I'm in print

Months ago, I read an inspiring article (December issue of BH&G) about a talented young designer, Lauren Liess, who is transforming her home along with her husband and their young family. I was totally smitten with her (she’s gorgeous, friendly, creative, and from Virginia). I found myself going back to the article again and again. It was the first time I could recall a national shelter magazine featuring a house that was so relatable for regular folks. Lauren’s house doesn’t have a charming wrap around porch, a gourmet kitchen with granite and high-end appliances, or a spa-like master bath. No. Her home is a 1970′s split level that sat on the market for four years before she came along and saw the potential. Now that, I can relate to.

(I promise I’ll include all the links to everything I’ve mentioned about Lauren and her fabulous home, but please indulge me for a few more sentences while I make this about me and my nanosecond of glory.)

Did I mention I was inspired? I was so inspired that I actually wrote to BH&G to thank them for including such a relatable article in their publication. And guess what? They thanked me back by including my letter on page 15 of the February issue. I know it’s a little thing, but dang if I’m not excited. I’m in print!

{Oy, the scan is so blurry! Sorry!}

What is really fun for me is that I first learned that my letter was published from my friend Ann in Chicago who mentioned it on Facebook. I’d forgotten about even sending it in, to be honest. Then, Pam, an old (but still young!) friend from Virginia, said the world felt a little smaller when she saw my letter in her copy of the magazine. I love hearing from everyone, and I also love the idea that we can reach out and connect with each other even though everyone is so geographically spread out and far flung these days. How cool is that?

Here is the article about Lauren’s house from the December 2010 BH&G entitled “Christmas Present”. The best way to read it (unless you get your hands on that issue) is on Lauren’s blog, Pure Style Home, which I highly recommend.

Lauren Liess Kitchen from BH&G 12/10 Issue

Also, here are more pictures from her DIY kitchen remodel that include tons of doable ideas. Take a look at all of it when you have time. I think you might find yourself rather smitten with Lauren, too.

style your coffee table with these simple steps

One of my favorite reads is the Thursday email I receive from The Washington Post Home section. It always offers good eye candy and relatable articles about dwelling. Today’s article features a local D.C. area antiques shop owner giving tips about how to makeover your coffee table. Inspired, I glanced over to my bare living room coffee table and decided I would try out the simple steps to see if it was as easy as it sounded.

It was, and you can do it too. Just follow this easy formula:

Step 1: Start with a plant

Or fruit, or fresh flowers…something living is the idea here. I’m momentarily stumped since my budget doesn’t allow for fresh flowers, and I do have that black thumb affliction. But then I remember that my one surviving plant might work, so I add it to the table.

Looking better already!

Step 2: Vary the heights

Ok, well I’m just working with one item here, but I’ll keep that in mind as I add more. For now, I am liking the spiky tall leaves on my plant, so step 2, I guess, is complete.

Step 3: Add books and stack them

Well that’s something we have a lot of! The idea is you switch out books based on seasons, or the interests of your guests, but since I’m the only one home right now, I’ll choose a few of my own home decor faves. Note to self: later must switch to BBQ cookbooks and a gnomes/fairies/Star Wars combo to meet the needs of the other residents and their after school play date guests.

Step 4:  Place an object on top

This step leaves A LOT of room for interpretation, but I’ve seen enough to know what we’re looking for here. The article suggests a non-scented candle. (Why? Scented candles are bad? I did not know this!) I only have a scented candle handy, so I try it.

Remember Step 2 about varying the height? I’m not loving the way my candle is looking on the stack of books; it’s too stumpy (although it smells lovely, so there!). I go for a little black vase with a little feather ball thingy conveniently already in it. I like the height better. Don’t you?

Step 5: Use odd numbers

I do the math so far. Three books, one vase, one plant. As far as I can tell, my grouping is filled with odd numbers, and since I’m a whiz at first grade math lately, I think Step 5 is complete! Check!

