Flash Card Art

Found these old flash cards 

and had to have them....

Opened them up and started to play.....

 Thought some of the illustrations were so sweet...played some more...

 Then I made a decision and looked around my house for a place to hang my flash card art.

I brought one of the cards to Walmart to play with the frames and settled on these black ones...mostly because they were $2 each and I had already splurged on 75 cents for the box of flash cards.

 Then had to keep playing, 

but got back to the task...

 I hung the word "Family" over 

our closet in our hallway,

 and flanked the word with 

vintage silhouette cut outs.

Always Fussing!

I ended my last post about 

the doilies "under the glass" 

by saying I would leave it 

for a few days and decide if I want 

to keep it that way. 

I loved that all the 

doilies disguised fingerprints, 

but it was too busy for me.

I always tell clients to try 

to "live with things" 

for a bit to see if 

something grows on them or not.  

I try to follow my own 

advice when it comes 

to fussing with things.

I do LOVE the doilies, 

but I started to play 

with less of them 

and overlapped 2 of them...

now it is a perfect fit.

I'll try to get to 

the laundry tomorrow!

No more playing with doilies...

it is addicting!  

What do you think about the change?

Under the Glass

 Just put a fresh coat of gold paint on my kitchen table and put place mats down. Then I put my glass top back over the mats.

 Here is the table with nothing... 

which I also like

 Part of my design business is doing real estate staging, which means I help clients get their homes spruced up to put on the market.

I was hired to help some 

clients that are moving 

out of their home where they 

have lived for over 40 years. 

I started to salivate 

as I toured the home...

felt like I was stepping 

back in time.  

They were getting rid of everything.

 I ended up buying almost 

all their 

furniture and accessories...

garages are not for cars...right?

In the stash of "treasures" 

I bought was a box full of doilies.

   

I find them to be impressive that someone

sewed all of these.... 

seeing that I struggle 

with sewing a button.   

Then I thought it might 

be fun to put some 

under the glass 

and made 

a pile of my favorites 

from the box.

 Then I placed them on the table...

love the ones with the orange rims

 ...put the glass back

 I think I'll leave it for a few days and see if I like it enough to keep it this way.

Tablescape

 My home is going to be featured next month on a house walk here in Riverside,IL, so I have been so busy painting, rearranging things, and planning for the event.   My home will be featured alongside other designers and architects that live in my town. 

I am playing with how I want to "style" 

my home for this event.   

Here is how I plan to dress 

my dining table...want it to feel 

like I am hosting some guests.  

 I am going to add a little 

pie under the cloche 

on the day of 

the housewalk.

I have added some 

vintage table linens, 

utensils, and glassware 

at one end. 

 I clipped off some sprigs from the 

yard and added them 

to a contemporary vase.

The oranges tie into the 

colors in my home...I have all 

greens, golds, 

and oranges through out.

 To separate the clusters of accessories, 

I added the wicker tray, 

all with like items....greenery.  

 Here is a close up of the dining rug.

 Later this evening, I took some 

shots to see how things look with a 

touch of candlelight and a 

few apples under 

the glass dome...always playing.

 At the other end of the grouping, 

the appetizer plates, 

cream pitcher and bowel 

all nestled in together.  

I added a silver cake knife 

found at an antique store.

 The table linens are layered 

for added interest.

I know it was a success when my son 

asked if we were having company.

Now to work on the rest of the house...

It's all in the details!!!!

Vacation Inspiration

Getting back to blogging after a vacation with the family to Mexico.

While I was there, 

I could not help but be inspired.  

There were so many interesting design elements at the resort..from the use of color combinations, different textures,

and the use of different materials.

Unfortunately I am a little and at myself that I missed photographing some of the things I wanted to because my bathing suit did not have a pocket to hold my camera, and taking photos would have required that 

I set down my margarita.  

I did, however, take some photos to share that feature beautiful color I found with the landscaping.  

The color of the water, sky, flowers, greenery, mixed with the texture of the palm trees and 

tropical foliage was so beautiful.   

     

I loved all the different shades of blue next to one another...the colors of the ocean were my most favorite shades.

 These little flowers caught my eye.   I loved the grey of the twig mixed with the citrus green and the variety of 

pink and coral in the flowers.

 I love the contrast of color with the cream wall, rich wood tone, and the 

green and red in the floral.    

This climbing floral was stunning in person...have to have this color in my home after seeing these.  

 ...Loved the texture of the palm trees

 I thought these were so simple and loved the long green leaves.

I found that nature and especially the colors so inspiring to use in my design work.

Touches of Candlelight

Thank God I married a firefighter, 

because I love my candles.

After the kids are in bed, it is nice to sit and unwind with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and a bit of candlelight. 

I light them for fragrance and ambiance.

I love how the candlelight 

effects the other items.  

I love how the detail in the 

old glass bottle, ridges on the 

appetizer plates, 

and the scales on the 

metal fish are 

highlighted by the light.    

 `This is my cocktail table.   

I love how this makes the stone look, and creates a pretty feature in the 

center of the room.

 Although this is  a dark photo, I wanted to show you how a pattern reflects on the vase next to it.  This little candle holder 

changes the light. 

 As you use candlelight, play with your accessories to see how things can feel enhanced by the soft light.   

Beautiful items for sale....

Browse for inspiration and shop at my friend, Jennifer Rizzo's, new spring line.     


We have been doing business together for over the past 10 years working on design projects and I have been following her blog for years.    


She is a very talented artist!


I have posted the link for you...enjoy! 



http://issuu.com/jenniferrizzodesigns/docs/sparrowandblossomlookbook/3

Front Porch...extension of the interior

Utilizing the front porch of a home is a great way to extend your living space and give some personality and style to your exterior space.

With this unusually mild Chicago winter, I was motivated to sweep and clean my porch area earlier than I normally do. 

Even if you don't have a covered porch, a chair, bench, plants, and door decorations are a way to enhance your entry area.

Since my porch is covered, I have more flexibility to add items normally used for the interior of your home.

I used the same principles with how I decorate the inside of my home.  

I have an indoor/outdoor area rug, wall hangings, furniture, lighting and accessories.     

 I hung this wrought iron piece on the brick.

My brick is my color inspiration for the space.

I painted the door in 2 colors 

I pulled from the brick colors.  

 I added table lines, but tacked them on the underside and weighted it down with the lantern so they did not blow away.

 I added this small buffet piece which stores sidewalk chalk, salt for icy days, and the Scrabble game which we like to play 

when it is warmer outside.

 The wicker chairs are intended for the outdoors but the throw pillows make them feel like more of an interior piece. 

 The area rug warms up the cement and pulls the colors from the brick and 

the accessories together. 

 We do have an overhead light but I prefer the lamp.   It adds a cozy feel to the porch especially in the evening as shown below.

 When guests are coming over or I am planning on spending time outside, I light the candle in the lantern.

I am ready to spend more time out here....

hurry up spring!

Dresser turned TV Stand/Bookshelf

Found this cute dresser and had my boys help carry in each drawer down to my work area.   Then they proceeded 

to wrestle and 

flattened a drawer.  

It is these situations that force my creative side to come out.

  

Needless to say, I was not happy, but sat there staring to figure out what to do next 

...and here is my solution.

I decided to move all the drawers down to the lower slots and keep the 

top area open as a shelf.

 I used the bottom of the flattened drawer as the base/floor for the shelf and secured it 

with finishing nails. 

It covered the uneven surface 

as you can see below. 

 Then I added a fresh coat of paint and distressed edges.

 This niche is perfect for books, baskets, or for storage or tv electronics.