Flowers for a Friend

I was so disappointed when I got to the flower market yesterday morning. I had to buy flowers for a Revealing Redesign photo shoot that afternoon, and I also really wanted to find gorgeous blooms to arrange for dear friends who are going through a rough time. I was hoping to walk in and just be inspired, find all kinds of fantastic flowers and foliage, be filled with creative ideas.

Nope.

Blah, blah, and more blah. I came home with just one anemic bunch of daisies, and a dozen peachy-orange roses.

"Why did I buy these?!?" I thought to myself. Well....there wasn't much else...I guess it is better than nothing....hmphf.

I wandered out to the garden to see what I could find to round things out, and THAT is where I found my inspiration. I know, I know~I have played this tune for you before. Just the same, the hydrangeas were doing their thing and showing a carnival of colors due to the autumnal changes outside, my Ninebark shrubs were glorious in their dark purple, and the silvery green delicate leaves of my Bridal Veil shrub also beckoned to me. How beautifully they would complement each other!

Arranging them I felt so happy and blessed. A gift for my friends to cheer them, and also a wonderful gift for me.

A Colorful Girl

You know, Sweetie, I don't know if you know this....but  not all of us have the natural inclination to keep things tidy....

Sometimes people living under the very same roof can be as different as night and day!

Not that I know of ANYONE that would fit that description!

Although, maybe I could help you straighten your room a bit. Oh, and didn't you say that you felt things were looking a little too "little girlish"?  Maybe if we collected a bunch of things that your weren't using (like enough to fill the back of the car..a few times over) and donated them, we could make room for some cool new accessories.....Whatcha think? Are you game?

Nice try. Very effective. I know those "tears" are water from the sink.  Now let's get down to work! It will all pay off very soon.

Don't worry, we will make the colorful cast of characters feel right at home in their new digs.  SEE, they are smiling!

They may even feel MORE comfortable with all the extra elbow room.

And we will make sure that your artsy, sparkly style comes through.

You will still have all the things around you that you love!

And with just a couple of new things to add a more funky, tweensy fun vibe....

We have done it!

HIGH FIVE! WE ROCK!!! :)

Now go put your socks in the hamper.

A Work In Progress

Wow. What a coupla weeks it has been! So many things going on, so many exciting things taking shape.  And I love a project that provides really good before pictures.....

This is a master bathroom that I was hired to redesign for some dear friends.  Their house was built in the 80's in a contemporary style. They have waited many years to re-do their bathroom and asked that I  help them make it a beautiful, relaxing place-- a space that compliments their master bedroom, a room we completed a couple of years ago. Over the summer, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work designing the layout, trying to make the most of the existing space. The adjacent walk-in closet was space that could be put to good use....

And knowing that the room is inside of the gable at the front of the house, I knew I wanted to vault the ceiling, if possible.

Construction began last month, and this is how it looked a few days ago:

In just a few more weeks, I will be able to show you the finished product. I can't wait!

With Mother Nature's Help

As most of you know, this past weekend we opened our home for our township's Founder's Day Historic House Tour!  Now that I am finally able to hold my head upright again (man, was I house tour tired!), I would love to share some photos of the house wearing its fall colors, and invite you to the Fall Decorating Party at Hooked on Houses--one of my very favorite blogs!

My husband and I chuckled (maybe it is more accurate to say we weakly smiled) yesterday as we recounted all the craziness we put ourselves through these past few weeks as we feverishly prepared for the big day. All of the scrubbing, painting, arranging, inspecting, vacuuming, re-arranging, revisiting, revamping, and never retiring--it is enough to make one Historic House Tour Hysterical.

This is my favorite time of year in the garden. With the days becoming shorter and the nights cooler, the colors intensify and become more saturated.  Everything has grown and grown all summer, and is putting on a wonderful show before going to bed for the winter. I  was happy to have my crab apples greet people as they approached the house.

I plunked some red mums in my new planter.....

I love the tight little buds of red on the blooms that haven't quite opened yet.

and put a cabbage in the old birdbath by the porch...

In years past, my ornamental cabbages were afternoon snacks for our resident family of groundhogs. I really do think that they believe that they own the house, and that I am just the sucker who pays the mortgage.  Let's just see if they can get to the cabbage this year! HA!

For inside the house, I bought some eucalyptus greens and snapdragons to round out the cuttings from the garden.

It has been so nice to have them around to enjoy. When I finish rooms for clients, I almost always incorporate fresh flowers....but I admit, I don't always take the time to do so for myself, especially not throughout all parts of the house.

While the house isn't yet filled with pumpkins, gourds and other fall items, I am pleased with the simple embellishments that Mother Nature has so generously provided with all her September splendor...all right outside my door!  Please visit Julia's Fall Decor Party to see how others are celebrating the change of seasons!

The Little House

Once there was a Little House way out in the country. She was a pretty Little House and she was strong and well built. The man who built her so well said, "This Little House shall never be sold for gold or silver and she will live to see our great-great-grandchildren's great-great-grandchildren living in her." --Virginia Lee Burton

I have such wonderful memories of sitting with my children and reading many an afternoon away. This book was one of our favorites. Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House was first published in 1942, and won the Caldecott Medal in 1943. It is the story of a cherished little abode, built with love and pride, sitting pretty on a hill in the country. We travel through the seasons with her...

Watch the stars above her at night...

But as the story goes on, the lights of the city grow closer on the horizon. Over time everything changes around the little house.

Looking back through this book now, I love it just as much, if not more.  Of course I love the fact that the story is about a house--one that is simple, beautiful, and well-built with love. Her story takes a sad and dark turn as she is lost and forgotten among the smog and confusion of the city: "her windows were broken and her shutters hung crookedly. She looked shabby..." But Ms. Burton is quick to remind the reader: "...she was just as good a house as ever underneath."

In the end, it is a story of redemption. The house is recognized by the great-great-granddaughter of the man who built her. They know that she is a little house worth saving, and they do just that.

Ms. Burton wrote so many of our family's best-loved books such as Choo Choo, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and Katy and the Big Snow. If you haven't ever read any of these stories, whether you are young, old, or somewhere in between,  I urge you to do so. And share them with a friend!