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New England Fine Living

Working on the soon-to-be launched New England Finery Magazine has completely consumed my creative thoughts.

Table setting by Linda Smith
of New England Fine Living

Linda and I have been meeting regularly at this very table to discuss page layouts and desired content for the first issue.

Vintage fur muff: Seams Couture
Photo credit: Elizabeth Wertz

I am completely in love with the photos that our photographer, Elizabeth Wertz, has taken for our feature story.

XOXO blank notecards
yvonne b. designs

If you are in the area, please stop by New England Fine Living for your chance to take home some of the items that will be highlighted in our February issue (say “hi” to Linda while you are there!)

Refinished floors by C&R Flooring

The fact that my own house is finally getting some finishing touches during this exciting time is icing on the cake. But truth be told, it’s difficult to create blog posts when my house is filled with guys (the working kind that is).

Rest assured, I will be back soon with some “before” photos and worth-the-wait-happily-ever “afters” ; )

Everything in its place

Getting organized: check out my tips on Patch.com

Just when I start to get organized at home, we have to move everything around again! This week we are having hardwood floors installed on the second and third floors. Only in the hallways and stair landings, but enough construction traffic to create a sense of being displaced. A bedroom floor is also being refinished which adds to the commotion.

I can be quite the homebody (when I am not out and about) so I will be happy when this phase of construction is over and I can work peacefully at my desk in my new office and not downstairs in the living room amidst the boy chaos!

Until the dust settles, please visit my recent post for Lynnfield Patch.com and see how organized I was not too long ago ...

Master bedroom preview, part 2

Our current master bedroom is used in this photo
as a backdrop to showcase a pillow collection
that I designed for a seaside home.

I spent last week researching final choices for our new bedroom. I still love this color wall – Benjamin Moore Crown Point Sand which is kind of tan, kind of greenish – but I plan to go with something a tad whiter since there is less natural light in the new space. Although now that the room is completely plastered, it actually looks pretty bright up there. Even so, I have been seeing so many great all-white rooms in both design magazines and on the web that I would love to have one in our home as well.

My top color choice right now is Benjamin Moore Marscarpone. It is a bright creamy white with a touch of yellow that will help to give the room a sunny disposition even with just one window. I am planning on keeping many of the same fabrics that we currently have (reduce, reuse, recycle!) This tea-stained stripe was used to create our custom bedskirt – which I love – and would not feel right about replacing.



Here is the skirt with a sample of carpet. If we decide to go with wall-to-wall (less $ and/or labor) this medium taupe will ground the space well.



This lighter version looks kind of blah to me. Plus with the light walls there will not be enough contrast. Also, our headboard is tan linen and I would rather go with a darker color on the ground. Our top choice would be pre-finished hardwood which my husband could actually install, so the price without having to pay for installation just might work out for us.



This dark stained oak is our top choice right now. It would look appropriate in a 100-year old home.



On top of the hardwood, I would use our existing wool carpet. Here is just a peek of the border (the carpet is all rolled up after coming home from the cleaners, so I could only grab this little shot). It alternates squares of creamy white with greens and golds.



Most of our bedroom furniture is Swedish Home from Ethan Allen. The creamy white wood finish will blend in with the wall color, which will make the space appear larger than it is.



This chandelier from our current room will move with us. I love it even though it does not give off a super amount of light (we will add additional layers of light next to the bed, and in the corners of the room).



This piece of white washed furniture has been with me since my first apartment at twenty-one.
Wherever I go, it follows!

Our current coverlet is neutral in color. It has always been a little small for our king-size bed (even though it is king size, go figure!) so it might end up on the foot of the bed and I will look for something in the same color family but more generous in scale.



I have a pair of zebra striped down-filled pillows from my design inventory that I will add to the mix.


Plantation shutters from Smith & Noble

At the window, I am thinking that a shutter would be a nice choice, allowing us light and privacy control.



My second choice would combine drapery panels (made out of tan linen, perhaps?) with a semi-sheer panel created out of this vintage hand-printed fabric. We often have deer in our backyard so I liked the reference to the world outside our window. I have been saving this fabric for something special, and I am thinking our new room would be a good place for it!

Design tip ... orchid

A deep cranberry colored shawl warms up a
bookcase in the corner of our dining room.

Now that the holidays are a distant memory, I figured it was time to freshen up my interiors with a new indoor plant. I’ve mentioned before how much I appreciate the orchid as a quick design statement. They’re simple and elegant, the perfect antidote to the decorating over-indulgences of the past few months.

Brazilian Teak

A Georgia O’Keefe-inspired close-up

My husband and I made a trip to our local home improvement store on Friday night after a nice dinner out with friends. We were in search of some pre-finished flooring options for the new bedroom. I brought home a sample of Brazilian Teak – which is not so dark that it will show every speck of dust, but still deep enough in tone to offset what will be creamy white walls. I also picked up this lovely orchid for a mere $15 (they often go for around $40). It was sold in a 4-inch clay pot which I then popped into my blue urn that most recently held a large spray of evergreens.


