Summer Solstice and a French pot

I've been having problems with my neck lately and I have been advised to not spend as much time on my computer as I do ... and to take frequent breaks. So this week I took two nice long breaks and went outside and worked in the yard a bit. It is such wonderful therapy for me to get outside in the beautiful sunshine and garden. Even if all I am doing is cleaning up. Which is mostly what I did. A lot of trimming, raking, and sweeping. I worked like a dog ... even sawed down a tree really big bush.

Ahhh... do you see all those healthy aphids? My next task ... put a little soapy water on them to save the roses.

After it was all cleaned up, I met a client at HomeGoods to look at a few things for her house and while I was there I could not help but notice a beautiful green pot. In the clearance aisle. Yeah, it had my name on it. 

I have no idea why it was on clearance. It was originally $200 marked down to $100 and then on clearance for $45. It has a tiny little spot where the glaze is gone - about the size of a pea. Nothing I can't fix with a green marker and a little clear nail polish if I wanted to. And to make it even better, I used a belated birthday gift card from a friend. Thank you M!

This morning I planted a few plants inside. It is the perfect happy little exclamation point to celebrate all my hard work. And to mark the Summer Solstice. 

 

 I hope you are enjoying this longest day of the year today :)

A few projects I am working on

I am working on a number of projects right now - some small and some not so small ... 

One of the projects is a re-design of a master bedroom I did 8 years ago. How is it that eight years seems like three? The bedding was starting to look worn and the client was ready for something new. She had already purchased all white bedding (can you see my big smile?) and was hoping bring new life to the room. We will be keeping the bed, replacing a matching armoire with a new dresser, adding a floor mirror and area rug and replacing/changing around some lighting. Here is the bed currently:

The bedroom "before"

Playing around with new bedding ideas ...

The client has a fantastic zebra bench at the foot of the bed - part of Drexel Heritage's Postobello collection that has been discontinued since we purchased it. It is still one of our favorite things in the room. We decided to move the bench to the side wall and place a large floor mirror behind it. We are removing an armoire that was on the side wall and replacing it with a dresser that will go under a television that is on the wall in front of the bed. It will give more storage (and better storage - it has some small jewelry drawers) and will allow more room on the side of the bed. Moving the bench makes room for the new dresser. 

Dresser by Lexington

Drexel Heritage - Postobello Home Collection - discontinued

We will be adding this gorgeous new rug ...

Ikat rug from Barclay Butera

And removing the beautiful chandelier for a ceiling fan - a very hard thing to do because we love the light fixture but they need a fan. Fortunately I was able to find a fan that the client liked and compliments the room design:

Ceiling fan by Rejuvenation

We will be adding a couple of new side table lamps, a floor lamp (to make up for the lost chandelier) and some new pillows. 

Another project I am in the middle of is a family room remodel. I am in the process of designing a new media cabinet while we wait for new french doors to be installed and some light construction to be completed. It is a slow moving project ... but I did get the new pillows delivered last week ...

Arden Rug, Lulu & Georgia

And a new rug and coffee table ottoman will be delivered soon.

Wing Chair before

 In between I helped a darling lady with some small re-upholstery items and a new area rug.

Pindler | Benisa Rouge | no longer available

All brightened up with a new Pindler fabric and a fresh new rug (that you can barely see).

And wedding season is finally here ... I am working on three weddings right now ... This is the beginning of one. 

Odds and Ends

Hello? Anyone still here? I think this is the longest I have ever gone without posting anything. So long that I started getting, "Are you okay?" messages... Oops. It is crazy how fast time is rushing by. Here is a bit of what I have been up to...

My God-daughter and I started a fun tradition a couple of years ago of going to Color Me Mine each March to celebrate her birthday. This year I made a little plate inspired by one of Kate Spade's that I had been coveting. You can see Kate's here.

I am still working on the two little boy's rooms and recently stopped by Ikea to check on some furniture I wanted to use. While I was there I saw the lamp I had selected for the rooms and seeing it in person it made me fall in love with it even more. I decided I had to have one for me as well (the upside/downside of this job!). 

Ikea Ranarp Work Lamp | 39.99

Don't you love that cord?!?

I also saw this new furniture at Ikea and it is fabulous; it looks way more expensive than it is. It comes in white as well but the gray is amazing:

Liatorp | Ikea

I have also been working on sorting my 20,000 photos. I had a mishap at the Apple store where the trainer who was helping me back-up my photos ended up making duplicate and triplicates of everything and then ultimately deleting them. Some help, huh? After 8 hours at the Genius Bar we were able to re-store my library but I had to go back and remove the duplicates and re-organize everything. You know how you take a million photos go get that one great shot? Well, everything was in there - and I had to go back through and delete and delete until I had just what I wanted. It was extremely time-consuming but kind of fun. Especially seeing all the photos of my house over the years and the changes transformation. Like the entry ... it seems nothing stayed in one place for very long.

And this little room (photo from 2010) has been changed around more times than I can count:

 

In the beginning, it was our office, then a nursery, my youngest daughter's room and finally a high-schooler's get-ready-for-a-small-dorm room. For a couple of years, after my youngest went away to college, it was a "storage facility" for my wedding and styling accessories and now it is our guest room where my little granddaughter sleeps when she is here. It has always been the catch all room ... the room where discarded lamps and artwork goes ...

I'm glad it has a lamp of its own now :)

I have a few fun upholstery and paint projects I will share with you next time. Come back ... I am still around :) Have a great weekend everyone! xo

A very hot May Day

Today is May Day. I almost missed it. I noticed as I was putting an appointment in my date book this morning just before I rushed out to meet with a client. 

To me, May Day is all about flowers. I love making little bouquets from my garden and sharing them with friends and neighbors ... This is what I made for a neighbor last year:

And this is a bouquet a friend gave me a couple of years ago:

I had some free time this afternoon thought I could pull off making a few little bouquets except that we have had a few days in a row now of unusually hot weather and all my pretty rose blooms were gone. So instead of picking flowers this afternoon I ended up just deadheading my roses. And planting some fun new orchids I bought last weekend at the Southern California Spring Flower Show.

They are called Epidendrum Orchids and I thought they would bring a little Spring color to my succulents. Because of our drought situation I cannot justify pretty flowers in my courtyard containers that need to be watered everyday in the heat so I have planted all succulents. The orchids do not need to be watered often either, and since I have had success growing orchids inside my house I thought I might be able to grow them outside as well ...

A happy orchid inside

My new Epidendrum Orchids outside

I hope flowers were part of your May Day today as well! And if you live local ... I hope you are staying cool!