Category Archives: home

Home Decor

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Home decorMy friend Evelyn wowed us the other night when we Decoratingarrived at her house for our monthly book-club meeting and discovered she’d been busy redecorating. Our jaws dropped — I mean, literally, I stood there with my mouth open. Before, Evelyn’s living room was a cozy and comfortable gathering spot, but she said she wanted something completely different — and she got it. Now the room is rich with color and texture and looks about a million times bigger with the emphasis on those gorgeous windows that really you didn’t notice so much before. Evelyn used a professional decorator, with she and her husband, Steve, picking out the oh-so-soft sofa themselves. She said she learned to trust the decorator — many times the decorator would pick something out and she and Steve would think, “Uh, that’s just not going to work,” but once the room came together they understood the vision. I believe this is my new favorite room. Ever.

Home

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Ikea I love Ikea. I know, I know — you’re probably rolling your eyes and muttering to yourself, “Hey, Cathy — the ’80s called and want their furniture back.” It’s true that the Swedish home-furnishings company used to have the reputation of bland cookie-cutter cheap stuff, back when when the words “she furnished her apartment with Ikea” described someone without imagination or individuality. Fast forward a couple decades and you find sleek and smart furniture that’s affordable and fun. What’s not to like? My older daughter and son-in-law went to the Ikea store in Atlanta to shop for their new house and came back with, among other treasures, a bed with sliding bookshelves in the headboard, sturdy and colorful storage units for 16-month-old Capt. Adorable and some funky organic curtains and pillows that coordinate with everything. Plus, they brought me presents for babysitting the Captain: The Tecken teapot for perfect brewing, two cup-holder-sized coffee mugs, a cat-proof bag for cat food, wonderful black-and-white notecards I’m going to frame and put up in the kitchen and of course chocolate and coffee. Oh, and a lint roller — with four cats plus the occasional visiting feline, we go through a couple lint rollers a week around here. Anyway, the kids’ Ikea spree spurred me on to want one for myself. I love the modern design and the family-friendly details. However, my husband rolled his eyes and muttered quite loudly, “I think we’re past our Ikea phase, dear.” He apparently was heavily into Ikea 25 years ago when he was a cool bachelor dude, and he still associates Ikea with staying up all night drinking beer and debating Reaganomics. Ah, the good ol’ days! Check out Ikea at http://www.ikea.com/us/en/

Food

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Herb shackA couple weeks ago my friend Polly offered to teach a Vintage decoratingbunch of us how to make herb vinegars — using fresh herbs right out of her garden. I had never been to her house, and when she said we could hang out in the “shack” behind her house, I pictured … well, some sort of little lean-to propped up next to her garage or something. Uh, no. Polly’s Herb Shack is the sort of place I’d pay good money to go stay in.  It’s so calm and peaceful and Retro home decorcute. Couldn’t you just while away a whole afternoon on that porch swing? Inside, Herb vinegarPolly’s decorated in a retro style with sweet touches such as red gingham on a vintage white kitchen table, antique photos, old lamps and a typewriter that looks exactly like one my grandmother had. And then, after Polly gave us a quick lesson on herb vinegars, she turned us loose in her herb garden and let us cut all we wanted. We brought jars and vinegar (and food and wine, of course, for sustenance Herb gardenwhile we worked — being creative and culinary is exhausting!). You can heat the vinegar and measure things out and be all methodical and scientific about it, but basically we just stuffed jars full of herb and spice combinations — with other goodies such as lemon peels and garlic cloves — and poured vinegar over our concoctions and took them home to hope for the best. We’re going to let them steep for several weeks (if you heat the vinegar in the first place it doesn’t take as long), then strain and decant into pretty bottles and impress everybody with our homemade gourmet know-how. I’m anxious to see how the herb mixtures turn out. While we were creating in The Shack, we were saying things like “Does coriander go with basil?” and “How do you think lavender and oregano would be together?” Who knows??? My jars are 1) lemon and lime thyme with cloves and cracked whole nutmeg and apple-cider vinegar; 2) orange and chocolate mint with cardamon and white-wine vinegar and 3) chives, garlic chives and garlic cloves in red-wine vinegar. I also added some lemon peel to a couple of the jars but I can’t remember which ones now. What do you think — did I make some good picks?

