A “slow home” gets a new room

2004: First winter in our New England “farmhouse”

We live in an old house. Built in 1904, it was at one time a dairy farm with a large barn and around 15 acres of land. All but two of these acres were sold to other parties, with some deeded to the town as conservation land, a large section was developed and is now a street with a handful of homes, and the last six acres belongs to a neighbor behind me. Those six acres were scheduled to be a development of homes, but many of the acres were determined to be conservation land so the project stopped at just one. Knowing that someone could not build behind us or next to us was one of the main reasons we felt this property would be a worthwhile investment. It can be quite unnerving to buy a home in a neighborhood that you fall in love with, only to look out your window one day and
see the landscape change before your eyes!

We bought our current house in spite of
room-after-room of dated wallpaper.
Today I wish we had saved more
of it then just this swatch.

There were other reasons that we fell
head-over-heels for this property:

1. It felt like a “town and country” home, located within walking distance to the center of town and most of the schools, yet the backyard felt like a rustic retreat from modern day.

2. Our house is situated in a way that it gets full sun
in the backyard with lots of great interior light throughout the day. Shaded farmer porches in front are a welcome place to sit. Tall evergreens stand at
the properties edges, adding both privacy and
natural beauty.

3. This home is bigger than our last house, but still manageable in size, with plenty of room to grow
(barn will one day be a family room, over garage will one day be office space ... )

4. The dining room probably sold us. We did not have a formal dining room in our last house that was big enough for our young family, let alone for entertaining guests. This dining room is plenty big and is centrally located in the perfect spot to enjoy it every day, not just on holidays.

5. While we realized some areas could use increased storage and energy-efficiency, we figured we redesigned our last home — how hard would it be
to do it again???

If only feathering our nest was this easy!

Well of course it has taken us much longer this time around to complete our home renovation projects. When we were working on our last home we raised the roof before we had any children, started our kitchen addition when we were expecting number two, finished new kitchen and bath by the time number three came around, and then finally got around to all the final details just in time to put it on the market and simultaneously find out number four was scheduled to arrive six months after closing on our new home. To say it has been a challenge to renovate with four little ones under foot is to put it mildly! And as our little ones have grown, our visions for our current home have changed at about the same pace. When we were surrounded with babies, we needed to be close at hand, but now we have a bit more breathing room ...

A sneak peek of our newly completed master bedroom.

Today I am happy to report that as of last night we have officially finished one of the major renovations that has been on our construction “to-do” list ... the master bedroom that we built from scratch is a reality! What was once an inaccessible attic space is now a brand new room with a new set of stairs, new carpet, freshly painted new walls and it even has the newest type of insulation. We slept in it last night for the first time (our twelve-year-old actually helped us move the bed upstairs ... we have come along way!) and it felt like we had traded in “this old house” for a new and improved version. I always knew this house had room to grow, I had just imagined it would be laterally not vertically! Some day we may do that addition we dreamed about, but for now, we are happy with this new arrangement which is actually more energy/cost efficient in the long run than a large-scale addition would have been.

Find out how your home rates by taking this
test available online at Slow Home Studio.

While we could tell our home had inherent value, we mainly bought it based on a gut feeling. It felt like the home I had grown up in and it seemed like it could be improved upon without too much effort (okay, we were off just a little bit with that part!) What sold you on your home? Are you comfortable living in it or are there areas that could use improvement? There is a great test available that evaluates the quality of a home’s design. It is called The Slow Home Test and it is great if you are looking to solve design issues in your current home or if you are looking to buy a dream-home of your own. I recently mentioned this test in a post on the Slow Home movement that I wrote for Alluminare.com (which BTW sells some really great custom designed lighting and home decor pieces). The Slow Home movement is all about creating homes that feel as good as they look. Learn more about it by checking out the following links:

• Slow Home 101
• The Language of Slow Home
• Slow Home and Going Green

Later I will post some true “after” pics of our new space. I really should be decorating for the holidays about now, but I’d much rather be accessorizing our new room than pulling out boxes of ornaments and wrestling with strings of lights! How long do you think I can put it off without the kids noticing that we don’t have a tree, yet? ; )

Decorating with cut greens

ONE SWAG

TWO WREATHS

THREE BUNCHES

Please stop by and visit my
new decorating column
4 holiday how-to’s!

