Drying Coriander Seeds

August 21, 2019plantscilantro, coriander, dehydrating seeds, harvest, herb garden, seed saving, summerarthurized Leave a comment

I mentioned in the mid-summer garden update that I turned my head for a minute and the cilantro bolted. Yep. That happened.

Did you know that the herb cilantro refers to the leaves of the plant, and coriander, the seed, is a spice? Cool, huh? She’s one hardworking plant.

I’m harvesting and drying the coriander seeds this week. Once the plant has started to turn brown, snip off the seed heads. Since I’ve never done this before, I’m not sure how brown is brown enough. Half of the plants are still green.

Allow the seed heads to dry fully. I’ve read that you can harvest the seed heads directly into a paper bag for drying, but I’m experimenting with drying them on the window screens that I used to dehydrate the basil. Which worked beautifully, by the way.

We run our dehumidifier in the basement constantly, so that area should work well for drying any plant. Once dry, the seeds will fall, and can be collected and stored in a sealed container.

I’m not sure if I can get one more crop of cilantro out of the herb bed before frost, but I’m going to try. Regardless, I’ll save this seed to plant in the spring.

For more reading on cilantro/coriander:
https://www.almanac.com/plant/coriander-and-cilantro

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Copyright 2019-2021 © Arthurized Home – All Rights Reserved. This post is the original content of Arthurized Home. If you’re reading this on another site, it’s unArthurized.

Meal Prep for the Week of 8.18.2019

August 19, 2019meal prepalmond flour pancakes, basil tomato cauliflower rice salad, chicken pineapple curry, cucumber and strawberry salad with poppyseed dressing, homemade italian dressing, keto meatballs and sauce, lemony avocado and tomato tuna salad, mustard glazed baked chicken thighs, strawberries and whipped creamarthurized Leave a comment

In order to beat the heat and 8000% humidity, I met up with friends to run at 6:30 on Saturday morning. It was still stinking hot at that hour. We followed Leg 4 of the Blue Ridge Marathon Relay as a training run. It’s a route we’ll repeat again and again between now and April. We had a great run in spite of the heat. In a few months, I’ll miss this weather.

We had friends over for dinner that night and had a blast playing Telestrations with them afterward. The rest of the weekend was fairly routine.

Now on to this week’s menu:

Breakfast:
Almond Flour Pancakes – Make a batch on the weekend, freeze individually, and pull out just what you need each morning.
https://joyfilledeats.com/almond-flour-pancakes/

Lunch:
Mustard Glazed Baked Chicken Thighs with Green Beans – So simple, but flavorful!
https://unsophisticook.com/baked-chicken-thighs/

Dinner:

Chicken Pineapple Curry – This dish deserves a post of its own! It’s a favorite dish when we’re craving comfort food. As a bonus for Mark, while I’m doing keto, he gets my pineapple.
https://www.5dollardinners.com/chicken-pineapple-curry/

Cucumber and Strawberry Salad with Poppyseed Dressing – A new favorite! I thought the dressing was slightly too sour by itself, but when tossed with the salad, it’s perfect.
https://cleanfoodcrush.com/cucumber-strawberry-salad/

Keto Meatballs and Sauce with Zoodles – This one is so tasty! The cream in the sauce cuts the acidity of the tomatoes. I’m loving the wide zoodles, To make them, just slice a little off the side of the zucchini so that it lays flat on the cutting board. Use a vegetable peeler to slice thin, wide noodles. I saute them in coconut oil for a few minutes, just until tender. Very few things in life are worse than a mushy zoodle.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/keto-meatballs-and-sauce/

Lemony Avocado and Tomato Tuna Salad – Hello, old friend! We usually fix this with cucumber instead of avocado because Mark hasn’t yet embraced that little wonder berry.
https://cleanfoodcrush.com/eat-clean-lemony-avocado-tuna-salad/

Basil Tomato Cauliflower Rice Salad – I first made this salad 22 years ago, after attending the Southern Living Cooking School. It became my summer potluck go-to. I recently adapted it for cauliflower rice instead of the original Minute rice. You can certainly prepare it using rice; we like brown rice because it holds up well to the dressing even if it’s prepared a day ahead of serving.

