Kitchen Counter Soap Opera

Did I say I wasn't anal about matching things like salt to my decor? I may have lied. I have this awesome little vintage "Kitchen Handy" chrome spice rack from the 50s, and I have it mounted just behind my dish drain next to the kitchen window. In it, I always keep a pastel rainbow collection of Bath and Body Works anti-bacterial foaming hand soaps. I just happen to like something pretty to look at while I'm washing dishes. Sue me!

P.S. After Christmas is a great time to stock up on B&BW hand soaps. They are always half price.

Pass the Collection Plate!

Collections can be tricky things. They can quickly turn from a harmless hobby to a full-blown obsession and the next thing you know you're being featured on the latest episode of "Hoarders." Collections are a problem not only for the collector but for the collector's friends and family, who are always wanting to help out by adding to your collection. One thing leads to another, and, before you know it, your whole house has been taken over by meaningless, dust-collecting pig-themed knick knacks.

So to avoid this pitfall, I have a rule about collecting stuff (and life in general): Do it in moderation and try give it a purpose. I have enough of my mom in me to harbor an extreme dislike for stuff that has no purpose. (My favorite quote from my mom in this regard: "I've been happily married for 50 years and I've YET to find a purpose for a man!) But I digress...

I admit I collect a few things..in moderation and with purpose. I love McCoy and similar-era dime-store pottery in my favorite pastel shades. I collect vintage tablecloths and linens. I love old stoneware platters with little floral patterns. Of course I collect seashells and sea glass. (And some would say I'm a cat collector, too.) But here's the thing about my collections...I USE them! They aren't just knick-knacks collecting dust in a curio cabinet or packed away in bubble wrap in a closet. I use my vintage tablecloths to protect my tin-top kitchen table. I put seashells in my McCoy planters and fresh flowers in the vases (see the photos above). Seashells make great ashtrays in a pinch. I eat dinner on my lovely floral plates. If I break one, I don't get too upset. That's just life...and these things I collect aren't priceless treasures. They are just stuff I buy because I like the way they look and function in my house.

And, hey, like Mom says, if you're gonna be in my house, you better make yourself useful! Now, pass me my vintage plate...I'm gettin' ready to load it up with some macaroni and cheese.

How Getting My Macaroni & Cheese Back Has Made Me a Stronger Woman...

I was going to call this post "Macaroni & Cheese Matters." But then I realized that my message is bigger than Macaroni & Cheese. It's about my own personal journey to independence. And it all started with Macaroni & Cheese.

My whole life I've loved the stuff. I've loved it in all its forms from gourmet and baked, to Cheez Whizzed on the stovetop, to the kind that comes in a box for 39 cents and has a packet of powdered cheese-ish stuff that you mix with milk and butter. I couldn't imagine someone not loving Macaroni & Cheese, quite frankly. That is until I got my first and only live-in boyfriend.

Not long after "Carlton" (we'll call him "Carlton" because that's his actual name) moved in, he informed me that he hated Macaroni & Cheese...in fact he hated it so much he didn't want to see it or smell it in the house. I couldn't imagine life without Mac & Cheese, but I sucked it up for the good of "the relationship" and spent the next three years going cold turkey on M&C...oh, occasionally I would fall off the wagon when he was out of town and gorge myself on it like a junkie looking for a fix, but for the most part I led an M&C-free existence for 3 whole years of my life. It was pure torture.

When my fiance' called me from work one day to abruptly inform me that he "needed to be on his own;" had found an apartment and was moving out that very day, I was completely devastated. I think my ego took the biggest blow, but I was also heartbroken. I mean, despite all his flaws, I actually liked the guy. For months I was inconsolable and sleepless, as I watched half of our stuff being carted out of the house by his buddies, saw my bank account hit rock bottom and contemplated the sobering reality that I might never get married.

But somewhere in the depths of my despair a glimmer of hope emerged. A sign that I could actually get through the heartache and come out OK on the other side. And that glimmer was the sweet reality that I could once again eat Macaroni & Cheese...any time I damn well felt like it. So, I eventually pulled myself out from under the covers and got the pasta pot boiling. And once I realized how good my new-found independence could be (and just how much I missed my Mac & Cheese), I moved on to other important things...like getting the cat I had always wanted (the fiance' claimed he was allergic)...getting the tattoo I had been thinking about for years (Carlton thought his was good but didn't want me to have one)...wearing the clothes that suited me...watching the movies I like to watch and decorating a house with all the girlie things my heart desired.

Getting my Mac&Cheese back was just the first of many steps on the journey to getting my independence back. To this day, I never eat it without saying a little prayer of thanks for my freedom to do so. And to think how close I came to a life without M&C, cats, tattoos and pastel sheets. Scary!

