Katie's Best Sellers

Showing posts with label Decorating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Decorating. Show all posts

Friday, November 18, 2022

Master Bedroom Reveal



 Hello, dear friends.  How's life treating you?  All is well around here.

I promised you a peek into our master bedroom. I included links with each photo.  Also, the paint color is Aleutian Blue by Sherwin Williams. We used it in Massachusetts as well.

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Friday, October 8, 2021

Home Tour/Take 2



Hello, dear friends.  I hope that you had a good week.  Mine was chockfull of technical challenges.  I spent a good part of Tuesday morning at the Apple store with a nineteen-year-old genius.  My iPad would not charge.  Genius told me that they will have to send it away to have it analyzed. I inquired as to how much a new one would be.  Genius told me that they could swap it out for $499.00.  I said ok, and she broke the news to me that I couldn't do that until it made its way to California to have some more geniuses inspect it.  The reason, Genius told me, is that they have to make sure that it isn't counterfeit.  

I know that I didn't look my best that day, but I didn't think I looked shady.

And to top things off, I am sitting here with a frozen phone with another appointment with a genius.

Oh well.  Let's get on with the tour...
  

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Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Fall Door Decor



 Hello, dear friends.  I hope that you enjoyed your weekend.  As I mentioned in Friday's post, we celebrated our #2's birthday.  I wish I had some pics of the guest of honor, but my girl is camera-shy when it comes to her Mom's blog.  

I should have given birth to a Kardashian.



Lucky for me, I have these two.
Sometimes they even look into the camera!
But not when there is food around.

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Monday, April 13, 2020

Sista's Before & After Library Edition

Hello, dear friends. I hope that you and your family are healthy, and you enjoyed your Easter weekend.  I have some food pics to share with you at a later date.  No people pics because we have a strict policy around here: no makeup - no photos. 


The Mister and I made our bi-monthly pilgrimage to the grocery store this morning.  We were the first ones in the door for Senior Citizen Happy Hour at 7AM.  We arm ourselves with masks, gloves, and sanitizer like we are Navy Seals preparing to dive into the mission of a lifetime. 

The Mister and I split the list and meet at the car.  It was a shopping trifecta for my team: toilet paper, paper towels, and they were served up in plastic bags!  
Gosh, I miss those things.

*****

Today, I have a special treat for you.  May I present our guest host, Sista.  When she told me that she was giving her library a facelift, I begged her to take pics and write about it.  Lucky for us, she agreed.  I didn't even have to blackmail her!

Without further ado, take it away, Sista!





My empty nest is anything but.  Truth be known, we have had several false starts.  And now, with Corona Virus, my nest overflows.  Not only are both boys home (a.k.a  nef 1 &2), but we also have two refugees from NYC, my sista-in-law, and her daughter, Annabel.  The third refugee, Annabel’s Dad, will be joining us after his self-quarantine, which ends early this week.

After about a week of family togetherness, it occurred to me that I was sitting on a goldmine.  FREE LABOR!  Well maybe not exactly “free” when you consider the food, wine, and cocktails necessary to fortify these stay-at-homes.

The question on my mind was:  
Where could I best direct their energy?

Over the last few years, we have renovated all rooms on our first floor, with the exception of the powder room and library.  The powder room seemed like the ideal project for my crew.  I quickly skimmed the Internet and found my perfect wallpaper.  The problem is that we would need to wait for samples to match the paint, and then of course, wait for the paper after that.

So then the question was…
"What to do while we wait?"
Before

Bright and early last Saturday morning, it came to me like a vision: Paint the library emerald green!  I excitedly announced the project to the family.  The in-house labor was tickled to learn that hardware stores are considered “essential,” so we could secure the paint and materials that very day!  No idle hands in this family!
Before

So, armed with gloves and anti-bacterial spray, off I went to buy Benjamin Moore “Very Green” paint in a high gloss finish along with my favorite trim color “Simply White” semi-gloss.  I knew this was all meant to be when I was also able to score some toilet paper – what a day!

That afternoon, we unloaded the many dusty books from the many dusty shelves.  In between sneezes, it dawned on me how smart we must all be to have this many books!

