Not the Intended Purpose

Do you know what I love? Besides you? I love buildings that were built for one purpose but get turned into homes. Like this sweet little school house in the Catskills...

Or this ultra cool silo house in Utah...

But my all time fav are churches that have been repuropsed into amazing houses. I am constantly drawn to old churches. My imagination starts to run wild with living rooms glowing with a stained-glass window. A kitchen with an altar fashioned into an island. Don't you love this church in London...



One day my dream will come true. Not sure if I want that to happen in Parma:)

What's Your Decorating Style?

I get asked that question a lot and I've been trying to figure it out. You would think that as a decorator I would already know this, but that's not always true. My style seems to change, evolve. When I was first on my own and able to decorate with what I wanted and how I wanted I leaned more to country/crafty decor. After I went to design school I swayed more to modern/retro design. Now that I've got a few years experience behind me I tend to decorate more with color than with a specific style. But if I HAD to give it a name, how about "modern/country" with classic influences. I love bold, happy colors and clean, classic lines. I think I'll always lean to country decor because of my farm town upbringing. I'll still fight it and deny that I'm drawn to it but I love that rustic, farm-fresh look.

I have learned to find beauty in all styles and take the best parts and make them my own. I prefer to use something that is functional and then make it beautiful. Here are some rooms that I'm currently loving...

Find this here


Find this here

Find this here

Find this here


I have wanted to place a beautifully ornate chandelier above a rustic butcher block for years. It has been stored in my "Someday-When-I-Have-My-Own-Perfect-House file", which is locked away in my head. I suppose someone has been pilfering my thoughts while I'm asleep:)

Find these here

Family Trees

found here

I've always wanted a beautifully drawn family tree. There is something so calming and inspiring about seeing your whole family all connected. Here are some pretties I've found...


found here


found here


found here


found here

Kusudama Flowers

I found these pretty flowers yesterday on the very cool blog, Handmade Charlotte. She said they were easy to make and I thought, "Whatever!" Well, it's true! They are easy to make. I made one yesterday and now I'm going to find some pretty paper or use some old magazines, whatever suits my fancy, and whip up some beautiful kusudama flowers.



The tutorial link from the Handmade Charlotte blog doesn't work any more so I found this one that is very simple to follow. I'm going to teach my daughter because she loves origami and flowers and especially spending time with me:)


These are made from post-it notes, which is what I used and it worked very well because the paper is already a square. Bonus!

Cottonblue

Do you want some serious eye-candy? Check out this cute & cozy home. I'm moving in!

My New Favorite Blog!

While doing my usual blog hopping today I came across this UH-MAZE-ING food blog Ezra Pound Cake. Great photography, recipes, and variety all combined with a humorous wit. One of my fav features is Meatless Monday, which you can read more about here. I hope you try some of their wonderfully delicious food while I enjoy these yummies...


Tomato Tart



Zucchini Quesadillas



Brownie Pudding

Dashboard Dust Notes

One of the best love notes I've ever received:)