In our whole house renovation, part of the project included opening up the family room to be an extension of the kitchen for an open dining room / hearth room space. I loved the idea of a hearth room in the kitchen/dining area, but the existing ... Keep Reading...
First Aid… Remove Sticky Residue
A few years ago, I shared with you how to get a leftover sticky label off a jar, (you can read that post here). This time, it's not a jar I needed to remove the sticky residue from, it's our wood floor! Although I opted for soft pine flooring ... Keep Reading...
Is There Anything to do in Sonoma Valley if you Don’t Drink Wine?
As I was planning our trip to California, and the San Francisco Bay area, everyone I talked to about visiting Sonoma Valley only talked about touring the wineries. Touring a winery to see the process of wine making sounded fun, but as it turns out, ... Keep Reading...
Muir Woods
In this post, I'm going to share with you some tips for visiting Muir Woods with the necessary link you'll need to get into the national park. Mostly though, I hope to be able to depict, even if only in a tiny glimpse, the extraordinary greatness of ... Keep Reading...
Chinatown San Francisco
Have you ever been to San Francisco? If so, you’ve probably been to Chinatown... Or at least know of it. We were in San Francisco a couple years ago and weren’t actually able to stop in Chinatown due to time limitations, so this time around I ... Keep Reading...
DIY Pulley Light
I finally did it! I finally completed this fun DIY project. It wasn't that I started and never finished... (though I've done that plenty) This was one of those cases where I had a cool piece, but hadn't figured out how to use it yet. I've had ... Keep Reading...
How to Remove Pet Urine Stains
How to remove pet urine? Well, in the past, I have used vinegar water thinking that was the best way to remove pet urine stains. Though not always happy with the end results, I hadn't found anything better. However, I recently found a product that ... Keep Reading...
Merry Christmas
Just a quick post on this Christmas eve to say Merry Christmas! Whether you're with friends, family or alone on this Christmas, may you know that God is with you and loves you very much. We're all so blessed with the best Christmas gift ... Keep Reading...
Tips to Find the Right Lampshade
I found a vintage pair of lamps for our bedroom without lampshades, and that's what started the ball rolling. After purchasing them, I have finally gotten around to ordering shades for them. (had to wait to find the perfect nightstands ... Keep Reading...
Unique Christmas Tree Stand
Have you ever had your Christmas tree fall over? I have, after it was completely decorated... CRASH! Sadly, more than one year it's happened too. So frustrating!! At one point we resorting to actually wiring the tree to the frame of the bay window to ... Keep Reading...
DIY SWAGS (sort of)
This is actually barely a DIY project, even though I titled it 'DIY Swags'. I actually found some swags at the grocery store that had several types of evergreens in them, and just embellished them. Here are some tips on how I easily embellished ... Keep Reading...
How to Install an Interior Storm Window
Did you even know there were such things as interior storm windows? Well there are! I've actually used them for a few different projects. In our last house, a 100 year old house, we finished the attic space and I didn't want to remove the ... Keep Reading...
Thanksgiving Decor Re-Cap
(This cover picture is by Camille Pissarro, you can order your own copy here) This last week I've been joyfully busy spending time with grandchildren! We are so thrilled to be blessed with the addition of 1 more to our family!! I'm quickly writing ... Keep Reading...
A Coastal Example of Mixing Patterns
Observation is a fantastic learning tool. Here is a beautiful coastal example of mixing patterns to take away from. In interior design, I find that looking at other people's completed projects can be an extremely beneficial influence for the ... Keep Reading...
Vintage Window Awning Redo
When we first bought our house, I was fairly sure we were going to remove and not replace the window awnings. However, when we started to paint that side of the house, and removed the awnings, it was easy to understand their value! That is why a ... Keep Reading...
Transform Hall Closet into Library
Last year we bought a house... a late mid-century with little to no character, mid-century character or any other kind of character. My goal was to take this super bland slate of a house and turn it into feeling more like a Colonial Revival from ... Keep Reading...
Painting Tips
I've said many times that I love to paint, but that is an inaccurate statement! What I love, is how painting gives me the ability to bring positive and sometimes very drastic change to something. For sure, the physical wear and tear of painting is ... Keep Reading...
Front Porch Addition
It was last fall that the front porch addition was started... it is done... well mostly done... Let's pop back to the 'before': Yikes! Our new house (a mid-century I was hoping to turn into a Colonial Revival) sure did have ... Keep Reading...
Secret Tip! Hang a Group of Pictures…
Isn't this group of pictures so fun and charming?! Looks can be deceiving! Hanging them just about made me crazy... until I remembered the secret tip to hang a group of pictures with even spacing! My husband found a vintage 'Bozo Under the ... Keep Reading...
Fall Porch Ideas
Here are some quick and easy fall porch ideas... I've found that decorating for fall is the easiest! Christmas decorating can be such a huge commitment, but fall is simple... just a little goes a long way. A splash of orange here and there and it ... Keep Reading...
How to Install a Vintage Ceiling Light Fixture
I'mmm baaaaack!!! Finally, I have our new house renovation to a point that I feel I can start contributing some of my time and energy to writing and hopefully encouraging you to gain some confidence to take on a new project too! Maybe not a whole ... Keep Reading...
