TRICKS OF THE TRADE

MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE......THE ULTIMATE "STAGING" !!!!

Two of my fondest memories growing up were "shopping" adventures with my Dad. The time frame started in the Fall of 1951 and went through to the next year.

The first was looking at homes, new and used. My parents were planning to move to a home closer to our church and school.

We had so much fun touring homes. Dad would comment on the way the sellers would arrange the furniture to make the room look bigger .....and then point out that there wasn't a chance of anyone ever opening the closet door!! If we found one we liked he would then take my Mom to check it out. Boy, did I feel important being such a help to my Dad!!!! In reality, my Mom was ill and Dad had to do the looking without her. I was taken to be a companion to Dad, but mostly to get me out of the house!!! One thing I particular remember is the aroma of the new concrete in the basements!!! It's funny how certain "smells" can live with you forever!

When my parents finally chose the home ..... I was thrilled. I loved the house. My favorite feature was the living room ceiling and fireplace wall. The ceiling was a Cathedral style with a corrugated board/wood between heavy wood beams. I have never seen this product since. It was also on the entire fireplace wall with built-ins on either side of the fireplace. This product was faux painted in a vertical design in different shades of blue. VERY MID-CENTURY!!!! I can't believe that my "new" home was what is considered today as Mid-Century.....along with all the furnishings!!!

My second fond memory was the shopping for the furniture that would be put into our new home. Again, Dad and I did the ground work. I really enjoyed searching for the perfect sofa, chairs, tables and lamps we thought Mom would like. They were all the latest thing.....Danish Modern!!!

A few weeks after we moved in, the Builder asked my parents if a photography firm could take some "shots" he needed for an advertising brochure. The day the photographers showed had to be the most thrilling day of my life !!!! I was in awe the entire time!!!! I was positive they chose our home because of the furniture I picked out!!!!What I observed that day has never left my mind!! The photographers proceeded to move everything around. Totally impractical arrangements, but we were told, needed to get the "look"!!! A chair would be in a shot at one side of the room, and then moved to reappear in another area. THE SAME CHAIR!!!! STAGING, YES!!!!

OK.......Memory Lane Finished!..... It's now 2011!

For years I have subscribed to numerous "Shelter" magazines.....AKA "Decorating" magazines!!! I have found over and over again the same "trick" used by the photographers back in 1952!!!! It drives me nuts!!! A room looks fabulous and the accessories are perfect. Flip the page and we see the room from a different angle. And what do I see.....A piece that is in one place in the first shot, is in a different position or entirely gone in the second!!!! It's done over and over!!!

I want to show you a perfect example. These pictures are taken from one of my favorite magazines, Atlanta Home and Lifestyles. This room is a spread featuring an Interior designer's own home in Buckhead. See if you can find the "Staging" !!!

This shot is featuring the Designer's desk and accessories.

Same room, featuring the sofa angle, but notice ......different chair pulled close to coffee table. The chair in the first picture is gone!

NOW, I AM GOING TO STAGE A ROOM IN THE BUCKET LIST HOUSE ........

PERFECT DINING ROOM WITH MATCHING HOST CHAIRS
(SHOWING DIFFERENT ANGLES)

ACTUAL DINING ROOM IN THE BUCKET LIST HOUSE

One Host Chair placed in corner until needed for use

We are still experiencing extreme heat, so MC is still on vacation!!! Hope to have some new projects in the works soon......keep checking your mail for UPDATES FROM THE BUCKET LIST HOUSE

HOW HOT IS IT ????

WE WILL KNOW NOW !!!!!

MC has been back to work.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned hanging a "Piece" on the wall in our new Terrace.

I found just the right idea in one of my numerous magazines. MC went for the idea ... It's perfect!





Notice.....the flowers are gone. Thanks to the deer !!!
Boxwoods work! ...plus they live through the seasons .

... COLOR will be added to our wonderful new "Outside Room" when we get the seat cushions......

MC's new project is on the drawing board as I write.................

ERICA & ADAM'S DOLL HOUSE

Well, it's been a full 6 months since we moved into our very first house! Adam and I have been married for 2 years now, and we have lived in 2 places together... hmmm... so far we are on track with Grandma and Grandpa! Hahaha!

When we were looking for houses, we knew we wanted our home to be a home for many years. Therefore, we needed it to be large enough to grow into, but also something we can afford at our current salaries. We BOTH knew this was the house from the first few moments inside! Not only were the colors charming and fun, but the condition of the house was clean and surprisingly great for the age of the home (built 1985, as old as me!). The price, in the end, was also about 50K less than what we could technically afford, so a fabulous deal for us! Upon moving in, there were a few main projects that popped out as PRIORITIES:

The SHUTTERS and DOORS
and
The DECK and BACKYARD
and
The DINING ROOM


Let's start with the front of the house, the SHUTTERS and DOORS, which actually is the last project completed thus far! From the very first look, I really hated the burnt burgundy color used on the shutters and doors. It seemed so DULL compared to most of the colors inside of the house, plus, it just wasn't our taste! We ended up purchasing the paint and the stain for the deck within the first couple of weeks after moving in, so when we were finally ready to paint, we were ready! I really LOVE the result and think the blue is a wonderful happy pop for the front of our home... WELCOME!




