Book Review: Simply Spaced
Simply Spaced: Clear the Clutter and Style Your Life by Monica Leed is a favorite organizing book because she also takes into consideration styling your home along with offering tips and tools for tidy-ness.
Monica first explains the why behind getting organized (which I always find helpful so that I remember my purpose when I'm knee-deep in bins, discards, labels, brooms and...
Book Review: Habitat
The Book
I interviewed Lauren Liess quite awhile ago (in fact, I still had my co-host, Karen Grant), but that episode remains one of my favorites. And so does Lauren's book, Habitat: The Field Guide To Decorating.
She breaks the book into three main parts: The Fundamental Elements of Design; The Intangible Elements of Design; and the Room-by-Room Guide.
Why I love this...
Book Review: Novel Interiors
The Book
Definitely in my Top 5 of all time favorite decor books is Novel Interiors: Living in Enchanted Rooms Inspired by Literature by Lisa Borgnes Giramonti. And that's saying a lot!
I suppose it's because she melds two of my passions, reading fiction and interior design. That, and because there is no other book like it, period, the end.
What Lisa...
The Best Way To Choose A Color Palate (It's not what you think)
I get asked all the time things like,
“…DO THESE COLORS GO TOGETHER?”
Or I’ll hear,
“… I DON’T REALLY LIKE ORANGE BUT MY PILLOWS HAVE SOME ORANGE IN THEM SO I’M LOOKING FOR A RUG WITH THE SAME SHADE.”
Remember in elementary school when a friend would ask you your favorite color and you answered without hesitation and...
Paige Hull The Vintage Round Top
This week I'm talking with Paige Hull of The Vintage Round Top, a beautiful retreat space in the heart of antiquer's heaven in Round Top, TX. Paige and her husband Smoot have put a lot of love and soul into it, starting with a gut renovation of the first house, "No. 1450," and then adding another they call "Boho," and most recently two small cottages named after their children, The...
New beginnings might be a cliche…
But they aren’t just about 80s nature posters.
Remember those sickly cheerful posters of a generic photo of a seedling poking up from the ground with a caption that said something like “new beginnings”? As if that was supposed to make you want to do…
What?
Yeah.
ANYWAY.
Old furniture can also have a new beginning with the right fabric and a...
Steve Schrenk of Polycor Natural Stone Quarries
This week's episode is jam packed with information and inspiration. I'm talking with Steve Schrenk, a sculptor and media director for Polycor, the largest natural stone quarrier in North America. We cover a lot of ground, starting with Steve's training and his personal love affair with stone, and then he teaches us about the different kinds of stone you might want to consider using...
Finding Small Scale Furniture for Older Homes
Sometimes it's hard to find furniture that fits inside old homes. That's because back in the day, there weren't Great rooms where the family cooked, ate and lounged all in one big open space. Today's furniture has grown bigger along with its rooms over the years. Plus there's the added issue of modern furniture not even being able to fit through the doorways of old...
ORC Week 6: Private Den Reveal!
Just a little backstory:
My intention for this room was to bring the desert, especially the New Mexico desert, into our home. I’ve been feeling very nostalgic for Santa Fe and its rocks and agaves and such, and have talked for years about moving there some day.
But given our youngest son’s learning disabilities and the special programming he’s getting here in New England,...
ORC Week 5: Wallpaper (trial & error)
I love, love, love my Hygge & West wallpaper! I had the pleasure of interviewing the founders of H&W for the Style Matters podcast a little while ago. I reached out to them because I have been a huge fan of their company for years. We talked about our mutual passion for all things wallpaper related and also about their new book, “Hygge & West Home: Design for a Cozy Life...