P.S. The photo at top is of the Williams Sonoma recipe for M&C and it's one of my personal favorites. Here's a link to the Williams Sonoma recipe: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/macaroni-and-cheese.html

Sofa Meets Bed

No, not the kind that pulls out when you visit grandma and has a terrible mattress that sinks to the middle. Sofa meets bed as in it looks and feels just like a bed even though it's really just a sofa. IMHO a couch should be just as comfortable as a bed. No scratchy krylon, sweaty leather, or beige faux microsuede models will work for me. Make mine cotton, down-filled, white and loaded up with pillows and bed linens!

From a previous post you know that one of my worst decorating decisions ever was buying a yellow denim sofa that I immediately had re-covered in white twill slipcovers. Aside from the fact that I can wash the slipcovers whenever they get dirty, I love white slipcovers because they keep the room so weightless and they allow me to change my throw pillows any time I feel like it. One of my favorite ways to "decorate" the couch is to think of it just like bed. I like to add a couple of fluffy down bed pillows covered in pillowcases I'm not using and then use an old blanket or duvet cover as a comfy throw. I've even been known to use a sheet to cover the seat cushions just for a little change.

Right now (see photo above), I'm using my old Simply Shabby Chic Kids pillowcases and a SSC white duvet cover that's supersoft from tons of use and washing. Tell me that's not the perfect place to take a quick summer nap or catch a totally juicy episode of HBO's "Tell Me You Love Me. " Or, whatever... Next week, if I feel like it, I'll change the pillowcases to an old peach floral set I have and pull out a well-worn peach patchwork quilt to match. So many possibilities...so little time to nap.

Girlie? Guilty!

It never fails. The first time someone walks into my house, whether it's a man or a woman, he or she will invariably say something like, "Oh, I can tell a girl lives here!" or "It's very girlie!" or "You can tell there's no man in this house!" To which I happily reply, "Guilty!"

I live alone for a reason (there are lots of them actually but that's a different post). I wanna live in a space that feels like me. I don't wanna live in a man cave...in fact I don't want anything that resembles a cave anywhere in my house -- not even in my basement. I want there to be light. I want the curtains to be sheer and open. I wanna be able to see outside on a Sunday day or a snowy day or a rainy day. I want the colors to be soft and sunny even when I may not feel that way on the inside. When I finally lie down to go to sleep at night, I wanna feel like I'm settling into a cozy nest. And when I wake up in the morning, I wanna feel like I've been reborn a little, not like I'm being drug out of a cave into the light.

But, hey, that's just me, and that's really my point. You see, for a natural introvert like me, my house is my refuge...it's where I go at the end of the day to find my zen place. I can only find it if I'm in a place that actually feels like me...and let's face it, I'm definitely a girl! (Sorry guys...love me, love my girlie house.)

Shopping note: Bedding and window panels are all Simply Shabby Chic from Target. Rug is Dash and Albert. Kitty throw pillow is lilac point himalayan, a.k.a Ivy Rose. :)

Les Chats!

Anyone who knows me knows I adore cats. They are the most precious animals on earth. I've never met a cat I didn't love, therefore my house is full of them! Meet my not-so-little cat family...like me, they love this happy little house. (Above: Theodore "Teddy" Alexander)

Ivy Rose

Stella...

Daisy Sophia...

Willie Williams...

and Cali...

My mom always asks me, "Have you reached your limit on cats yet?" To which I always reply, "Yes! (Probably)."

Under the influence...

This is a quick and dirty list of the people, places and things that have influenced me and molded my particular design style, such as it is...and I think it's pretty ok.

First and foremost...my mom. She instilled a passion for style in me at a very early age (possibly in the womb). I always tell people that my mom was Martha Stewart before Martha Stewart was Martha Stewart.

Barbie...laugh if you will but Barbie's clothes and accessories and houses were where I first experimented with design. Truly sorry about all the botched haircuts, Barbie.

Laura Ashley...I came across a Laura Ashley catalog some time in my teens and couldn't rest until I had installed Laura Ashley's pink roses wallpaper border in my bedroom. It was pure hell to take if off a decade later...

This Old House...I'm talking old school This Old House, the original with Bob Vila. I actually remember watching their very first re-model and being completely mesmerized by the renovation process. It was a fascination that led me to buy and restore four houses (including a new condo) and counting in my lifetime.

Country Living, Cottage Living, Country Home...these magazines, which my mother read religiously, really opened my eyes to what the cottage aestethic is really all about.

Martha Stewart Living...I started my collection of McCoy pottery immediately after reading about Martha's own collection. My McCoy vases and pots are still among my favorite things, 20 years later.

