Going back to basics

Retractable pens and wooden pencils are making a come back. Yes, retractable pens are bit more expensive, but you don't lose the tops in the bottom of your pencil cup and you don't get ink all over you because the pen isn't covered. A good old fashion pencil sharpener will keep your #2's going for quite awhile.

La belle Julia

Those who know me well, know that Juila Child is one of my favorite people ever! An amazing woman in so many ways and what a life she led. I have finished reading her last book, "My Life In France", written just before she left us in 2004. She recounts her time spent with her husband, Paul, in Europe, during the 40's and 50's. What time that was! You can hear her voice on every page and almost taste the meals she describes so vividly. She also tells how "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" came to be (and very nearly not so). You know, it was Julia who was the first to list recipes in the format ALL cookbooks now use. I loved every page of this book.

Bon Appetit, Julia...

Change for the fun of it

Sometimes you just have to have a change of scenery - even in your own house! This is my condo living/dining room last year at this time.


And here it is today. Took me less than 10 minutes to pull this together. So, why does this work so well? Because the furniture is to the scale of the room and scale is everything when choosing furniture. If I had an 8 or 9 foot sofa, it would be too big for the room no matter which direction it faced.

Even the cats enjoy their new digs...

Changing the look of a room

My favorite way to change up a room quickly and inexpensively, is by using table runners. I drape them over my dining table and the ottoman in the living room (as I have in this photo). You can also use them on coffee tables or drape them over the back of chair or the sofa. They add just the pop of seasonal color and they are easy to store, as the take up less room than full table cloths. I get mine at Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and Pier One.

Displaying collections

Ho! Ho! Ho! This village collection of Department 56 "Christmas in the City" is one of our client's favorite things. But she disliked the process of taking it all out of the boxes, clearing off the space on her dining table and setting it up.  Once it got up, she had equal trouble getting it back into the boxes after the holidays.

 Besides the loss of the use of her dining table, storing these pieces took up one very valuable closet. So, we suggested permanently displaying the village on top of her entertainment center. We layered a "snow" blanket over the three sections of the bookcase and then designed our village, complete with cars and people.

 Now she can sit on the sofa and admire her collection all the time. At night when the village is lit it adds an extra something special to her livingroom.

Paper blizzard relief

That's better! We begin this project by freeing this homeowner from the blizzard of paper that had snowed her under. Now she can come home from work and relax. (See the post below "Does This Look Familiar" for the before photos.)

So, where did all the paper go? We've gathered it up and sorted into boxes that we'll go through to separate what needs to be kept and toss the rest. Then we'll set up a paper management system so that she'll know what to do when the next onslaught of mail arrives.

Does this look familiar?

Hm...what's going on here? Life, people get busy and stuff happens. Not to worry, we can take care of this and create a paper management system to see that it doesn't happen again. Stay tuned to see how we do it. Oh, and we also have some surprises for this busy lady involving her favorite Dept. 56 "Christmas in the City" collection. Ho, Ho, Ho!