Dinner with friends at Mez

Last night we met a group of friends at Mez in Morrisville, NC.  It's a great place!



Love the exterior, but the interior is even more beautifully done.  Only have this picture from Hub's phone, but it gives you an idea:

Great lighting, fabulous artwork, beautiful paint colors--and the food is wonderful.  It's upscale Mexican--I had the spinach enchiladas with red rice and black beans and it was amazing.  Shows how easy it can be to eat vegetarian, that's for sure.  We were a very noisy table because one couple was visiting from Charlottesville and we had a lot of catching up to do and we all make each other laugh--a lot.  Great fun.

Ciao,
Anne

6 Ways to Bring Spring into Your Home

Tra la la la.  We made it through another winter!  While I'm not quite in the mood for a summery, hot weather decor, I definitely want all signs of winter banished from my delicate eyes.  Here's what I'm doing right now:

1.  Clean and edit.  I know, it's a bummer.  There's no getting around the fact that a good spring cleaning does wonders for your home.  Put stuff away, polish everything up. There, we got through that together and now can move on.

Here I am, in my lace apron (as if).

2. Walk through every room and remove the nubby red throw, the jewel toned accent pillows, the big bowl of pine cones, the puffy comforter, etc.  Send them off to the cleaner or store them away in a closet.  Replace them with a lighter throw (in weight and color) and accent pillows in some fresh, lively shades.  Fill the bowl with river rocks or sea shells and put a thinner coverlet on the bed.

F. Schumacher fabrics
A fresh color scheme to consider.

 F. Schumacher fabrics and a Room and Board pillow

Here's a quieter palette, but still light and lively.

3.  Replace some of the artwork on the walls and shelves.  This really makes a nice change for me.  Rotating your artwork, or family photos, means that you're really going to notice them, not just walk by them day after day.  The beautiful still life painting that's been sitting on our mantel gets changed out for 3 big, matted frames featuring photos I took at the nearby lake.  Super cheap and easy.

(from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, not mine)

Replace this...

With something like this.

4. Add some fresh sparkle--have you got an old mirror stowed away somewhere?  Find a new place for it.  How about someplace offbeat, like over a doorway, as if it were a transom?  How about at the end of a hallway? Just remember to look at what it's reflecting.  A mirror reflecting a window is fab, but it can reflect artwork hanging on the opposite wall or a pretty tablescape on a console or anything else that you like to look at.  Don't let it reflect the kitchen!  If you don't want to use a mirror, think about any metallic object.  Sparkly candlesticks or a shiny picture frame can do the trick.

Sparkle Plenty  (at Pottery Barn)

5.  Flowers!  I'm seeing lots of very inexpensive pots of flowers, even at the grocery store.  I think some of them are meant to plop right into your outdoor planters, but we still have a chance of frost.  I'm putting a pot of posies into a container on the kitchen island for a week or two, before sending them outside.  The same could be done with those yummy herbs they've got at the big home improvment stores.  A little group of them in a basket right now, next to the bathroom sink.  So nice.

My little flowers from the Teeter (grocery store).

6.  Fresh dish towels.  I said it before, I love beautiful dish towels.  Spring is a great occasion to buy a couple. 

French Connections in Pittsboro.  

1 or 2 will do! 

Ciao,

Anne

Find of the week--an artist across the street

Diana Porter lives directly across the street from our house in Raleigh.  I know her--she's a great neighbor and the loving mother of two tiny, adorable children.  I knew that she was employed as a teacher before having children, so in my head her label read "teacher."

Then I discovered another label for Diana--artist. She has beautiful paintings scattered about her house; many of them lovely landscapes (my favorite paintings always seem to be landscapes), some with water views (even better). I almost fell on the floor when I learned that she had done them all. It's so much fun when you learn about another layer of a person you thought you knew.  Diana Porter is an artist!  Here's one of her landscapes:

Diana Porter

This landscape is 9x12 inches. It is a painting of the view from West Lake Road in Skaneateles New York.  Pastel on pastel paper. Oh, this would be so pretty in a frame on your wall.  Every time you pass by and glance at it, your blood pressure will drop a bit.  Paintings begin at $200, depending on whether it's framed.  Diana also works in acrylics.