The next morning we primed the existing wallpaper so that the paint would go on smoothly.  I knew that it was risky to get a high-gloss finish, as it tends to enhance imperfections.  God knows in a 200+ year house we have our share of imperfections, but I was willing to risk it.



As the ladies primed the wallpaper, the gentlemen took the shelves outside to paint.  Funny how quickly things go when you have a team of seven! By the end of the day, everything had a first coat.  By Monday evening, the painting was finished, leaving Tuesday as the day to put the place back together.  I don’t know how many books and chachkies we dusted, organized, and purged– but it took a lot longer than expected.















Shameless plug:  my book.

We are all rather proud of ourselves!  The team feels however, they need a couple of days to recover before taking on Project #2.  Stay tuned for the Powder Room!


A couple of lessons learned:
  
1. I wish I had tinted the primer a darker color, as the white was difficult to cover.

       2. I wish we had done a better job covering the floor.  I know this is a JV mistake, but I must admit I can get impatient with the prep.  Fortunately, with a mixture of rubbing alcohol, lemon juice, and elbow grease from limber 15-year-old Annabel, (I am no longer good at the crouch), the paint came right up!

    3. As our grandmother always said, “many hands make light work.”  
She was right!

 *****

 Thanks so much, Sista! 

 Please show her some Sista love and leave a comment.  
That way, she'll agree to tell us all about her upcoming powder room update!

 Be well.

 Until next time...



In my next life, I want to come back as one of Sista's furbabies.

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Thursday, October 10, 2019

Designer Tables/ Heading Home for Dinner


Hello, dear friends. First of all, I want to say thank you to all the wonderful people who took the time to leave comments, wrote emails,  and messaged me after my last post.  I enjoyed hearing the MOB and MOG stories tremendously.  And you ladies know your mascara, too.  I ordered all that was recommended.  
Note to self:  be scarce when the Amex bill arrives.

How was your week?  The highlight of last week for me took place on Friday.  I headed to Boston and picked my buddy, Annie up along the way.   



We met Mary, the Queen of the Sudbury Sweethearts, and my new buddy, Dell, who I met at an author's luncheon on the Cape.  Incidentally, Dell is the one who contacted me about Heading Home to Dinner.  It is a dine by design event hosted by the Boston Design Community to raise funds for Heading Home which provides housing and aid to homeless families. 



I ran into a fellow blogger, Danielle, from Finding Silver Pennies.
She hosts one of my favorite link parties on Sundays.



I also had the pleasure of meeting another blogger, Linda Merrill, from Decorative Surroundings. You can read her blog post about the event here.



I loved all of the colors that were used on this table.  
Also, who wouldn't appreciate an unexpected gift at the dinner table.














My parents use to have a set of those glass plates.











Great cork placemats and color combo.



How sweet are those monkeys!



As you know, I have a lot of blue and white in my home.
I think that it's about time to incorporate a pop of orange.








Remember I told you last Summer that Dell's niece is author Marie Benedict?  Well, another niece of hers is Elizabeth Benedict who designed this table and is one of the founders of this fabulous event. 



Those plates make my heart go pitter-patter.


Do you ever use lemons to decorate?







Gorgeous centerpiece!










Another great color combo.











Great plates!














This is Shannon Gilmour, owner of Grace Interiors and the designer of this colorful table.


The event also featured decorated bar carts that were due to be auctioned off that evening.





This one was my fave!



I end with a funny story.  Before we got on the road, Annie wanted a cup of tea to warm her bones. So we stopped at a restaurant.  I ran to the ladies room and when I came back to the table, Annie whispered to me that the gentleman at the next table shot McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy. I thought she was crazy, he looked like a normal, successful businessman. I dared her to go over and ask him. 

 Sure enough, Annie was right. 
That episode aired in 2010! 
Michael O'Neill was so gracious.  He is off to Savannah in a few weeks to begin filming a new TV show that is along the same vein as This Is Us. Count me in.

I don't know what I was more impressed with - the charming actor or Annie's razor-sharp memory and star sighting skills!

 Have a great weekend!

Until next time...




This is Bailey, another friend that I made at the Design Center.
Between you and me, much better behaved than my two hooligans!

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