Happy Valentines Day

The Blue Robe
How joyful to be together, alone
as when we first were joined
in our little house by the river
long ago, except that now we know

each other, as we did not then:
and now instead of two stories fumbling
to meet, we belong to one story
that the two, joining, made. And now

we touch each other with the tenderness
of mortals, who know themselves:

Wendell Berry

Happy Valentine's Day, Painted River "Treasure what you have"

Test Your Marriage

Spend Saturday and Sunday in a 3' x 5' powder room with a ladder a toilet and your husband.

It all started out innocent enough, " Bill will you please help me wallpaper the powder room ?" " "Call Doug he'll do it for you" ( Doug is the best, most talented wallpaper hanger and works all our jobs). "Please we are having company tomorrow and I really want it done" ( I have had the paper for 6 years, so to wait another week would be insane). "Come on it will be easy it's such a small room". "What supplies do you need." YEA!!!! I never mentioned the paper was a delicate
European and not pre- pasted and the ceilings were 10 feet with beams to cut around.

When the first piece went up and the squirrels feet faced the ceiling I knew I was in trouble. "Call Doug I told you." N000000 please I need to have it done... by tomorrow.... So I went into good girl action and pretended to listen and do what ever told. B.C. do you need a drink, as I watched the paper sliding and ripping around the sink. B.C. can I run and get you any tool you need. Mind you hanging a sheet 10' long requires four arms and I was twisted under and between a ladder in 2' of space while hanging over a toilet. We never finished Saturday and got up at 6 on Sunday, but when the guest arrived at 2 pm it was just beautiful. I would marry him all over again.

The Littlest Room In The House

My Osburne and Little Damask, squirrel wall paper: I love it as much as I did ?? years ago.
Over the years I have painted and re-done at least 9,000,000 powder rooms. I wish I could count how many times I have hung around toilets, trying to get my brush behind them. How many times I have taped around a sink. How many times I have been almost electrocuted trying to remove a sconce. Probably the best time was a very small powder room in Potomac Maryland where I marbleized the walls while the owner, and a floor lamp, kept me company, in this tiny room, the entire day. Another challenge was a narrow powder room painted orange and navy that the owner wanted a mural of a family vacation spot, with her husband in it. ( you will see the photos below). I have striped , ragged ,marbleized, created under-water aquariums, horse stables and what ever else my clients imagination can conjure up. They are not always my taste,but I have left some pretty happy customers behind. It is a small room, inexpensive to re-do and almost everyone will visit it when at your home. I like to think of them as a little jewel box.

Back in 2007 when I did the show house Wind in the Willows I purchased a squirrel damask wallpaper from Osbourne and Little, with enough left to paper my powder room. Now it's 2012 and finally I am getting to this "can" of a room. It is sooooo tiny you can barley turn around, but that doesn't mean it can't be pretty. The electrician came Saturday and removed the ugly vanity light ( I'm so embarrassed) from over the sink. Now I will have a pretty chandelier hanging ( to be selected) over the tiny corner sink.
Unfortunately I have wood ceilings and there is no choice but to have the track. But I will paint it to match the wood and so it will go away. I will skirt the sink in a pretty fabric, and have a pair of corner mirrors to hang above. Since B.C. has decided we are having the fishing club meeting at our house on Sunday I think I am pushing to have it done. Question is ; can I hang wall paper after Friday night cocktails at L's ?

The orange and blue challenge




This is one of my favorites. Walls painted in a linen finish in gold, and very bold flowers executed in artist oils. This one is a jewel box.



There wasn't much wall space in this Cape May Bath, so we extended the crown moulding and added a little Scandinavian flourish.



Often cabinets are dated but expensive to replace. Paint can really update them, making it a focal point of the room.



Drama



Ah, another fav, this time I used a chocolate metallic paint with gold leaves. This one really sparkled.


This one has such a nautical feel, but it is done in a french toile paper. Can't you just see this in a historic seaport home.
Paint your ceiling a dark accent color. It will make your room feel wider and the ceiling higher.
Think out of the box for a sink.
Clean lines always work



Look what can be accomplished in a very narrow space. The mosaic design on the floor really helps me want a powder room this narrow. I want to stroll in here.

Can't afford to tile a whole room? Run the tile just behind the sink.
Just love using a BOLD pattren in a small space.

Shine, shine, and more shine, can't have enough.

Snow Day Quote

I did take a pretend snow day on Saturday, but I did not lay around and read as planned. I love to read but my mind only allows it after dinner, when all is cleaned up, and I have had a bath. Riding in a car is another permissible reading time, or any time when on vacation. I have a sister who can lay down in the middle of her Christmas decorations and read. I have also seen her stop and read two hours before she is having thirty people over for a party. Did we have the same parents? So I decided to paint a quote on my living room wall.
"Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahm is by far my favorite book and living on a beautiful river makes me feel a little like Ratty. ( I pretend my sister is Mole) So this is a very appropriate saying for my house.

" So - this - is - a - River "
" THE River " corrected the Rat.
" And you really live by the river ?
What a jolly life. "

It is a pretty simple process. I have a great book on lettering that I take to a printer and have blown up. I trace the letters on to tracing paper then on to the wall. I guess you could hand letter but being left handed my script is not great. Then an angled brush and a steady hand.



I have been loving all kinds of quotes to motivate me this year. I have an inspiration board in the studio, with sayings like:

Here's the truth: People who get what they want tend to be the ones who make the effort to know what they want.

" I believe you manifest what you want by who you think you are or what your wildest imagination can conceive. "

Who would not be motivated reading these each day?

I also have a blackboard sign in the kitchen where I write quotes for B.C.. I don't think he reads them but I did hear a snicker on this one.


Call me crazy, but I think it helps, maybe some day I'll find a quote that will let me lay down in the middle of cleaning my closet and flip through a magazine.

Let it Snow

I am in desperate need of a snow storm; not a dusting, not one inch, but a full blown blizzard. I want to be snowed in, curl up by a fire and read books. Don't think my wish is happening this weekend but I can dream.
Relax and have a great weekend

Sneak Peak at Glamour

What a day yesterday, three stops in the Philadelphia area. All about 70 miles from home, a 12 hour marathon. BUT I am so rejuvenated when I see the results. We have been working on this jewel box of a home since November and it is coming together screaming. The furniture is not here yet but even a sneak peak is enough to give me a rush. Can't wait to show the final product.

Dining room, yes that's a metallic ceiling.



This natural jute rug has metallic silver running through it, I could not stop walking by and gaping....




Isabella's room was really cute but we are taking it to the next level, lucky girl.

The kitchen valance
Stenciled the powder room walls yesterday in " Rockin Roses" is this not an incredible finish?