Hello everyone! I spent a fantastic day out and about in Boston where it is sunny and hot, hot, hot outside. We just returned to our hotel and I found a gorgeous bouquet of flowers in our room from a couple of friends of mine - how nice, huh? The room smells fantastic and our view of the Charles River and the skyline is a fantastic back drop. We've been here since Saturday and things have been non-stop between visits with friends and family coming in to the city to see us off... I'm tired! And most of all, I'm tired of saying goodbye because I am not too keen on goodbyes -- it's hard to say to those you love. Okay, I'm going off track because this post isn't about me -- it's about Leslie Shewring from A Creative Mint, a guest writer on decor8 who will post two Mondays each month (1st and 3rd Mon.) - her column is called Color Me Pretty and officially kicks off right now... Here is Leslie's current color inspiration -- I hope that her palette inspires you, too!

Colors Selected: Blues, Aquas, Whites and a little Sand

Inspiration: Making sun prints and playing at the beach with my kids

Ideas on using these colors at home: Even though blue and white is a traditional color combination you can freshen the look in your home by adding more variations of blue to your palette, like throwing in some aqua. I love water pictures from past family vacations so I framed a series for my bathroom all using similar frames. Sun prints are another way to bring a great bold blue into a room as they are an inexpensive way to create art for your walls. I used lots of found objects from around the house to make a little series that would have a nice impact if hung together as a group. Of course collecting patterns with similar colors always makes a nice statement too, like my blue patterned Japanese bowls stacked on a shelf. I hope you enjoy this series and I am still staring at my long lasting blue hydrangeas! - Leslie

(images: leslie shewring)