Rejoice! Spring has officially sprung! This time of year always puts me in the mood to re-think, re-fresh and re- evaluate my home and wardrobe. The world outside is coming to life in fuller, brighter colors- and I want to do the same!

Nothing inspires me more than my favorite mags… let’s take a look at see what great ideas we can find.

A new makeup palette is always fun for warmer days… Allure takes a look at spring’s best beauty trends which include icy white accents, gilded gold eyes, terra-cotta rose cheeks and cherry lips.

Bazaar gives a look at this season’s most colorful accessories. Their advice this spring is to go bold with color… don’t be afraid to mix an apple green purse with shocking pink pumps.

Better Homes and Gardens features this Virginia Beach home that takes it’s color cues from the ocean outside it’s doors. Misty blues, greens, purples and pinks throughout the house give the home a sophisticate, yet beachy feel.

I flipped when I saw this colorful idea from Coastal Living magazine. Strategically painted colorful stripes give the illusion that this beach house playroom exist under a beach tent! I will definitely be keeping this picture in my “one day I have to try this” book.

This DIY project is just too cute not to pass on… A simple, fold away dollhouse was created out of two pieces of foam board. Creative decorating suggestions like using wrapping paper for wall paper or painting each room a favorite bright color make each one truly individual. This would make an awesome gift or raining day project with the kids!

Country Home starts spring out by suggesting that you discover a new hue and wake up your rooms with color. Their four rules for using color are to match room to hue ( chose color based on the mood you seek for each room), seek balance ( add white paint to soften the hue, black paint to gray the hue, or a complementary color to dial back the brightness) put color to the test and select your standouts ( paint a sample board first and watch how the color changes throughout the day, add color to the piece that you want to be focal points in the room). Great advice!

Domino peaks inside the loft of stylist Lili Diallo. Here she talks about falling in love with this rust colored mid-century modern couch, and then after getting it home realized she was perplexed on how to incorporate it’s color into her decor. Her solution- work the rest of the room’s palette around the difficult hue, eventually toning it down by painting the wall behind the sofa an icy blue and placing a body pillow in a surprising shade of raspberry on top.

Elle Decor’s cover story this month features this Manhattan apartment by designer Katie Ridder. The couple, who have an extensive collection of contemporary art seeked her help on how to incorporate the various pieces into their decor. Ridder choose a palette of bold colors like aqua blue, lilac and coffee…” the colors don’t compete with the art, they promote it”, says the homeowner.

There is so much color talk in this months issue of House Beautiful it was difficult to decide which article to talk about. I choose this photo from a home by designer Jamie Drake because I simply feel in love with the deep blue walls paired with this pale lime chair. Throughout the home, Drake used a heavy palette of greens- forest greens, olive greens, moss greens mutate from room to room and in each case are set off by another color- pink in the master bedroom, Prussian blue in the guest room. “If it’s bright, fresh, lush and green, I’m attracted to it” states Drake. Looking around all of the green in my house, I have to say I agree!

Lucky magazine takes a step by step rundown on an exciting nighttime look. The pairing of deep navy eyeshadow and wine colored lips as seen on the runway at Narciso Rodriguez. Artistic director for Shiseido , Dick Page describes the why it works-” Both shades are intense, but the color’s transparent, so they don’t compete with each other. That’s what keeps it sophisticated.”

Marie Claire takes an even deeper look at runway makeup by sending reporter Ning Chao to take the challenge ” Could you pull off model makeup?”. Here she is given the same treatment as the high fashion models, and experiments with the make-up looks that appeared on the runway at L.A.M.B (retro siren) and Badgley Mischka (society lady). I will be adding MAC’s Flaming Fuchsia , the neon-pink color used at the Badgley Mischka to my summer makeup bag!

Met Home features this amazing Atlanta home. The dining room, which is located in the center of the home is painted in an amazing dark color ( Benjamin Moore’s Black Bean ) with equally dramatic dark floors. I love the way the colors of cream and satin blue play off the dark interior in this room!

Southern Accent’s ” The Color You Need To Know Now” features Daffodil Yellow. They describe the color as warm and inviting with a youthful attitude. I love the David Hicks wallpaper featured in the photo. The paint colors they suggest are ( from L to R ) Banana Yellow by Benjamin Moore, Yellow Brick Road by Behr and Lemon Twist by Sherwin-Williams.

March’s Vogue magazine features a look at this spring’s most intriguing trends. Here is an example of all over-prints, extreme texture, saturated color and a glossy shine as seen on the runways at Marni. I love that shade of tomato red, but am not sure that even I ( who wears hats all the time ) could pull off that chapeau!

Have you been inspired this month by a great magazine feature? Let me know.   

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