My Favoirite Sport? Shopping!

I posted this on my personal blog today but wanted to put it on this blog too. (If any of you want to know how to get to that blog just let me know. It is mostly about family and my random thoughts on just about everything.) Most of you that are into home design also love a good shopping spree. I hope you enjoy it vicariously! It was such a beautiful day in California!

Today a few friends and I got away for a wonderful girl's day out. Few things are as rejuvenating to me as just getting together with girl friends and laughing and talking and shopping and dining out for lunch. My friend, Lanette, ran into a blog she enjoys written by this woman who participated in this fantastic Vintage Boutique. So we decided to check it out. So it was truly a Bloggers' Serendipity! It was a gorgeous fall day over there and the temperature got near 70 degrees mid-day but it was still crispy, especially in the early morning. We drove about an hour or so to Petaluma, a quaint little down north of San Francisco.

The View From the Car Window Going Over~
Such a Big Beautiful Sky & The Greenest Green Pastures!

Street in Petaluma

Beautiful Red Trees

The Church Where the Vintage Boutique Was Held

I hadn't been to a boutique in years and let me tell you they have changed. It was lovely and the artisans were very good. Not a single knitted anything in the place. No toilet paper covers or little dresses for your dishwashing soap like in the old days. Everything was beautiful and fresh and creative. I really enjoyed that!

We Stayed in this Boutique Forever and
Came Out with Some Serious Loot!
Check Out Norma's Crown!
(which she wore all day causing quite a stir!)

Bon, Lanette, Norma, Kelly!

While My Friends Checked Out The Quilted Angel
I took Photos Since I Am Not A Quilter.
I Love This Photo Sans The Car!
It Was Such a Pretty Building
The Red Leaves Clinging Like A Vine!

My Serious Loot~Great Victoria Vintage Ornaments

And This Great Necklace That I Couldn't Take a Decent
Photo of but is So Awesome. It is Black and Silver and Full of Gems.
The Lady that Made it Took a Bunch of Old Jewelry
and Piled it on to Make this very 3-D Interesting and Pretty Piece.
I Love the Watch Works and the Dragonfly.

These Ornaments Were Also Made with Vintage Jewels ~Just Love It.

It Was Such A Glittery, Special Day!

Selecting Your Focal Point in Design

We often hear that every room should have at least one focal point. Exactly what is a focal point you may be asking? A focal point in a room is a place that naturally draws your eye to it. It is the place in the room that creates the most interest and where you can make your talents shine.

Sometimes the focal point is an architectural feature like a beautiful bay window overlooking your garden or a lovely or commanding fireplace. The true nemesis for most decorators and designers is that it is often the TV. Ugh! Some rooms have more than one focal point. The first room below is an example of that.

You have a fireplace, a big window and a TV. In this room the sofa is facing the TV but there are also views of the fireplace from the sofa and other chairs are placed to also enjoy the outside. The more focal points the more fun you can have making it all come alive. 3 is probably the limit though as more than that and your eyes are just confused.

In this room it is the TV area that ranks first, fireplace and then the outside. Form needs to follow function. What that means is what you do in the room is just as important or more so that the aesthetics. The trick is mastering both.

This was one of the most challenging rooms I have ever done. It is a long and narrow room and the fireplace is placed in an odd place. Not centered but at the end of the room. Logistically the TV had to be the focal point because if I used the fireplace all the furniture would have been at the end of the room and very unbalanced. Why do builders do things like that? Arrgh! I remember my frustration and that Laura did about five other rooms while I struggled with this puzzle.

This room is in one of my most favorite houses of all times. Staging this house for sale was amazing. This house was eye candy at every turn and sold the first day on the market. One of the many things that I love about this room is no TV and thoughtful architecture. That made placement of the furnishing so easy and created a very welcoming home.

If you are decorating a room with none of these possibilities then you need to create a focal point. As an example you can choose a beautiful piece of art, a beautiful mirror with a table or buffet beneath it and a pretty floral arrangement. A focal point is eye candy. It should automatically pull the eye there.

Entryway Focal Point

This kitchen area has the most beautiful garden outside the window which is the focal point but you also have to make it look great on the inside. I could have moved right into this house.

Other things that can serve as focal points are what are called "case goods" in the industry. They would include large pieces of furniture like a grand piano, an armoire, buffet, etc. In a bedroom the focal point is almost always the bed.



The thing that cannot be a focal point is an upholstered piece like a sofa or chair. Why? Because they disappear when you sit on them. Makes sense, right? This room's most outstanding feature was the pair of antique overstuffed tiny sofas. This small room had no focal point other than the window looking out to the street. That wasn't too interesting so the room is designed with the two little sofas facing each other with exceptional art above each as the focal points of the room. It is so cozy and comforting.

This was a fun room to decorate. Here the window and armoire are the focal points because the TV is in the armoire. It was fun to come up with something that made this room a little different by placing the drop leaf table behind the sofa.



