After Dark

After Dark by Pino

Several years ago I was on the local real estate tour of homes and came across a home that had this beautiful painting in it. It must have been at least a 36 x 48 inch giclee on canvas and it was amazingly beautiful. The depth and texture and the colors of this painting are so romantic and lovely. I have loved Pino's art ever since.

There is something so feminine and gorgeous about this painting and it reminds me of our sweet daughters, an elegant dining experience and an abundant life, not in a monetary sense, but just in life itself.


I keep this picture in our antique kitchen cabinet and really need to find a new place for it somewhere in our house as I am changing the color scheme and style of our kitchen and it just won't work in this room too much longer. It will be a challenge but never fear~I will figure it out because I love this painting! What artists do you enjoy? I love the impressionists and I would love to be tagging around with our daughter, Laura and her husband, Robert this weekend in Paris! Hopefully they will get to Musee d'Orsay in their adventures.

How do you incorporate things that don't quite go with your decor but that you just love and want to keep near to you, your heart and soul? Being eclectic in style is a good thing~it allows for a more interesting look and it truly lets your personality shine forth ~ but it can be tricky. What works for you?

Faye's Vintage Cottage

This is a cottage with million dollar views from every window. This view is out the kitchen window. The house in on a large piece of wooded property with a creek running through the backyard. It is a paradise for sure.

It is such a blessing to love the work you do. This little cottage is the epitome of why I love decorating living spaces so much. The cottage was actually built by my husband's grandfather over half century ago. For years his uncle owned the house next to the cottage and we would visit often.

When it was time for Uncle Bob to sell, a sweet young family bought it. They happened to be members of our church and so over the years, Jim and I have gotten to know them very well and love them a lot. The cottage has served many purposes over time, but now it is at it's best~a guest house and hideaway for Faye when no one is visiting. Last week she and I shopped and worked on the house to make it oh, so welcoming and fun. She did a post on the renovation and you can see it here. Double click on Faye's photos to see the details.

Somehow we both missed getting photos of the dining area in the kitchen. There is a round table with a white and navy tablecloth and a pretty blue and white floral centerpiece and four black chairs. They sit right in front of a bank of window with a patio view. Here a a few photos of room Faye has already shown you from different angles.

She has concealed her treadmill with a
lovely screen just to the right of the couch.

I love the little niche here in the bedroom!


This vantage point with a few more details added in.

Close up of the dresser top. Double click for close up.
The antique comb in the foreground and the sparkly purse
were a few of our finds.
The cobalt blue accessories are perfect in here.

This is a very restful room. The 2 million dollar house we decorated for sale last summer does not even come close to comparing to the coziness and charm of this little cottage. Thank you, Faye, for a wonderfully memorable experience and fun day together! Faye's husband, John, came home right as we were finishing and accused us of totally girlifying the cottage and turning it into a chick pad. Yup, we did it all right! Guilty as charged!

As we were finishing up I couldn't help wishing Jim's Grampa could see it today. The cottage has come full circle! Faye is a very lucky lady and I have to admit, I felt a little green with envy for such a lovely hideaway of her very own ~and right next door to her big house. What would you do with a great space like this one?

Inspiration Pieces

This art work and these accessories are things I am using as inspiration to renovate our laundry room. The painting is nearly completed and tomorrow the new counter top is going in. Next week we will get our new windows and door and then we will be finishing the adjoining bath. We have new louver doors to enclose our pantry and need to paint our cabinets with a fresh coat of high gloss white and add the new hardware and then the room will be finished. We have lived in our house for 30 years and it is so much fun to see these changes coming around again. Next comes the entry way and then the kitchen and then the bathroom. It is going to be a crazy but productive year. What project are you working on to improve your living spaces?

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!