Key West...my first trip to the Conch House Bed and Breakfast in Key West is really what took me from simply cottage style to beach cottage. I loved the vibrant colors and the more relaxed, carefree vibe. While I admire Martha's fastidiousness, I knew I wanted a house that looked more lived in.

Speaking of lived in, when I stumbled across Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Treasure Hunting and Decorating Guide a decade ago in Borders, my design style finally began to gel. My Pottery Barn look was quickly replaced with white slip-covered furniture, pale colors, and girlie vintage trinkets, fabrics and chandeliers and I've never looked back. 10 years later, my shabby chic-influenced style still feels timeless and as comfortable as ever. And opening my front door never fails to make me smile.

My latest design influence is Jane Coslick....thanks once again to my Palm Cottage vacation on Tybee Island. Jane's style really incorporates everything I love about houses...the thrill of restoration and transformation, a look that is at once feminine and elegant but also very warm and lived-in...a backdrop of white splashed with lucious pastels and happy citrus colors...the idea of the house as a coccoon or retreat from the stress and formality of the outside world. If you want to see some great examples of Jane's work pick up a copy of the book Cottages by Brian Coleman. (I just found my copy at Home Goods in the checkout line for $5!)

OK...those are my inspirations...and the list never stops growing...tell me about yours!

A Laura Fave: Seaside Sisters

From time to time, I'm gonna share photos of some of my favorite treasures and tell you where you can find them, too. Today's fave? Seaside Sisters in Tybee Island, Georgia. If you love beach house style (and the seashell towel holder in my bathroom shown above), Seaside Sisters is a must-see-shop for any Tybee visit. See their blog at http://www.seasidesisterstybee.com/.

The matching Tybee Island coffee mugs next to the pink metallic percolator below...

and the starfish lampshade charm on the lamp below...

all from Seaside Sisters in Tybee Island...so cute!!!

FiFi Flowers' Paintings Make A Happy Little House Even Happier!

I just realized that my first three posts were very yuckily "me" oriented. I promise this blog won't be all about me...it's more about finding who you are through what you love to do and realizing that something like decorating a little house with the things you love in ways that are cheap, easy and fun can actually lead you down a life path you never even imagined.

So, in the course of this little mid-life journey I'm on, and with the help of my Tybee Island vacation, my discovery of designer Jane Coslick and her restored Tybee Cottages, and the wonders of the internet, I stumbled across a fabulous artist/designer in L.A. named FiFi Flowers. I discovered that she had done a series of paintings of Jane Coslick's Tybee cottages and some were for sale on FiFi's website http://www.fififlowers.com/.

Her art is happy, whimsical and very girlie (like me), so I bought a little booklette of Tybee paintings and added FiFi as a Facebook friend. That led FiFi to look at my Tybee vacation album, and she told me that she loved my photo of the Palm Cottage (an adorable Jane Coslick rescue and design) where my family stayed. She said that the Palm Cottage was one she hadn't painted and she would like my permission to use the photo as the inspiration for one of her paintings. Of course I said, "Yes!" and I ultimately commissioned her to do the painting for me. (You can see all of my Tybee Island Vacation photos by clicking here.) Below you can see the evolution of the Palm Cottage painting from photo to first coat painting to final painting to hanging on my dining room wall (the final painting is also the first photo at the top of this post). I also subsequently bought her Tybee chairs painting, which is also in my dining room and I framed several of the smaller paintings from the booklette which are now happily at home on my mantle (which I could never figure out how to decorate!) and my little hallway. I hope you love FiFi's work as much as I do and I encourage you to follow her blog and buy some of her work. I promise your house (and you) will be happier for it!

The photo I took with my Samsung Moment smartphone camera...

FiFi's first coat of paint... The final painting at home on my dining room wall...

The Tybee Pier on my mantle...

And last but not least, the Tybee Chairs on my other dining room wall...

FiFi, thanks for letting me bring your happy vibe to my happy little house!

Pink salt as a kitchen accessory? You bet!

OK...normally I'm not this anal about matching my condiments to my decor, but when I ran into pink sea salt at TJ Maxx yesterday, I just had to have it. I mean who can possibly resist pink salt? My motto is if it comes in pink, I must have it. Salt is no exception.

My house...is a very, very, very cute house.

Welcome to my sweet, humble, cozy, and very girlie little "beach house" in the heart of Charleston, West Virginia. For years, my friends and family (and my heart) have been telling me that interior design is my true calling. I do know it's one of the few things I do where I lose all track of time and I never grow tired of the possibilities. My recent vacation in Tybee Island showed me that there is a place where my design style is right at home and inspired me to see if I can have a second career in design...

