The drapes in my dining room had run their course. I’d had them for about 12 years, having purchased them when I was in my “burgundy and hunter green phase”. All the decorations in my previous house were pretty dark compared to what I have now. I’ve been slowly phasing them out and it was time for the drapes to go. See for yourself… Our current house has a more casual, comfortable feel to it than our last house. I wanted to extend that look into the dining room. The previous drapes seemed much more formal to me. I had an idea of what I wanted my new curtains to look like. Linen, simple, clean lines and some pleats. The only problem was that my sewing skills are very basic. I could not create what I envisioned in my head by myself. Then I came across The Merry Window. With gorgeous hand…
Read MoreMy two son’s share a bedroom. It has a mix of styles going on but leans toward simple and modern. I’ve only put a couple things on the walls like barn stars and some signs I made. The pelmet boxes are simple with a geometric pattern as is the fabric covering the top of the closet. The one thing that I think I added a bit too much of was the color red. The pelmet boxes are red, the comforters are red and the rug is red. A little too much. The paint on the wall, Benjamin Moore’s Beacon Gray, does balance it all out but I needed to de-red-ify the space a bit. I decided to start with the rug and see how it goes. The rug I had in there was a round hooked rug that I found at HomeGoods. It has found a new home in the basement…
Read MoreAfter the tree is bought and the lights are wrapped around and all the ornaments are put in place my tree is still not done. Not till the next day when I go out and buy some baby’s breath, cut it up and add it to the tree. I’m not sure how this started but I’ve been doing it since I was a teenager. Now that I have children and I see it through their eyes it is like little snowflakes on our tree. It is a fun job for them to help with. Adding baby’s breath is also a great way to fill in the random gaps here and there on a natural tree. I love the ribbon look as well. The problem is so do my children, which means the ribbon is pulled and played with. I might have to wait a few years on that one.…
Read MoreThe other day I decided to make some changes in my entryway. One thing led to another of course and now I have a couple new projects in front of me. All it took was for me to decide I needed to do something about my front door. I had put some sheers on sidelight curtain rods a while back, mainly to hide my extremely ugly sidelights. It was time for a change but I didn’t want to install anything too permanent since I’m a constant redecorator. After taking some measurements I was able to find a shower curtain rod that fit perfectly. Yes, you read that right. A tension shower curtain rod fit the width of my hallway. No nails. You’d be surprised with the selection out there these days. I used 90 inch tall curtains to take advantage of the height of my ceilings and some clip on…
Read MoreI managed to fit in some antique shopping last weekend around Millbrook, New York. I found a mix of items from beautiful to out of the ordinary. Please excuse the camera quality since these were all taken with my phone. First up is the beautiful fireplace mantle which was resting against the even more breathtaking window… There were lots of pieces of finished marble which I came really close to buying for a project I’m working on. It was in perfect condition but I decided against it. There was a great collection of milk glass, glass jars and bottles. The one below in particular caught my eye. It is hard to see in the photograph but it had tiny bumblebees in-between the scalloped shapes. Hard to resist. I might need to start a collection. If I ever need some metal brackets, doorknobs, drawer pulls or cabinet knobs I know where…
Read MoreMy guest room has undergone a couple evolutions since we bought this home. When we first moved in it was a much larger room that we used as a playroom. We did a lot since then, but here is how it looked when I first laid my eyes on it… The heating was converted to baseboard heat, the dark wood paneling was painted a warm white and Allure TrafficMaster vinyl plank flooring was laid over the existing tile. For three years it served as our playroom. Fast forward three years and it was worked on some more. This time walls were put up, a large walk in closet was created, a door was added and it became a guest room. It is actually more than that since it now houses the piano and some of my husbands books. He really likes books. It is a tiny room to handle all…
Read MoreThe wastebaskets that I placed in my mudroom as shoe storage once upon a time looked like this… I picked them up at HomeGoods for $7.99 each and they were fine as is. Painted and dipped baskets are everywhere lately so I decided to try my own version. I rummaged through my craft paint and paint sample collection until I found the colors I was looking for. Using a dry brush method I just brushed the paint right on the basket. I decided to do stripes at the top, bottom and middle of the basket. I created a random pattern on the first basket and just kept it up for the other three. No measuring, no painters tape and nothing perfect. They dried overnight and were put straight to work the next morning. Think of these as a solution for small toy storage in a child’s room, a place to store…
Read MoreI’ve had a lot of questions from readers asking me how I put together my built-ins in the basement. With 17 feet of wall to fill up, I turned to IKEA and created a storage unit. Not only does it fit everything, it looks good in the process. My latest Houzz idea book shows you exactly what you need to create something like this in your own home. See you there!
Read Morevia pottery barn
Read MoreThe Ikea Expedit is the workhorse in my mudroom. I filled most of the cubbies with baskets but my one remaining problem was the explosion of footwear all over the mudroom floor. My kids had a habit of taking their shoes off right when they got in the door and then leaving them in that spot. I left the bottom row of cubbies on the Expedit empty since that was where everyone’s shoes would now be going. Below is a picture of what I thought it would look like on a daily basis… Nice and neat. Organized and uncluttered. Then reality struck… My husbands’ shoes and coats go in a closet that is in the mudroom. The cubbies are for me and the three kids. If the shoes actually made it off the floor into the cubbies that is what it looked like. Everyone had a designated cubby but they…
Read More
Subscribe to Posts
Thanks for subscribing!
A Little History
Featured On...
 |
Blog Policies
For more information on all blog policies regarding comments, advertising, copyright, sponsored links, guest submissions, and other matters, please look here.