Congratulations goes to ...

Jamilyn of
Living it at Home

You are the lucky winner of my Beach Bag & Towel Giveaway (please email your mailing address to yblacker@verizon.net and I will send it your way!)

I hope you enjoy this custom designed beach bag from my collection of seaside inspired pieces along with the matching beach towel that I picked up at HomeGoods.

You certainly deserve a relaxing and sunny day by the sea after all the housecleaning you have been doing lately (visit her charming blog to read about her new motivational system to tackle dust bunny removal, etc.!) As soon as I am done setting up my room for the North Shore Design Show, I will try to follow your “get clean” tips. Right now my home looks like a tornado went through it (or Hurricane Yvonne : )

My room at the Wenham Musuem,
however, is looking very put together ...



This closet door is actually part of a wall that we constructed (hubby and I) to create the one freestanding wall of my 8 x 8 foot space. I tried to create a nice backside view for my neighbor, designer Nanette Chandler of Brookline, who is right beside me. Her space looks so pretty, with beautiful textures and soft colors. I look forward to chatting with her more on Friday night over a drink or two as we show off our spaces to Gala guests. Here is a glimpse of what my room looks like behind this door ...



You will have to come visit to see the rest!

Setting up for a design show reminds me of moving in to my dorm as a BC freshman ... I remember showing up with a car full of mostly decorative (and some functional) objects that I had carefully selected for an entire summer, all the while crossing my fingers hoping that my roommate was cool and her stuff wouldn’t clash with mine. Fortunately, all of my roommates at the show have a great eye for design. I was not so lucky that first year as an undergrad!



After our first day of setting up, my assistant and I (thankfully my husband knows a thing or two about construction!) headed over to The Black Cow for lunch. I had the crab cakes and he had a huge plate of steak and potatoes which was a very good choice since I am way too busy to prepare “real meals” this week!



When we returned home, my first set of Mini Moo Cards had arrived! They show my blog address on one side and this picture on the other ...



Today we headed over bright and early to finish the construction part of my space, and then I styled it after John left. My mom stopped by later to drop off window treatments that I had forgotten at home (a slight glitch!), I met some more nice neighbors, chatted with the amazing women who “run the show” at the Wenham museum, and left with just a small punch list of to-do’s. I figure one more trip and I should be all set (I still have a couple of DIY items to finish up at home). Then it is on to finding the perfect gala outfit (thanks to fashion coach Susan Kanoff, I know where I will be heading to look!)

More to come ...

And a special thanks goes to Dot LaPlante and Lorna Lupi for expertly weaving the new chair seat shown in the sneak peek photo above (amazing!) If you have furniture pieces that have seen better days, bring them to these talented women! They are at:

Pentucket Furniture Restoration
226 Water Street, Haverhill, MA 01830
pentucketfurniture@verizon.net
phone: 1-978-372-9585