Less than 2 months ago I received an email from Annarita Triarico, an Italian journalist working for Lotus Publishing. She wanted to feature my home in one of their magazines, “Gli Speciali di Casa Chic.” At first I thought it was a joke, but I looked at their publishing site and realized it was a legitimate…
Valentine’s Day is a time when everyone is thinking about flowers but having fresh flowers in your home doesn’t have to be expensive. You can purchase cut flowers and arrange them yourself. It’s easier than you think! The trick is to keep your arrangement simple and fuss-free. First, gather your supplies choosing ordinary objects such…
Ever since I’ve had my own homes, I like to brighten up the interiors with whites and cool blues. During spring and summer months, I’ll bring in more color with flowers and accents. Our dining room only has one window in it, but I’ve managed to bounce the light around with pale walls and white…
A few blog posts ago I shared my love of French Macarons and since these little buggers can be expensive, I decided to try making my own. While researching recipes I read that not only are they expensive, but they can be tricky to make. Since my overall goal for 2013 is to step out…
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my health. No, there’s nothing wrong … at least, that I know of anyway. I’ve been exercising since my early twenties when I started havin’ babies and I’ve kind of been slacking off since summer, running a few miles off and on but not running on…
If there’s one thing I wish my old farmhouse had, it’s a designated foyer. When you open the front door you immediately step into the living room. No transitional space to hang your coat and purse before entering the rest of the home. So I’ve had to figure out a way to create an entry of sorts…
Ever since we moved into our circa 1875 house sixteen years ago, I’ve struggled with the living room. It’s somewhat long and narrow and has a lot of doorways in it. It’s stuck in the center of the floor plan so you really have to think about traffic patterns in this room. The living room…
For the most part, my kitchen is white. Some people think a white kitchen is cold, sterile, and even boring. In my opinion, a white kitchen looks clean, bright, and airy. Don’t get me wrong – I like kitchens with color in them. I just prefer to live with a white one so I can…
Although some people like to cozy up their homes with warmer colors during winter, I prefer the fresh, clean look of white. I think perhaps it’s because the world is frosty outside and I want some of that crisp and clear beauty inside. To keep things from appearing cold and sterile, I like to throw…
Do you have a sweet tooth? I sure do! While I normally fall all over anything chocolate, there’s one sweet little morsel that can turn my head anytime and pull me away from the decadent richness of chocolate. Le French Macaron! Image from www.squirrelbakes.com I love the delicate crunch of its exterior as your teeth…
Yesterday my daughter and I went shopping in Dekalb, home to Northern Illinois University and the birthplace of barbed wire. Since it’s a university town, it has its share of little boutiques and an eclectic coffee house complete with stage for local performing artists. Bridget was looking for Boho style curtains and I was on…
You may remember my post about stenciling the glass china cabinet doors. Fortunately or unfortunately, a cat hurled itself at the glass door (obviously something freaked him out) and the glass on one of the doors broke. Now mind you, I didn’t see this happen but I heard a crash in the dining room and…
After posting “before” photos of my kitchen, I decided I kinda liked the way it looked as is. Plus ya’ll gave me such wonderful feedback that it made me think twice before doing anything drastic (funny how popular opinion can change your mind). I just finished painting the ceiling, walls, bead board and trim this…
About a year ago I started blogging in hopes it would motivate me to turn my home from a hodge podge mess to a more cohesive style. Problem is, I like too many styles and needed to fine tune because I’m not that good at pulling together eclectic. So I looked at Pinterest and several…
When most people talk about trimming their Christmas tree, they mean festooning it with ornaments and lights. But when we trimmed our tree, we actually cut off about half its branches. And the point of doing that was to create space for plenty of ornaments. For over a decade, we’ve had a fake tree to…
Santa visited me early, but before I tell you about that … I’d like to share that my holiday home is being featured over at Kelly’s blog, Eclectically Vintage. Kelly is featuring 4 holiday homes this weekend – one per day. Hope you check out the home tours at Kelly’s place. Now … onto the…
