A Video Diary of My Travels This Week!

What a cool few days it has been! This week I have been on the road, traveling to one of my favorite, long-time client's homes--her family has just moved this summer, and WHAT a NEAT-O new house they are living in!

Here I am loading the car and getting ready to leave the other morning...

And here I am with Melissa, after our long but oh-so-fun day of putting her furniture in place:

Just so you have a sense of the space as it was, here is a quick shot of the room before the new paint went in and with the previous occupants' furniture:

and when I first arrived on Tuesday:

Finally, just before I left yesterday, we did a quick video to show all that we did over the previous day and a half at this neat-o converted church, now her home.❤️

And make sure you wait for when the whole room shifts 90 degrees--it's amazing!! 😜

These kinds of projects are such a joy to work on! Hope you enjoy these little slices of the experience--and that they inspire YOU to think of your home differently!!

{VIDEO} We all make mistakes, right?? (part 2)

I know you can picture it...

You are so excited because today is THE DAY! The day that your new furniture is to arrive!

What could possibly go wrong? It looked so beautiful in the store after all, and you felt confident that it would be gorgeous in your home...but after the delivery men leave and the box truck pulls away, something doesn't feel quite right.

This week we talk about another common mistake that costs us comfort and balance in our homes. Watch the video and see if you can recognize this problem in your own house!

{VIDEO} We all make mistakes, right?

Back in the first days that I owned my old farmhouse, I loved nothing more than to go to our local auction for their Wednesday night gatherings, and bring home a car-full of wild and unique vintage pieces. I would proudly show them off with animated gestures to my weary husband as he kindly helped me unload my little station wagon in the dark of night.

And then, still so excited from my successful shopping trip, I would get busy squeezing them here and there, into rooms that already contained far too much furniture from each of our families, and our college years, as well as all those other wonderful Wednesday night follies. :) 

Through my mistakes in those early days, I learned a lot-- both about my personal style as well as what things make a house feel good to those who spend time in it...

I'll give you a clue--cramped quarters isn't one of them. 

Hope you enjoy this week's video, and that you will take on the assignment I give you at the end! Your house will thank you for it. 

(P.S. watch to the end and see who has been sitting with me the whole time, lending moral support as I recorded the video <3)

Just hanging out on my porch...(VIDEO)

Last summer at this time, I had so much fun just sitting on my porch with Jo Ann sipping coffee and taking your questions!

AND I am excited about doing more videos THIS summer! 

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. 

Do you have any questions you would like answered?? Be sure to put them in the comments below and you may just see them featured in the weeks to come!

It was a hole in the wall...

Some of the most frustrating obstacles in a room--and in life as well--can bring out our best creativity, grit, and outside-the-box thinking. 

HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?

This basement powder room is in a house that I am prepping to go on the market for one of my lovely clients...

We are working from room to room, fine-tuning things over the next year so that her house can be put up for sale in a beautiful, pulled-together state that will make buyers get their checkbooks out and start a bidding war. :) 

However, this little room wasn't going to wow anyone in its original state.

The HUGE access panel over the toilet was so distracting -- an admittedly unattractive plywood focal point in the room--but it was necessary and wasn't going anywhere. 

Since our goal is to spend as little money as we can in each space while still making it gorgeous, extra construction costs to change this eyesore were not in the cards. 

So, what to do ? 

With a new color palette to bring depth to the room and a bold plan for the space, this petite bathroom now makes a statement...and it isn't just stating where the plumbing access is anymore. 

Because I couldn't do anything about the hole in the wall, I decided to cover the walls with a gallery of neat-o finds, including a large piece hanging over the toilet, disguising the cutout. We removed the trim around the access panel so that the perfect vintage mirror I found ($10 at a yard sale--woo hoo!!) could then be hung flush over it. 

The rest of the gallery is made up of fun, eclectic pieces that make the little room so interesting and cozy to be in--great qualities for a room frequented by guests. 

I love a challenge, and this one was so much fun to tackle!