Blue, Collected: Peter Dunham and This Week’s Favorite Finds
I’ve been in a blue mood lately, not the sad kind, the good kind. I keep thinking about the blue zones, the blue that shows up in a Peter Dunham fabric, or in a favorite outfit. So this weeks fab five is a love letter to the color that makes a room feel collected rather than decorated. Let’s dive into Blue, Collected: Peter Dunham and This Week’s Favorite Finds.
Peter Dunham’s Style
Peter Dunhams rooms never look decorated.He layers his interiors with fabrics from his collection battered antiques, worn rugs, and a few carefully chosen new pieces for a perfectly imperfect look. I read somewhere that “his designs always look like you might find at least one dog on the sofa. “You can see more of his work on his website, in his latest book, or follow him on Instagram.
More on the Blue Zones
The Blue Zones share “nine core lifestyle habits for natural longevity, collectively known as the “Power 9”. These principles encompass natural movement ( gardening walking etc) whole food plant based eating, stress management, and strong social connections which we talked about at length on Thursday.
Blue Zone Friendly Black Beans
Beans show up in every Blue Zone on earth. They’re cheap, humble, and full of fiber and plant protein, standing in for the meat that dominates most of our modern diets. I cooked mine in the crock pot on high for an hour and let them cook all day.
Blue Zones Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried black beans
- 10 cups water or broth
- 2 medium yellow onions halved
- 5 garlic cloves halved
- 3 carrots halved
- 3 oregano sprigs
- 3 cilantro sprigs
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the beans in a colander. In a large pot, bring 10 cups of water or broth to a simmer over moderate heat. Add the rinsed beans, onions, garlic, carrots, oregano, cilantro and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 2 hours.
- Discard the onion halves, carrots, and herb stems. Season the beans with salt and pepper, and serve with chopped cilanto
Outfits of the Week
Many of you have asked for more splurge and save outfits, so here you go!!
Brown is so big this year but not one of my best colors. These (pricey) Alemais pieces really made my heart go pitter patter (a girl can dream) with the beautiful brown embroidery on the chambray blue background. I added some lower end pieces that you probably already have in your closet. If you wanted to splurge on one of the pieces you could combine them with some of the other items below as well. I would wear that dress unbelted. I hate those skinny belts!
The beautiful Veronica Beard shirt is certainly a splurge. The pants are on sale. The beautiful Margaux sandals pricey but lovely in that hard to find shade of blue. The Sezane bag and Wyeth hat add interesting textural elements.
The lovely shirt and pants are from Quince. The darling bag and hat are from Target.
Food for Thought from Susan and Jennifer last week
I think you might enjoy Susan’s post Why I Stopped Chasing a Signature Style (and What I Do Instead), and Jennifer’s post on the Wise Women Era and What Comes Next.
That’s my blue week in a nutshell, proof that a single color, used with a little restraint and a lot of personality, can pull a whole room (or an outfit) together. Let’ go check out what Mary Ann and Annie found too, and tell me: are you team blue or not at all.
Definitely Team Blue. Probably 25% of my shirts are some shade of blue. My favorite color is robin’s egg blue and has been most of my life. I’m even branching into navy this summer. Thanks for the fun post.
Hi Susan
I do love Robins Egg Blue as well…I haven’t been able to embrace navy in clothing but I do have a few indigo pillows!
Cindy! I adore Peter Dunham. And that print sectional … swoon. xo
Hi Juliet
Can’t wait to see your new digs when complete! We have rented an apartment for the month of September in Walnut Creek let’s meet for lunch!
Cindy love the blues! I am a Peter fan and always have wanted to get to his showroom. Do you know he has a beautiful collab right now with Hudson Grace? I bought a few of the napkins.
All these looks are beautiful and can be worn into the fall. That Sezane crochet bag has been on my list. You always find the coolest things.
The beans look yummy. I’ve been eating beans all weekend too. So good for you.
Off to read Jennifer and Susan’s posts. x
Hi Kim
Yes I do know about his collab and I have some of the napkins too…so good!! Peter hosted a reception of the Design Bloggers Conference several years ago and it was perfection. It must have been the year you didn’t go. His showroom is to die for! He is just so talented!!
Good afternoon from Oro Valley, Arizona where we are in the middle of a Monsoon Thunderstorm. The Blue Zones are a great way to switch up a healthy menu meal. The Author of the Book has been featured on The Today Show several times and also included several recipes which I have tried. I love the Blue & Browns. The Browns were my favorite when I had my Auburn hair. Since going Gray I feel dirty in Brown. Back in 2006, Schumacher Fabric had a tropical cotton pattern that was beautiful and I had a hard time keeping it in stock. I think it is called Coconut Grove and I probably have a few yards in my fabric bin. I now use a Blue color scheme on my patio and around the pool. The desert landscaping needs a lot of color. I think all the Blues would look fabulous on you and it is a color that I now collect for my wardrobe.
Hi Kathleen
I remember that wonderful Schumacher fabric. I completely agree with brown and gray or silver hair. It is a tough one. My hair was very dark brown (nearly black) back in the day, and I never felt like brown worked for me. I do love the blue with a touch of brown however.
Team Blue all they way, I love a watery aqua. Love the looks and love the sandals. Do you have trouble tying/fastening them at the ankles these days? I certainly do!
Hi Gray
I love a watery aqua too. I had some CP shades in that color. It seems hard to find now!. I don’t have trouble with the tied ones but the darn buckle options are down right difficult! I agree!
Hi Cindy,
OO Cindy my favorite colors at the moment blue and dark brown. I recently bought a pecan brown dress and I am just loving it. We are also on the bean brigade, my hubby loves making dishes from dried beans and tooling around with recipes, so good for you and economical. Appreciate the high/low outfits too. Happy Sunday!
Hi Francesca
Those Alemais pieces are pricey but just so good. Brown washes me out now that I have white hair, but the blue and brown I might be able to pull off.
Team Blue 100%! You have said you don’t think you look good in navy but I don’t know where you got that notion because you definitely pull it off just as well as anyone can!
Hi Wren
I know you are team blue!! You wear it well!
Great post! I’m wearing soft blue as I type this…I honestly think everyone looks great in some shade of blue, I’m very much considering the blue Kenneth Cole shoes…
I will definitely be cooking black beans with this recipe this week…you mentioned that you cooked on high for an hour in crock pot and then cooked all day…did you turn the temp to low and continue to cook in the crock pot?
Thanks
Sharon
Hi Sharon
Yes I did. I usually start the crock pot out on high to speed up the process a bit! I cooked them all day on low after that.
I just printed the black bean recipe! Looks delicious and easy to make. I have all the pieces to create your chambray look! Perfect for our upcoming vacation. Happy. Sunday. Anna in Arizona!
Hi Anna!
Where are you headed? I hope somewhere a bit cooler ha ha!
Cindy – we are going to Michigan for two weeks! I think I’ll go with a blue and white theme!
Hi Anna
Have a wonderful time in Michigan! My sister and family used to spend a few weeks there every summer when they lived in Chicago. We also went to Macinac island as children (growing up in the Midwest).
Cindy, your Blue Zone Back Beans look delish! Love your outfits of the week. So perfectly summer with chambray blue, white, and raffia!
xx
Hi Annie
Thank you so much.
What a fun post. I feel like I’m always in love with blue…especially in my bedroom.
Hi Mary Ann
You are definately a blue girl and it looks so fabulous in your Florida home!!