Step 6: Keep proportion in mind

Proportion? Scale? This is definitely more like middle school math, so I reflect on my arrangement. Is it in scale with the table? I think so. Is it in proportion to the room? I think so. It doesn’t look overwhelming or oversized, so I think I’m good here. But that’s all a matter of interpretation; you have to trust your own instincts on this one. So ambiguous, I know! With all this talk of mathematics, don’t you just long for the “right” answer?!

Step 7: Keep it all on one side

Whew, we’re back to basics on this step! The idea here is if you keep your display to one side, then you have room for a tray of goodies when you’re having company. I don’t have anyone coming over today, but I pretend I do. Here’s what my imaginary guests and I are having…

Step 8: Use the space underneath

Honestly, I’m more in favor of this step if you have a base to your coffee table. I like the sleek lines of my coffee table without something below. But not to be one to deviate from directions, I find a basket and cover its contents with a throw.

Step 9: Keep it interesting

Although most of you might not find much interesting here except that bottle of wine, the point is, if you mix things up and include objects that are interesting to look at or touch (photos, books, found objects, etc.), then it becomes an appealing display that is easy to modify as long as you keep the basic steps and principles in mind.

I do think that my coffee table looks a lot more interesting now, and the steps were really easy to follow and required no purchasing of new swag. But I honestly don’t know how long that plant or vase will last with my dog wagging her tail around, and I know my kids will mess up that stack of books within minutes of arriving home from school. As for the wine, anyone want to come over for a clink later?

reuse your holiday scraps

{Image courtesy of Kelly Wilkinson}

About this time of the holiday season I find myself surrounded by piles, rolls, and heaps of discarded wrapping paper. I save the cast offs in the hopes that the perfect little bauble box might find it’s way into my to-be-wrapped pile–a pile which seems to multiply at night while the sugarplums are dancing merrily in my slumber. Somehow that little box never materializes, and I’m left to ponder whether to fetch the recycling bin or shove the scraps back into the holiday wrapping storage bin. But today, right here in my inbox, is a nifty little craft project that uses recycled holiday paper, or any paper for that matter, for a simple, stylish and festive decor idea. It comes from Kelly Wilkinson who is a contributor at The Washington Post (which publishes one of my favorite regional home and garden sections). Check out Kelly’s clever crafty blog at makegrowgather.com, and read on to learn how to make this holiday garland step-by-step.

try a faux finish with spray paint

My sister-in-law found some beautiful candlesticks for her decadent (and I mean jaw dropping) master bath. Their only drawback was that their zinc coloring did not suit her old world Tuscan decor. An expert faux painter she was using elsewhere in the house suggested this technique which I tried out on the candlesticks during my visit.

Step 1: Gather your materials. You’ll need old rags, a paper plate, a drop cloth, spray paint in a neutral base coat (we used an off-white), and two more spray paints in different metallic finishes.

Step 2:  Apply the neutral base coat thoroughly.  It’s best to apply several light coats rather than a few heavy coats (less drippage).  Do this outside if you can to avoid fumes and accidental wafting of spray paint.

Step 3:  Lightly layer on one of the metallic paints.  Do not cover, leaving lots of the neutral base coat exposed.

Step 4:  Spray paint directly onto your paper plate, and using a cloth, rub the other metallic color on in various areas.  In the picture below, I did a second candlestick with both metallic paints just following this Step and eliminating Step 3.  The goal is to use the dabbing technique to achieve the type of faux finish that you want.

Step 5:  Clean up and you’re done.

Here is the grouping of the three faux painted candlesticks by the edge of the sunken tub.  Don’t they look pretty?

Foyer update: New workstation!

Way back in January, we made some home related resolutions. To read more about those, click here. Making our foyer more inviting was a big goal for us. We had been making some good progress with updating thebookcases and tiling the floor, but a family dilemma was starting to emerge. As our kids are all now school age, they want computer access. Steve and I both use laptops for work and are paranoid about giving the kids free reign with them. Our jalopy of a computer downstairs was no match for the demands of even the most beginner level Webkinz user. Plus, we really wanted to see what the kids were doing on the computer and shelter them from the wacky side of the world wide web. So, we decided to make a change in the foyer to accommodate a new computer for the kiddos and a family workstation we could all enjoy.