Basil Tomato Cauliflower Rice Salad
Adapted from Southern Living Cooking School – Fall 1997
To cool cauliflower rice quickly, spread on a jelly roll pan and place in freezer for 10 minutes.
2 T. coconut oil (or ghee)
2 (12 oz.) bags frozen cauliflower rice
6 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced – bonus points for using juliets from Pa Kettle’s garden
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup sliced fresh basil – I used purple basil
1/3 cup favorite Italian dressing – My recipe below
shaved Parmesan cheese or crumbled feta cheese
In a large skillet on the stove top, saute the cauliflower rice in coconut oil just until tender. Set aside to cool.
Toss the cooled cauliflower rice with tomato, onion, basil and dressing. Top with cheese.

Homemade Italian Dressing
3/4 c. olive oil – Should I tell you to use “good” olive oil like Ina does?
Nah. Use whatever you have/like.
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1 T. dried Italian seasoning
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 T. Swerve or other sweetener of choice
1 dash of paprika – for color
1 smidgen of nutmeg – because I put it in everrrrryyyythang
Salt and pepper to taste
Whisk all ingredients together to emulsify. Shake before serving.

Snacks:
Mine – Same ol’, same ol’…celery and peanut butter, gouda snacking cheese. Maybe I’ll make pimento cheese next week?
Mark’s – Tiny but Mighty Popcorn, Watermelon, Bananas

Treat: Strawberries and Fresh Whipped Cream

What’s going on in your kitchen this week? Have a great week, everyone!

Inexpensive Boho Decor Refresh

August 16, 2019Cottage, decorboho style, colorful style, cottage style, decor, living room decor, thriftyarthurized Leave a comment

Have you ever noticed that when you update one area of your home, other spaces in your house can look a little, well…tired by comparison? Just me? A few weeks ago when I finished our guest and beach bedding update, I realized that the throw pillows in our living room were looking a little sad.
Okay, a lot sad.
Broken zipper, sad.

In other news, these IKEA feather pillow inserts are hardworking, and awesome.
I’ve had them forever (15 years?!), and they look and function as good as new. Money well spent.

I wanted to update our living room without spending a lot of scratch, so when I lucked into a 70% off clearance sale at Pier 1, the heavens opened, the angels sang and so did their cash register. Actually, I averaged $8 each for these five pillows, so the singing was more of a faint warble.

I first spotted this pillow. Too much color? Pattern too crazy? I think not!

It’s just the right amount of crazy. Next, I spied the floral pillows and I knew that they would be BFFs. All that delicious beadwork. Those sequins and pom-poms.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: You can’t possibly take a nap on those pillows! You’ll have bead indentations pressed into your face for days afterward! Au contraire. These make perfectly fine napping pillows when you flip them over the the smooth back side. 100% tested and Arthurized.

Moving on.

Remember the rules for pattern mixing decor are the same as for your wardrobe. Let’s review:

Pull your color scheme from an inspiration piece. In this case, the floral pillow.

Colors do not need to match exactly, they should simply relate well to one another. Play nicely, kids! The magenta throw was packed away in my winter things, so I pulled it out for a pop of color on the sofa.

Mix prints in different scales.

Use texture for extra interest.

A pillow and throw update is a quick and inexpensive way to breathe new life into your decor. And if you need an even simpler refresh, a bouquet of flowers from the yard (or the grocery store) and a fragrant candle (I love Harmony Farms) will enliven any room of your home!

I’m not in partnership with any brands referenced in this post. I’m simply sharing products that I use and enjoy, and I hope you will like them too!

A Gardening Public Service Announcement

August 14, 2019gardenhome gardening, invasive plants, japanese stiltgrass, non-native plants, nuisance plantsarthurized 3 Comments

Last year we noticed small patches of a short, feathery plant pop up on our property. Having no idea what it was, we decided to wait until spring to see if it flowered. We’ve had several pleasant surprises in the yard by taking a wait-and-see approach.

Bad idea.

Spectacularly so.

This year, easily 20% of our property is covered in this grass. It’s running amok throughout the yard, but especially in woodland areas. It’s not persnickety about growing conditions though, and proving that by boldly marching out into the gravel driveway. So far, we’ve found it in every planting bed except the herb garden.

Thanks to a Facebook post by the Virginia Native Plant Society, we now have an ID of our little scourge. It’s Japanese Stiltgrass, and it seems to have no redeeming qualities. This grass is incredibly invasive, chokes out native plants, and offers no benefit to wildlife. This jerk plant actually changes the chemistry of the soil, stunting the growth of competing plants!

Wut.

The dried plant first came to the U.S. as packing material one hundred years ago. In Tennessee, the seed found it’s way into the soil, and spread from there. Japanese Stiltgrass can be found as far north as New York, south to Florida, west to the Mississippi River and even into Texas.

