Now that our interior is mostly complete (for now that is - until I decide I can't stand my office or the basement), I've decided to focus my energies on some inexpensive upgrades outside. Our landscape in the front yard was seriously lacking. There is a nice cherry tree, some laurels and azaleas in front of the house and a beautiful hydrangea net to the porch that you can't see, but there are no... Read more
As most of you readers know, this blog has followed me through the renovation of our house in LA on Glen Arborand now our house here in NJ. One of the things I never got around to doing in LA was the kitchen. There was so much potential with the 1940's glass front cabinets and the vintage stove. Before we left, we slapped on a coat of white paint and changed the hardware to freshen it up. But I'd... Read more
Greetings from August in the City by the Bay! Those of you who've traveled here on a summer vacation (or read any Mark Twain, for that matter) know that while these may be "summer-casual" months at the office, they are also foggy & windy months at the park, which is why most of us default again and again to denim. A recent foot injury has me re-thinking footwear to accommodate arch supports... Read more
I posted a while back about our amazing Cole and Sons powder room wallcovering. Well, they did end up shooting the powder room for the Woman's Day shoot and it's not all that different than the photo from my original post- below (with a bit more styling):However, I wanted to give you a sneak peek at the other minor progress that WD didn't shoot. Not knowing what would be shot and what wouldn't I... Read more
OK, I realized after I said that the living room was the final sneak peek that there are a couple more spaces I wanted to show you guys. First off is the breakfast nook. Not all that much has changed. But if you recall, it looked like this before.I wasn't crazy about the artwork. I sort of just hung those two pieces there temporarily. Then in the process of unpacking (yes, we are STILL unpacking)... Read more
OK so this is pretty much the final sneak peek after the Woman's Day photo shoot. WD also shot the kitchen but you guys have seen that in its full glory a number of times, so no need to rehash. In the bathroom sneak peekI showed you the "before" photo from before we moved in. I like that it really shows how far we've come. So here is the living room in its "before" state (the fish eye lens makes... Read more
On to the next space of our Woman's Day photo shoot sneak peek. So it turns out WD didn't photograph our bathroom, but nevertheless it was motivation to complete the room, organize and accessorize. Not sure if I've ever showed you guys what the room looked like before we moved in and did any sort of renovation.A gross single vanity and lots of extra space on one side of the room. The only... Read more
The area that I think has changed the most in the past couple of weeks prior to our Woman's Day shoot has been the dining room. At the last minute we managed to install drapery and hardware and get my table painted a nice subtle minty green. Also added a bar cart from Ballard Designsfor good measure. Here is the table in progress between coats (I sanded, primed, sanded, painted, sanded, and... Read more
As I mentioned in my last post, our house is going to be in the November issue of Women's Day Magazine- due out on newstands in October. So excited about this! The shoot happened this past Thursday and it was great fun. Everyone from the crew was amazing and I really enjoyed seeing how everything works behind the scenes (also, still making our way through the mounds of food that the caterers... Read more
Tomorrow our house is being shot for the November issue of Woman's Day Magazine. It's hard to believe that there will be a whole crew of people here - photographer, editor, stylist, even hair and makeup! - focusing on us and our home. Over the next few days I'll give you a few sneak peeks of the final product (well, pre-stylist which I think will make all the difference). There have been a number... Read more
Well, some of you might be wondering what I am up to aside from all my DIY projects and selling a few pieces of hardware here and there. I've been working with a few residential clients as well and thought I'd share what I've been working on. This is a home in Short Hills that I'm doing some work on. We've completely redesigned the living room with a serene sophisticated feel. It's not done yet... Read more
But there was one final thing in the bathroom. When I did those roman shades I had mentioned adding a contrasting band to tie in with the shower curtain on the opposite side. Well, while I was in the city selecting my awesome minty trim for the chair reupholstery project I picked up a nice charcoal flat trim for the shades. After doing the living room shades, I knew not to use too much glue -... Read more