by Jen | Oct 25, 2013 | How To, Interior Decorating
Starbucks and Magazines
I am a leading authority on anything that appears in Time, Better Homes and Gardens, Oprah, Afar Travel Magazine, an occasional People and a host of other decorating ones. I don’t read the whole article-just the first few lines of each paragraph or so-that makes me the expert. Frequently I will proclaim something to my husband and he will reply “How do you know?” I don’t like to tell him. It might undermine my “creds”. I hope he doesn’t read this.
Anyway, I am a magazine junkie. I have stashes.
My family frequently gets mad at me during the holidays because I let myself relax and I shove a magazine in front of my face–even if it is during a card game, family conversation, sometimes a meal…I’m not proud. I love my magazines. I always put off looking at them til I have time. Alas, sometimes that time doesn’t arrive until, say family game night on Thanksgiving:)
Enough about me. It was riveting, wasn’t it?
The point is about YOU.
You want some decorating help. You are overwhelmed with what to do first. Underwhelmed with your space. We need a starting point. What do you like? “I don’t know what I like”. Ok, grab a magazine and look. Do you like that picture? Ok, rip it out. What do you like about it? “I don’t know what I like about it”. Ok, fine. Look through some more magazines. Rip out some more pictures. I don’t care if they are all of bathrooms and you hate your kitchen. Just rip the pages out. Do you notice anything the pictures have in common? Are they all dark? White? Bright? Modern? We don’t need a label. We just want to find some common denominators.
Frequently I go to people’s houses and they want me to name their style. Or, they want me to name what their style should be or would be if they did this and this. Guess what? If everything fits into one style you are going to be sick of it in one year. Who cares what you call it. Just work on finding what you like, regardless of what category it falls into.
A word of caution. If your house is say very Traditional. Don’t look for what matches what you have if you don’t like it. I had clients who would do this all the time. Just because you have it now doesn’t mean we have to keep adding to it. WHAT DO YOU LIKE NOW? Where are we trying to go? We might not get there tomorrow but at least we are on the right road.
I use to tell a favorite client named Regina that it was like planning a road trip. You need a map. You might be in New England today and want to get to Southern California. You aren’t going to get there by driving willy nilly without a map. Well, you might but it is going to cost you a lot more money in gas and lodging. Get a plan. Figure out where you want to go. What route do you want to drive?
Decorating. You need a map. Where are you trying to go? Start with pictures. Figure out what you like. Do you need roadside assistance aka decorating assistance? Goals are just dreams until you write them down. Baby steps. Start small.
What do you like? Grab a magazine. Make a file.
We’ll talk more about what to do with that file later. One step at a time.
by Jen | Oct 14, 2013 | Inspired Style, Interior Decorating
Santa Ynez Media & Bloggers Going Home To Roost
It’s that time of year again for door to door tricksters looking for treats.
Nothing says Halloween like cobwebs, burned out lights, and dirty neglected spaces. And nothing says hot mess like cobwebs, burned out lights and dirty neglected spaces if Halloween is long over.
You’re covered if you fall into the above category for a few more weeks.
After Halloween it’s time to do all that decking of the halls and entertaining–so grab a broom, a light bulb, and a can of paint.
Here’s a little inspiration.
RED
ORANGE
YELLOW
GREEN
BLUE
PURPLE
DOOR BLING
by Jen | Oct 11, 2013 | Fun Style, Inspired Style, Interior Decorating
I am laughing.
For umpteen moves we have moved with a pair of snow shoes.
My husband purchased these bad boys whilst in Iceland during a deployment in the 80’s. They’ve been with us ever since. Maybe you read my post about our household goods weighing as much as a UK bus—if you don’t know how much that is—it’s 20,000 pounds. Now you know why. We move with snow shoes. And we live in places where snow is notsomuch. I’m not going to lie–if it had been up to me I would have donated these years ago. Which brings me to today. Laughing.
Look. It’s a Pottery Barn catalog.
Pottery Barn November 2013
Who knew?
Pottery Barn November 2013
Snow Shoes are Everywhere!
Pottery Barn November 2013
I decided to get in on it.
Yeah, I’m trending.
by Jen | Oct 7, 2013 | Fun Style, Happiness at Home, House Tours, Interior Decorating, Life Reflections
There was the day I discovered my son could climb out of his crib and quietly shred a roll of toilet paper. Then there was the day I found the same son, different day, sitting outside the open refrigerator. He was playing “play doh” with raw hamburger meat. Or, the time I found him building sand castles…in our bedroom…using the cat litter from the dirty litter box while the other one looked on and clapped with glee. Let’s fast forward to today. It hasn’t changed. My boys are older and the messes are less e. coli laden but alas the messes are still there.
I’ll tell you when I can keep the house clean and orderly–when they are plugged in.
It’s a fight between good and evil—between my OCD for a tidy house and my common sense that my kids need to be able to channel their creativity even if it means complete disarray. I overheard on the Today show that 3 of the best things you can do for your kids is have them play outside, don’t structure all their time, and let them make messes–it fosters creativity.
Greater Good a website focusing on Happiness by the University of California, Berkley, has a series entitled Raising Happiness, Science for Joyful Kids and Happier Parents. They say, “…creativity is more skill than inborn talent, and it is a skill parents can help their kids develop. Because it is a key to success in nearly everything we do, creativity is a key component of health and happiness and a core skill to practice with kids. Creativity is not limited to artistic and musical expression—it is also essential for science, math, and even social and emotional intelligence. Creative people are more flexible and better problem solvers, which makes them more able to adapt to technological advances and deal with change—as well as take advantage of new opportunities.”
