Picture Hanging Tips

Excellent!

Hang your wall art so that you do not have to tilt your head back to view it when seated. No matter how high the ceiling, the pictures should be placed at a comfortable viewing level while sitting. The number one mistake is to hang them too high. The only place they should be hung higher is in the hallway because you walk through it. And the rule is no stair stepping pictures except on the stairs. Hanging two pictures horizontally or vertically is much better. If you are hanging pictures in a vertical arrangement put the heaviest or darkest picture on the bottom.

Passionate About Houses

One of my favorites!

Houses really warm my heart and make me happy. I think they say so much about the people that live inside. I love big ones and little ones, the old and the new, the modest and the extravagant! I think just about any home can be beautiful with a little tender loving care and some creativity. It makes me sad to see wonderful houses neglected or abused. Homes are like fingerprints, no two are alike and each one identifies a very unique place on the planet. A house that is loved is a happy place to live and grow and be. If I could tour homes every single day it would probably not be enough to make me tire of it. My heart always skips a little beat when I get the opportunity to step over the threshold of a beautiful home.

What I love equally as much is the everything that goes inside a house to make it a beautiful, interesting and comfortable family home. I enjoy looking at the books on the book shelves and learning so much about the family that lives there through their choices in books, movies, art work, music. I love seeing their collections, their color choices, the dishes they use, the accessories, the linens, the yard and gardens. I love to see the furniture and their style and how they put it all together. You can learn so much about a person from their home for it's truly a window to their soul.

I love to see a home that is in process. It is nice to see it evolve as the life's experiences contribute new things. To me a house is just as fluid as life itself. I enjoy watching a home be tranformed by remodeling, upgrading and updating. I love looking at a room or a home or its furnishings and wondering what memories it holds from days gone by and what its future holds. When looking at the yard and neighborhood I wonder about the happy times of children playing and making friends that last by sharing time and proximity to one another.

I love the way a home can feel when you walk in and it makes you feel welcome and invited in to visit. I am grateful for this passion I have about houses and for the opportunities I have to help people enjoy their own personal spaces more. For me this is just an extension of being a homemaker and nest builder and adding quality to every day of life. I love families and the potential I see in their homes to increase the enjoyment of living life together. Our homes are an extension of who we really are and so much more than a shelter from the elements. I believe with all my heart that the storms of life are much more manageable when we have a wonderful place to call home. And, it is not about things, it is about creating a wonderful, healthy environment for those we love the most in this life.

Elegance Rediscovered

When you think of a bride do you like to see beautiful, modest, elegance? I really do. The trend has been in the last decade or so to reveal more and more of the bride's skin while the marriage is taking place. Not everyone likes this, including many grooms, and most certainly not everyone looks good in very revealing gowns. Beautiful elegance has always had a place although often is hard to find anymore with the current trends in fashion design.

My dear friend, Faye Hunt, has created a solution after dealing with this when her three daughters married. She has designed some gorgeous gowns to fill the bill. If you or someone you know is looking for something classy and different and breathtaking, visit Alleanza Bridal for the details on how you can order a lovely, made to order bridal gown or all occasion dress of the highest quality today. If you like what you see, please spread the word. Alleanza Bridal will never let you down!

Let There Be Light

Nothing can add more to the cheerfulness of the day then letting in the light. We are all affected by light and it has a tendency to raise our spirits and make the whole day seem full of possibilities. Many people are affected by the lack of sunlight and it can cause a depression and sense of malaise. (SAD, Season Affective Disorder)


Often I will go into homes and everything is so dark and dreary. Heavy drapes that are always drawn are just not conducive to productivity and over all well-being. Even if you have privacy issues there are alternatives to all the darkness during daylight hours.


If you have the two inch blinds or shutters, rasie them all the way up as seen above or just rotate the slats to an angle that people can't see in, but you can see out and still get the light. Put something light and airy over the windows and have them be something you can pull back during the day to let the light filter in to your space. You can dress a window without covering it.

Rotate on an angle tilting them up rather than down. That way you can see out! When closing them use this same angle to close. Angling them up keeps your room warmer.

In our house with this southern exposure we need lots of light in our family room. Originally we had a window about a third of this size and adding in this window made all the difference in bringing the outside in and expanding our world to include the light and foliage of the back yard. We love looking out and watching the deer graze on the ivy!

It is a beautiful day~enjoy it to the fullest with sunlight all around you!

If You Love Beautiful Art......

Foxgloves

My cousin, William F. Reese, is a masterful and well-known artist who lives, paints and owns a gallery and teaches art classes in Washington State. After 13 years he has completed his new book. Included here is a sampling of his work. I hope you enjoy it and visit his website. With 78 full color plates this book is a real value. Here is an excerpt from the brochure I received (I have added in the art work for you to see.)

“The Painter’s Process” by William F. Reese, forward by Mary N. Balcomb. This book covers Reese’s philosophy and his own discussion of the process of painting. Reese explains his own approach to such subjects as color, composition, edges, and infinity as it relates to perspective among many other topics. Plus a Q and A section with subjects put forth by others.





