Skip to main content

Repetition






We teach kids in school about the value of repetition in every subject from math to science to writing.  Well let me tell you that what you learned in kindergarten is everything you need to know about DESIGN too.  Really.  As I was clearing out designing my pantry tonight I realized that is the secret. Just take a look at these pictures:



Sorry, I just don't see myself decanting my soda, oils, vinegars, and what not into fancy (i.e. expensive) vintage bottles.

Do you only buy food that comes in green packages?  I don't.  (See below.)
We have more of a red-yellow-blue-brown-white-whateversonsale theme.  But if I had twelve boxes of Quaker oats and eight boxes of ricekrispies you would might be just as impressed with my closet.
So I went around the house, like a kindergartner, finding things that are ALIKE.  They all had to be the same material and the one I found the most of was, stainless steel.  So that was the winner. 


These are some cool vintage flour,sugar,coffee,tea containers I picked up at a church Christmas bazaar about ten years ago.  (I scrubbed them so hard the black paint came off the handle..)

If I was to properly stage this for you, I would have chosen the most prominent color and only used those things, repetition.  And it's the same with all design. Forget elaborate fabrics(which I thought was the key) or fancy lighting (a close second), no, it's all about the patterns you learned about in kindergarten. Just decorate and repeat,whether it's a color, a box of rice, or a beautiful fabric  - that's all you need to know!  Now I can't compete with Country Living and Crate and Barrel, but this is my attempt at making do with my stainless steel... though I am tempted to paint the closet pale grey and buy all the green packages I can!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nesting

This morning I am creating a nest. I am building it from scratch with spare parts that have been left around from another owner. We are vacationing in a house on a lake near Grandfathers, since that currently has no running water. We love it up here. It is a place that is carved in our hearts and our stories.  Since this is a foreign house, I am trying to make it feel like home. We have been here for 2 days and now I see the needs and small fixes I can do to make things more ‘ours’.  I have brewed coffee and put away the dishes from last night. I have placed a small rug by the door to catch our shoes that are caked in pine needles and fallen beech leaves and sand from the beach. I have moved the ottoman away from the chair it belongs to so that we have an extra seat. We have more people than it sits. Charlie made a chair with two pillows and leaned them against the end table. We are all working to build the nest. I am using pillows and blankets which I found in an upstairs clo...

Bundling

 My husband accuses me of bundling. Like everything. I won't go down the basement until I have collected a pile of everything that could possibly need to go down. So I'll bring the laundry down to the kitchen and then I'll start bundling. The old front door wreath goes on top of the laundry, The drill I used in the garden yesterday - on top. The Fourth of July banner on top of that. I can amass quite a pile. The same goes when I'm out doing errands. I have a doctor's appointment in Mt. Laurel? Hmm. I can stop at the Home Sense store, the big Dollar Tree, the Produce Junction, the Michaels, and the Container Store. All on my way home! I like bundling. Not just because it saves trips, which equates to gas, but it also saves my energy. If I separated those trips it would be hours or even days of travel. I don't have time for that. When I can I want to tie everything together and wrap it up. With a pretty bow.  Bundling was an act of desperation back when the kids w...

Tomorrow We Will Make Coffee

We are all searching for guarantees.  The guarantee on shipping from our website order, the guarantee on the newly-purchased mattress, the guarantee that when we wake up the electricity will still be on, the guarantee that the weather will get nicer soon, the guarantee that my car will still be parked where I left when I get back, the guarantee of a healthy pregnancy, the guarantee of an easy child.  All the things we expect at the beginning of the day to go our way, the meeting, the conference call, the sales pitch, the ruling, the game, the score.  I see people searching for schools, looking for a guarantee that the choices they make, the selection of this school over that school, will guarantee that their child will thrive, be successful, and maybe happy.  They want the guarantee.  They expect it when they walk in, as if they were going to a car wash, that the car will be perfectly cleaned when it comes out the other end.  As if kicking the tires will gu...