A Plethora of Before and After Photos, Continued

Well, some things are back to normal in our house, most importantly, a working kitchen faucet that does not drip! Hooray!

I am taking a little vacation this weekend, as it is my birthday, and we both need some R & R. So, you may not hear from me again until next Tuesday (or sooner if I can’t stay away)!

I said I had a lot of before and after pictures in my last post, so here are the rest of them. What is scary, is that I remember most of the details of each article that relates to these before and afters. My brain just tends to retain that kind of information.

 

A Plethora of Photos: Before and After

Finally back online! We have a small power surge last week, that knocked out our cable modem and did other crazy things. So, no Internet, DVR, garage door opener, or working bathroom outlets. Then the same day, our new kitchen faucet sprung a huge leak, which ended up all over the kitchen floor!

So this week I am playing catch up and making appointments with repairmen left and right. Last week, before the chaos ensued, I had found a whole bunch of before and after pictures from Domino. I am going to divide them between today and Thursday, as there are a lot of them. Hopefully, you will find them as inspiring as I do!

Lots of change coming in our house, so time to get moving on some projects!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy Entertaining: 3 Elegant Appetizers

I have hundreds of pictures and scanned articles stored on my computer. Anything that peaks my interest gets filed (and sometimes lost).

You would think that with the amount of entertaining ideas and recipes that I have filed, I would be a hostess extraordinaire! However, a girl can try, so I keep filing away ideas for future use.

These tips come from the mother and daughter duo behind Two Dishes: Mother and Daughter: Two Cooks,Two Lifestyles, Two Takes. Linda Haynes is the cofounder of Ace Bakery, and her daughter Devin Connell, is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

  
From their book and her previous publications, here are three of Linda’s favorite appetizers for entertaining.

 
Radish chive fromage frais

House-brand olives

 
Lacy Parmigiano crisps – two ways

photo credits: Virginia Macdonald, Chris Freeland, Douglas Bradshaw

One Funny Chick: Sloane Tanen

I had to share with you Sloane Tanen’s art. I ran across her on The Sister Project. It is amazing what one woman can do with “a pile of chenille, two beads and some pipe cleaner.”

Her subjects of her books include motherhood, adolescent angst, and relationships; all in detailed dioramas, photographed by collaborator Stefan Hagen. She is funny, touching and sometimes very irreverent. Here are my favorites:

  

  
Check out even more of her work, featuring Sister Chicks, on The Sister Project. 

Tanen also has some adorable children’s books, such as C is for Coco. You can also browse and buy her prints online at ImageKind.

all images Sloane Tanen and Stefan Hagen

Color for Your Home: Bathroom, Bedroom and Home Office

What a week last week ended up to be. Two husbands laid off/divisions eliminated from corporate jobs. Then, the son of a dear mentor couple of ours emerged from brain surgery to adjust his shunt, with unexplained side effects, which have been extremely stressful for this family and their daughter-in-law.

I always have to stop to pause, and remember how lucky we are for every day, and for the blessings we have been given, no matter how large or small. To me, my house is a great blessing (even though I don’t think cleaning it is), as is the opportunity to be creative and look at it as a blank canvas, full of potential.

Last week, I shared some scientific advice from experts on how to choose colors for your home, looking at public rooms. Today, I finish with private rooms: the bathroom, bedroom and home office.

Bathroom – Cream: Light colors make a room feel bigger, and warm colors make you feel warmer (good for cold mornings). So, if  you live in a hot climate, would you want cooler colors in your bathroom? My bathroom now is Benjamin Moore™ 2051-60 Birds Egg on a textured wallpaper. It was right at the time, but am ready for something new.

Bird’s Egg

Designer Sarah Richardson made an observation, that while you may want a spa-like feeling in the bath, shades of blue all over the walls can feel like being in a swimming pool. So she suggests choosing color from the white/off-white palette, with just a hint of color in the undertone.

 Images from “Sarah’s House”, obviously a cooler bathroom

Versus a creamy bathroom. 

Southern Living

Architect Andrew Skurman, HGTV 

Bedroom – Blue: Studies show it is the most calming color. Some of my favorite blue bedrooms below.

all images from Domino

Home Office – Red: Study subjects who did proofreading in different-colored rooms made the fewest errors in a red one. Personally, not my first choice for a home office, but still some fascinating findings. I do like the idea of red touches here and there.

1. Sarah Richardson 2. cococozy 3. Coastal Living 4. unknown
5. Moving Desingnz 6. Be Interior Decorator

So, curious to see what you all think about the science behind color choices.

Easy Entertaining: Desserts on the Grill

Easy Fruit Dessert Hobo Packs from Food & Wine - wrap chunks of juicy fruit in foil with flavorings and toss the packets on the grill. The ultimate result: warm and unbelievably easy desserts.