One plant can produce up to 1,000 seeds. Because the seed travels by water, animals, humans, and even vehicles, they spread like wildfire. Speaking of which, the grass dies back in the winter and blankets the forest floor with a dense mat of dry stems and leaves; fuel for forest fires.

Small patches are easy to pull by hand; use a weed-eater or mower for large sections of this mess. It’s best to mow or weed-eat in August or early September before the grass flowers and sets seeds. This is the perfect time of year to work on getting rid of it. Cut the plant all the way to the ground if possible. We haven’t gone the grass-selective herbicide route just yet, but we will if mowing doesn’t control this invasion.

We still have work to do on the hill above the rhododendrons.

For more reading on Japanese Stiltgrass, go here: http://blueridgeprism.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Japanese-Stiltgrass-SAR-5-27-17-VDOF-w-BOX-FINAL.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1fGYAQPSLRRIZxFBzKNfNGlBcBFMBzLXWeKYWgVKdvCw_T1HMbSDv72f4

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/japanese-stiltgrass-identification-and-management

We’ll have to remain vigilant for years until we are sure it’s all gone. If that doesn’t work, we’re getting a goat. They seem to be the only animals that will eat it.

Meal Prep for the Week of 8.11.2019

August 12, 2019meal prepchicken and garlic with fresh herbs, cinnamon roll drizzle, cinnamon roll noatmeal, cucumber and strawberry salad with poppyseed dressing, keto meatballs and sauce, keto strawberry icebox pie, keto waffles, perfect roast chicken, turkey bacon and swiss on lettuce bunarthurized Leave a comment

True to form, I started a painting project yesterday and well, I’m in a little over my head. This one has been in the works for awhile and I’m starting to see that it will either be a glorious success or a spectacular failure. There is no in-between, I’m afraid. I’ll let you know either way. Here’s a sneak preview:

I haven’t had much time for cooking this weekend, so I have just a few pictures for you. I’ll update them going forward. Hope you don’t mind. Let’s dive into this week’s menu:

Breakfast:
Cinnamon Roll Noatmeal – This variation is so good! I added 3/4 tsp. of cinnamon and a smidgen of nutmeg (’cause it’s my favorite spice and I add it to nearly everything!) to the dry noatmeal mix from here…
https://www.healthysweeteats.com/my-favorite-noatmeal-aka-low-carb-oat-free-porridge-the-basic-recipe-and-6-variations/
…and made the cinnamon roll drizzle from here:
https://www.wholesomeyum.com/easy-low-carb-keto-oatmeal-recipe/

Lunch:
Chicken and Garlic with Fresh Herbs – We’ll have this with a side of fresh green beans from Pa Kettle’s garden. The chives, rosemary and thyme are all from our garden. We grilled the chicken and then finished it on the stove.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chicken-garlic-with-fresh-herbs/

Dinner:

Keto Waffles – Breakfast for Dinner!
https://www.eatingonadime.com/keto-waffles-recipe/

Cucumber and Strawberry Salad with Poppyseed Dressing – New Recipe! Because sometimes you just want a light, refreshing salad for dinner. I was skeptical about the amount of vinegar in the dressing, but it’s just right. I left the honey out and used monkfruit sweetener instead. We both really enjoy this salad. Hope they don’t do random drug testing at work!
https://cleanfoodcrush.com/cucumber-strawberry-salad/

Perfect Roast Chicken – Ina’s classic roast chicken. This recipe is an oldie, but a goodie.
https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/perfect-roast-chicken

Turkey, Bacon and Swiss on a Lettuce Bun – No recipe, just cut “cheeks” from a head of iceburg lettuce, fill with turkey slices, a slice of bacon, tomato, cheese and your favorite condiments. I like spicy brown mustard. Fast, easy, keto!

Keto Meatballs and Sauce – New Recipe! We’ll serve over zoodles to amp up the veggies.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/keto-meatballs-and-sauce/

Snacks:
Keto – Gouda Snacking Cheese, Cucumber slices, Celery and Peanut Butter
Delightful, Carb-Filled Snacks for Hubby – Watermelon, Grapes, Bananas, Tiny but Mighty Popcorn

Treat:
Keto Strawberry Icebox Pie – New Recipe! Honestly, this one was a mixed bag. A delicious, mixed bag that I would make again, but decrease the sweetener by half. This was just too sweet for our tastes as written. I didn’t bother to make the whipped cream for the two of us because, dang, that’s a lot of cream! I’m keeping this in the freezer, because it stays a little soft in the fridge. If you like strawberry cheesecake, you’ll like this pie. This would make a nice dessert for guests, and I bet they’d never guess it is keto!
https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/keto-strawberry-icebox-pie-low-carb/

Have a great week, everyone! I’ll just be over here, with paint in my hair and stain under my fingernails.

