Modern cottage style garden tour for inspiration and ideas. Normally, I am pretty verbose; spoken or written, I like words.  My grandmother used to call me a chiacchierone...it means chatterbox. Apparently, I started speaking in full sentences at eighteen months or so and I haven't come up for air since! However, today, I have decided to let my photos do the majority of the talking, as I feature part of my backyard.

I'm kind of a boring decorator.  While I do enjoy changing up accessories and rearranging furniture, once I find a look I like, I tend to stick with it for the long haul.  I agonize over fabric and wall colors, trying to create the perfect room and when I finally get a space to look just right, I find myself sitting in it and staring peacefully, enjoying it like artwork, with my cup of hot water (yes, plain hot water) in hand.

A few years ago, for Lent, while everyone around me was giving up chewing gum and chocolate, I gave up gossip.   One day, when trying to discuss the deadlocked presidential election with friends, I realized that no one was interested.   A neighbor was getting divorced and that was all that mattered.  

Why I don't follow decorating trends and you shouldn't either. Me In Our Orange, Brown and Avocado Colored Kitchen, 1974 Growing up, if you asked my mother if she was interested in home interiors, she would say definitely not, which is funny, because we had a lovely home and she redecorated often. In the sixties, she installed an entire wall of mirrors in the living room, ornate fringed drapes framed the windows and a mural of ancient Rome was plastered to the round wall in the entryway. Perfectly on trend.

I have stated before that I am not a gourmet cook .  I like simple, easy recipes and they don't get any easier than this.  It's so easy, I'm not even sure it can be called a recipe! 

Box pleat valances are usually mounted to a board, but you can make a box pleat valance on a rod, too and it's super easy. Follow my step by step tutorial with pictures. Whether you sew or you don't, you can get a custom look, on a budget. It's really all about the ironing. Last week I updated my master bathroom with a few small accessories, this box pleat valance being one of them. Today I am sharing how I made it.

Update a bathroom with a few quick accessory swaps. Two summers ago, we finally renovated our master bathroom.  When we moved into our home, the necessary renovations were so extensive that I needed one construction free room in the house to escape to each day.  My bedroom and small attached bath became my sanctuary.

Don't toss that torn chair. Make an easy slipcover for the seat to cover it up instead. This sew or no sew repair can be done in minutes and bring your old furniture back to life. So today I have a little story for you about a chair. It's a lovely little chair and it resides in my kitchen. It's relatively new and until about an hour ago, it had a big tear right in the seat. Oh boy. Not good. Especially since, like I said, it is pretty new. You see, I've always loved the look of upholstered furniture in the kitchen. It gives the space such a warm and cozy feeling. If possible, I would put a sofa in there , but I don't have the room.