design your life
The premise for celebrating the holidays during the heat of summer has always been an easy one to buy into. Who doesn't want to think about cooler weather and cozy gatherings? As much as I love the holidays, however, I have never paid much attention to Christmas in July. But then a pandemic happened.
I am stepping away from gift wrapping for my first post of 2021. I love printable art for home decorating. This poster is a standard size and can be easily printed and popped into a frame. The scene is a colorful landscape of desert mountains. It is 11x14 inches, but you can resize it in [...]
I don't usually send Christmas cards. I am so busy with work that I find it difficult to find time to address the envelopes. But, if there was ever a year to change that, 2020 is it. We could all use the lift of seeing our mailboxes stuffed with mail—personal mail. I definitely prefer classic [...]
With the holidays approaching, I have been thinking a lot about invitations lately. So many of us will not be hosting or going to see our friends and family this season. But, I know it is a temporary situation and we will get though it. And when we do, it would be nice to have [...]
I bought my duplex two years ago. Before that, I spent many years living in an urban high-rise apartment. And the fact is, I never really got on my balcony game. I had a cafe table and chairs out there and would occasionally eat a meal outside, but mostly the space went unused. If I [...]
I am sure I am not alone when I say that a Mediterranean holiday sounds like a storybook dream right now. It is hard to believe that a year ago we still lived in a world where cross-Atlantic travel was possible. Sigh. I took my inspiration from that turquoise sea for this Sunday's dream room. [...]
I don't hear people talk about dens much anymore. My grandparents always watched TV in a small den. Their living room was formal—they didn't have a television in there. I like the idea of keeping a separate den for lounging in the evenings after work. Here are a few of my shopping ideas for a [...]
This week's dream room isn't a room, but an outdoor space. I love decorating for the fall. There are so many options, and what makes autumn decorating special is that the best looks have an undone, happenstance look to them. You can seriously just throw a bunch of gourds in an old crate, and it [...]
I've always loved the luxurious bedroom sets in old Hollywood movies. The woman in her floor-draped velvet robe, sitting at her vanity table, spraying on perfume and brushing her long wavy hair was the stuff of romance. I will never be that woman, and her regency style will never be mine. But, the look can [...]
I have dreamed for years about having a gift wrapping room in my house. I have seen all the DIY tutorials on Pinterest on how to mount rolls of wrapping paper and spools of ribbon on the wall, and fantasized about the day I could have one, too. It isn't likely to ever happen for [...]