by Jen | Oct 29, 2014 | Fun Style
I really get into my decorating–so much so that while hanging spooooooky Halloween gauzy stuff from my dining room ceiling I fell off my dining room table. I proceeded to ugly cry. I am so brave. I will spare you the complaints because my girlfriends, who were there, will scream if they have to hear about it or my pathetic injuries again. (Email me and I’ll so go into a million details; Oh, the horror of it all.) I will say that I am I typing with one hand. So I will be brief in words but long in pictures…It was a little party thrown for my husband’s bike club (and by bike I mean trails–not motorcycles.)
The Graveyard. Or, my living room…
1 Cockroach. Rubber.
If you liked this post check out The Addams Family vs. The Munsters…Where Would You Live?
by Jennifer Farlin | Sep 1, 2014 | Fun Style, Inspired Style, Interior Decorating
OMG it’s Labor Day. How did this happen?? Summer! Don’t Go!!!! And tomorrow is the first day of a new school for my boys. And sports. And extracurricular clubs. And homework. And bedtimes. And the often feared S-C-H-E-D-U-L-E. In short, many changes this way come, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It just feels like it.
What is it about change that creates such anxiety?
I read somewhere that our brains our wired to resist change–to follow familiar paths where we know there is no “danger”–something that goes back to our cave man days. So when something new comes up, your brain fires up warnings, saying, “911!” Your glands respond by preparing you to fight, flee or freeze. Now you’re all charged up with adrenaline so you’re physically able to fight or flee if you need to. You are ready to deal with a life-threatening event. Of course 999/100 times it’s not a life threatening event it’s just something “new”. But your body doesn’t know that so your head still throbs and your hands still get clammy. Or maybe you want to hide under the bed like my 9 year old wants to do about tomorrow. I’m trying to tell him that it’s ok to feel nervous and we have to push ourselves over the humps and eventually all the “new” will feel familiar. What I’m not telling him is that I feel the same way. I can talk a big game about creating new neural pathways in our brain–blah, blah, blah but I feel anxious regardless.
As I type this my kids are fighting. Maybe school tomorrow isn’t such a bad thing?! Ok, now I think they are hitting each other. Definitely a good thing about school starting. Wow! My brain adapts fast to change!
This is what I really want to post. If you have kids bringing home art, or something they wrote, or maybe something random that you have and want to display—Look!
Kiko Glass Frame by Nkuku. $30. www.notonthehighstreet.com . If you order more than one they become less expensive.
I saw this on the same website. Frame tape by Artful Kids. $27 www.notonthehighstreet.com.
I’m not super enthusiastic about the prices so I’ve been hunting. Apparently there is a lot of tape being made just like this–and all expensive–coming from European websites. But then I found this:
It’s on Amazon Prime for $10.32! SOLD! You can find it here.
I keep getting sucked back into the same original website–because next I saw this:
The Illusion Cork Board by Artful Kids $34 www.notonthehighstreet.com/artfulkids/product/illusion-cork-board. Love it.
That’s all I’ve got. Kids still arguing. Anxiety about all this change-GONE:)
by Jennifer Farlin | Apr 26, 2014 | Fun Style, How To, Inspired Style, Interior Decorating
Well, Hello.
I have not posted for awhile.
I went to Detroit for Easter.
Awesome art I bought from local artist in Ferndale, Michigan.
Our house is still being shown to potential buyers…
…which is having A LOT of activity. We’ve been busy with many house guests. I’m torn between whether I am maintaining a museum (for the showings) or a bed and breakfast (for the friends and family). Of course a whirlwind trip to Detroit and bajillion other things happening isn’t really helping. It’s ok.
Birthday Card that I Love.
We’re all healthy, “wealthy”, and wise so I won’t complain. I only wish I had a tiara and a tutu–and rainbow striped rain boots. That would make it all so much easier.
