LOVE, of pastels

Don't these sprinkles make you smile?

It's funny, I never thought of myself as a pastel person.  I don't wear pastels... my wardrobe consists of a lot of charcoal gray, black, navy, khaki, denim and white.

Growing up I had two older sisters... they usually got the first choice of the pink and lavender, for me it was usually green or yellow by default, and in the 70's the green and yellow were usually the avocado, gold, lime, bright varieties... not pastels.

But my lime green (yep, it was usually lime) slowly moved into the more jadite (think Martha Stewart) kind of green and I think that and this house are what moved me towards the pastel hues.  My back porch is pale yellow, my bathroom is an aquaish color, upstairs is a different aqua color with pink accents in one room and yellow in another, my room a soft creamy and pale khaki tone.

My jadite collections inspired my wall color in my breakfast room (although there is no breakfasting in here) as well as my pops of color in my mostly white kitchen.

Over the last few years I've been slowly slimming down on the pops of red I started with in my kitchen and adding more pinks and the toned down red (think faded) of Cath Kidston... in fact my window topper is made of one of my all time favorite Cath Kidston fabrics with a bit of large scale rick rack (or is it ric rak??) along the bottom.

My gardens are full of pastels through out spring and summer, like this miniature lilac.

And of course my new favorite, my David Austin roses!  Cannot wait for June and their reappearance!

Last year's blooms were so prolific I was able to cut some and bring them inside to enjoy.

I see pastels creeping into other parts of my home as well... like the pink in my sewing room (here) and now the front porch too.  This room full of aqua, pinks and greens, well it just makes me happy.

The pastel aqua/gray bead board ceiling and pale green screen door contrast nicely against all the white!  Of course the 3 sides of glass and southern exposure help make it a happy place too.

I've even noticed pastels moving into my holiday and seasonal decorating...

But really, aqua and pale blue are good colors for the winter season, right?  Reminding us of a snowy, winter landscape.

And nobody could have passed this little truck up for the holidays, especially me!

My collection of pink bottle brush trees have grown exponentially this year.  Perhaps next year I'll have to try dyeing my own... and I could add aqua to my collection!

The pink depression glass is on the rise here at Red Gate Farm.  I seem to come across it at the thrift store and antique store regularly, for a price too low to pass up!

And then there's the fluff... the I just have to have some of that for no real reason at all... fluff like paper lanterns, honeycomb balls and crepe paper items... especially the vintage ones!

Speaking of fluff... there's a fabulous floral shop in Seattle named Maxines.  The seem to specialize in pastel fluffery (my made up word for all things good and frivolous!).  A stop there recently meant a restocking of my little paper posies and some striped pink straws.  Then the owner brought out these little spun cotton mushrooms, just in from Germany, in the perfect pastel shades of green and peach, WAY, WAY too fabulous to resist.... although honestly I'll probably just hoard them and not use them on anything!

With the start of February and Valentine, Easter and spring season just around the corner I think I'll be up to my eyebrows in pink and fluffery this weekend and I'm looking forward to a painting and crafting day at home!

So, what are your thoughts on pastels?