Milk Glass in the Kitchen

August 9, 2019Cottagecollecting, fiestaware, kitchen decor, mason jars, milk glass, pyrex, thrifty decor, vintagearthurized 2 Comments

I’ve been collecting milk glass and using it throughout the house for years now. (Too many years to count!) Back when I began collecting, I could find pieces at the flea market and thrift stores for twenty five or fifty cents. While the days of that pricing are long since over, I still find pieces in the wild for a dollar and up. The milk glass I collect is most useful if it can serve multiple purposes. To that end, I like to use it in unexpected ways. Here are a few ideas for using milk glass around the kitchen:

Use a large vase to keep favorite cooking utensils handy next to the stove. See that wooden spatula in the back? I bought it at Tamarack in Beckley, West Virginia. It’s handmade, sturdy and obviously, very useful. Also, I had to buy it because it was labeled “cookie shovel”, and when life gives you an opportunity to own such a magical item, you take it.

Turn a wide-bottomed bowl over and place a large plate on top to create a DIY cake stand. If you’re concerned about stability, a few dabs of hot glue or sticky dots will hold the two pieces together. Gather soaps, brushes and dishcloths by the sink. My sister brought me that tiny bud vase from Mexico. I just love it!

Because our kitchen is tiny, and we need all the drawer space we can find, we keep our eating utensils in containers on the counter. We tried this using drinking glasses until we knew that this set-up would work long term.

A cake stand makes a useful and decorative display for citrus. I’ve seen onions and garlic presented this way as well, but I think lemons, limes and oranges are prettier. It’s that whole “I love color; not into neutrals” thing.

No milk glass? No problem! Use what you have. Fiestaware is great for this use. With a mix of Fiesta plates and bowls, you can have a cake stand in every color of the rainbow.

How about Grandma’s china? (Perhaps we shouldn’t use the hot glue gun on that?) Mix and match dishes and bowls for a boho look. I used a small, vintage Pyrex bowl in this aspect.

Mason jars make perfectly charming utensil holders.

Use your imagination to see your things in a whole new light. You’ll be amazed at what you can create! If you try try this quick project, I’d love to see your results. Let me know in comments, or email me at: arthurized dot home at gmail dot com.

A Mid-Summer Garden Update

August 7, 2019gardenarthurized 1 Comment

As summer declines, and we careen toward Pumpkin Spice Latte Season; things have calmed down a little in the garden. I’m taking a break from weeding to share some of our successes and failures this year.

Clearance Perennials: This has been hit-or-miss. We haven’t had 100% success, but I’m still happy with them. The coreopsis are full, vibrant and blooming. Their leaves remind me of baby spinach! The speedwell and balloon flowers are doing well. The daisies are a puzzle. They’ve turned brown and dried up, but some of them have new growth in the center of the plant. I’m going to leave them in the garden to see if they will rebound.

Dwarf coreopsis. A tiny ray of sunshine.

Sad little Shasta daisy. I’m pulling for you, little guy!

Experimental Deer Fence: It’s safe to say this is no longer an experiment. We have had zero break-ins of the deer variety. In the evenings, Mark and I have watched the deer eating fallen apples all around the herb garden, but steering clear of it. All of the fishing line is intact, and I haven’t glued the knots or hooks. While the fence is keeping deer out, a smaller critter has been nibbling away at several of the plants. We think it’s probably a rabbit. It has topped off the lilies, the hosta in the blue planter and snipped off a few stems from the balloon flower. Where’s Elmer Fudd when you need him?

Ground Cover: The liriope looks great. It’s lush, dark green and the plugs have filled in. We’ll continue working on the two banks when it’s cool enough to transplant more plugs.

Hydrangea Layers: About a week after I cut them from the mother plant, the baby layers started to show signs of stress. The leaves wilted and some turned brown and started to rot. I decided not to transplant them and let them establish awhile longer. They’ve rebounded, and should be ready for transplant in the spring.

PJM Rhododendrons: These little dudes are doing just fine. They have recovered nicely from their trauma and are thriving with no new damage.