I had to build up the bottom of the urn with some crumpled tinfoil to set the smaller pot at the right height. Then I used moss around the base of the orchid to hide the gap between the small 4-inch pot and the larger width of the urn. I happened to have still-very-green moss that I had transplanted to pots from my backyard in mid-October to use for visual merchandising at Beth’s shop. When dried, it forms a soft and natural carpet that is easy to move.

Art by Beth Hylan

I love how moss hides the dirt that is usually exposed with indoor gardening. If you would like to achieve the same results and do not have access to live moss, most garden supply stores sell bags of spagnum moss that will easily take care of several pots. I have even used fake moss that comes in sheets at craft stores. The real deal, however, is by far my favorite. Just topping off your existing houseplants with moss (or your outdoor container gardens, if you are in a warm climate) adds designer polish in an instant.
Give it a try!


I thought this butterfly clip used to secure the
stem of the new orchid was very clever.

Endnote: Congratulations to my friend, Kim Smith, who eloquently wrote and joyfully illustrated Notes From a Gloucester Garden, which was recently listed by Carol Stocker of the Boston Globe as one of the best gardening books of 2009. You can almost see my personal copy in the first photo of today’s post (it is to the right of the blue photo album).

Now is a great time, especially for New Englander’s like myself, to start researching garden design plans for spring. Kim offers many tips on choosing plants based on scent, color, texture and even desired ambiance. Her stories about creating her garden are a pleasure to read, and the watercolor illustrations make me want to get out a paintbrush!

Gardening, whether inside or out, honors the beauty of nature and provides visual joy with little effort (how many things can you stick in the dirt and expect it to get better with time?) If you struggle with a “I-kill-anything-green” attitude, remember, you can always start with moss (no watering required!)

Getting cozy in the kitchen.

A custom bench cushion with accent pillows that I recently had made for one of my clients to coordinate with a large but simple valance designed to showcase a dramatically scaled print from Stark fabrics.

Despite the pouring rain on Saturday, many showed up (in some very cute slickers, I might add!) to take in The Wenham Museum’s 2nd Annual Heart of the Home Kitchen Tour. Nine kitchens were showcased – and of the six that we had time to visit, each was unique and all were quite welcoming in their own way. Some were like walking right into a magazine spread (which I loved), while in others you could tell that these kitchens have been cherished by their love-to-cook owners (which I totally envied).

Here is what I noticed (but wasn’t able to photograph ...)

• The floors: lots of medium to dark hardwood on the floors. One that I really adored had beautifully dramatic extra wide planks. So unusual! I love hardwood in the kitchen (a farmhouse feature of my current in-need-of-a-renovation-kitchen that I am a-ok with). Hardwood has a slight give underfoot, which a cook who spends a lot of time in the kitchen can really appreciate.

• Unique materials: One home in particular stood out from the rest with its patchwork of earth-colored cork tiles, a center island topped with a genuine slab of pine (smooth and shiny on top, but still sporting its roughly curved edge), sparkly walls (I think there were shells ground up in the plaster?), and large rock finials on the stair banisters. This home, with its nod to nature, felt and looked “real.”

• In a big room, small cozy spots stand out. Who doesn’t love a secret hideaway? In some of these wide open kitchens, it was the pantry that stole the show. Pantries are my all time favorite ... I can just imagine sneaking away from a party to sip a drink with a friend and talk about the goings on in the quiet comfort of a stylishly decorated butlers pantry.

• Personality counts. I can’t remember how many burners each stove had, or who had the newest kitchen gadget (with the exception of the kitchen with two dishwashers — my dream!), but I do remember the framed photo of one homeowner with Julia Child, the collection of horseback riding inspired tea cups, the family portraits, and the boldly dramatic choices in lighting, wall coverings and fabrics that gave us a glimpse of the personality of those who lived there.

• Flowers make a difference! Some of my favorite spaces included beautiful flower arrangements. Even if your kitchen isn’t on a show house tour, you can give it some designer-love with a pretty vase of flowers. Even better ... make up three small vases with the exact same arrangement and place them side by side on your counter or dining table. People WILL notice, and they are great for taking the attention away from the have-to-live-with-for-now-items that you may not want people to see ... like Harvest Gold appliances, for example (I use a lot of flowers in my kitchen)!

You can actually check out one of the kitchens online by my friend, designer Patricia Finn of Finn-Martens Design. Her sophisticated design is both warm and thoughtfully modern, while still referencing the historical character of the home.


Photo from Finn-Martens Design website

End note: We worked up quite an appetite after touring so many gourmet style kitchens. In one home, we saw a plate of brownies that seemed to be taunting us from under the safety of its glassed dome! We didn't sneak one – this time – but I will remember to bring some snacks for the ride next year.

Maybe this recently renovated home overlooking
Chebacco Lake will be on tour next year?
I will post more pictures of the other
newly designed rooms soon.

In the meantime, if you are seriously considering a re-haul of your current kitchen, check out this great interview with Ina Garten of the Barefoot Contessa (one of my favorite people that I haven’t met!) by Christine Pittel of House Beautiful. Ina’s philosophy on what makes great kitchen design, and how to entertain at home without stress is a must read before starting any kitchen renovation ...

50 Kitchen Ideas from the Barefoot Contessa

Photo credit: Julian Wass