Gardens

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GardensHerb vinegarMy friend Polly has one of the most beautiful home gardens I’ve ever seen. She’s a retired teacher, and most of the work she’s done in these photos has been in the past three years. Can we say “incredible energy?” She and her husband travel around the world, but I think I would just park myself in the backyard if mine looked like this. I especially love her Yard artzen approach to gardening: It’s organized, but not formal or structured — the plants, flowers, herbs and vegetables just sort of spill out in exuberant joy. And she’s got such whimsical touches Gardeningeverywhere: Birdhouses, sculptures, yard art, chairs, gates, fences, stepping stones, arches. It’s a treasure everywhere you look. Polly and her husband live within the city limits of Florence, Alabama, but with the deer grazing in the front yard and the creek dancing over on the side and the abundant shade trees cooling everything off, you feel as if you’re at a wonderfully isolated woman-made Eden — yet bustling civilization is just at the end of the driveway. To my mother’s eternal frustration, I remain ignorant of all Wheelbarrowsthings gardening. I mean, I can tell a rose from a daisy (that’s the yellow and white one, right?) but that’s about it. Yet even a non-garden person like me can recognize and appreciate a green paradise such as Polly’s garden. I’m just glad there are folks like her in the world who know what they’re doing with seeds and dirt so folks like me can enjoy.

Home Decor

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Painting the houseWhen I first started thinking about having the inside of our house repainted, I always knew I’d want to go simple and neutral. For years I’ve lived with my misguided attempts at rustic-Tuscany-sponge painting in the kitchen and my older daughter’s more successful vegetarian peach-and-eggplant bedroom. I’m ready to change my style to calm and serene — with an eye to selling the house someday. A Realtor who came to give us redecorating tips said to go neutral. Our painters said to go neutral. When we went Repaintingto the paint store, the folks there said to go neutral and recommended a Pittsburgh Paint color called Dusty Trail. It was the newest most-popular house color around, they said, and I would be so happy with it. But I hesitated. I couldn’t decide: Was it too dark? Too olive-y? Too green? Too non-neutral? Husband painted a sample on a box — and did it very well, I might add — and we all agreed that it was a “yes.” But this past week when the painters first started putting Dusty Trail up on the walls, I did not like it. At all. I was second-guessing. I had paint anxiety attacks. It was the dark olive-y green all over again. I wondered how much it would cost to start over. But then, when the wall was completed and it was a solid block of color, I fell in love with its rich creamy neutral wonderfulness that adds depth without darkness. I finally understood why everybody said it was so good. For whatever weird reason, I’m telling you, the color looks so different when it’s right next to our old off-white than it does when it’s up on a wall all by itself. I do not know why this is. I’m sure it’s something that happens with paint and colors. But I’m glad it’s happening in our house on our walls.

And I love our painters. They are like your friends who come over and sweep up their messes and eat their lunches outside and tell you that the sofa really would look better over in that corner.

Wallpaper

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Today, for the first time probably in years, I actually did an honest day’s hard labor. This morning when I offered to help out the folks who’d come to do painting/remodeling work in the house (remember the loose-wallpaper incident?), I had no idea they’d actually take me up on it. But the head-man-in-charge was not impressed with my earlier effort at wallpaper removal in the bathrooms and said it would free up another worker to get started on painting if I tackled the wallpaper leftovers and really prepped the walls properly. I had a free morning, I shrugged, so why not? How hard could it be? Seven hours later, these are the things I have learned:

1) Never ever offer to help painting/wallpapering/remodeling people unless you are prepared to actually help. This is the not the time to be meaninglessly polite.

2) Little stripped-off wet wallpaper pieces stick to everything: Shoes, feet, floors, cats …

3) Even if you like Rascal Flatts and think Keith Urban is hot, seven hours of country-music on the industrial-strength radio turned up to an industrial-strength volume is plenty, thank you very much.

4) Patience and relaxation are the keys. “You’ve got to get the wallpaper wet and then let it relax,” Boss Guy said as he, patiently, showed me how to take off wallpaper the Right Way. “Patience, patience, patience. If you’re patient enough, it will slide right off.”  He was right. Who knew?

5) And the final thing I learned after a day of pumping a spray bottle and scraping and scrubbing walls to a shiny smoothness? I’m glad I don’t have to do it tomorrow.

