With flowers blooming, the scent of orange blossoms in the air and the sun shining, who wouldn't be inspired to start spring cleaning?! Yesterday I worked in the garage for a few hours to create a workspace for REiDesign. Boy do we have a LOT of STUFF! With no basement or attic space our garage has become the "catch all" for Halloween/ Easter/Christmas decorations, baby items (which I have resigned to sell), tools, camping gear... you get the picture.
Well, now there is a "woman cave" in one corner. I am inspired by artwork, antique mirrors, magazine clippings, rows of ribbon... I am ready to create, design, refinish, paint, sew, reupholster... you name it I can do it all in my own little workspace! Very exciting I know.
So, how did I do it?
I started pulling stuff out into the driveway and moved things around like a rubic cube. I relocated gardening tools, cleaned out old paint (10 cans +) - check with your city, every city has a hazardous waste/electronic waste drop off site, start w/ your city website under waste management. Next, items I am not going to sell on CraigsList, I put on Freecycle.org, where people will pick up items right out of my driveway.
Once you start cleaning out, it's amazing what you can get rid of! Happy Spring Cleaning!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Curb Appeal...
So the sun is shinning and the rain has stopped. This makes me think of cleaning up the front yard. Your front yard and front porch are the first impressions guests and potential home buyers will have of your home. If you have an untidy front yard, dead plants in your flower boxes or a bag of trash waiting to go out sitting on your front porch; it gives the impression your home is unkempt, even if it is not.
Go bold with plants and flowers out front. You can't go wrong with bright tulips in the Spring. I am also a HUGE fan of Azaleas,Hydreanga and Rhododendrons (mainly because I can't kill them :). But, they have nice big flowers and a long bloom season. These flowering plants/shrubs make a nice statement in a front garden. I also believe the $4 bag of redwood chips is the great equalizer in garden/yard; any problem area can be "fixed" with a few bags of wood chips. Not only are wood chips great at keeping moisture in your flowerbeds, they also look GREAT.
The bible of gardening here in California is this book. I use this exclusively when buying plants for my garden. Most plants can be found @ your local garden center and if you don't see them, ask if they can be ordered from a local grower. Better yet, ask them who supplies most of their plants/flowers and try to buy direct from the grower.
Aside from bold flowers, don't forget to edge your lawn and trim/shape your shrubs and trees. If you have large shrubs/trees right next to your roof-line, they should not exceed the height of the house.
Remember, a tidy yard and porch = a tidy house on the inside!
Happy gardening!
Go bold with plants and flowers out front. You can't go wrong with bright tulips in the Spring. I am also a HUGE fan of Azaleas,Hydreanga and Rhododendrons (mainly because I can't kill them :). But, they have nice big flowers and a long bloom season. These flowering plants/shrubs make a nice statement in a front garden. I also believe the $4 bag of redwood chips is the great equalizer in garden/yard; any problem area can be "fixed" with a few bags of wood chips. Not only are wood chips great at keeping moisture in your flowerbeds, they also look GREAT.
The bible of gardening here in California is this book. I use this exclusively when buying plants for my garden. Most plants can be found @ your local garden center and if you don't see them, ask if they can be ordered from a local grower. Better yet, ask them who supplies most of their plants/flowers and try to buy direct from the grower.
Aside from bold flowers, don't forget to edge your lawn and trim/shape your shrubs and trees. If you have large shrubs/trees right next to your roof-line, they should not exceed the height of the house.
Remember, a tidy yard and porch = a tidy house on the inside!
Happy gardening!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Choosing New Furniture... where to begin?
Choosing new furniture is fun and at times, frustrating. In an ideal world with no limit on funds we should buy new furniture every time we move into a new home; items specifically designed to "fit" our space. But, lets face it that's not a reality. When we moved from a very open apartment to our "cottage" I found that most of our furniture was too large for our space; then when our sons were born we had to accommodate baby "stuff". This left us to pick and choose what would work and what wouldn't.
What we did:
Kept the sofa, replaced the coffee table and over-sized TV Cabinet. (I once saw an interview with Nate Berkus, he lived in his apt. in NYC for over a year before he found a sofa he loved!)
Home Rules: Transform the Place You Live Into a Place You'll Love
We didn't replace everything all at once, but rather one item at a time. Items we LOVED, we saved $ to buy and purchased quality furniture that would stand the abuse of two toddlers and two Labrador Retrievers.
If you live in Southern California I highly recommend shopping for furniture at Larry St. John's in Los Angeles. They have in-stock items and everything can be custom ordered for a fraction of the cost of PB, Crate and Barrel or Restoration Hardware or Ikea.
So, how to choose? Start by looking in magazines to see what styles you like, then, go to furniture stores and look at items in person. I find that most items are larger in person than they are in the catalogs. For example, a girlfriend of mine bought a new dining room set (from Pottery Barn) for her dining area, she too lives in a small cottage; which is not designed for over-sized furniture. When her table and chairs arrived she realized they were a bit larger than she anticipated and her buffet would leave the space over crowed. She ended up canceling the buffet, and is now on "the hunt" for something that will "work".
To avoid this problem, here is what I suggest. Look very carefully at the measurements and then use painters tape to mark off the areas where you are going to put the new furniture. You can also tape together pieces of newspaper and lay them out on the floor to give you a good feel for the space the items will take up. I find the newspaper taped together gives you the best "idea" for footprint the furniture will leave.
It's no secret I am a HUGE Pottery Barn Fan, I recommend the book below, I use it as a constant reference for organization solutions and decorating ideas. Although the book was published in 2005 it is still relevant for what we do today.
Happy Shopping!
What we did:
Kept the sofa, replaced the coffee table and over-sized TV Cabinet. (I once saw an interview with Nate Berkus, he lived in his apt. in NYC for over a year before he found a sofa he loved!)
Home Rules: Transform the Place You Live Into a Place You'll Love
We didn't replace everything all at once, but rather one item at a time. Items we LOVED, we saved $ to buy and purchased quality furniture that would stand the abuse of two toddlers and two Labrador Retrievers.
If you live in Southern California I highly recommend shopping for furniture at Larry St. John's in Los Angeles. They have in-stock items and everything can be custom ordered for a fraction of the cost of PB, Crate and Barrel or Restoration Hardware or Ikea.
So, how to choose? Start by looking in magazines to see what styles you like, then, go to furniture stores and look at items in person. I find that most items are larger in person than they are in the catalogs. For example, a girlfriend of mine bought a new dining room set (from Pottery Barn) for her dining area, she too lives in a small cottage; which is not designed for over-sized furniture. When her table and chairs arrived she realized they were a bit larger than she anticipated and her buffet would leave the space over crowed. She ended up canceling the buffet, and is now on "the hunt" for something that will "work".
To avoid this problem, here is what I suggest. Look very carefully at the measurements and then use painters tape to mark off the areas where you are going to put the new furniture. You can also tape together pieces of newspaper and lay them out on the floor to give you a good feel for the space the items will take up. I find the newspaper taped together gives you the best "idea" for footprint the furniture will leave.
It's no secret I am a HUGE Pottery Barn Fan, I recommend the book below, I use it as a constant reference for organization solutions and decorating ideas. Although the book was published in 2005 it is still relevant for what we do today.
Happy Shopping!
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