And another

Diana Porter

Diana also makes jewelry, like this beaded cuff in gorgeous colors:

Diana Porter

One more--she makes wonderful door signs.  This one is for a child and only costs $25:

Diana Porter

Something for everyone.  If you click on her name, Diana Porter, it will take you to her website.  Very bare bones, but it gives you contact info.  It's exciting to know that she's an artist.  Now when I look across the street at night and see the light on in one of the rooms upstairs, I know that she's painting yet another beautiful scene while her children sleep.

Ciao,

Anne

Fads and finishes that I need a break from

I like fads--they're fun, fresh and often inexpensive ways to brighten up a room temporarily. Notice I said "temporarily." Fads have a shelf life and it can be hard to tell when the expiration date has come and gone. It's the new year; a great time to take a hard look around the room to see what fads you've participated in and decide if perhaps they've done their job and need to be removed. You don't have to throw anything away. Old fads can definitely be repurposed at a later date.

1. "Keep calm and carry on." Nice little slogan that one. Inspirational, catchy. Done to death. So if you haven't already bought a pillow, framed print, apron, tray, card or T shirt with this emblazoned on it by now, I suggest you write it on a Post-It, stick it on your bulletin board and move on. I swear every magazine in the past year has featured at least one room with this on the wall. Enough!

2. Fake plants of any kind. Still have faux greenery on top of your kitchen cabinets? Please take it down today. You'll feel better (after you faint at the sight of all the dust that's on every leaf), or at least you'll breathe better. If you want one or two small, discreet little fake plants in your house, tuck them in a corner or some small place, don't make them the star. They don't have star power.  Try some real plants in your home(but probably not over the cabinets). A peace lily is very easy to grow. It just needs light, not sun. There are lots of options actually like that one. And you don't have to water most of them very often. In fact, a nurseryman recently told me that overwatering is the leading cause of death in houseplants. He says a little neglect works just fine.

3. Old furniture painted white. There are other colors out there that can spiff up an old ratty bureau or cool retro end table besides bright white! First of all, please think hard before you cover up the old wood finish. Sometimes just cleaning the piece up with a mild solvent and changing out the knobs or pulls can resolve the aesthetic issues. But if it needs to be painted, or you just want a painted finish, consider some other lovely colors. Great neutrals include creams and grays and my favorite finish is still a soft gloss. I think flatter finishes look cheaper. Poppin' fresh colors like reds, blues, greens, etc. are always welcome. Maine Cottage sells spray paint in great hues.  But let's give bright white a little rest.

4. Satin nickel finishes. While I like satin nickel finishes, it's becoming the brass of our time. The bronzes and black are just so pretty, warm and easy to maintain. My friend and fellow designer, Christine, just built a house with black doorknobs on all interior doors. It's fabulous. Really, really fabulous. Remember you can mix your metals now--that old style of all brass or nickel throughout the house is long dead.

5. Shiny granite. I love granite countertops, but dare I say that we've polished enough of it? I'd like to see more honed finishes on granite. It's soft and warm and doesn't cast a glare when the lights are on. Mixing polished finishes with honed ones is a nice look.



No offense to the talented artist, just to the mass marketing

6. Mass produced artwork. I'm talking the super duper mass produced stuff. There's so much great art in the world; tons of original artwork, lots of things you can do yourself, and lovely prints, giclees, etc. by both known and lesser known artists at every imaginable price point. Why would anyone choose to put the same picture on their walls that they see at the dentists office, their friend's home and anywhere else they might look? Once in a while I'll see a great piece of art (not original, but beautifully done and framed) at a big box store. But it never fails that a few months later, the same piece will suddenly show up at yet another big box, then another, then I'll see it in the catalogs. I've learned to step away!

I know, I'm opinionated and bossy.  I hope I haven't offended anyone.  Just think about trying something new with your future purchases.  Nothing shown here is ugly or tacky.  Just maybe overused and could use a break.  Trust me, it will all be back in time!

Ciao,
Anne