Succession Planting: Succession planting has been a resounding success! Wandering out to the herb garden and snipping fresh herbs for dinner is one of my favorite activities. We’ve dried and frozen some of the basil. Many of our summer salads are punctuated with parsley or mint. I’m letting some of the cilantro go to seed in hopes that it will self-seed in the spring.

Lime basil and Purple basil. Note the Purple basil escapee outside of the border!

Thai basil. Yes, I know I should pinch the flowers off, but they’re so pretty!

Here’s a puzzle for you: This random weed(?) appeared next to the speedwell. We have no idea what it is. My gut instinct is to pull it and move on with my life; hubby thinks it’s not a weed and we should leave it alone and see what happens. It’s about 12″ tall and smooth, like one enormous blade of grass. Thoughts?

How about you? Have you learned any gardening tips and tricks? What’s working in your garden this summer?

Meal Prep for Week of 8.4.2019

August 5, 2019meal prep15 Minute Cowboy Butter Chicken with Zucchini Noodles, burgers on lettuce buns, cauliflower rice tabbouleh, crock pot creamy garlic pork loin, dilled tuna stuffed tomatoes, easy keto no bake cookies, easy three cheese keto biscuits, garlic butter chicken with parmesan cauliflower rice, summer squash oreganoarthurized Leave a comment

Happiness is cooking with herbs that you planted, tended and harvested! I’m not sure why the idea of cauliflower rice tabbouleh never occurred to me before, but I’m glad to finally try it! Pa Kettle’s garden provided the cukes and Juliet tomatoes, and the herbs are fresh from our garden.

Breakfast:
Easy Three Cheese Keto Biscuits – New Recipe! So tasty!
https://www.myketokitchen.com/keto-recipes/keto-biscuits-low-carb/

Lunch:
Cowboy Butter Chicken with Zucchini Noodles – The term ‘zucchini noodles’ chafes my affinity for nonsense words. ‘Zoodles made from zukes’ is just more fun to say! If you’re not a fan of heat, go easy on the cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes.
https://www.eatwell101.com/cowboy-butter-chicken-and-zucchini-noodles

Dinner:

Crock-Pot Creamy Garlic Pork Loin – New and delicious!
https://www.eatwell101.com/crockpot-pork-loin-recipe

Those are the Three Cheese Keto Biscuits in the background.

Burgers on Lettuce Buns with Summer Squash Oregano

Garlic Butter Chicken with Parmesan Cauliflower Rice – New!
http://www.netfeeddaily.com/2018/12/08/15-minute-garlic-butter-chicken-with-parmesan-cauliflower-rice/

Cousin Ruby’s Dilled Tuna Stuffed Tomatoes

Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh – Keto twist on a classic, summer dish! I modified Ina’s recipe to exclude the bulghur, water and greatly reduce the salt. This recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa Parties cookbook, and IMHO 3 1/2 teaspoons of salt is way too much! (Even when I made this with bulghur, I never used that much salt.) I used about 1 teaspoon of salt for this salad. Adjust to taste. Don’t skimp on the parsley and mint. In this dish, more is indeed more!

Step One of the recipe becomes: Rice a small head of cauliflower in a food processor, and add the raw cauliflower to a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Step Two: Add the scallions, mint, parsley, cucumber, tomatoes; mix well. Season, to taste, and serve or cover and refrigerate. The flavor will improve if the tabbouleh sits for a few hours.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tabbouleh-recipe-2131154

Snacks:
Mine – Gouda Cheese Sticks, Boiled Eggs, Cucumber Slices and Celery with Peanut Butter. Again.
Hub’s – Watermelon, Cherries, Tiny but Mighty Popcorn and Avocado Oil Potato Chips

Treat:
Easy Keto No Bake Cookies – These are like preacher cookies, minus the oats. Yum. I use about two packets of green stuff per batch. Store them in the freezer.
https://thesoccermomblog.com/keto-no-bake-cookies/

I hope your week is filled with your favorite things plus tasty, real food!

Airing the Dirty Laundry – Extreme Stain Removal

August 2, 2019Reviewslaundry, product review, stain remover, sweatxarthurized Leave a comment

Guess what? I’ve finally solved a problem that has bedeviled me for quite some time! This post is a bit of a departure, but I feel obligated to share all. the. good. things. with you.

I’ve used the same brand of deodorant forever with no problems. It’s readily available, inexpensive and does the job. However, it has recently started leaving white, hazy stains on my clothing. We’re using the same washing machine, detergents and settings that we’ve used all along, so my only guess is that the manufacturer changed the formula of this deodorant.

