Fall is here...gosh darn it!

Here in sunny San Diego we've been
waiting a long time for fall to come around.
Actually, with 95 degree weather outside,
it really hasn't come yet, but gosh darn it,
it's September 26th and it's about time
we start decorating our home for the
coming season!
So, I searched the closet and found
what I call my "bag o fall". 

The bag is full of
left over silk flowers from
my daughter's wedding.
One October, several years ago,
my daughter and her fiance gave me
exactly 10 days to plan her wedding.
Yeah, I know, sheesh....
so, to make it easier, I used what
was "in season" in the stores.
I bought the flowers at Michaels.
I am happy to say that she had a lovely fall wedding,
and I got through it with my sanity intact.
Anyway, here are some before and after pics
from my living room.

Boy, don't
these valances
look plain without
the flowers?

And this is my favorite... my piano.

I switched out the champagne
glasses for some crystal
champagne glasses I've had
for many years.

We used them in the wedding and they still have the gold ribbon on them :)

So now, even though it is fricken HOT outside,
I can enjoy the beauty of fall in my home, and
dream of crisp cool weather.

monkeys and elephants

Would you love to have beautiful
artwork on your walls,
but just can't afford it?
Yeah, me too.
What to do?
 Well, when you don't have money, you
have to be more creative.

The Home Depot, like alot of
stores, is a great place to keep
your eye out for clearance items.

"Clearance" doesn't mean cheap.
It just means that they are not going
to be ordering anymore,
and they mark the item down,
sometimes WAY down,
and if you're lucky enough to be
in the store that day, you can snag
some great items for pennies on
the dollar!

I happen to work at The Home Depot,
so naturally I keep my eyes open for
great deals.

I picked up this set of mirror and two
frames when they went on clearance
for $6.50.

 
But I still needed something to put in
them.

So I cut out a piece of wall border
from an old wallpaper sample book, then
taped it in there, just right,
and TA DA...artwork!
The colors coordinate perfectly with
my decor, and the subject matter
does too.

Here's my elephant picture.

(You'll see several elephants if you
look around my home)

And here's my monkey. . . and giraffe.

Even the frames seem to go with the
"old world" tropical style.

Yay!

I don't sew

My mother was a seamstress, and now my daughter is too.
But somehow the domestic gene passed me by.
I don't sew. I've tried.
I couldn't follow a pattern.
The machine made me mad.
So I gave up.
But, the good news is that many
crafty things can be done without
so much as winding a bobbin!

Every once in a while, I will actually do some
sort of craft project, and they usually turn
out pretty good.
Here are some pictures of the old ugly
bulletin board that became a focal point
in our studio.

It was pretty easy.
My daughter had some scrap material laying around.
There was not enough to cover the whole thing,
so I took two coordinating fabrics, and had
MY DAUGHTER sew them together.
If she was not around, I probably would
have just pinned them onto the board
after ironing.
Since the edges were kind of..
well...
edgy...
I trimmed the whole thing
with ribbon.

Nothing on this is permanent.
It is held on by push pins!
If I were really ambitious, I would
paint the frame....
but..ummm..
I'm not.

I had this bulletin board for YEARS,
hanging around, waiting to be used.
Now it commands attention as
soon as you walk in the room.

 By the way...see the really cool antique sewing machine?
My daughter picked it up at a yard sale,
while visiting Navoo, Missouri.
I think she paid about $20.
It came with  a sewing table,
but they had to leave it there
because they didn't have room
in their car! :(

But, now it has become
a decorative
feature in our studio.
How cool is that?

tips and tricks

I come across alot of people who
don't know where to start when
decorating their home.

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.....

Let a professional designer do it for you!

No, I'm not talking about hiring a designer,
although I'm not trying to talk you out of it
either.  After all, I've made my living helping
people make their homes more beautiful.

But, you can use the advice of a
professional, without even knowing one.

The place to start is the rug
or comforter.
This was designed by a professional,
and it has a color scheme built in.
This is your starting point!

Look at the background color,
which is usually
some shade of white, off-white,
beige, or tan.
Use this color to paint your walls.

By the way, most of the time
any shade of beige or tan is better
on your walls than plain white.

Finding the right color for your
walls can be the trickiest
part because you need to use
the proper shade.

White or off-white can be
warm or cool.
It can have a pinky tone, or be
yellowy. It can lean toward
grey or more towards brown.
If you go yellowy when
you should have gone pinky,
that can be a problem.

If you're having trouble, try
getting some advice from the
associates at  the paint counter
at Home Depot.  They can be
a valuable resource.

Once you have the perfect
neutral color on your walls,
you can contrast it with a
bright creamy white on your
blinds and base molding.
If you have crown molding,
painting it white next to the
color on the walls will make
it stand out.
(I refuse to say "pop :)

Next, what is the dominant
color in the rug or comforter?
Use this color for large areas
in the room, such as curtain
panels and valances.

There will be at least one more
color that is used very little.
Pick one.
This is your accent color.
Use this color for small touches, such as
candles and pillows.

Whatever you do, don't paint your
walls first, then try to decorate
within them.

