What To Do With Built-in Soap Dishes

If you live in an older home or apartment and haven't renovated your bathroom, chances are you're stuck with the old tile soap and toothbrush holders. That's what happened to me. Four times. Yes, this is our fourth house and every bathroom had these terrible tile soap dishes! 

I never use them for their intended use--they are impossible to keep clean and things begin looking pretty grimy after a week or so. So, I came up with lots with ideas to make them look good while keeping them functional--like these...

Treat it as a little shelf and display coral or beautiful sea shells.

It's the perfect place for a clock to keep you on time on busy mornings.

Sometime I stack handmade soaps that look beautiful and smell great.

Sherry, from Young House Love had the same idea.

A small bowl is handy for keeping floss and a nail brush close at hand.

Candles? Jewelry? What do you use your soap dish for?

Planning a One Year Old's Birthday

Zelda (our third grandchild) will be turning one next month! Children's birthday parties are so much fun to put together and this one is no exception!

We've decided on a bird theme and I found some great ideas on Pinterest that I'd love to incorporate into her party.

Tulle Pom Poms   Birdy Greeting Card   Bird Cake   One Cookies

Zelda says she can't wait for her party!

Frames First, Art Second

Most of the time you have artwork that you love and you have it framed. But sometimes it can work the other way around-- it's the frames that come first, and the art is secondary.

That's what happened in our den.

This wall serves as our mudroom. It leads into the garage so we drop shoes and bags on the Ikea Molger bench I picked up a few months ago.

The walls are dark--they're painted Benjamin Moore's Chelsea Gray and the wall above the bench seemed to be crying out for art. (That yellow door will be painted black this summer.)

I love frames hung in a grid and I knew this was a perfect spot for that kind of look. I bought six frames before I even knew what the artwork was going to be.

When the frames form a grid and they almost became the art themselves. I ended up choosing handmade marbled paper in colors I already had going on in the den...teals and gray tones.

The frames are 12 x 12 and the mat opening is only 5 x 5 so only a small section of these papers were used.

The white mats pop against the dark gray walls and show off the color and pattern--which adds the perfect amount of interest.

Happy Shavuot!

The cheesecake and quiches are done and flowers are arranged. I'll be celebrating the holiday with family and friends this week--if you are as well I wish you a wonderful Shavuot!

May Market at the Hillstead Museum

I was busy on Friday preparing dinner for eight guests for Shabbat but managed to slip away and enjoy a few glorious hours at May Market at the Hillstead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut.

The Hillstead is a treasure of beautiful art tucked away in a gorgeous country home. Once a year is their annual May Market which includes 65 exhibitors with a wide variety of home and garden items. This year the guest presenter was Carolyne Roehm. If your not familiar with Carolyne she is the author of 11 books and a leading taste maker, trendsetter and lifestyle expert. I was excited to see her demonstrate how she creates her gorgeous floral arrangements and hear what she had to teach us about flowers.

Here are a few tips Carolyne spoke about: 
*To keep cut flowers fresh, add a splash of bleach and a teaspoon of sugar to the water.

*A copper penny will also help keep flowers fresh longer.
*You can incorporate fake and real flowers in your flower arrangements (but not the plastic ones from the dollar store!) There are many beautiful fakes out there today like these, that were for sale at the May Market...

There was so many spectacular things to see including the gardens...

and the beautiful architecture...

There were plants for sale...

and fabulous crafts made locally in Connecticut and New England. Here are a few of my favorites...

hand carved spoons and treenware from Maine by Raymond Medeiros. He said he's still working on a website but here's his e-mail: rjmjman@hotmail.com.

vintage book purses by Kathleen Scranton...

re-purposed vintage hardcover books fashioned into one-of-a-kind purses! BeeZbyScranton.com.

and so many other beautiful handmade and found items for the home...

The rustic wood furniture is made in Guilford, Connecticut by Nancy Lou Riccio and Dave Sayad--east/riverroadstudio.com. The antique chicken print is from AnneHallAntiquePrints.com in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. I wanted one of everything!

Living Room Progress

Now that the kitchen is done I'm turning my attention to the living room. Up until now it was just a holding space for huge boxes of kitchen cabinets and bundles of oak flooring!

My jumping off point for the wall paint color was this beautiful rug from Dash and Albert--it's their Plain Tin Wool rug in Charcoal,

and this new sofa from Macy's. Our older sofa will be used in the living room too, also from Macy's.

I don't remember having so much trouble choosing a paint color as I did for this room! I must of painted over a dozen paint samples painted all over the walls.

Nothing seemed right. And then it dawned on me...I've used Benjamin Moore's coastal fog for many projects in the past. It's a beautiful taupe that's kind of gray with a lot of warm brown undertones.

It was perfect!

  The coastal fog color looks great with golds like this curtain rod I spray painted.

The living room walls are currently mauve (hello 1980's)  but someone who lived here had the good sense to install beautiful molding on both the walls and the trim.

So the painting has begun...

and three Liatorp bookcases are being assembled.

They'll hold a flat screen TV along with tons of other things still sitting in boxes in the basement. I'll be painting them too. Here is my inspiration...

I love the orange back but am I daring enough to do this? Do I want that much orange?

Or should they go dark like the shelving I spotted on Centsational Girl?

Any thoughts are welcome!

Your Guide to a Beautiful Shavuot

Shavuot is one of the loveliest of all the Jewish holidays. The weather is usually perfect, dairy meals are served (yum-cheesecake) and flowers are in abundance. Here's my guide to a beautiful holiday...

T H E   T A B L E

Herb Centerpiece                    Pressed Flowers Under Glass                     Stacked Lilacs

T H E   D A I R Y   M E A L

Asparagus Quiche                        Wildflower Ice Cubes             Double Pea & Feta Salad
  
T H E   D E S S E R T

Orange Carrot Cake                  Salted Caramel Cheesecake            Ice Cream Cone Cupcake