I love quotes – a turn of a phrase can so simple wrap up our feelings and they are a tool to use in decorating as well. Print up a quote you love and insert it into a picture frame. Place it among pictures to help you tell a story – that’s what I did in our bedroom hallway {pictured below}.

Quotes on a wall make for such interesting art. Over the past few years a lot of businesses have popped up that do vinyl letters but 15 years ago when I was working on a little retail paint-your-own-pottery shop in California, that was not the case. That was the first time I used words as art/accessories. {Click here to see photos of that project.}

 This photo from Wonderful Graffiti shows a great idea for those bare walls. {BTW, thru July 31 Wonderful Graffiti is having a sale 20% off!}

For a little inspiration, look through these quotes on the beach & sea, quotes about summer, and these on summer love.

It has been another wonderful weekend. Even though it seems like it rained most of each day, we seemed to have good weather when we needed it!

On Saturday we went on the Historic Home & Garden Tour in Chagrin Falls. It’s held every other year and we missed the one two years ago so I was bound and determined NOT to miss it this year! Thankfully the rain held off for most of the tour!

Red was a popular color on the tour, or at least it seemed to catch my eye at every turn. I am a red (white and blue) kind of girl!

This mail basket {above} on one of the front porches of a tour home was a rusty reddish brown.

Doesn’t this red geranium arrangment in metal boxcharm you? Believe me it had all the charm of the beautiful home it was in. It was a favorite and such a creative container.

This unique bell outside on the entrance to a barn caught my eye and had me seeing red.

The show stopper was this wonderful mix and match red patio table and chairs below. 

I also thought this flower box with feet was so clever! What an easy way to dress it up.

I love going on home and garden tours! Such inspiration.

It’s day two of our beach house remodel here on Pawley’s Island, SC. Today it is raining – that takes away the distraction and temptation of the beach! Despite the rain it is still a nice place to be.

I snapped this photo above of the wavy sand yesterday morning during my sunrise walk on the beach. Since this is a working trip, I brought my paint decks from both Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore. Before I leave, I plan on creating a “Pawley’s Island” color palette from one of the decks. The paint colors will be inspired by the beautiful seaside. 

When I was walking on the beach this morning I noticed that even the sand has many colors! Who knew?

Here is progress on our kitchen thus far. This first photo is from yesterday. They had just started work on removing the cabinets.

 The last picture is from today. . . these southern boys really do know how to demo!

If this was your bathroom and you wanted to give it a fresh look in just a weekend and on a tight budget, how would you do it?

These home owners did it bykeeping all the major players and then replaced the damaged tiles behind the tub wall faucets, stripped wallpaper, changed out the light fixture, and added colorful accessories to create a bright, cheerful bath.

They selected a white/pink toile wallpaper that picked up the color of the existing floor tile. Toile is timeless and a perfect choice to honor the 1929 bathroom while still feeling fresh and today.

The white tile and newly-painted widow trim with new shutters are the perfect, crisp yet neutral backdrop for our fresh spring-colored towels & rug. Don’t you just love this?

The little Windsor chair next to the pedestal sink is a simple yet colorful way to add a bit of extra storage space along with a lot of vintage appeal. {Thanks Better Homes & Gardens}

In early May I will be going to Pawley’s Island, SC to help one of my Ohio clients remodel their place. We are scrapping the entire kitchen and starting over and will also be updating much of the rest of the place.

I’ll be helping them make selections for finishes and I’m excited because they want to use a product for countertops that I have not used before. I love learning new things! It’s called Vetrostone and it is “a unique quartz stone engineered with exotic seashells & sea glass”.

You see it on the vanity pictured above from an article from Southern Living magazine. While they don’t mention which one was used for this countertop, it looks to me like it could be  Santa Maria {which on screen is one of my favorites.}

Not surprisingly, Vetrostone is located in Yemassee, South Carolina which is in the heart of Lowcountry. I guess that’s where the inspiration for this shell and sea glass product came from.