{www.Lynnfield.Patch.com}

Holiday open houses this weekend

Last night was the Holiday Stroll in Andover.
I stopped by to visit Paula Bakies of Acorn Interiors at her new retail location at 10 Essex Street.
Lots of people came in to take a look at her new space, have a few treats, and see some of the work that
is leaving her showroom ...

An array of ottomans includes a
“before” (all white) and three “afters.”These are available for purchase or can be
custom-designed by request. Let me know
if you need help choosing fabrics : )



Window treatments and ottoman for a girl’s room
designed by Lisa Pasquale (who happens to be
from my home town and is very talented!)

Paula transformed these vintage
chairs into modern beauties.



After leaving Acorn Interiors, I headed over to
another holiday open house at TaggArt Studio which
is on Salem Street in Wakefield. I took some pictures
of what you can find there on Saturday from
10am to 4pm, which is the last day
of their holiday trunk show ...

Some really pretty pieces of inspirational jewelry
designed by Linda Govostes-O’Neill

Gratitude journals and inspirational collage
gift items created by Marianne Snow

Music to celebrate the holidays
by local talent Noel Smith



Mary has a lot of beautiful original works of art available, but this one caught my eye. And remember when I said art lessons would make a great gift? Mary offers many classes for children and adults. Contact her for schedule details.




And don’t miss Beth Hylan of Studio B who is back in Wakefield just for this show. She has made a new home for herself in Concord, MA at Nesting on Main so you may also visit her there on Sunday from 12pm to 6pm during their Holiday Open House.


A gift I bought myself at New England Fine Living:
velvet purse with gold owl clasp from Vintage Wares


It is nice to know that I do not have to resort to mall-shopping this holiday season when there are so many creative shopping venues available locally.
If only I had more time to visit them all!

A holiday stroll in Andover ...

Great to give or get: colorful coasters from
Metamorphosis Studio in Andover

If you are in the Andover area tonight, the annual Holiday Stroll will be taking place. Streets will be blocked off so that pedestrians can walk through the center of town and enjoy special shopping, music and holiday festivities between the hours of 5pm and 9pm.



I will be spending some time at 10 Essex Street in the new retail showroom of Acorn Interiors. My friend, Paula Bakies, has recently relocated her workroom to this great center of town location. She is just across the street from Glory Restaurant and slightly behind Metamorphosis Art & Design.

Looking for the perfect item to finish a space?
The artists at Metamorphois Art & Design can create a unique
piece that reflects your taste and color preferences.

“Lazy Susans” are a top-seller at
Metamorphosis Art & Design

Metamorphosis Art & Design will be open and will be offering hot chocolate, cookies, and there will even be a craft opportunity if you are so inclined. Take a look at their schedule of art classes being offered while you are there. Paula’s equally-talented sister, Mary, will be teaching a class on calligraphy there in January. Art classes would make a nice gift for that person who has everything, don’t you think?

BEFORE

Looking for a thoughtful gift? How about a “Before and After” for someone who could use a little design help? This window seat area was nice, but in its unfinished state is wasn’t very comfortable and as
a result it wasn’t being fully utilized.

AFTER

After consulting with this new client who took home a gift certificate for my design services from a fund-raising event, I presented her with a number of fabric choices to coordinate with the existing colors in her living room. We placed an order with Paula at Acorn Interiors, and she brought our design to life.

Now this area is a favorite go-to-place for this family
of four (plus one very cute dog named Skittles).

While I was there, I helped them solve a privacy
issue for their front door. By adding a sheer panel with
linen that matches the window seat trim, we were able
to add a designer touch in a small way that
really made a big difference.

If you are interested in giving “the gift of design” just send me an email. I will gladly offer virtual design services for those outside of my traveling distance.

Click here to see more
“before and afters”
from my design files.

Decorating with candy

The makings of a green-and-gold candy buffet.

