Statement sofas send an anti-neutral message -- original décor lives in this house. Statement sofas are character actors. A sofa with a unique personality can be dominant enough to draw attention away from a troublesome aspect in any room. That can be one reason to choose a sofa with sculptural lines, a unique fabric treatment, or a deconstructed look -- one that's unique and … [Read more...]
Hidden TVs
With smart house technology expanding, hidden tvs can pop up, flip up or drop down almost anywhere. For heavy TV viewers like Mr. AM and myself, hidden tvs aren't practical. Sets in our house are on day and night. Yet some object to naked flat screens on aesthetic terms and require cover ups. Allison installed her great room TV behind sliding wood and copper panels which were … [Read more...]
Six Home Décor Trends
When I see designers forecast home décor trends for the coming year, I’m always curious. Did I miss something all the gurus know? Will my house feel outdated? No worries! This year’s effort by Architectural Digest promised to explain what's coming for 2016. Instead it delivered ongoing themes and gentle swipes at the continued popularity of what Elissa Cullman called … [Read more...]
Colorful Mudrooms
Colorful mudrooms — even when the color is neutral — offer a hint of personality in the entryway of a house. For a long time most mudrooms I saw were white, just like kitchens. As places to house boots, hats, umbrellas, jackets, dog leashes and assorted other outdoor gear the use of white made them a bit fussy for me. In addition to color, a mudroom (or boot room) by … [Read more...]
Backyard Shed Crazy
The lowly backyard shed goes by many names but having a small out building is a plus for any home. Small backyard sheds are trending. These may be called she-sheds, bar sheds, she-caves, he-caves, or a writing cabin like the one at the edge of an Ontario, Canada cornfield where author and blogger Ann Voskamp [top] types out her best selling books. Furnished with rugs, a sofa, … [Read more...]
Vintage Windmill Wheel as Decor
An icon of Americana, the windmill wheel is being repurposed as wall art. I lost a picture of a windmill wheel used as a wall hanging when my previous laptop stopped working but I've never lost my desire to own one. They are becoming a rare site when driving across the country, so if they pull at your heartstrings too, better snap one up if you run across it for sale. This … [Read more...]
Swinging Porch Beds 2
A collection of more ideas for handcrafted swinging porch beds. It has been two years -- almost exactly to the day -- since I wrote about the promise to myself of a special treat for my porch "one day" in my original post with ideas for Swinging Porch Beds. Now, it's Happy Mother's Day and early Birthday to me! Recently, I posted about our Custom Stairway Gates, including … [Read more...]
Chicken Wire Chic
Finding its way from the barnyard into the main house, chicken wire has some homeowners crowing. When we were building our cottage I mentioned using chicken wire on the doors of two hutches in our kitchen. I was met with a blank stare from the cabinet maker. Would it have sounded better in French or Italian? Probably not with my southern accent. Whether it's fabric backed or … [Read more...]
Alternatives To Wallpaper
Alternatives to wallpaper include common items used to cover walls and create unique rooms. Most prefer to paint, create textured plaster of some kind or purchase wallpaper to cover plain walls. But using a little imagination with alternatives to wallpaper can yield one-of-a-kind results. Large maps were used to cover the walls in this bedroom by Steven Gambrel. The soft … [Read more...]
Removing Kitchen Cabinet Doors
“I kept opening and closing the kitchen cabinet doors to get dishes. I found myself grumbling about it.” My friend Christine, who’s longing to remodel her 70s kitchen, recently coined the term “anti-upperitis” to express her annoyance with kitchen cabinet doors. One special pet peeve of hers is upper kitchen cabinet storage behind closed doors. A remedy is to transform … [Read more...]
Shades of Purple Bathrooms
In purple bathrooms, hues can range from periwinkle to plum. Purple bathrooms? Seriously? Purple became a favorite color when I was a teenager and I've always worn it. And while it had a wild in/out swing over the 20th century -- in vogue during the 1920s and '60s and out of style otherwise -- its current revival for home decor seems especially strong. It’s everywhere from … [Read more...]
Fishing Camp House Style
My dream home would be a fishing camp like this one, rustic but wonderfully accessorized Here in the northeast United States, the end of May ushers in beach house season and the beginning of July heralds the opening of fishing camp houses. This rustic, back-to-nature style emerged during the late 1800s in New York’s Adirondack mountains and along the rivers and lakes of New … [Read more...]
Staging Vintage Collections
Looking for a unique way to display your vintage collections? Grouped together, vintage collections of unique objects can be transformed from interesting to attention-grabbing. Whether your collections are quirky, sentimental, textural or simply color-driven, here’s a few display (and mounting) ideas that are easy to replicate in a home workshop. Vintage 1940's childrens … [Read more...]
Retro Cottage Kitchen
Three shades of green worked well with the owner's dishware collections in a retro cottage kitchen. When the owner of this wonderfully fresh retro cottage kitchen bought the 19th-century house, the shelves and cabinets were a mess. She knew the kitchen needed a transformation and that green would be the color because it reflected all her collectibles. To establish a vintage … [Read more...]