Just having coffee & answering your design questions[VIDEO]

Just sitting on the porch with Jo Ann sipping coffee, cat meowing during the whole darn thing, and a spider on the wall over my shoulder (who knew??)...lol

I am so excited about this new way of doing my newsletter! This week we address two questions--one about how to open up spaces in a house that has a choppy layout, and how best to group artwork on a large wall. 

Hope our discussion of these challenges is helpful! Look for another Q&A video next month, and be sure to send in your own questions that you want us to address to erin@revealingredesign.com !

Because most of us cannot spend the next three months away on vacation...

Where is your mind in the summer? Mine is somewhere on the coast of Maine--one of my favorite places on earth. 

Just thinking about the pond and mountains and fresh air our family loves...my heart skips a beat and a smile spreads across my face.

Where is your favorite summer place?

Maybe you already own your dream summer cottage, maybe you get to visit yours as a rental....or perhaps just driving by while dreaming, or flipping through a magazine. We all have a favorite place that comes to mind as Memorial Day ushers in the season.

While most of us cannot spend the next three full months away on vacation, we can capture the essence of that place we love so much, and bring it home to our everyday house, making each day of the season ahead that much more special.

Having a summer that is extra summery-- full of beauty & simplicity each day--that sounds fantastic to me. How about you?  

So let's think about what makes our time away so special? What are the qualities of a summer cottage that we can recreate here at home??

Here are just a few ideas:

• summertime simplicity--when on vacation we only have the things we need with us, and nothing else. How freeing! Start to create this simplicity by throwing away, putting away, or giving away at least 10 things in each room of your house and give yourself a vacation from all of that stress and visual clutter.
• a slower pace--make sure you have time built in to your schedule this summer just to spend quiet time at home. Put your feet up and enjoy the evening breeze with an iced tea on the porch or a glass of wine on the deck.
• light and bright--put away heavier, darker fabrics and rugs (you can get them back out again come September), and put some accessories around that are colorful and airy. I bet you already have some things in your house that would qualify...no shopping needed. Think sparkly clear glass vases, white bed linens, a collection of sea shells from last year's trip....
• fresh flowers and natural treasures--a little life in a room goes a long way. Flowers are blooming and leaves are unfurling everywhere right now, so be sure to bring some indoors. The kitchen table, your nightstand, the bathroom sink are all places that can benefit from a blossom or two. These are also good places to set out the seashells I mentioned, or other things collected on vacation from Mother Nature that evoke a summery vibe. 

Here's to a relaxing, peaceful, and beautiful summer at your summer cottage--wherever it may be!

A Very Colorful Before & After

She had her doubts about hiring me--she was clear on that from the start. 

And I appreciated her honesty... :)

I mean, the photos she had seen of my work didn't have rooms with a lot of color in them, and she made it clear she LOVED color.  

The teal that she and her husband had selected for their walls was a color they had seen in a library in the midwest...and knew they had to have it in their house. 

But how to marry the traditional style and good furniture that her husband grew up with and loved with the funky vibe and saturated colors they both wanted in their home?

I'm so glad she took a chance on me, and believed me when I said I could help her find just the right mix of colorful and conventional, artsy and classic.  We got to work finding the right elements that would convey the feeling they wanted.

The resulting space is joyful, fun and filled with the personality and bright hues she had longed for.

Take a look...

We started with high quality traditional furnishings and a classic oriental rug to lay the foundation. Then we added in modern elements, such as a gorgeous chunky wooden table for the eating area, paired with sleek warm white leather chairs and bold lighting that is anything but traditional.

The top layer of Chihuly inspired glass, bright pottery, colorful fabrics, new dramatic custom curtains, and my client's own collections made everything just come together.

(Can you spot Harry The Cat enjoying the beautiful day?  :) 

He was a big help during the photo shoot!)