When arranging your furniture in the room~follow this simple rule for best results. Choose or create a focal point and then address your focal point with your largest piece of upholstered furniture. You can be creative and do your own thing of course, but if you neglect these two things your room will always feel a little off. Have fun creating your own little world at home! It is a great place to be and the stage upon which you live your life! Enjoy it!

Writing this post renewed my excitement all over again in having the profession of my dreams. I am excited to leave my keyboard now and go to work on another beautiful home today! See ya later

HGTV Remodeling Your Kitchen

In case you are about the do a kitchen remodel and missed this great article on HGTV.com I wanted to share it here. Lisa has some fantastic ideas for organizing your project.

As host of our online-exclusive guide Getting Started: 10 Steps to a New Kitchen, interior designer Lise Simms knows kitchens are all about the people who use them. "Our homes are our jumping off point for everything we do in life, and when you walk in the door you should be inspired, comforted and renewed!" she says. Simms' recent design clients include the Los Angeles offices of ACME Talent and Literary, a 1937 Spanish estate also in Los Angeles and a three-story mountain retreat in Vail, Colo. Her home has been featured in Woman's Day magazine as well.

Find Inspiration for
Your New Kitchen
Watch Video
Read Article

Plan Your Total
Remodel Budget
Watch Video
Read Article

Locate, Hire and
Manage a Contractor
Watch Video
Read Article

Determine Your
Kitchen Layout
Watch Video
Read Article

Choose the Right
Flooring Material
Watch Video
Read Article

Decide Whether to
Replace or Reface
Your Cabinets
Watch Video
Read Article

Buy Appliances That
Match Your Needs
Watch Video
Read Article

Pick a Countertop
Surface That Fits
Your Lifestyle
Watch Video
Read Article

Select Faucets and
Sinks With Style
and Utility
Watch Video
Read Article

Complete Your New
Kitchen With Proper
Lighting

Watch Video
Read Article

Light My Fire~Seeking Motivation

I have been having a real problem finding the motivation to get going on Christmas and I have been hard pressed to figure out why. I love Christmas and always have. But for some reason I am dragging my feet this year about just nearly everything. It has been perplexing me and for a moment yesterday I felt a little twinge of what it might be. I found the above picture* here, and it gave me an idea of what might be happening in my head.

This picture just evokes in me total peace and comfort. I love the colors, the coziness, the feeling that you can just sit down and enjoy it~all the work for the day is done. This photo is the epitome of what we, as home stagers strive to create. It isn't really real but, it is part of my made-up, fantasy world and I love it. Everything in this home is perfect, peachy and lovely and you just don't want it disturb it. This beautiful place has no leaking faucets, no need of paint, no curling, yellowed wallpaper that needs removal, no cat hair on the $100.00 throw. The landscaping is perfect, the family is perfect, and everyone is deliriously happy all the time. No one is sick or fat or annoying~Mr. & Mrs. Wonderful live here.

That is secretly what I want our house to be like, and I have never achieved it...oh yeah, maybe once in my mind I came close for about two hours. And that did not include the people, just the inanimate objects. This picture also helped me realize that I do not like my house in disarray. That always happens when decorating for Christmas, right? I furthermore do not have a great way of keeping track of the things I put away for the season and things invariably get misplaced, sometimes never being reclaimed! A lot of it has to do with a too small cottage with limited storage and a huge bunch of Christmas stuff. I need a group for people addicted to Christmas decorations.

So the inkling that I had was that there is a huge gap between my fantasy and what is real. And then the thought followed that in order to get anywhere near that fantasy that I love I have to do a major ton of work~and that is the thought that is holding me back. It is just me~ being lazy!

I have come to realize that what I use to be able to get done in a few weeks now takes me a few months! Part it is getting older but the bigger part is too many choices about when I will do something. When the kids were little I did it when I could...want to or not. But now I have a whole day and I can do it when I want to. Hmmm, I know it sound like a dream to a lot of you but really it requires a lot of self-discipline! Like right now I am supposed to be cleaning out the bathroom closet according to my scheduled 'to do' list for the day. Clearly, that is not happening.

How do you do it? For me it is matter of making a plan and sticking to it. Instead of staring down the trunk of the elephant and finding it so overwhelming, I need to take it one bite at a time. I have got to stop procrastinating and just jump in. First, I am going to get the deep cleaning and organizing done. I have to move a bunch of things out of the guest room just so Jim can get into the crawl space to get the stuff. I printed out a calendar just for that. Then I want to organize the gifts and get that finished up. Then plan the family party, the Christmas letter, the fun activities, the trip to Utah, etc.

If you are a woman you know there is so much more. We all have a big Christmas elephant in the room right now. The trick is to enjoy it and pace yourself. OK, so I blew it on the bathroom closet today but I am going to get going on it first thing in the morning~no matter what! I am not going to let Mac draw me away from my list tomorrow~no not me!

Oh wait, Jim is off tomorrow and I am working on my client's furniture purchase and design plan. OK, then Wednesday for sure!! And so you see how it goes around here....

flickr

Help!!
I Have Got to Get Some Visions
Of Sugar Plums Dancing In My Head!

*no attribution listed