Wow! Did you check out this, "neglected Federal-style schoolhouse in the Catskills transformed into a glamorous and chic home", today on the Country Living website? Oh my goodness this is a color and pattern explosion -- and it totally works! I love all of the paint, wallpaper, collections and patterns. Yowser!

It's so funny how some people have the natural ability to pull this off so simply yet others struggle with using so many bold patterns and colorways in a home. Why do you think this is? I think the harder it is to decorate using a certain scheme then one is either over-thinking things or trying to decorate with colors and styles that they don't really like or connect with. For me, if something doesn't come natural for me to do in my own home, if I have to really force myself to use a color or pattern, then I skip it and go with what feels good for me. Sometimes I'll throw in something that doesn't come so naturally just to challenge myself to make sure my views are narrowing too much... but still -- I know what I like and so I try to use only things that I really click with in my home.

Perhaps this is why I never liked to incorporate tons of pattern and color in my home, I just can't bare the strength of it all because my inner world is so colorful and alive that I always felt like all of these layers surrounding me at home would compete with me. I love the home shown above but for this reason, I could never live there though I'd love to find a bed and breakfast like this and spend a long weekend. :)

I was just thinking... and I've said this in the past, but red in the home stresses me out unless it is used as a small accent combined with a calm, soft blue or pink. Do you have a "trigger" color that stresses you out in the home? Could you live in this space above?

(images: country living)