Four Seasons of Bed Linens - Check!

The master bedroom in our house is painted a delicious golden yellow that is one of the few colors we left in this house from the previous owner.  It's by Benjamin Moore called DaVinci's Canvas.  I was drawn to it when I saw the website with the house listing and when I saw it in person for the first time.  The room has windows on three sides and that light along with the vibrant color makes for an extremely cheery room no matter what time of day, year or weather.  And the color is a great backdrop for all kinds of bed linen choices.  I've always wanted to change linens with the seasons because I love color, love change, and there are just too many great patterns available to stick with one for years.  And, changing pillows by making your own is very inexpensive if you like to do it a lot.  I started though with a great basic white background, belgian linen pillow covers and duvet that remain year 'round because I do love white but the rest of the bedding changes.  Here are all four seasons - some pillows I made and some were purchased.

FALL:

The chair pillows get switched out too!

 SUMMER:

 You see lots of pillows behind those European shams?  Well, Dan builds a tower to sleep on if he starts snoring and we just like lots of pillows.

WINTER:

 Those triangles on the coverlet and shams are cotton velvet and they are so soft and pretty.

SPRING:

 Chair pillow in background - I kept this and the other chair pillow below from the winter scheme until I make ones from fabric I have ready.

More Suzani embroidery detail.

Now for a streamlined recap:

Fun, huh?  If you like to sew, you can have a blast making pillows and change them out to your heart's content.  I made the large green/white one in the back - easy peasy; it took about 20 minutes.  I don't put a zipper in - I sew with a stitch set on 5 on one side so if I want to add another case to the existing pillow inserts, I can just cut the stitch on one side and pull the pillow right out.  Both sides look identical and clean but one has a tight stitch and the other a looser stitch for easier switching and no zippers!

Now for more arts and crafts.  I have painted a couple paintings this week - very different styles as I play around and experiment.  I like to paint what I think I would buy.  Here's an abstract in the style of michael muir; he paints from real scenes and then exaggerates the shadows - this is a landscape I did in that style; it is now in the King Room.

 When I sketched it out and lightly pencilled in what colors I would mix for each area, Dan said it looked like a paint by number.

 i like the look of painting the sides as well in case one chooses not to frame plus it just looks cool.

 Framed and on the wall to enjoy.

 This one is not finished  - I have to do a lot of cleaning up on the vase and half the flowers are just under painted - I started out with a zinnia look but I think I want to change them to chianti sunflowers.  This painting is my interpretation of a picture I took of a greeting card in a shop in London.  You will see what I do when I finish, hopefully today!  This canvas is large - 24 x 24 inches.

These two paintings in the King Room are ones I found at antique shops and I love them because they are originals and probably done by hobby painters like myself.  The one on the left is a watercolor that is signed and dated from 1965.  The one on the right is an oil of someone's home painted on board and seems pretty old too but there is no date.

And some yard art going on outside the kitchen door - Hellebore!  I planted 6 mail order plants last spring and all 6 have little blossoms!

We are heading to Kiawah Island, South Carolina next week and will also visit Charleston and Savannah GA and other places along the SC coast line too - I can't wait to see the magnolias and all sorts of other spring delights in bloom down there!!!