I call this the "Peace Sign Table" because, above this little painted chest from Home Goods, hangs one of my all-time favorite finds: an eco-friendly canvas peace sign bag from http://www.dogeared.com/. The table is also home to my three favorite photos from our 2010 vacation in Tybee Island. (More on that later.)

I call this the starfish table. It's a Lloyd's wicker table I picked up years ago at an estate sale for $25. After a little refurbishing and duty in 4 different houses, it's become a perfect resting place for my seashells, starfish and fresh-cut hydrangeas.

My dining room table is an old flea market find. I just painted it pale periwinkle blue, added some glass knobs to the drawers and paired it with my Pottery Barn wicker dining chairs and vintage crock bowls for an instant dose of beachy charm. See the painting in the background? It's one six FiFi Flowers paintings of Tybee Island that have found a new home on my walls. They are the most recent and prized additions to my Piccadilly St. cottage. (Closeups of the paintings coming in a future post.) In the meantime, go to http://www.fififlowers.com/ to see more of her work.

This is the "Mirror Table." The table itself is $20 flea market find in its original chipped finish and charming state of general disrepair. The lamp, shade and magazine storage are Simply Shabby Chic from Target. (Willie the Stray is resting comfortably in the corner.)

The kitchen is by far my favorite room in the house. It's like making dinner inside a giant wedding cake (and you know I love cake!). When I bought the house in 2005 the kitchen was an exercise in bad 80s decor..."country blue" wallpaper and matching border (ugh), dark-stained oak cabinets, and a beige vinyl floor. Talk about drab at its drabbiest. But the room had loads of potential...a block glass window above a vintage 42" stove with double ovens, for starters, and all the cabinets needed was a few coats of white semi-gloss and fresh knobs. The new floor is vintage-style, commercial lineoleum in blue and white laid on the diagonal and purchased at Lowe's. The metal-top table is one of my all-time favorite estate sale finds from an old house on Charleston's East End. It's been with me in all four of my houses and always looks perfect no matter where it resides. The shelving to the left of the stove is a Simply Shabby Chic bookshelf from Target. Oh, and the pink metallic percolator was a gift from my dear friend, Julie. Not only does it look great, but it also makes the best pot of coffee you've ever tasted.
The bathroom...o.k. let's just say that salmon pink and black tiles would not have been my first choice, but they were in such great shape I decided to keep them around for old-time's sake. The walls are painted In Her Eyes Blue (Benjamin Moore) (took me three tries to find a color I could live with next to the pink tiles), and the vanity is another great Home Goods find for under $200. Similar models were sold at Restoration Hardware for $1,000 and up. I covered the original black, honey-comb vinyl flooring (it was sucking all the light out of the room) and replaced it with a did-it-myself peel and stick marble look tile from Lowe's. The materials cost me about $35 but my back still hasn't fully recovered!
My bedroom is painted the palest shade of pink, (actually it's Dogwood White from Sherwin Williams). I recently added the white bed from Ashley Home Furniture and, once again, the bedding is Simply Shabby Chich from Target. The vintage wicker lamp was a $50 flea market find, and the rug is Dash and Albert.
I have made a few decorating mistakes along the way, like thinking a yellow denim couch was a good idea. It wasn't. I almost immediately had the couch (an investment piece from Wells Home Furnishings in Charleston) recovered in white denim slipcovers. Much better! I'll never have anything but a white couch, ever. The big pine coffee table is another Home Goods find under $200. The vintage table lamp was from my mom's old Tell City collection, painted white of course. And the little wicker table next to the slipcovered chair is from Simply Shabby Chic at Target. The old hoosier style cabinet is home to some of my collection of vintage McCoy pottery.
Above my kitchen table hangs a collection of vintage stoneware floral plates picked up at various thrift stores, estate sales and flea markets over the years. The mirrored medicine cabinet is a favorite piece I found at a Huntington flea market years ago (and painted it white of course). I think I paid $20 for it. A medicine cabinet in the kitchen great storage for spices and nice place to display a few more pieces from my McCoy collection.

Well, that's it...a brief tour through my little cottage. Tell me what you think...ask me questions. I'm all yours!

Step 1: Start a Blog!

After a life-changing vacation in Tybee Island, George in June, I've decided that this is the year I'm finally gonna take some concrete steps to steer my life, and my career, in a new direction. I want to take my true passions and turn them into my real life's work.

Step 1. Start a blog. I figure if I take the time to write it down, the changes I want to make in my life will be much more likely to happen.

Step 2. Let the world see my precious little beach house in the city, hear my story, and see where it all leads.

Step 3. Start a brand new life...

P.S. Don't be surprised if my passion for politics and social commentary also find their way on to these pages!