Yard Sales

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Yard sales

We had our first yard sale this past weekend. The verdict? Success! And here’s the key: Have lots of help and have lots of fun. That’s my advice — even though I’ve only had one yard sale. I dithered back and forth about doing it but when my two daughters said they’d help when I offered them a a 50/50 split of the profits — anything to get their junk out of the house! — we were on. And I’m here to tell you that you cannot do yard sales alone. Do not even try it. Everybody — children, in-laws, parents, friends — lent advice and (literally) helping hands. Plus, we all had fun. Made it a party, even. Might as well. Read more in my past two weekly newspaper columns for the TimesDaily: http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090710/ARTICLES/907105000 and http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090717/ARTICLES/907175001

Home Decor

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What happens when you decide to see if the wallpaper in the bathroom really is as loose as it seems. Yes, it is.

What happens when you decide to see if the wallpaper in the bathroom really is as loose as it seems. Yes, it is.

Saving Money

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I admit it: I’m a spender. I’m much rather spend money than save it. I love shopping. I love going places and doing things. I love buying and having.  The problem? Hmm — let’s just say that income and outgo don’t always match! And whether you’re bring in $25,000 a year or $250,000, not managing your money efficiently sure can put a crimp in your style. The solution? Lately I’ve been doing my best to reduce UNNECESSARY expenditures in order to get the most bang for our buck when we do spend. I thought I’d share some of those efforts and see what y’all think.

1) Cut out my four-a-day sweetened bottled water habit and switched to plain water in a reusable container — sometimes adding a mix such as Crystal Light or Lipton Iced Tea. And even though we recycled the plastic bottles, I just feel a little greener not buying so many in the first place.

2) Visit a walk-in hair place at the mall for in-between trims and cuts, reserving my fancy high-priced stylist for coloring and occasional styling. This works especially because I notoriously am a bad hair person and no matter how the stylist fixes my hair, it’s back to the same-ol’ same-ol’ after a couple days. Why pay $75+ for that every month?

3) Teach myself to do my own pedicures. I did not think this would work but I really was proud of the results. And I never have done manicures since I can’t walk out of the salon/spa without cracking/chipping the polish.

4) Shopping in my own closet. Although I’m all for supporting local businesses, I’m also for having enough funds to go on vacation. When I dug around, I found things I hadn’t worn for months that I loved. I usually buy sort of classic non-trendy things anyway, so reviving these oldies-but-goodies doesn’t look dated. I hope not, anyway! If you can look at something you bought in the past couple years or so and imagine it hanging in your favorite boutique right now, it’s a keeper.

5) Using what you’ve got. This is another variation of “shopping in your closet.” I’m determined to use what I have before buying more. This includes makeup, lotion, skin care and such — my weakness. I mean, who can resist a lovely bar of handmade peppermint soap? Not me. As a bonus, this also requires organization so you know you already have three bottles of Warm Vanilla Sugar Shower Gel and do not — repeat, do not — need to buy anymore.

6) Enjoying what you’ve got. Another version of the same theory. I’ve got books and DVDs and magazines and CDs sitting around that I’ve never even picked up since I brought them home. Use ’em or lose ’em!

What do you think? How am I doing?

Yard Sales

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Yard sale kittyNo, Tasha the White Cat won’t get sold along with the rest of the stuff slated for our upcoming yard sale, but sometimes I’m tempted. She can be the most annoying, whiny, aggravating little thing — and then she curls up right beside you and tucks her head under and goes to sleep and looks so sweet that you forgive her for the 3 a.m. wakeup calls. Even my husband John Pitts overlooks her irritating determination to get on the other side of any — every? — door, no matter what time of day or night and her overwhelming jump-in-your-lap need to have some of whatever anybody else is eating. Too bad she doesn’t have thumbs and can’t help with yard-sale pricing. We usually donate stuff we accumulate and don’t want to a local church-run thrift store, but somehow we still had tons of stuff taking up prime space. We pretty much have an empty nest now with Older Daughter off and married and Younger Daughter off at college — I always tell them that I don’t mind keeping/storing their stuff, as long as it’s stuff they know they want to keep/store. If not, let’s let it be somebody else’s junk. We haven’t had a yard sale for years and years, and I sweetened the deal by offering each of the daughters half of the proceeds if they’d help declutter. You can see the response here — and this is just part of what we’ve got to sell. Except for the kitty. She stays. I guess.