To get started, we decided that the bookcase near the kitchen would have to go. Here’s a picture of how it looked right before we removed it. 

We were hoping we’d find hardwood floor underneath. Happily we did, and then we found even more. Read about that interesting discoveryhere.

Because of Steve’s millwork connections, we were able to design a custom unit to fit our needs and space. Now, this is the view when you walk in the front door.

We love the closed upper cabinets for storage, the shelves for minimal display, and the filing cabinets for staying organized. The tall left lower cabinet houses the computer tower and has a shelf for cell phone charging. The only downside was that my former laptop workstation was now gone. My handy husband had a solution for that. He removed the copper insert from the planter on the other bookcase and covered it with a wood slab. Then, he carved out an insert where I can dump the keys, my purse and other accoutrements.

Now I still have my very own kid-free workstation. Hey, you burn more calories when you check your email standing up!

foyer update: new floor

Whenever I get a chance to sneak away for the weekend, I know that part of the price I’ll pay upon returning is a messy house. My husband is amazing in so many ways, but when it comes to cleaning up, I’m a team of one around here. So imagine my surprise when I returned home from a girls weekend in Virginia to find this…

Yep, that’s my sweet little fella playing in the residue of our former foyer floor. Boys. Must. Get. Dirty. That dust he’s sitting in was blanketing the entire first floor of our house. It wasn’t quite the mess I was expecting. Welcome home! Lovely! But was I steamed? Heck no! I couldn’t have been happier to see it go.

Once the dust settled (apparently that takes longer than a day, because the dust was settling all week), we were ready to put in some new tile. My clever husband measured out the foyer space and then used twine and tape to replicate that space on the floor of our garage.

We chose a charcoal gray porcelain tile with an organic rust effect splashing through it. The idea was to pick up the charcoal gray in our kitchen countertops and work with the golden tones in our hardwood floors.

Using the garage floor template helped us to find the best layout and determine where we (er, I mean Steve) would be making the cuts on the tile saw. Once we got the pattern right, we borrowed the kids’ sidewalk chalk to number the tiles and show how they connected to each other.

Then came the messy part: cutting, mortaring, cursing. Not pretty. I took pictures and that’s about it.

The next day was Monday, and Steve had returned to the glory of his workplace so I was left to mix and apply the grout. It wasn’t so bad. Next time I’ll wear rubber gloves to protect my delicate ladylike hands, but I don’t have much wisdom to share beyond that. And after 24 hours of dry time during which the kids pretended the tiles were river stones and tip-toed over them to get to their bedrooms, we had a NEW FOYER FLOOR!

Not the best picture, but hey, we’re not finished yet. Certainly without that orange and gold floor tile, our foyer is making progress on the road to fabulous.

Foyer update: glossy black paint

Last week I wrote about how I’ve been fantasizing about foyers. For a quick refresher, here’s why…no words necessary…you get the picture.

The first order of business was to remove that cracked piece of wavy and dated plexiglass that was by the planter. This was so easy, that after completing the 10 minute task, we looked at each other and wondered why we’d waited so long to do it.

Next up, we decided to update the book case and cabinet. We liked these two built-ins because they defined the foyer area and provided some extra storage for us, so we didn’t want to eliminate them all together. They just needed to be a little prettier and stylish (don’t we all?).

Light sanding removed the aged finish, and a single coat of Zissner’s Bulls Eye 1-2-3 water based primer got the built-ins paint ready.

After two coats of Benjamin Moore Black in a semi-gloss finish, the facelift was complete. We got some stylish storage,

and, I also gained a desktop that little fingers can’t reach. (It’s usually not this neat).

On the opposite side, the planter with its copper insert has become a dumping ground for keys, my purse, dog leashes, etc., but the good thing is that you can’t see this stuff unless you’re right on top of it. When we’re having company, we dump out all the junk and use it as a bar. Cheers to some progress!