The post goes on to list 7 things parents can do to help nurture creativity. The one that caught my eye was about providing “the resources of time for unstructured, child-directed, imaginative play in a specific place where they can make a mess, like room in your attic for dress-up, a place in the garage for painting, or a corner in your family room for Legos.” I think someone is trying to tell me something.
The expression -The days are long but the years are short-comes to mind. In other words, I better get over my need for a mess free house because tomorrow will be here faster than I realize.
Living with Kids: Laura Hall
Living with Kids: Laura Hall
Living with Kids: Rebecca Brown
Living with Kids: Rebecca Brown
Living with Kids: Katy Regnier
Living with Kids: Sara Kahlenberg
If you liked these pictures please check out www.designmom.com, the intersection of design and motherhood. She has a whole section of Home Tours she does entitled “Living with Kids”. LOVE it.
by Jen | Oct 7, 2013 | House Tours, Inspired Style, Interior Decorating
www.woodnotephotography.net
I’m currently 2 weeks into a 3 week elimination diet. I’m eliminating dairy, gluten, caffeine, refined sugar, red meat, pork, a handful of vegetables and fruits, shellfish, alcohol, soy and fun…to name a few. I really really hate doing this. Really. I’m doing it for medical reasons–not for a “fun”. I don’t like spending more than 5 minutes cooking. So all the websites, blogs, and cookbooks full of “amazing” foods you can still eat do not apply to me for I am too impatient. I am eating, but only things that take 5 minutes–maybe 10 to make. I’m lucky my husband cooks. However, HE is not on this diet. It’s really not that bad except for the coffee part. And the chocolate part. What is bad is going out to social functions or going, umm, out of the house, or anywhere I have to eat etc… You don’t realize how much socializing revolves around food until you find yourself sitting at a table sipping water while everyone around you is eating and drinking merrily. Whatever. My intestines will be gorgeous.
Speaking of gorgeous. Let’s look at other people’s kitchens and dream about kale and sprouted almonds.
Diane Keaton’s Kitchen
Christina Aguilera’s Kitchen www.beeboats.com
Ellen Pompeo’s Kitchen www.interiorsbystudiom.com
Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne’s kitchen. www.hookedonhouses.com
THIS is their refrigerator! Love! Good Luck Charlie on the Disney Channel. www. redefiningc.blogspot.com
It’s Complicated kitchen set
It’s Complicated and Meryl Streep
Friends series kitchen
Julia Child’s Kitchen
Julia Child’s Kitchen–funny!
by Jen | Oct 4, 2013 | Happiness at Home, Home Staging, How To, Interior Decorating, Western Feng-Shui
Eclectic Garage And Shed by Hershey Photographers Amy Renea
Did you read yesterday’s post? Ok, we’ll wait while you click here.
Be it ever so lovely there’s no place like home. What’s one thing you can do to your house to make it feel “homey”? Add plants. Greenery. Flowers. They give instant home appeal. This goes for staging your house for sale, as well. Plants make a room more inviting and more inviting gets buyers.
Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Jessica Helgerson Interior Design
Did you know that house plants can improve the quality of air in your house? The air quality in your own home is usually much worse than the outdoor one. Synthetic chemical cleaning products, foam in our furniture and carpet, and other building materials in our houses all emit toxins. Then there is mold, tobacco smoke, poorly ventilated cooking sources… I’m sort of freaking myself out. Open some windows everyone. I’m perusing around the web and a lot of folks concur these are some of the best house plants for air-cleaning (the site I’m looking at right now is DrAxe.com Maximize Your Health):
Areca palm
Reed palm
Dwarf date palm
Boston fern
Janet Craig dracaena
English Ivy
Australian sword fern
Peace Lily
Rubber plant
Weeping fig
Then there is the Feng Shui side to this. Plants bring great energy into your home. Plus, you can’t have good energy in your house if the air quality isn’t good. Bamboo plants create good feng shui AND clean the air in your home. Have you seen the Feng Shui Money Trees in Lowes or Home Depot? I think I’ve seen small bamboo ones even in dollar stores. Well, the logic behind these is any healthy, vibrant lush plant represents vibrant and well-rooted energy—a growing energy you would like to see reflected in your money (check out About.com Feng-Shui). Common ones are jade trees (a succulent) and Pachira Aquatica Bonsai. Do with this as you choose but a plant that can clean toxins out of my house, bring good energy, make my rooms look better, and maybe help me attract money? I’m in.
AND. According to a University of Agriculture in Norway study, indoor plants can reduce fatigue, coughs, sore throats and other cold-related illnesses by more than 30 percent, partially by increasing humidity levels and decreasing dust.
Myers Design
AND. House plants make people feel calmer and more optimistic, says Bruno Cortis, M.D., a Chicago cardiologist. He says that studies have shown that hospital patients who face a window with a garden view recovered more quickly than those who had to look at a wall. What about watching the news? If I put 600 plants around my TV will I feel calmer over the government shutdown??
Anywhoooo.
All this being said–I’m a plant killer. I try. I do. I water too much, I water too little, I put in direct sun, I put in not enough sun. Sigh. Here’s a list of the hardest plants to kill. I got this list from ivillage.com Clean House Happy Home where you can also see pictures.
Pothos
Aloe
Spider plant
English Ivy (also a good air cleaner)
Jade plant
Rubber tree (love these and also on the air cleaning list)
Diffenbachia
Peace Lily (air cleaning list)
Snake plant
Ficus (don’t do it)
A couple I am skipping because they look really ugly.
Fiddle-Leaf Fig
Areca Palm (This is also on the air cleaning list and I have had one for FOUR years. It still lives!)
I’m going to the store and getting 600 more of these tomorrow. We’ll see if it helps.
