Is choosing art like online dating, swiping left or right in hopes of finding love?
Read MoreWe were featured in the Redfin article How to Elevate Your Space with Design and Décor: 21 Must-Do’s
With all of us spending more time at home these days, people are wondering how to make their spaces more interesting. For their latest article, Redfin asked us to share one of our best tips on how to elevate a space with design and décor. Check out what we had to say! [Spoiler alert : true fabulousness goes beyond paint…]
Here is the link: How to Elevate Your Space with Design and Décor: 21 Must-Do’s
Does This Bathroom Make My Ass Look Big??
In the spirit of maximalism, I have completed my largest art piece to date and installed it in the smallest room in our house (also, we have literally no other wall space left in this place).
Read MoreAss in the Grass: A Quarantine Renaissance Story
When the shut down first began it felt a little bit like a vacation. There was work to do from home, the world slowed down and all of the sudden the days felt spacious. I happily set about doing things around my house that I just hadn’t had the time for in the frenetic day-to-day. I painted my vintage (wink, wink) 1995 oak kitchen cabinets a nice dark and dusty green. I tidied and cleaned, oiled the wood furniture, washed the cloudy glass globes on my light fixtures and even dusted all of the leaves on my plants. Individually.
I then set my mind to painting a mural in my powder room but lacking specific inspiration, I started perusing images on Pinterest. This is when I decided that a full-on mural felt like too much work. I would do a “mural board” (I invented this ingenious title that obviously needs no description. That’s how clever it is). I remembered having some oversized art boards in my garage from a thwarted art commission from a few years back so I pulled them out and dusted off the cobwebs. I had not remembered that I had gotten a good start on the piece. Yay!! I’ll just finish this and it will be the biggest art piece I own and will effectively cover all of the available wall space in my powder room. It is a donkey, the size of a real-life donkey, that I will display rebelliously and irreverently in the smallest room in my house. Next to the toilet. NOTE: the powder room will now be an “everyone-must-sit-down-to-pee” bathroom. Do the math. I will post this important rule on the underside of the toilet seat lid.
I have not had the mind space to do art for about 5 years. This commission came right in the midst of my divorce and my life felt like a country song. Art needs joy and space and mind-freedom. I did not have these then and the process came to a grinding halt. Now, having this boundless time gave me all of those ingredients and I dove head first into creating this rainbow hued, big-ol’ crazy art piece, my biggest ever. I am going to call it “Ass in the Grass”. Perfect. And classy to boot. Or, I could call it “Gracias, the burro”. Get it? Haha! Okay, so being this isolated may make one feel funnier than they actually are. As my sister and I like to say: “I am the funniest person I know”. No, we are not narcissists. It's just fact.
Before you take off your house slipper to clobber me over the head with, know that there is also this; these days I find myself walking by the booze tray at 10 am and wondering “is whiskey really not okay for breakfast”? I bring my flask everywhere I go. In my purse. But don’t worry, we are not actually going much of anywhere these days and cocktail hour at our place still begins respectably at 5 o’clock. And by that I mean, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere (shoot, if we are all wearing pajamas all day, do any rules apply?). It just makes me feel better to have it close. Like a binky. My next blog post may be called “My Whiskey Binky: Tales of Unravelling in Quarantine”. There are daily bouts of spontaneous tears and middle-of-the-night-waking-up-scared. We are all in this together.
As the weeks march (or creep, for those of you who have kids at home) by the wondering intensifies. I know “this too shall pass”. I know that we will get through this. Will the re-opening of our world be rocky or smooth, slow or quick? Who knows. We don’t know how things will look on the other side of this.
This is going to leave a mark. I guess what I’m feeling is that I don’t want this “Great Pause” to not leave a mark. I want to remember what it is teaching me;
1) What is most important on this earth are the people I love.
2) Kindness and vulnerability are what draw me like a moth to a flame, comfort me and make me feel that I am not alone and I want to BE this. I want to GIVE this.
3) Art is an expression of my soul
In this unprecedented moment of history art is one of the things that is carrying me through this wild time. There are also many, many hugs from my sweetheart, naps, walks, listening to podcasts, bouts of weeping (who doesn’t feel a little better after a good cry), spending endless hours on the phone with my people and of course, the aforementioned cocktail hour(s). My sister, a freshly minted crossfit coach, has been creating mind-blowing abs because what is saving her bacon right now is the physical exertion, relief and joy she gets from exercise. My parents are working in their yard, my mom, and many others, are sewing masks. My friend Tanna is baking and cooking gorgeous things because this fills her tank. Others of us are utterly captivated with that Tiger King (we don’t own a TV but I hear it’s a thing). In my neighborhood windows, sidewalks and fences are plastered in rainbows; our kids are bringing their wholehearted energy to making beauty, spreading hope and cheer.
In the poetic words of my friend Shannon: “This is like a f*cking rollercoaster. It’s up and down and you never know what is around the next corner”. We all feel like this.
We are really, really all in this together. This is hard and strange and disorienting and in it we see some surprising beauty too. For me, it is an awe and gratitude and deep affection for the essential workers who are out there making it possible for us to be home; the checkers at my Safeway and Trader Joe’s, the post office workers, the folks at Home Depot. I will never look at you the same way. Thank you.
We are all feeling it in different ways. How are you doing? Where do you turn for comfort? I would love to connect with you. I will be here in my pajamas……
bada-BLING bada-BOOYA
In my later years I am sure my love for all things blingy will become more apparent as I refrain less and decisively become more unapologetically over the top. I will plod along weighed down by gobs of jewels and feathers. With much eye rolling, my soon-to-be-adult-aged children will try, and try again, to remind me that a tiara may not befitting for the grocery store. But I will ignore them while pinching their cheeks and asking what time are cocktails. Yep, my future will be full BLING! BOOYAH!!!
This is so me. Fancy to a fault.
Everyday I get to distract myself with shiny objects like tile, lighting, furniture...seriously, it’s only fitting that I find myself submersed in a career that gives this bling addict an outlet. But this does not have to be you too.
What is so you?
It pleases me very much that you may not be like me. While I might just kiss you for even mentioning the word “gold”, it’s not a requirement. With interior design, I get to help you find elements that express you are. See, your home really is an extension of your personality, not mine. What is your house saying about you?
More than shiny objects, I love that we get to work together to translate who you are and how you want to live. It is exciting to see your home become truly yours. I want, with all my heart, for you to have your BOOYA moment!
Sofa Savvy
As a designer I always hear how people want to buy their end-all-be-all sofa (sadly often sacrificing style). As a budget conscience individual I agree, a sofa needs to last for length of time you are going to keep it. It should hold up to the wear and tear of your daily family life, but let’s face it, it will not need to be for 20 years. In fact, the next time you move that sofa’s days are numbered. And I do mean numbered...according to my calculations it has about 12 months. ..
Read MoreThe Way My Walls Wear Stripes
I have tried, tested and cried over several ideas of how-to-paint-stripes. My experience includes painting ceilings (the examples shown are ceilings we did), walls and floors.
There are two key musts for perfect lines and an easier life. Yep, I am going to give up the secret right now, so you can stop skimming if you wish…
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