Wow



Renea Abbott of Shabby Slips

Caution is the hallmark of my personality.  I'm most comfortable playing it safe, following the norm, sticking to the rules. Once in a while, an event or experience pushes me out of my comfort zone and reminds me to stretch a little.  Sometimes a beautifully decorated room has the same effect on me too. 

  I've been flirting with leopard, but I've only got pot holders and cocktail napkins.  That's not enough to get the pulse racing, is it?  Although animal print calls for restraint, if it's done right (like here) it can be both daring and tasteful.  So the napkins will be put away when the leopard sample arrives for pillows.  If there were a sweet pair of chairs to be found in a consignment shop and I could get up the nerve, they might get the leopard treatment too.  But then the pot holders would have to go and I'd be in over my head.

Spring Flowers

One of the first things I did yesterday morning after being cooped up all day on Friday was to buy three bunches of yellow tulips. I wanted to brighten the living room with spring color.

The small chair in the background was recently reupholstered in taupe mohair and I think it turned out quite nicely.  The chair had been my grandmother's, was originally covered in a nubby rose fabric, and later, a red ticking stripe fabric (which never really suited the chair).  I'd reupholstered it myself in the ticking stripe more than 12 years ago, when I took an upholstery class.  I'd had visions of turning all sorts of furniture in new pieces by upholstering them myself.  Although the class was a good experience, I never ended up reupholstering anything myself after this chair and another wingback that's in storage. It was a long class that went on for weeks and it seemed as though it would take less time to prepare oneself for childbirth than it would to recover a chair.  Needless to say, I took the chair to a professional for its mohair cover. 

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post.  I hope you have a good week ahead.  I've been working on a project that doesn't involve furniture or fabric, but has taken a lot of time and experimentation.  Hopefully, if all goes well, I'll be able to share it soon.



Out of Focus



Carolyne Roehm

I have been behind in my posting and ever since the beginning of the week, I--and nearly everyone else in the city---have found it difficult to focus on much of anything.  I usually don't do posts about the tragic events that go on in our world. My blog is about light-hearted pleasures--decorating, design, beauty so it's best to keep ugliness at bay.  The Internet, "social media", and live television present plenty of opportunities for people to find the information they need.  I usually don't feel the need to add my voice to the noise.   

But it's been a terrible week here and I count my blessings that my family, friends, and colleagues are all safe.  So while it's been a scary and unprecedented time--we're currently in "lock down" and not leaving the house--I understand that there are others who are going through unimaginable suffering from this event.

Hopefully peace and some kind of normalcy, whatever that may look like in this new world, will return to Boston soon. My thoughts are with all of those directly impacted by this week's tragic events.

Are We There Yet?



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By "there",  I mean summer.  Spring is only now beginning and I'm already thinking about summer.  So when we are finally there, meaning summer is here, I plan to make lots of this lemon-thyme soda, which is a refreshing twist on classic lemonade.

Lemon-Thyme Soda

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 cups of water, 1 oz. fresh thyme, juice of 6 lemons, soda water.

Bring the sugar and water to a boil, add the thyme and let steep until cool. Pass mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. Combine 1 1/2 ounces of the thyme syrup with 1/2 ounce of fresh lemon juice in a tall ice-filled glass rimmed with sugar. Fill with soda water and garnish with fresh lemon and thyme springs.

Recipe and photo courtesy of  Culture Club Monaco

Window Shopping



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As I dream of having my own shop and my own business, I've been admiring those who do.   Photos here of designers Heiberg Cummings store in Brooklyn, New York.



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  The following photo is from Bloom in Sag Harbor, New York.  I would love to visit this shop some day (perhaps I would run into Ina Garten--she's a fan of the shop) .  



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Straw hats and Espadrilles.  I can almost feel summer (well, maybe not yet).

 



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I love the textures and the neutral colors.



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I wonder what these canister originally held.

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And here's the exterior of Bloom.  It looks like a delightful place, doesn't it?

Here's to a happy weekend (a bit early) and to the first day of spring, even though it is still snowing in Boston.

Thoughts of Spring



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 Here's to the first day of the Daylight Saving Time.  Spring is just around the corner.  

Downton Abbey and Career Change

Warning:  If you have not seen the Season 3 finale of Downton Abbey yet, please skip the first two paragraphs (although I've not gotten too specific about the outcome).

That was quite the season finale of Downton Abbey last week, wasn't it? Another character is off the show after a tragic demise, preceded yet again by moments of joy.  It's just a television show, but I was starting to feel manipulated. How much can one family (or viewer) take?

But an article in The New York Times explained it all.  The characters were written off the show because the actors found new roles and wanted to move on.  It had all come down to a career change.  I'll admit that I felt better after reading this.

I often dream of my own career change. One that takes me out of a large corporation and into my own business--my own home store where I can buy, sell, arrange, and rearrange to my heart's content.  I'd stock the store with lavender scented candles, hand blown glass hurricane lamps, white china, flowers, natural linens, furniture and more.  The floor would be carpeted with sisal, the walls painted crisp white.  Carefully chosen antique framed prints would hang on the walls and a selection of children's hand-knit sweaters would be neatly folded on white tables. Maybe I'd include a few leather goods too.



Unfortunately, there is no budget for a store and I'm not able to leave my job anytime soon (and believe me, I am grateful to have a good job with steady income). Sometimes an online store as a side business seems like a possibility and I plan to take a class on the subject this spring.  Just for fun.

It may never happen, but it feels good to think about the possibility, to write about it, to put the idea on paper.  This is why I'm admire Ina Garten and other entrepreneurs who followed their hearts.  They were not content with the status quo, to settle for work that was not fulfilling.  They found a way to pursue their passion and be successful.  It's hard to imagine how satisfying that must be. 

Have you made a major career change?  Tossed it all to start over and do what you love? Perhaps you turned your hobby into a career or built it into a business. If so, I would appreciate reading about your experiences and your decisions in the comments section.  Thank you in advance......