it works for her. I think Beth, from Chinoiserie Chic, and I are distantly related because we definitely laugh and fight like family. 

The truth is, she will always give me her honest opinion. As you will see in her guest post below, she held nothing back. Any woman that has the moxie to write this post about a National Company, will always have a seat by me. I once asked her to write a post about Nantucket Chinoiserie, and to this day....people still love that post.

Please see what my on again/off again/Sister-Friend has to say about Tropical Coastal Chinoiserie:

Linda and her family will be relocating from New Jersey to Florida sometime this summer. With her upcoming move, Linda has announced that her new look and style is going to be "Coastal Tropical."

Linda's current home is what I would call Nantucket style, but she is excited about her blog and her new home having a more tropical and Floridian vibe. Will her blog, formerly known as "My Crafty Home Life," now named "Calling It Home," soon become "Calling It My Crafty Coastal Tropical Home?" We will have to wait and see.

As we know, Linda loves Chinoiserie, so she has turned to me for guidance on infusing her new lifestyle with Coastal Tropical Chinoiserie.

First, I think a new wardrobe is in order. This Greg Norman collection is called "Coastal Tropic" - what could be more perfect? These mix and match pieces will allow Linda to look like a complete dork whether she is playing golf, blogging, running errands, hanging with her kids, or wielding a circular saw - with safety goggles on, of course. Perfect for that casual, coastal, nerdy look, right?

Doesn't Linda look great in one of her new outfits from the Greg Norman Coastal Tropic Collection?

Now on to decorating her home. Linda loves driftwood furniture, but never felt it was quite right in her Northeast Nantucket style home. Not so in Florida - she can go completely adrift! And if she ever gets sick of her decor, she is one bonfire on the beach away from a fresh start.

Here are some rooms with driftwood that Linda posted about that she loves. She said that the first one below stopped her in her tracks.

Well Linda, I have found more driftwood for every room of your new home -

And Linda's Florida home at the holidays could look like this -

Oh my my my. I have the feeling I need to stage an intervention immediately or Linda's new home might become Restoration Hardware at the Beach also known as Coastal Dumpster Chic. I think we might be seeing this driftwood decor in the next Restoration Hardware catalog. Call me Gary and we can chat.

Or the next One Room Challenge could become the semi-annual One Hundred Rooms With Driftwood Challenge. Linda, just say no to driftwood. That's why I'm here. Friends don't let friends decorate with driftwood.

Now we will look at the correct way to do Coastal Tropical interior design. Did Linda call someone opinionated? I envision less of the navy and white preppy of Nantucket and less of the bright colors of Palm Beach. Instead -

*Tropical print wallpaper and fabrics like banana leaf, especially Martinique and Brazilliance.
*Rattan and unpainted wicker furniture
*Faux and real bamboo
*Potted palms
*Palm fronds in blue and white Chinese porcelain vases
*Oversized blue and white Chinese ginger jars
*The good news is that you can keep your brown wood furniture
*Ebonized wood is also perfect
*The color palette is that of nature - lots of greens and browns and blues
*Think British Colonial

 I love this style myself and I can't wait to see what Linda does with her new home in Florida.

  

The Pink Pagoda created these graphic botanicals for Linda's One Room Challenge family room and they will be perfect!

Thanks so much Beth, can you email me a link to those clothes?

I wonder how she really feels?

 

Giveaways Galore

Maybe I exaggerated a tad on the "Galore"? 
While I'm trying to dig my way out of this blizzard...thankfully we did not lose power...I wanted to share some fun giveaways.

Jennifer @ The Pink Pagoda made this cute collage above. 

Giveaway #1 - Blue & White Jar is at The Pink Pagoda.
Giveaway #2 - Scalamadre Umbrella is at Kim Macumber's.
Giveaway #3 - C.Wonder bracelets are on my blog, here.

It's going to be a long weekend, so we might as well have as much fun as possible.
How did all of you east coaster's fair in the blizzard?
OK,  everyone else....brag about your gorgeous weather...I can take it.

Cyber Blue & White Monday

Welcome back after the long Thanksgiving weekend. Did you all enjoy yourselves? I think we finally finished the stuffing leftovers. That can only mean one thing, Its Cyber Monday!
I love on-line shopping, and plan on going through my list to see if I can pick up some great deals today. Some fun things that are not on the list, but may make it into my virtual cart are blue & white goodies like this one

Follow me over to The Pink Pagoda where I am sharing some great blue & white items that may make it into your virtual cart. 
Before you go, what are you cyber shopping for today?

Field Trip Time

I am going over to The Pink Pagoda. 

Jennifer is doing 31 Days of Pink, and I am guest posting. Here is a hint of my topic.

Come visit me.

iPhone Case Giveaway!

**This contest has ended**
This was so unexpected and so cool! You know the saying...."no good deed goes unpunished"?  Well... not today!

This is a pink one...bad back-lighting in this image.

Remember when I told you about my iPhone 5? I'm still not sure if I love it. I also forgot to order this case

Well, I totally forgot about it because I became busy with painting a rug of my own and re-sizing a rug for my friend, Jennifer. 

And then....just like that....I got this in the mail

YUP, she sent me a case to say thanks for the rug. But that's not to totally cool shocking surprise...
She wants me to give one away to one of you!!
Take your pick....

Any style in an iPhone Case....doesn't have to be the 5. How do you enter? 1. Be a GFC follower of my blog....1 comment 2. Follow me on Pinterest.....1 comment 3. Say which style you want to win....1 comment 3 ways to enter. This giveaway will end on Monday, October 22st at Midnight (EST). Good Luck!

Nantucket Style.....The Pink Pagoda

When I asked Jennifer if she would help me with my Nantucket Style posts, I should have realized that she probably has a book on it. Did you ever see her book collection?

Jennifer's Book Collection

You must know who I am talking about? It is my dear friend Jennifer from The Pink Pagoda

Jennifer also has an impressive following on Pinterest. If you look at some of her pins, you will know why....and now there is a picture of her, so you can see what she looks like.

I'm so happy so be here at My Crafty Home Life sharing Diamond Baratta's version of Nantucket Style with you today. When Linda asked me to do a Nantucket Style post, I immediately thought of this weekend house featured in the book Diamond Baratta Design. The clients, a Manhattan couple, have a weekend getaway on Long Island. However, Nantucket is their favorite place on earth and they wanted their house to reflect that.

No one ever accused the design duo Diamond Baratta of subtlety. They take "themey" to a whole new level. As it's so blatant, I just get over myself and enjoy the fun and color. If you've been to my blog before, you know I'm crazy for pink and blue together. There's plenty of that here, and I'm so glad to get to share.

This is a detail photo from the rug shown in the first image. Diamond Baratta is well known for designing custom rugs for clients.

I love how the quilt looks cozy/country/graphic/modern all at the same time.

See what I mean about lack of subtlety? Maybe a bit more pink and blue here than even I would do, but I like the slipcovers created for these chairs.

The mural in the entry depicts Nantucket.

The blue and white stripe upholstery with the bright pink welt on the white lacquered furniture is adorable.

Again, they are clearly not afraid of being themey. A word often used to describe their work is "exuberant." I think that's appropriate.

This kitchen is one of my favorites.

I love the idea of using tile to create a gingham look.

Linda, thank you for having me here on your incredible blog. I was thrilled to get to share some pink and blue Nantucket fun with you and your readers!

Thank you, Jennifer.  You can come by anytime.