The first dessert I am making is the Mixed Berries with Grilled Pound Cake. If you buy a 3-pack of pound cakes from your local Costco, wrap the cakes individually and freeze them. Then you always have them ready for entertaining.

  Mixed Berry Hobo Packs with Grilled Pound Cake

photo credit: Tina Rupp

Color for Your Home: Living Room, Kitchen & Dining Room

There was an interesting article in Money magazine last month. I would link to it, but it is not online. It was called “Getting the Most Out Of Your Home”. Research is finding that neither tons of space nor high-end furnishings are key to your home satisfaction.

Part of the article discussed room colors and their affect on our moods. “Light and color have a definite impact on people’s emotional response” says Alison Whitelaw, a San Diego architect and vice president of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture. Of course, I am not about to run out and paint my living room again, but I am in the process of picking new colors for our bedroom, bathroom, dining room and kitchen. Read the advice below, and tell me what you think. Have you found any of these to be true?

Living Room – Soft Yellow:
For the 2006 Architectural Digest Home Show, researchers designed three identical rooms, one in red, one in blue and one in yellow. The yellow room drew the most visitors and they were more animated than those visitors in other rooms.

In our movie/game room, I painted it yellow, because yellow reflects light. In a room with blackout shades, I think the yellow keeps the room from feeling too dark.

For more ideas, Best Shades of Yellow, gives you designer insight on their favorite yellow paint colors.

Laurey W. Glenn for Southern Living

 
My friend - Janie Hirsch Interior Design

 
Williams-Sonoma Home

Kitchen - Light Blue-Gray: Kitchens tend to get hot, cool colors make you feel cooler.

Kitchen designed by Phoebe Howard

 
Martha Stewart

Dining Room – Rich Dove Gray or Other Deep Neutral: Darker colors “create a sense of protection” according to Lee Eiseman (she is head of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training and is also executive director of the Pantone^® Color Institute). Avoid red, which stimulates you to eat more and faster, not conducive to connecting.

Jan Showers & Associates

 Design by Barbara Westbrook and Kim Winkler. Photo by Francis Janisch, from House Beautiful. 

Friday Finds: “Red” She Said, Luxe Life Earring Give-away, and Ann Getty Tips; Tag Sale

“Red”She Said: Two of my recent favorite finds have been red. And both were featured in Elle Decor. Hmmm, where could I put the screen?? That lantern would be fabulous in my entry, but I would need 2 of them!

 Mandala Wood Screen in red (also available in black);  arteriorshome, photographer: Joshua McHugh

 

 Carousel Lantern in Lollipop Red, Currey & Company.

Earring Give-away: If you are anything like me, you love jewelry! I have huge inventory of rings and earrings, as those I wear daily (plus I inherited a lot of vintage pieces). Necklaces, not so much, I never really like how they look on me.

Lucky me, Moth Design is giving away a pair of pretty Luxe Life earrings, made with love. Drop by her blog to enter and tell her I sent you!

Ann Getty Tastemaker Tag Sale:

I have some preview pictures from One Kings Lane for the sale tomorrow and have put them on my fan page. It looks like some amazing pieces for all of you “traditional tastemakers”. I am intrigued by the one piece of art I saw, perhaps there will be more. 

Click here to see more of her amazing interiors. Meanwhile, I will leave you with her Top Tips and Inspiration:

01 Give the illusion of height by hanging window treatments as close to the ceiling or crown molding as possible, Getty says. And, when she designs an entire home, she lines all the drapes with one fabric, for a consistent look from the outside.

02  A carpet can be, literally, the foundation of a room's design, rather than an afterthought or final touch, Getty says: "I often start with the rug and build from there."

03  "I often mix periods and styles to create interest in a room, but be mindful of the architecture. When architectural elements are prominent—like a San Francisco Victorian or Willis Polk design—modern furnishings will fight their surroundings. Use them as accents only."

04  Communicating what you want décor-wise can be tough: "If you are working with a designer (or planning to), keep an extensive scrapbook of design inspirations from magazines, books or the internet," says Getty. "These will be invaluable during the design process."

STARK Shopping Extravaganza

Shopping alert! Today at One Kings Lane, they are having a Stark extravaganza. If you are not familiar with Stark Carpet, for over 60 years they have specialized in in custom designed carpet, fabric, furniture and wallcoverings for both the residential and contract markets.

Today’s event features multiples sales on paint, wallpaper, floor coverings, and textiles. As always, all sales start at 8am PDT / 11am EDT, and sales last 72 hours.

Aren’t these fabrics so very pretty?
  

Particularly love the design on the first rug shown below.    

Even the modern girl in me still has a soft spot for toile. How sweet would this be in a nursery? In fact, I was just perusing the web this week, looking for new wallpaper for my powder room and perhaps my kitchen nook. Can’t wait to see the other styles available.