According to the manufacturer, this product is stronger than marble, granite, limestone, and travertine yet weighs 15-20% lighter than natural stone. The word “vetro” is Italian and means “glass”. They carry two families of products 1)Vetrostone which contains a larger aggregate of sea glass  and 2) Oysterstone which contains larger aggregate of seashells. {Rose dhu is pictured below.}

We will be going to Charleston to look for our finishes (flooring, countertops, etc.) . . . as you can imagine, they had to twist my arm to get me to do this project for them!

I think this is a great product to use whether you have a house at the shore or one that’s landlocked and needs a little punch of seaside inspiration. I’m looking forward to our seashore-inspired project and will keep you updated.

I love it that spring has officially arrived here on the North Coast ~ today it was in the 80’s! To celebrate the arrival of spring and April showers & May flowers, here’s a colorful arrangement for your spring front door. It’s easy to make and so colorful. If you make your own version, let us know so we can see your twist on this project.

Supplies

Stick umbrella with curved handle (I got mine at Target for $12.99)
Floral wire
Tissue paper/plastic bags
Colorful wired ribbon
Spring flowers
Craft store bird nest
Maidenhair fern
Green moss
Colored eggs
Small white flowers

Tie a length of wired spring-colored ribbon to the middle of the umbrella.  Then select three pockets to create your arrangements. Stuff each of the three pockets with either tissue paper or plastic grocery bags (which is what I used).

In one of the end pockets, hot glue a craft store bird’s nest to thetissue/bags. Then hot glue a colored eggshell in the nest.  (I colored my eggs and once they dried, I pricked holes at both ends and blew the contents out. I then held them under water to fill them up and clean them out. The color got a bit lighter, which I think look great but keep this in mind when coloring your eggs.)  Tuck green moss and a few strands of maidenhair fern around the nest.

In the middle pocket, hot glue some green moss to cover the paper. In half an egg shell, hot glue some green moss and a few small white flowers. Put some hot glue on the bottom of  a colored half eggshell and nestle it into the front of the pocket. Hot glue a bit of fern in this pocket to cover up the umbrella metal ribs, etc.

In the last side pocket, tuck in a bush of colorful spring flowers (tulips, daffodils, forsythia, etc.), moss and ferns. The flowers are supported by the tissue/bags.

I think this arrangement is such a fun way to make it thru the rainy month of April and celebrate the flowers of May.

I first saw an arrangement like this on the  front door of a friend’s house. When I complimented her on the adorable idea, she said she saw it in the latest issue of Midwest Living.

I’m linking this idea with Melissa’s Inspired Friday~ make sure to check out other inspired ideas for spring!

I am always in search of great bed linens but it seems like they can be hard to find.

When I am working with clients on designing a master bedroom, it always seems like they can’t find bedding they love. I have had that problem too.

Lately, I’ve fallen head over heels for the kiss pleat or pin tuck look. Have you seen them? 

These pillows and white comforter are from West Elm. They come in several different colors and are just so romantic! I just love the simple elegance.

Target has also introduced a similar style comforter in their spring collection, they call theirs  a kiss pleat comforter. Their version has these cute little buttons pulled into the middle of the tucks/pleats.

I think this version is so sweet. I was at several Target stores over the weekend and they have more of a selection on line than they do in stores at this point. However, at one of the stores, they had a long body pillow that I don’t see online. I loved it. 

So, if you’re in search of a new look in your bedroom, try kiss pleat style. I think it’s a perfectly romantic way to dress your nest!

So how excited was I to find that Target is carrying a new brand called, “Liberty of London {LOL}”? I fell head over heels in love with the bright sixty print items I saw on the shelves. What’s not to love about the happy, fun colors?

Target seems to be carrying several different LOL prints but it’s the colorful ones that caught my eye. Maybe it’s because spring is in the air and I need a little technicolor after a winter of black and white.

LOL has been in the UK for more than 100 years. I hopped over to their website and they have such fun items!

I’m looking forward to vising Target as they roll out the complete LOL line. It’s too much fun!