Cozy at home give-away -- pot holders in Heather Bailey fabric

My dear friend Elizabeth has opened an Etsy shop.

Yippee!

To celebrate she has a giveaway going on. Visit her site -- click here -- to win these darling pot holders made from Heather Bailey's fabric.

Happy Birthday to Whitney and my blog!

Happy Birthday to Whitney Johnson, Dare-to-Dreamer who dared me to start this blog two years ago. Wow, time flies and I really didn't think I'd stick with it. But here I am in bloggerland and contemplating twittering and other social media. Yikes.

This blog was Whitney's birthday present, but I think the present has really been for me.

Here is what I have gained from blogging:

1) An opportunity to develop my design voice.
2) Ability to share my design voice with the media.
3) New friends and networks.
4) Confidence that I can indeed manage technology.
5) Improved writing skills.
6) A way to look back, a journal for keeping design notes.
7) An active way to share my portfolio, beyond my website.
8) Joy in sharing.

...and probably a whole lot more. I never imagined all these things would happen.

Thank you Whitney!

Please help me celebrate by visiting Whitney's blog -- Dare to Dream -- and tell her your dream.

Painting Crisp Lines

Here is a little trick I learned to keep paint from bleeding through your tape.

Candlestick find in Melissa's home

Today I helped Melissa put the final touches on her room. We accessorized with items found around her home. I pulled this cool looking pea green candlestick she had hidden.

Melissa asked if I knew what it was made from. No clue.

Look close and see if you can tell.

Look closer. Does the shape resemble anything you know?

Clue: If you have a baby, you might get it.

Do you see it?

Baby food jars. Yep, those are baby food jars. Clever, clever.

Melissa's mother-in-law made this candlestick back in the 60s. Retro and green all in one.

I don't have the instructions, but I am pretty sure it involves gluing the jars together. The bottom and tops are plates that felt like metal. The whole thing was painted and must have several layers of polyurethane because there was not a chip or scratch on the thing.

The baby food candle stick looks right at home amongst the turned-wood variety.

Melissa's new mantel with our final touches -- all found objects from around her home. Melissa joked that she's been decorating this room for ten years, that's how long she's been married and collecting things.

My favorite among her things?

The baby food jar candlestick.

Have it: Jonathan Adler's book

I just love Jonathan Adler's design voice that inspires us to have "happy" interiors, so I added his book -- My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living. --to my design library: Check it out.

Johnathan Adler from his website:

If you don’t have one, get one. Nothing inspires me more than when someone tells me I can’t do something. Get up close and personal with somebody who is wildly unsupportive. My mother is the greatest person on earth and I absolutely love her. Truly. But, she is pathologically risk-averse and whenever I tell her about some new venture I’m embarking on I know that if she screeches that it’s a terrible idea and that I’ve lost my mind then it’s a sure-fire smash. If she says nay, I say yay.

LOVE HIM!

And check out St. Louis AT HOME magazine to learn how Jonathan Adler inspired local St. Louis couple to decorate their home in the "happy chic" style.


See more design voices, check out my design library found in the column on the left.

Glass Installation -- my place!

Here is an exciting preview of the Chihuly-inspired glass installation above my fireplace. Jana from Gringo Jones came to install the glass. The plates and pods (curly objects) are individual pieces of recycled glass made in Mexico. Together we sculpted the shape.

Jana put brackets on the wall and wired them in place. Earlier in the week I painted my wall the turquoise color with one inch wide stripes -- still in progress, I grab the paint roller whenever I have an hour or two. I love how the layers of pattern and color play off each other.

Thanks Jana, it was a fun collaboration!



Stay tuned for more exciting layers of color and pattern to be revealed in my home. Yummy!

designHop club makes a difference at Etanim's home

See videos and photos to follow the latest redesign by the designHop club.

Dear Dana,

Please pass on to the designHop group a very sincere thank you from our little household. You can only imagine what peace it brings to now have such a lovely living room. We are still so very excited about it. Please thank everyone who came (in spirit or in person) for their wonderful contributions. We are most grateful.

Sincerely, Chantal, Etanim, and Mario

Etanim and son Mario live in a beautiful home they share with Chantal, their housemate and friend. Etamin is a single mom and works hard to keep a home nice for her son. Recently she received furnishings from St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store in St. Louis. She got wind of our designHop group and invited us to use her newly acquired furnishings to create a warm and inviting living room.

Nine amazing women, Mario, and two darling babies completed the transformation in just four hours.



We pulled the covers off of beautiful furniture hiding from view. Etanim thought two fabic chairs did not work together with the sofas, so she hid the offending chairs. We told her they are beautiful, keep them uncovered! An area rug stored in my basement was re-purposed to the room and helped pull the furniture together.

Ann Brown donated the oops paint -- cheap, but very nice paint at Home Depot. Check them out. For just $25 Ann bought five gallons of Behr brand paint in a perfect buttery cream and one gallon in a warm sage green. The buttery cream paint is enough for Etamin to continue painting the stairway and halls. We used the sage paint on the fireplace wall.

While most of the group painted, Julie Koch and Christie Hutchins settled in the dining room where they kept two sewing machines humming to make window treatments. They created the simple, easy pattern on-the-spot. Way to go ladies! Throw pillows will be made later by Etanim and I'll post follow up photos.

The whole evening came off with minimal planning. The only instructions that went out were photos of the room and a call for donations of paint. We executed with whatever came together: paint, sewing machines, fabrics and talented women fueled by Etanim's tasty homemade salsa and treats.

Thanks to Kara Johnson for the videos!

The living room BEFORE:


The living room AFTER the designHop ladies did their magic:






See more photos of the group on Chantal's blog post -- click here.
So whose house do we hop to next?