My head has been in a fog trying to maintain momentum for the 6,000 directions I am running in. But I haven’t been too busy to scavenge. I just bought this cool chair for our next house in DC.
And I just bought a fern for my favorite chair which lives on the front porch. Hopefully, the new front porch will have an empty welcoming spot for it.
I’ve got a thing for chairs. I don’t spend more than a few pennies on every chair I buy (more or less). An interesting chair gives a little something something to every room.
This one sits by my front door. It is hinged and if you open it up and flip it over the chair turns into shelves.
This, my friend, is the Spanish Conquistador Chair. It has a title. I paid $25 for it at Edlin’s Auction in Corpus Christi, Texas, 1999.
This lady was a redo. It was also bought at Edlin’s in 1999, but by my friends. They reupholstered it, got sick of it, I took it, painted it, and then modge podged it with pages from a book. Sadly, it had a twin that still lives in Virginia Beach.
This is one of my favorites. I love the shiny enamel white chipped paint, the pink that is on the underside. It is so solid. It has stories. Someone else painted it other than me. It has age. It is sturdy. I love the lines. I love the back of it.
As I type this I am looking at my Chair Art…
I love chairs.
www.squarestate.com
Most homes I go into don’t have good funky chairs. You need at least two. Chairs, I have found, are expensive if they are already decked out. Junk stores, thrift stores, garage sales etc… are good places. Look for one with a nice shape and a seat that (if upholstered) lifts out easily (easy to take some new fabric and a staple gun to) and disregard the color. Scrub brush, sand paper, and/or paint can transform many a chair.
www.designloversblog.com
www.thewhitedresser.com
www.mrkate.com
LOVE this room.
Chairs to you! Get it? It’s like Cheers only Chairs because this post is about Chairs…
~Jen
by Jennifer Farlin | Apr 13, 2014 | Fun Style, How To, Inspired Style, Interior Decorating
Go Get Some Flowers!
~Joy To You! Jen
by Jen | Apr 10, 2014 | Art, Fun Style, Happiness at Home, How To, Interior Decorating
It’s time for the Top 5 Decorating Tips for Fabulous Rooms that Look Like YOU—or how to not be boring. I so hate boring. Who has time for boring? Life is too short for boring. Let’s put some zip in it. Let’s put some fun with it. So without further ado…
5. Something Old. Ever walk into someone’s perfect house and feel like you are in a furniture showroom? Or a model for new construction? I get the willies just thinking about it. You know what would shake that off? Something old. Something old and painted with chippy paint is awesome. Something old and quirky is awesome. Something from a junk store or flea market that is random and old is awesome.
Something with some history…something with layers and time and grit and experience. Something that says I have seen life man and I have survived. Got it?
Great grandma’s chest and old toolbox from junk shop make for great office storage. That’s Leo on the right.
Second (or third) hand table and my 19th C stick back desk chair a la chippy paint.
www.sydandharper.com
I had a treasure map painted on this dresser for my boys.
My House. Something Old–the snow shoes and the apothecary. Old and quirky;)
4. Something New. Now if everything in your room was old and gritty and chippy and quirky–it would just be weird. It would be too much. It would be the opposite of a furniture show room and just as bad. It would be a room in a junk shop or in an antique store. You need balance man.
So a little trendy is absolutely perfect.
West Elm
This is nice. But it does kind of look like a furniture show room.
But what if you added Something Old? Like below.
The picture above does a nice blending with Something New/Trendy (the chairs, sideboard, and chandelier) with Something Old (plate rack.)
Home Office by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Katie Leede
The above picture is definitely Something Old and Something New. It’s got style. It reminds me of someone…YOU, you stylish devil. Where have you been hiding?
3. Something Black. I think I heard Nate Berkus on Oprah say this years ago. I like it. So it’s on the list. Every room should have at least one black accessory in it. Black gives some depth. Some class. Some foundation to all the oomph. It’s just baaaad (meaning good.)
www.sageatelier.com
I just love this room. And you know what? The black makes it bad ass. This room rocks. Above and below.
