Simply Inspiring

I am a very visual person.

I love to look at nice things, arrranged in nice ways.  You probably would have NO IDEA of this if you were to visit my house.  But I am trying to change this.  I've come to realise more and more lately that I actually feel less stressed and more contented and peaceful if the area I am in is visually tidy and appealing.  Huh.  The thing is that keeping things both tidy and pretty takes time.  And money.  Both of which are in fairly short supply round here.  Plus I've realised I've never really developed my own 'tastes'.  I was sick within 9 months of getting married and then spent four years fighting illness.  Plus we've had only one decently good financial year in the almost 9 we have been married.  So prettiness has not been high on the priority list.  But I'm now working on it.  I like to have fresh flowers on my dining table.  And no junk mail. Sigh.  There is currently a bit of a pile up happening...

I went to my baby brother's wedding recently (ok, so he's never really been 'the baby!') and was really inspired by some of the simple ideas they had to decorate and pretty things up.  The wedding and reception were both amazing from a visual point of view, and a whole lot of time and attention had gone into making them so (my new sis-in-law is very creative and dedicated!).  While I don't want to spend that many hours decorating for a tea party with friends, I really loved some of the ideas and thought they'd be great to stash away for a tea party!

Gypsophila, hung in bunches upside down, tied with string.  Plus you can decorate with them later, seeing as they dry nicely.

Flowers arranged in glass jars of varying sizes and shapes, tied with string or ribbon.  A mix of poppies, stock, daisys, roses, all country garden flowers that cut well and look great and are fairly simple to arrange.

Beautiful strips of different textured fabrics knotted round a nice stick, sitting across the 'signing of the register' table.  I lOVE THIS IDEA!  So easy, and so gorgeous.  I am envisaging one done with organza ribbons (I LOVE organza ribbons)!

An archway decorated with real ivy but combined with fake flowers that wouldn't wilt during a day in the hot sunshine.

At the reception, a long display of candles with flowers up behind the bridal table (with bunting underneath showing the bride and groom's names - very cute!).

And on the reception tables, as well as bunches of flowers, stacks of old books tied with string.

And there were paper cranes, idea maybe borrowed from my other brother's wedding a couple of years back (these photos are of his wedding - the cranes were so beautiful hung from an arch in front of the water). 

We managed to miss taking photos of the afternoon tea this time, or the reception last time!  Both had gorgeous displays of little eating delights, on tiered cake plates.  The wedding a couple of years back also had lollies in big jars, sitting on the steps of an old wooden ladder...it looked incredible!

Now I wonder if it would be a little extravagant to have gypsophila hanging from my windows this Christmas???

How about you, are you a visual person?  Do you have a 'style' or colour range you decorate your house with, or is it more eclectic than that?  I've got a red polarfleece blanket over one chair, and a striped red on over the couch...it is quite by accident that they actually look good with our soft pinky coloured couches, but I always feel the lounge is missing something now if that striped blanket gets moved!  So I guess I am slowly developing a style of my own after all.

Amy