8”x10” 157 pages 78 full color plates
Hardcover $80 SoftCover $60 plus state sales tax in
Washington and $5 shipping in USA
Blueraven Publishing 509 884 9246


www.williamfreese.com
wmfreese@charter.net

If you stop by Bill's website tell him his cousin sent you! Thanks and enjoy!

Guest Room Amenities

Photo by Audrey Hall

There are many ways to make your guest room special. Not only should the room be beautiful but adding elements to offer your guests the ultimate in comfort is essential. The guest room in your home is truly the place where little things mean a lot.

When guests come for a visit they are usually just happy to spend time with you and to have a warm bed to sleep in for the night. With a little thought and preparation you can turn an ordinary night into an extraordinary experience for them.

Your guest room should always have an alarm clock, extra blankets and pillows and a night light. Not only should it be sparkling clean but fresh flowers and anything you can add to increase their comfort is great. Crisp fresh linens, plush over-sized towels and fragrant soaps are always a welcoming luxury. How about having some current magazines and best sellers and a comfy throw on the bed for an afternoon rest. In your guest bath a basket with essential toiletries is great in case they have forgotten something.

I like to have some postcards of our area, some stamps and a nice pen for them on the writing table and a local map and guide book for their use. I also leave out our guest book so they can write a little memory of their time with us.

When we visit our daughter's home she always leaves some special treats for us like chocolate, nuts, some nice crackers or fruit and some bottled water. Some pretty glasses can be a nice touch too. All these things can turn a nice visit into an extraordinary experience. Remember what they say though..don't make it so wonderful that they never want to leave! But do make it an experience they will never forget!

Preventing and Postponing Procrastination

Over the years I have noticed that people seems to accumulate so much stuff that when moving time comes they are beyond overwhelmed. I have often thought about the many years we have lived in our home and how when the time come to move I want to be ready. So I am constantly weeding out and donating things we no longer find useful, beautiful, etc.

Recently I entered a home that was out of control in this department and it reminded me once again to spend more time each day just reordering my home. Often times we will look at something like a pantry or closet or something that needs doing and actually spend more time putting it off than it would require to just jump in and do it. So yesterday I reorganized my pantry and my bathroom closet. It took some time but not nearly as much as I had envisioned. It was such a freeing experience.

Now I know exactly where all my grocery items are and what I actually have to work with in preparing meals. This will save me time and money and also free up my to do list and fretting about it.

My husband and business partner, Jim, has a saying that I think applies to having certain lifestyles. He says, "Be careful what you get use to." This applies to so many aspects of our lives, but for our purposes here it is so easy to just overlook the clutter and disarray and then get use to it. In that getting accustomed to something, we often do not realize how much it slows us down and interrupts our accomplishments, saps our energy, etc. I have found that once something is in order, it is easier to maintain it than to spend time tripping over or looking for your stuff.

For most of us ordering our lives is a daunting task. For my clients I recommend a few things. You have to sort through your things one by one and make a decision. Keep it, toss it, or donate it. It is a long process for most of us and you cannot "eat the elephant in one bite."

Try to stay focused on one room at a time, or one closet, one drawer, etc. Set your kitchen timer and clean out a silverware drawer in 15 minutes. Flitting from room to room or project to project can be counter productive and frustrating.


I like to keep similar things together like brushes and combs, hair equipment, make-up, etc. The little bins just keep it from all running together and gives us a place to return the item to after using it.

One or two projects at a time is enough. Find some containers to group items according to their use. Yesterday I went through our over the counter meds and organized them all into kits by putting them in plastic bags. All the cold meds in one bag, all the flu meds together, etc. It is much better than rummaging though all these half used boxes and bottles of stuff when you are sick. Now we can just pull out the plastic bin and get what we need without disturbing every things else.

Organization is maintenance once you get to a point of being on top of things. I know we have heard this before but the goal should be to 'have a place for everything and everything in its place.' Honestly, it makes such a difference in what else you will accomplish each day. The important thing is just get started with some aspect of it and once you feel the difference you will be motivated to continue. Every woman, no matter what stage of life she is in, is busy. That is just part of the culture we live in these days. Rarely do we have huge amounts of uninterrupted time. We have to learn to seize the moment and do things bit by bit.

I didn't take any before photos as I had no idea these projects would become a post until this morning. But I do have the photos of the results from this morning. I feel a sense of accomplishment just looking at the pictures! Little things can make a big difference in how you feel. Again, your environment sets the tone and mood for everything else. Feeling good, decluttering and accomplishing more by working smarter ~ is the goal.

It is hard to clear out many years of accumulated junk when it is time to redesign or to relocate. Also all the clutter makes cleaning so much harder. One day at a time is a good motto. Make it a way of life.

Then you will have time to do the fun things..for me, I love watching movies. Jim built this 'just the right size' shelf and I organized all of our DVD & videos alphabetically for easy access and more time to relax and kick back at the end of a busy day.

This is a quote from the book, Eat, Pray, Love that I really like.

"The beauty of doing nothing is the goal of all your work, the final accomplishment for which you are most highly congratulated. The more exquisitely and delightfully you can do nothing, the higher your life's achievement."

For me, what that means is that the end result of your hard work is having some leisure time to just relax and do nothing. And to that I would also add, in a lovely and peaceful environment.

Enjoy the view!