My client is throwing the first party of summer and is looking for rustic, elegant décor. The area she lives in was founded in 1634. The neighborhood oozes traditional, colonial charm. If you could sum up Connecticut by a picture, you could take a picture of any part of her town square. A local creamery, pizza shop, and antique store line the main street. Every weekend some type of local event publicizes the  town's pride: farmer's markets, a parade, character reenactments, and shows selling local artisans' works.

My client had already purchased iron-wrought lanterns, so I made boxes and distressed them using my "copy cat" barn wood technique.

Here is the result:

 

 

 Update: 06/19/15 Housewarming Party Centerpiece

 

 

Hartford Ave. Project Update

Negative: No Furniture

Positive: Childhood Memories

Moving can be stressful! What should you get rid of? What should you keep? How do we have this much stuff? Or, How will we fill this room!

My client salvaged her childhood dresser to add to her new home.

We used Antique White by Glidden and Oyster by Behr as an accent color.

The pulls are from Pier 1 Imports and Home Depot.

 Before:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For furniture refinishing services contact me here for a consultation.

3 Unique Ways to Reuse your Wedding Fabrics

 

Negative: Overwhelmed after Wedding

 

Positive: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle

 

Since we have had a two year engagement, planning has gone quite smoothly. Now that we are down to the last 34 days, we’ve picked up the pace. Making appointments, calling Uncle Eddy, emailing the DJ, writing thank yous, and on and on and on. One of the things on my To Do List is to figure out what to do with all of our supplies AFTER the wedding. The florist gets the vases, my parents will keep the columns, the planner gets the frames, and the list continues.

If you have any leftover fabric that’s sentimental, think of these options before you store your gown under your bed.

 

3 Unique Ways to Reuse your Wedding Fabrics

 

1. Pillows: My mom made me pillows from my overlay on the sweetheart table.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Rehearsal Dress: My stepmother let me use her wedding dress as I pleased. As I knew I would never fit into myself, I’m cutting a pattern and making a dress for my rehearsal dinner.

 

 

 

 

3. Play Dates: My flower girl was 3 years old when I first met her. Her favorite dress to play in was a dress she wore as a flower girl when she was 2. It was perfect for princess parties!  She definitely wore the dress out before she grew out of it.

 

 

 

Mirrored Beach Wall Decor

Negative: In need of a new key-ring holder for an updated kitchen

Positive: Mother’s Day came early

My mom redecorated her kitchen from vineyard to beachfront. The last time I visited I remember she said the only thing she needed was something to hold her keys.

I distressed door framing and attached to a piece of wood, the starfish are drawer pulls, and attached a mirror to finish.

Creative Ways to Stage your Furniture

My client for the Hartford Ave Project bought the cutest mercury glass knobs, courtesy of Pier 1, for her dresser.

 

 To match the look for her dresser I spray painted vintage wine carafes with Krylon Looking Glass spray paint.

 

 

Now aren’t they adorable?

 

 

 

 

One of the ways I like to stage furniture is by using thrift store goods.

 

Creative Ways to Stage your Furniture:

 

Tip #1:

Use Thrifty Finds.

Second-hand pieces can be made new with a coat of spray paint, and not to mention you can save a ton of money. My mercury glass piece was $9 total, the closest match from Pier 1 was $25.

Tip #2:

Use your own personal touches. 

If you’re staging a family room piece, place your family's favorite game on top. A dresser, use a beach hat or gloves.

Tip #3:

Spend your money wisely.

Sometimes, I will buy a piece at retail value and then lump the price into the furniture for sale. So for example, when selling a desk add a lamp and a corkboard. The price of the furniture should take into account the price of the lamp and corkboard.

I recently did the same with pillows on a bed. The pillows were only for display, but it adds interest to the piece I’m selling.

 

Mid Century Modern Cabinet Update

Remember my mid century modern cabinet?

Navy with gold legs and gold pulls won!

 

 

 

 

Mid Century Modern Cabinet

36(l) x 29.5(h) x 19.5(d)

For Sale: Sold!

 

How you Should be Styling your Shadow Box

Negative: Too many shoe boxes in the closet

Positive: Lots of Memories

If you’re anything like my family, you keep EVERYTHING that’s sentimental to you. I’m talking about little league jerseys from the 80s, every birthday card, and thank you note. Just in a few short years, I’ve accumulated three shoeboxes full of memories with my fiancé. I needed to start damage control, stat!

 

 

 

I limited my “KEEP” pile to things we have done together that tell a story. So movie night tickets: OUT! Car rental receipts: OUT! I challenge you to do the same and see what you find!

My “OUT” pile

 

From my “KEEP” pile I displayed every ticket stub, photo, and souvenir in one memory box. Although this is one way to style a memory box, only a few of my items were especially important.

 

 

Ultimately I chose a few major events: life before we started dating, how we met, birthdays, holidays, and our engagement.

 

 

How you Should be Styling your Shadow Box:

1.       Use sewing pins to keep your tokens from moving.

2.      Display personal affections in the bedroom: wedding vows, love notes, baby’s sonogram.

Display items that share a story in common areas of the home: plane tickets, postcards, awards.

 

3.    Layer larger pieces in the back: maps, certificates, newspaper clippings, and smaller pieces in the front: ticket stubs, photos, event programs.

4.   Consider buying more than one shadow box if you have quite a few artifacts to display. Each display case can be used for a different purpose: a progression of your relationship, a box for each child, a box for each type of sporting event you attend.

 

 Take a trip down memory lane. Surprised by something you found? Share it with me!