I was so honored when I received the following message a few days after we had put the finishing touches on the room:

Erin--

I am LOVING the room. In the morning (when I'm home), I sit and have my coffee, look around and let out a sigh of JOY and satisfaction!!!! Thanks for all the patience and enthusiasm you've shown in helping me create the space I imagined. 

A very colorful and satisfying result. So honored to have been a part of such a great transformation!

Are you keeping it together? Many of us aren't...

I try to take notice when the same issue or topic seems to be coming up a lot in my life and my work. It can feel like a big tap on the shoulder from the Universe that maybe a lot of people are struggling with the same thing, and perhaps it would be helpful to talk about it a bit more here on the blog.

And that is exactly why I am sharing today's article. 

So what exactly do I mean when I ask "are you keeping it together??"  Maybe you, too, are flustered by things scattered around and feeling out of control...

Oftentimes when we are overwhelmed by our STUFF--all of our possessions, papers, pantry items, you name it--it is because of how we store them. We are scattered because they are scattered.

You see, it is really easy to make the mistake of storing similar or identical items in many different places all over our house. Things aren't together, like at all. 

Let me explain how this creates problems for us:

For example, you are a tea drinker & you have a stash of your favorite blend right next to the stove where you heat the kettle every day. You also have a few different boxes on 2 or 3 shelves in the pantry across the room....

 OH! and there is also some that you bought a while back (just to be sure you wouldn't run out) on the shelves near the basement steps.

When your supply near the stove gets low, you find yourself at the grocery store buying more because you aren't sure if you really have more in the pantry. And you probably have completely forgotten the boxes on the basement stair that are getting older and more stale by the minute. 

This scenario could be repeated for many, many different items we keep on hand in our homes. It seems especially true for food items, but it can also be the case for things like lightbulbs, cleaning supplies, sewing notions, scrapbooking items, office supplies....you name it! Not being able to see at a glance the total of what we have and not knowing there is a central location where they are kept leads to confusion, lack of clarity, the wasting of time, the wasting of money .....and, of course, clutter.

Your assignment this month is: 

1. PICK ONE category of things you know you have scattered in various places around your house
2. COMMIT to one central location where these things will now be kept (preferably very close to where they will be used) and
3. PUT THEM ALL IN THE SAME PLACE.

This can be as simple as finding all of the cans of soup you have on different shelves in your pantry and making sure they are stacked together. Set a timer and devote just 15 minutes to this this weekend.

HOORAY! I hope that this simple idea helps in many ways around your home. Taking small, manageable steps toward keeping like items together can be the beginning of big meaningful change. :)

It can take a little while...and that's ok.

Yep. That's the wall above the little sofa in my sitting room here in my house. 

The blank wall. 

Sometimes known as the blankety-blank wall.

The room has been finished for months. Well, mostly finished, except for whatever is meant to be hanging over that damn loveseat. 

For the holidays and our Holiday Party there was a lovely fresh wreath there that made my heart sing.  Everything I have tried hanging on that lonely, empty nail after that beautiful evergreen thing faded and browned...well, not so much. 

I am writing this today to let you know (and remind myself) that this. is. okay. Sometimes these things can take a little while. Rooms are built over time, after all, and I have learned that when an element in a space (or in my life, for that matter) isn't falling into place the way I would like it to, I just have to have faith and wait.

As frustrating and boring as sitting around may seem, most often I find in these situations something really great--a creative idea, an ingenious solution, an "oh WOW" element-- is waiting to be born...and it just isn't time yet. 

Rooms and houses that really say something about their inhabitants, and the ones that truly nurture the people that live there, rarely happen all at once or on a strictly imposed schedule. Spaces that are forced into being finished can look more like contrived furniture store vignettes, and nothing at all like a home that is alive with soul and personality. 

So, if something doesn't feel right in your house--you aren't sure how to proceed & nothing seems to be clicking into place right now--just wait a tick. Something amazing is sure to be around the next corner, a complete "YES!" that was totally worth waiting for.