How to "Palm Springs" Your Home!
When picking out colors, fixtures and decorations for our new home, one of my biggest inspirations has been the sunny little city of Palm Springs. I truly love the happy disposition and bold, confident style that the city embodies. It's the quintessential "Positive Vibes Only" place.
As I translated some of my inspiration to details for our new space, I found myself identifying more and more what I love about Palm Springs. Surprisingly, it's been SUPER easy to add a little dash of the desert to our new space. Today I want to share ten ways to add a little sunshine to your home, Palm Springs style!
1. Paint your door pink! (or any other fun color)
There is nothing more Palm Springs than a colorful door. Pink, yellow, teal, orange...you really can't go wrong with a bold pop of color to greet your guests. Photo via Studio DIY.
Real Life Example: Our studio house. Going bold with our front door was one of the best decisions we made. It added so much to the space!
2. All the cacti, all the time.
If you want to add a few desert vibes to your space, a trip to the cactus aisle is a good place to start! Other acceptable alternatives are agave, succulents and any type of palm plants.
(You're probably saying, "Thank you, Elsie, for a great excuse to go buy plants." You're welcome, my friends.)
3. Say yes to stained glass.
This detail kills me each time we visit. It's very eye-catching, wouldn't you say? (heh—I'm sorry) But seriously, stained glass is a great way to bring a little color and fun to your space! Especially when it's done in a fresh, modern style.
Real Life Example: We have the perfect DIY for you!
4. Go bold with tile.
Tile is one of my top 5 favorite things EVER. Sadly, it's really expensive and you can only tile so many rooms...OR CAN YOU? Check out this tiled bedroom. I don't hate it. Nope.
Real life example: I'm all for neutral tile, but if you have a chance, go for an unexpected pop of color or pattern. It'll make your space totally unique!
5. Get your rainbow glassware collection going.
I've been working on my glassware collection this year. Basically every weekend I hit up at least one flea market and search for pretty, colorful cocktail glasses and vases. It's become one of my favorite collections ever.
Real Life Example: Here's a peek (via my Instagram)—
I am crushing big time on macrame this year. This surprises me because I'm the most un-boho person I know. But macrame sneaks it's way into my style through the Palm Springs door to my heart (which is always wide open).
Real Life Example: Emma's amazing macrame curtain DIY. Also I've been eyeballing pieces from this Etsy shop for our new space.
Real life example: One of the biggest trends this year is all brass, everything. I love it and am also a big fan of mixing metals!
Brass is really easy to find both new and vintage. One of my favorite sources for brass fixtures is Lucent Lightshop (some of the prettiest handmade MCM style fixtures ever). And my favorite source for vintage brass is good ole eBay. A few of my favorite brass searches are: "vintage brass pineapple", "vintage brass horse shoe" and "vintage brass door knocker". Oh and don't forget, "vintage brass bottle opener".
Check out this super cute vintage brass door knocker I just bought (!!!!)
When in doubt...choose color. I think that's an OK motto to live by. :)
Real life example: I could probably list colorful design examples all day, but the first to come to mind is our patio tile project.
The dinosaurs are one of the quirky elements that makes me love Palm Springs even more. They're just a really fun giant photo prop.
10. A cool mailbox is essential.
Mail boxes are so rad. I'm actually working on another article all about them right now because #obsessed.
Real Life example: I just ordered this mid-century mail box for our new place. (eeeek!)
ps. Check out my Palm Springs travel guide as well!
Credits//Author: Elsie Larson. Photography: Elsie Larson unless otherwise noted.