We’ve tried pre-treating with stain stick, concentrated laundry detergent and even Dawn dish detergent. Fels-Naptha lightened the stains, but did not remove them altogether.

Enter, Sweat X Xtreme Stain Remover. Our favorite running store (Hey, Fleet Feet Roanoke!) had this product, so I decided to give it a try. Spray it on, rub it into the stain and let it sit. The package directions say to let it sit at least 15 minutes, but since I’m a more-is-more girl, I let it sit overnight before washing.

Rabbit trail while we wait for the stain remover to work its magic:
I’ve tried several natural deodorants and sadly, I haven’t found one that works for me. Tom’s of Maine was a complete fail (Sorry, Tom. But it had to be said). Primal Pit Paste gave me a pretty severe rash that made it painful to wear clothing for about a week. Not at all awkward. During the colder months and on days when I’m not exercising, Weleda spray works. Mostly.

If you use a natural deodorant that works, please let me know. I’d love to try it. Comment if you’re brave; email if you’d rather not share that riveting data with the internet: arthurized dot home at gmail dot com

One quick trip to laundry purgatory (otherwise known as the basement) and, voilà! Cue the Hallelujah Chorus!

Can you hear it? That, my friends, is the sound of the angels singing! What a relief that for a minimal expense and almost no effort, I can wear these clothes again and won’t have to throw them out because of stupid stains! I also purchased the Sweat X Odor Eliminator, but haven’t tried it yet. I have it on good authority that it’s as awesome as the Stain Remover. If you’d like to give either of these products a try, you can find them on Amazon.

An Island Inspired Bedding Refresh

July 31, 2019Cottagebeach style, coastal style, cottage style, design crush, guest bedding, island style, jane coslick, pattern mixingarthurized 1 Comment

Tybee Island, Georgia is on the short list of beaches I’d like to visit. And it’s all because of Jane Coslick. Are you familiar with her work? If not, please allow me to introduce you. For more than twenty years, Jane has been preserving Tybee Island one run-down property at a time. If you love cozy spaces and bright, beachy style, you’ll love her projects. She makes liberal use of white in every cottage, and then punches up the decor with happy color, coastal art and quirky style. She’s a design hero of mine.

What does Jane Coslick have to do with my bedding? My love for her style extends to the linens she selects for her cottages, and has heavily influenced this bedding refresh.

Here’s some of her work in this gorgeous bedroom:

And this beautiful master: *swoon*

A little of Jane’s fun pattern mixing:

When we visit the beach each summer, we bring our own linens. Partly because that feels more comfortable and we like to bring a little bit of home with us. But mostly because I’m too cheap to pay for rental bedding! As we returned home from the beach this year, I decided that it is time for a refresh of our beach bedding and time for some new guest bedding as well.

This is super simple pattern mixing: One large floral print, one medium size print on the quilt and solid color sheets and euro pillows. The pink sheets play nicely with both patterns, and the white ties everything together. I found the floral pillow and the quilt at HomeGoods. The pink sheets are tee-shirt knit and super soft. They’re from Belk.

Pro tip for the ladies: When you really, really, really want the fun, flamingo quilt; tell your husband that you’re shopping for leopard print instead. Suddenly, the flamingos seem reasonable and he won’t mind them quite as much!

And this is how to squeeze more guests into a 958 square foot cottage: Stack ’em up like cord wood!

The “rules” for pattern mixing home decor are the same as for your wardrobe.

1) Take your color scheme from an inspiration piece. In this case, the seashell pillow.

2) Select a neutral color and repeat it throughout your project. I’ve paired white quilts with white/aqua print sheets and accents of white in the decorative pillows.

3) Create a nice mix of large, medium and small patterns. Avoid pairing small with small, large with large, etc. If you’re mixing stripes, simply vary the width of them; pair wide stripes with narrow. Bonus points for adding texture in pillows and throws!

I hope this gives you some ideas for mixing and refreshing your own linens, or at least has you dreaming of warm, sunny beaches!

Sea shell print sheets: Belk
Sea shell/Pink stripe reversible pillows: Marshalls
Aqua linen pillow: HomeGoods
Multicolor stripe pillow: Ollie’s
Cotton quilts: Stein Mart
Textured Aqua Stripe pillow on couch: Tuesday Morning

I’m not in partnership with any brands mentioned here. I simply enjoy sharing good sources with my readers!

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