This is the hardest way to do it
and it is probably why so many
people get stuck.
Even a designer would have
a hard time doing it this way,
because it is backward!

The reason being is that there
are only a certain number of
rugs or comforters out there,
but there are thousands of
paint colors.

Above all, don't be afraid
of color.
I don't know about you,
but I get a little depressed
after I take down my Christmas
decorations.
I think this is because the season
brings so much color into our
lives, and we miss it when it's
gone.

(Did I just bring up Christmas?
Just me longing for cooler
weather I guess....:)

"this kitchen needs an island"

Since the day we moved into our new home
almost 15 years ago, my husband has been
suggesting that our kitchen needs an island.
I don't know why he even cares.... it's not
like he ever steps foot in it!

But, I had to agree with him.  Our U-shaped
kitchen is on the large size, at least for our
home.
When the center of the room is not being
taken up by a baby's high chair or playpen,

it's just a wasted space.
But it is not big enough for a permanent
full-size island. 
So we've been on the look out all these
years for just the right size
something-or-other to put in this vast
expanse of nothingness.

One day, not too long ago, hubby's
buddy was about to trash a
"stainless" commercial table that
had been in his garage forever.
Hubby brought it home and
expected me to be excited about it.
I hated it!
No way was I gonna
let that thing inside my home.

It sat outside for about 3 months,
being used as a catch all by the
back door, until I finally relented
and let him clean it up and bring it
into the kitchen.

I went to Home Depot and bought
some spray paint, to spruce up the
legs and bottom.
This is a specialized "hammered" finish.

 It was looking good!  And the size of it
is perfect for our kitchen....but something
was missing.
I grabbed the wooden stool we had
been using as an end table in the
livingroom.  We decided to use it next
to the island.
But, we'd have to paint it to match.

 This is as far as hubby got with it.
I waited 4 weeks, then finished painting
it myself.






Here is the finished product.  The wooden
stool now looks like it is made out of
metal.

The ugly commercial table has been
transformed into a sit-down space
in my once bare kitchen, and adds a
modern element that was missing.

I use it all the time, sitting down
to read a magazine while I'm
cooking, or eating breakfast.

 
This whole project cost us $12,
for the spray paint.

white paint makes everything look good

Just because something is old and ugly,
doesn't mean it can't look good again.
You've seen makeovers on people. 
The same thing can be done for really
old, seemingly used up furniture.

About four years ago, my husband was
helping his mom move out of her
apartment, and in with her daughter.
She needed to get rid of an old dresser
that she'd had for as long as he could
remember. He called me to see if I
wanted him to bring it home.
Duh. . . . . of course!

I wish I had some pictures to show you
just how ugly this monster was when I
first laid eyes on it.

I was dark wood, with no finish left on
it at all. It had old fashioned pulls which
were a cross between brass and brown. 
The top had taken it's fair share of abuse.

We put it in the spare room that I was
fixing to make into a playroom for our
growing number of grandchildren.

My plan was to paint each drawer a
different bright primary color. . . .
but that never happened.
I even brought it outside once, for
about 2 weeks, but hubby never got
around to sanding it down for me.
So I brought it back into the playroom
and forgot about it.

Until. . . . my daughter and I decided
to convert one of my spare rooms into
our studio for our on-line businesses.

We designed our studio using,
among other things, pieces we found
at IKEA. 

I finally got hubby to sand down the
monster, then paint it white with two
coats of Behr Premium semi-gloss.

We looked all over for pulls that
would fit the holes left by the
old ugly ones.
They were nowhere to be found.
So, instead, I purchased enough to
screw into every hole, so there
are two pulls on some areas that
only had one before.
But this just adds to the makeover!
The dresser now has a modern
flair that it lacked before.

Once it was ready, hubby installed the
cubby on top, and we were in business.
It now resembles a wall unit or hutch,
and it's a beautiful addition to the room.

Now this is my favorite part of our studio!

grey goose

It's Thrift Store Thursday,
only I don't have time to shop,
so I'm going to show you something
I bought at Goodwill
a couple of years ago.

Remember, I love unusual baskets,
so when I saw these
I knew I had to have them.

I guess you wouldn't call these "baskets",
but they are matching rattan suitcases.
How cool is that?!
They remind me of the kind of suitcases that
might have been used in the late 19th or early
20th century, by some rich people going on
safari, or to some exotic locale.
Since the style in my home is what I call
Old World Tropical,
these fit in perfectly.

I don't remember exactly how much I paid,
but it wasn't more than $10 each.
I didn't know what I was going to use them for,
but they were just too cool to pass up.
It turns out that these are great for storing those
odd items that don't really belong anywhere else,
such as items you're just holding
onto for sentimental reasons.

So....just today I decided to look for some
sort of label on these, to see where they were made,
or to get a clue as to how old these might be...

this is what I found....

Ha! So funny. Grey Goose Vodka.  I don't drink,
and I have no idea why they have this stamp.
There is nothing more to tell me anything
about them, so I'm going to assume that these
were made in France, but the rest is a mystery.
Oh well, they are still a great addition to my home,
and a really cool thrift store find.