The outside “look” of our home is just as important to me as the interior. In fact, I think it’s important that the areas transition easily; that what you see on the outside, gives you a hint of what to expect inside. Pottery, properly scaled and placed, adds sculptural interest to our landscape. An element that’s been around for thousands of years, pottery compliments the timeless “Italian villa” ambience I’m striving for. The pot above was placed to disguise the remains of a tree trunk! Of course, here in California, with our hot, dry summers, the last thing I want…
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Truth be told, dog beds don’t enhance your home’s decor…I hate them. Especially since our dog considers them to be a favorite chew toy! It doesn’t take long before they start looking pretty “ratty”. See what I mean? So, I decided to recover the cedar bed insert, with some leftover fabric I had on hand. The bed is 3 x 4 feet, so I cut the fabric 4 x 4 feet, to allow fabric for a Velcro flap. In order to keep the seams from un raveling, I sewed French seams, which is accomplished by sewing 1/4 inch seams, around…
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A few weeks ago, I was looking at fabric options, after staining an oak chair a dark walnut. I considered a traditional fabric… …but thought it was too “safe”. So I looked beyond my own fabric stash and found a leopard print, in an ultra-suede. This was not a slam-dunk fabric decision because recovering a chair is not an inexpensive proposal. With the cost of fabric and labor, you could certainly buy a new chair. (but where’s the risk in that?) So…voila!
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Just because you’re on a limited budget, doesn’t mean you have to forsake a new perk-me-up for the home, now and then…especially if it comes from Target. A few years ago, when I was staging homes for sale, Target was my home-away-from-home. I could find just about everything under the sun, to give a home “new life”. Even now, I’m always on the look-out for new merchandise, or especially nice things, that might work in a budget-conscious client’s home. You’ll often find accent tables or attractive ottomans. What would it look like to add silvery nail head trim to the…
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1. First of all, I love how balanced the room is, starting with the fireplace, flanked on both sides with beautiful “twin” bookcases. Even the miniature pictures on the shelves are similarly placed on the shelves on both sides.2. Feng Shui Experts place mirrors in a room, to reflect both positive and negative energy. I also understand that they serve to make us aware that our thoughts are reflected back to us. I’m not a Fung Shui expert, by any means, but find it interesting. Besides all that, the mirrors are again matching, placed in the center of each bookcase.3.…
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Hello there! My cat is sitting beside me, in my family room, as I write this short tribute to my dad. I’m a lucky woman who at 56 years old, loves her dad, respects him, admires and wants to protect him, at all costs. My dear dad sits in the hospital, oblivious to all that’s happening around him. This was/is a man who was on top of everything around him. My heart is breaking because my dear dad and friend is fading. We had no idea that things would happen as they did. No one did. That’s the chance you…
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As a self-described “smart shopper”, I’d like to highlight two of my many favorite spots for savvy shopping. I stopped in at Restoration Hardware’s outlet store, in Vacaville this week. It’s tucked far back into a corner of the center and would be easy to miss, if you didn’t know it was there. But if you’re shopping for any of the lovely pieces of indoor or outdoor furniture you’d find at a Restoration Hardware, you’ll find lots of ready to go inventory at 30-50% off of normal retail RH pricing. A full selection of lighting… Bedding and drapery… And beautiful…
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You may recall that I recently attempted to make a lampshade for my newly acquired vintage lamp. The only problem was that the I ended up with a lovely “shabby chic” lamp, and no offense, but that’s just not my style. So, I thought about painting the shade. Free hand? Not talented enough. Plus, it would take far longer than the one hour I allot to most projects of this nature. I thought about using stencils, but just imagined what a mess I could make of my $29.99 lamp shade, from Lamps Plus. So I went down the path of…
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