2. Art. I really can’t talk to you if your walls are bare. You might as well be naked. For the love of Pete hang something on your walls. If you are overwhelmed I’ve written about a bajillion posts on it. You can start reading here, or here, or here, man.
Thrift store frame. Art cost $3.50
Thrift store. Vintage travel poster.
Bowls. They aren’t just for meals.
This is beautiful art waiting for a frame. Original photograph by Parul Patel captured in India. Love the title~ Morning Prayer.
1. Something that Tells Your Story. Who lives in your house? YOU do. Live authentically and let it extend outward. Every room should have something in it that speaks to you. It could be a picture of your favorite place. Maybe an ashtray that you nabbed from Old Glory in Georgetown when you were 21 that says ELVIS LIVES~OLD GLORY (Ok I’m not proud but it was over 20 years ago). That ashtray made a super soap dish. Maybe it’s a Barbie board game from when you were a kid that you use as a placemat on your desk. Maybe it’s something simple like a pretty plant that your little son planted for you for Mother’s Day and the masking tape with his name is still on the pot. It makes me smile every time. Framed photographs of fun memories is an obvious choice~but where are yours?
Picture of one my favorite places, Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island From Above 2, Kathleen Chaney Fritz
Barbie Board Game doubling as my desk blotter.
These are my wooden shoes, obviously.
This little plant was started by chubby hands and a teeny cutting.
Good times.
So that’s my Top 5 Decorating Tips for Rooms that Look Like YOU. What do you think? What’s one of your favorite things that tells a story about you?
by Jen | Mar 10, 2014 | Fun Style, Happiness at Home
Once upon a time I was in Hawaii. The breezes were warm as I parted fuchsia flowering vines and walked onto a white sand beach with turquoise and emerald green water. I had just eaten an avocado burger in a beach shack on the North Shore. Nobody needed me to do a thing. I had no watch. My only plans were dinner later and a drive back down through the island…where the wait staff waited.
How about a tropical beach with crystal blue warm waters, white sand, gentle breezes, in an exotic location with few people and lots of good food…and drinks…and people waiting to wait just on you? I don’t want all the hassle of packing and planning. I want to be beamed there like in Star Trek and then back before homework and kids stuff starts…or maybe just after;) Actually maybe I do want a week. But then there is reintegration after it’s over. Back to busy, back to noise, and back to stress. Why can’t everyday life be more like a beach vacation?
And why does the beach make us happier? Is it just fresh air, a good book, control of your day, maybe sleeping in, avocado burgers, bougainvillea, and sunshine or is there something more?
Why, yes, there is…
The color blue has been shown to produce feelings of security and relaxation.
The sound of ocean waves actually alters our brain waves. The most pleasurable sounds have predictable wave patterns and low pitches…like those of the ocean. And, only ocean sounds activate a special part of the brain, which is associated with emotion and self-reflection. This leads to calmness or excitement–things that we know improve our mood.
Plus, when we go to the beach we have the tactile sensation of sand between our toes. Apparently, sand has such huge emotional power that is sometimes used in psychotherapy.
The ultraviolet rays in sunshine can improve your sense of physical and emotional wellbeing by stimulating the production of vitamin D – this boosts our production of serotonin, the chemical that works to keep us feeling alert, up-beat and happy. (from Beach Tomato)
Then there is what we do at the beach. We walk. We play. We swim. And when we move we reduce stress. We also make good memories and that, my friend, is just good happy.
Want to know more? Check out Why the Beach Makes us Happy by Barry Yeoman. And Scientist Wallace J. Nichols’ BLUEMIND, the brain-ocean connection.
If your life is blissfully beachlike everyday…this post isn’t for you. If you are staring at snow…still, well this one’s for you.
Chatham Architects & Designers Polhemus Savery DaSilva
