Our home was built in the mid 1970's, and lacked character. One of my goals in the top to bottom renovation was to add the missing character in the form of built-ins. As I worked on the re-do design plan, I thoughtfully considered each room with a goal to add interest but also make it functional and smart for that particular space. Here is why and how we added ... Keep Reading...
SIMPLE DECORATING TIPS
Antique Inspired Kitchen Island
We have an antique inspired kitchen island in our newly renovated kitchen. I saw an antique general store counter advertised for sale around the time I was planning our kitchen and considered buying it, but it was so far away and I was so busy, that it really wasn't feasible to spend an entire day to go pick it up. Plus, to be honest, even though I loved the ... Keep Reading...
Wall Mounted Pot Rack
I love pot racks! They can offer beautiful and convenient pan storage. In the last 3 houses we've owned, I designed a pot rack to fit each kitchen's space best, both wall mounted pot racks and a free hanging pot rack. You can read about some of those other pot racks I've written about here. In our house we call 'home' these days, as I was designing the kitchen, ... Keep Reading...
Romantic Centerpiece DIY
This post was originally published 5 years ago! That was in our last house, a 100 year old house we renovated and then sold. This centerpiece was so pretty, and with Valentine's Day just around the corner, I felt it was applicable to re-post it. I did add in online shopping links for you to duplicate fairly closely a centerpiece like this one. All the Christmas ... Keep Reading...
Little Brick Cottage Back Entry Re-Do
Several years ago, when I first started to blog, I showed you this project I was working on. It was a very charming 1800's little brick cottage that really needed a redo! When we purchased this house, this is what the back entry looked like: It was ‘yucky’ at best, and it had some real issue. There was no natural light in the space, there was a door ... Keep Reading...
DIY Wallpaper Mural
Last week I told you to be watching for the 'official announcement' of the business expansions I'm undertaking. (You can read more details in THIS POST) I'll be offering a few different avenues of decorating consulting and am super excited about being able to help people achieve the style and function in their homes that they seek. This was the peek of the name ... Keep Reading...
Business Expansions are Coming!
I've been so busy, and I'm super excited to share with you what's been taking up a considerable amount of my time lately. I have business expansions coming! Even though I'm super busy getting it all organized, I really wanted to share a bit about it with you here. Twenty-two years ago I opened up a design studio and was quite busy doing all sorts of ... Keep Reading...
Christmas Collecting 2019
Oh my! I have been having so much fun Christmas collecting this year!! Before I show you some of my found treasures though, Here's a quick view of our Thanksgiving table taken while I was working on setting it: I found these black and white buffalo check chairs here. They work better than the wider wicker ones we had here because they're a little narrower and ... Keep Reading...
Front Entry Portiere
I finally got the front entry portiere sewn and hung, and we're loving it... both the way it looks and especially the function it offers! I showed you the front entry renovation progress a few months ago. (HERE you can read the post I wrote on the front entry reno to see it before!) This whole house renovation design plan included mostly removing walls, with ... Keep Reading...
Vintage Screen Door
A few weeks ago I shared with you the details of the tile floor in the 2nd bath. If you missed that post, HERE is where you can read about the tile floor and how I found the right one after ordering 'samples' online. In that same '2nd bathroom' we have an antique screen door in use. Here's the story... When we first bought this house, a later Mid-century with ... Keep Reading...
Christmas Shopping at my eBay Store
I've told you how much I love to find treasures... vintage finds are so fun. I love to imagine the story of history behind the piece. I used to go to every garage sale I could find, but now I find my time, (and energy LOL) is more limited. Something I learned when I do go is to not only shop for myself, but to shop for others... If I see an interesting vintage ... Keep Reading...
Rustic Creche
Do you have a Christmas nativity displayed in your home? I have several! In fact, I keep collecting them. I love all the different styles that I see. My favorites are the vintage and homemade ones I've collected over the years. Here is a post I wrote a few years back showcasing some of my nativity collections, I've added to it since then! Here is a DIY felt ... Keep Reading...
How to Clean Spilled Wax
It is candle season, and with candle season, comes melted wax that sometimes ends up where it doesn't belong! This just happened to me a couple weeks ago. I had some wonderful essential oil votive candles burning on a saucer and before I knew it, they had melted down to a puddle that over flowed the saucer... then spilled over the side onto the linen runner when ... Keep Reading...
Simple DIY Curtain, using vintage fabric
I love vintage Mid-Century Colonial Revival style. I can still see the living room of my childhood, with an oval braided rug anchoring the colonial maple furniture. That vision evokes many fond remembrances of sweet days for me. When I found some vintage fabric from that same time period, (in excellent condition! I might add), I decided that it would be perfect ... Keep Reading...
Tiling the Bathroom Floor
Our house has a few bathrooms, (4 1/2 to be exact!) It sounds like a lot, but that number is sort of deceiving, because the house has a finished lower level, and a lower level apartment to boot, so that's 2 bathrooms, one of which won't be assessible to us once the apartment is rented. Then, the back entry has a 1/2 bath in the mudroom. Both the mudroom and the ... Keep Reading...