I wish I could tell you who designed this room, but one thing’s for sure, I can’t take credit! But I will tell you why in so many ways, it a perfect room, from the ground up. 1. First of all, I’m a sucker for beautiful, hand made rugs on hard wood floors! And these are gorgeous, bringing a colorful foundation to the room. 2. White sofas and chairs. The only thing better would have been slip-covered chairs and sofas, to reduce the “worry factor”. White is clean, fresh and so easy to decorate around. 3. Beautiful pillows, in warm…
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I had so much fun making gift cards this week, I decided to make some festive gift tags. Tied to a ribbon, wrapped around some tea towels, for a hostess gift, or used on a gift bags (custom decorated of course), you could probably get away without including a card. But do you dare? And then, on the other side of course… Not bad, for a novice! I’m sure you creative types could come up with all sorts of cleverness! The possibilities are endless…buttons, seed beads, rick rack…oh my! Typically, I’ve used these manila tags to create novel business cards,…
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On days like this, when it will feel like about 175 degrees outside, I do my best to stay indoors. While my daughter’s at boot camp and my son will soon be deployed on a ship, I’d like to be able to send them note cards that make them feel loved, without “breaking the bank”. I found a way to send hand made / customized cards for less than 50 cents each! For a few years now, I’ve admired the hand made cards from friends. They’re so beautiful, I hate to part with them! I received a “thank you” card…
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Can you imagine how much beige carpet archeologists will find in land fills, a thousand years from now? Seriously, one key reason for solid color, neutral, patternless carpeting in homes everywhere, is that just about anything placed on top of it will coordinate. Building a room’s decor, starts at the floor and builds from there. Starting with a patterned carpet requires a little more planning, but the results, to me, are much more interesting. It’s just another reason why I choose solid colors for sofa upholstery, because you can sit a neutral colored sofa on top of just about anything.…
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As you may know, I’m involved in a long-term “love affair” with lamps! I hesitate to mention this on line, knowing disclosures like this may come back to haunt me one day, but… I visited one of my favorite vintage shops last week, on Palm Avenue, in Carmichael. There, I found a stunning lamp! It came with a bare lamp shade frame, which I understand is the new best thing, in shabby chic circles! I figured I would try covering the lamp shade. After a quick reality check, I realized that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. So I found…
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Whenever possible, I love fresh cut flowers in the home. Yes, I use silk flowers as back up, just to bring color, height, or visual interest into a space. While they’re producing some pretty amazing silk flowers these days, you have to make sure they’re always clean and that you don’t over-do a good thing. Certainly, nothing compares to the “real deal”! So, rather than spending money on cut flowers, I try to keep flowers growing in the garden, during the warm half of the year. My favorite flower of all time, inside or out, is the gorgeous Hydrangea. Not…
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Happy Friday! Already the first of July and our first “heat wave” of summer is upon us! When I’m not blogging, or out finding a new (old) lamp (like the one I found today and will share with you soon), my favorite thing to do is help people decorate their homes. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the true pleasure of working with several young women who are moving into new homes. The pride and excitement is contagious! I remember those days, when life was full of so many “firsts”! We usually start by scheduling a 2-hour consultation.…
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Sitting here in the airport, I reflect on my quick trip to the east coast. The main focus of the trip was to get my only daughter safely delivered to The U. S. Military Academy at West Point, in New York. This a national treasure, nestled in the forest along the Hudson River. Right about now, she’s completing her second day of “Beast”, which is their name for boot camp. I’m sure she’s exhausted, but hopefully happy. She was born to attend this school, even though, Sunday night she was pretty tense. Bright and early, Monday morning, we joined a…
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