For my High School reunion this past weekend, I was asked to put together something decorative for the sign-in table. While this was not a huge design project, I did want it to have some significance. I tried to think of a memory that most of us shared growing up and the first thing that came to mind was Ryer’s corner store, which was – and still is – directly in front of both the high school and one of the elementary schools in my home town. Every day after school, hoards of us kids would descend upon the tiny store (it has since been renovated to three times its original size),
Mr. Reyer would keep a vigilant eye on us from behind the counter as we pushed at each other in line, fighting for the chance to hand over our coins for Slush Puppies (my favorite was blue raspberry), Red Hots, Sweet-Tart lollipops, wax teeth, and bubble gum.

For this big-year-reunion, I gathered five large glass containers from Home Goods that looked like the grown-up versions of the penny-candy jars that used to line the shelves at Ryer’s, and then completely filled them with mostly green and gold sweets in honor of our school colors. I even found a chocolate lollipop with an image of our school mascot on it at a local candy store, JJ’s Haute Chocolat, where I also picked up some green and gold chocolate hearts that we scattered around the base of the jars.

Dessert bars and candy buffets like these are quite popular these days as an entertaining design trend. They are sure to grab the attention of guests (both young and old) at childrens birthday parties, Bah and Bat Mitzvahs, and other holiday gatherings.


Here are a couple of online sources for sweet ideas (and great conversation starters) to use at your next event ...


Save the Date for Cupcakes:
a design blog featuring all things sweet


Sweet Tables by
Dooby Design Group


New England Fine Living:
Images of Candy Buffets

Decorating memories ...

How was your Thanksgiving weekend? I really enjoyed the time we spent with family and friends over the past few days. There is something special about visiting with beautifully familiar faces! Along with enjoying a delicious meal prepared by my fun-to-be-around in-laws (when the Blacker’s get together, there is always a lot of laughter) I also attended my High School reunion which certainly stirred up some memories! Of course the yearbooks all came out, along with the childhood photo albums (which are my personal favorites). How adorable is my outfit in this photo from Thanksgiving, circa 1972?? And how cute is my younger brother looking up at me? If you go back to my last post, you will notice that as an adult I have essentially copied my mother’s decorating style by purchasing a matching buffet and very similar colored table lamps. The flowers are even in the same place. Some parts of our visual past are forever
ingrained in us, I guess!

How has your childhood influenced
the way you decorate today?


Author’s note: “Not-so-big posts” are in the queue for this week. If you would like to read some in-depth posts on current design trends, please visit Alluminare where I am presenting a series of posts this week on the Slow Home movement. And if there is a current design trend that you would like to learn more about, just let me know!

Thanksgiving arrangement

My favorite spot to decorate in my home lately is the antique buffet in my foyer. You may have seen it recently in the YouTube video that I was asked to submit for the Design Sherpa “What Inspires You” contest.* This is one area in my home that is not completely surrounded by construction happenings! We are still working on the master bedroom project, which puts the kitchen/first floor powder room/ mudroom project on the back burner until we get the bedrooms/office situation straightened out.

We are getting very close though, and I am by nature incredibly patient, so it is all good. When this always-in-construction-phase is finally complete, it
will become a distant memory, and then I can
decorate to my heart’s content!

For now I am happy to have my vignettes.

Even a small bud vase with a single bloom can
provide a positive moment in a day.

But don’t worry – we do have a temporary kitchen set up in our dining room that is fully equipped with standard appliances and stocked cabinets, there just isn’t space for a stove. Looking on the bright side, without an oven, I will not be expected to do any holiday cooking from now until Christmas ; )

It will be nice to be the guest for the next two holidays instead of the host, and for that I am thankful! And living without a working kitchen seems like a minor inconvenience when there are so many people who are struggling to feed their families, not just during the holidays, but every day. Those are the people I worry about. I think about the people who are out of work or underemployed. I think about the people who experience the holiday not as a day off, but as just one more day without adequate means to provide for one’s family. But that is a post for another day ...

I hope your week is filled with people you cherish,
in comfortable surroundings, enjoying delicious
food, much laughter, fun and relaxation.

xoxo
yvonne


*P.S. To see who won the Design Sherpa “What Inspires You?” contest, click here. While I did not come in first place, I was happy to have been included in the top ten of the 100 “inspired” posts : )