The very first project we (and by we, I mean, mostly Adam!) tackled was the DECK and BACKYARD. We began with that because it was very necessary! After raking up 50+ bags of leaves, we saw that the deck was in desperate need of major help. The deck seemed to be original to the house, and not very well maintained. We thought we could just sand it and re-stain it, but when Adam started , the boards were splintering and almost peeling... so, with one wedge of a crowbar, and a little frustration, the first board was thrown into the yard. Adam had never really built anything before... but, with a little help from our wonderful new neighbor, one board at a time, he re-built the deck! He worked for several weeks, pretty much every weekend and every weeknight, often in the rain... it became a mini obsession! But the results are amazing! Once the deck was functional and almost done, we began thinking of how to EXTEND the space so we can seat at least four people at an outdoor eating area. The size of the deck just wouldn't fit a four person table, so we found a cute two-seater bar-height table and a chimnea (for a lovely fire on a brisk night). We enjoyed that together and brainstormed the thought of a patio space. At that moment, the project grew! One truckload and 4 card loads of concrete stones, one truckload of dirt, a pallet of sod, gravel, paver stones, a diamond blade in our neighbor's magic saw, lots of dirt pounding, and golly knows a bunch of sweat later... our patio emerged! Accompanying the new deck, the patio, complete with a fire pit and a cute round patio space for a cute table, was ready and we were enjoying our new outdoor space in a matter of about 4 months! I am so proud of what Adam accomplished and I am still a little in awe of how he was able to do it! And I bet you are wondering, what the heck was I doing? Well... I helped stain the deck (sheepish smile)... and supplied moral support and cold beverages! And a small comment on the blue color of the deck... We imagined blue color scheme to bring in the blue from the shutters. Honestly, it seemed a little weird at first when we started staining (kind of a "whuh oh, what have we done!?" moment), but once all finished, we have grown to love it. It's different, but so are we!





Ok, so before you think Adam did everything... Me, myself and I redid the DINING ROOM! I HATED the dull green of the dining room. Certainly not keeping with the fun bright colors in the rest of the house, so, I took a bit of color from the light fixture and VOILA! Lovely! Then, I hand cut and liquid nailed each little box to the wall under the chair rail to add a little bit of a formal feel to balance out the fun of the color. I think they turned out near perfectly! I also used some silk taffeta I've been saving for years to make the curtains. My mom and I found the fabric for the seats on the chairs and a little bit of GOLD spray paint later (inspired by the Master Blogger herself!) the dining room made me happy!



And finally, a few update photos from the first visit from Grandma and Grandpa several months ago. The bed frame in our bedroom has been painted white and new bedding from TheCompanyStore.com makes the room much brighter. New pillows and shelves in the living room and we painted the chair rail white in the kitchen. Nothing earth shattering, just little stuff!



SHEWWW! We are tired! We've learned a lot from these projects, but mainly this one lesson seems to stick out: Come up with a figure of how much you THINK the project will cost, and then TRIPLE it! Estimate how many trips to the hardware store you will make, and then, TRIPLE it!

NEXT:
Knobs on the cabinets in the kitchen
Furniture for the guest bedroom upstairs
and...
The Man Cave SHED!

But for now, we are enjoying the summer and taking a BREAK from house stuff!

Love,
Erica, Adam and Pete Kitty

HUMPHREY

WHO'S HUMPHREY ?????

Patti, our daughter, has a wonderful "relationship" with nature!!!! Last year she discovered a Humming Bird hovering around her kitchen window. After some "GOOGLE" research, she learned that she could buy a special feeder and the little fellow would return and return!!! To her amazement her new friend returned several times a day!!!

This year she noticed what she thought was a different bird. This one had a red ring around his neck. She soon learned that Hummingbirds develop a red neck ring as they age!! So her little friend returned........and he brought his buddy, or baby, with him!! The second bird has yet to grow his red ring! Of course, Patti, has bought a second feeder!!

When we returned from our vacation, I happened to notice a Hummingbird flying around the back of our house.....Well .....you know I had MC at Lowes buying our feeder that day!!!

We put the feeder on the Terrace, but he would fly in and leave. Something scared him. A couple of days ago, MC moved the feeder to the kitchen window and he has been having all his meals with us since!!!

THE FEEDER

We have noticed that all feeders have the same "Target" mouth
and all the liquids are red !!!
The birds know exactly where to go
AMAZING

It has actually taken a week to capture these pictures. Humphrey would fly around, we would go grab the camera, and by the time we were ready to "shoot" ....he was long gone.

Oh, but we got SMART!!! For two days we have had the camera on the table, ready to go!!!! He showed up for breakfast! MC aimed.....and the camera's battery was dead!!!

The battery has been charging all day......

Jackpot. He showed up for dinner!!!!!!!

MEET HUMPHREY

VERY IMPORT MATTERS......

THE NAMING OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD......

POD 35
our present sign

Now....sometimes this Blog is actually about "DESIGN" ....and sometimes it's about "FAMILY" !!!!..

THIS POST IS A FIRST!!!!

As most of you know, we live in a DelWebb Community for Active Adults!!! Yes...we are active!

Our particular community is very new and the divisions of homes are laid out in neighborhoods called, "PODS" with a number.

The reason for designating the different areas by Pod #'s is so that the City and County can identify them for whatever reasons they need to do this type of thing!!!!

So.....As the first homeowners moved into their neighborhoods there were huge red and white temporary signs with numbers at their entrances. As people moved in...they identified each other by their "Pod" #......Not too exciting or visually attractive! We became...... POD PEOPLE!!!!

The area has grown and now Pulte, the co-developer with DelWebb, is naming each new section by REAL names!!!!! (leaving the number designation to the legal description) Recently we have Madeira, Lantana and one coming up which will be Edelweiss.

Pulte has asked that each neighborhood come up with a name for themselves. (They don't want to get "into" disputes....smart!). They laid out guidelines and each "Pod" was told to have a name submitted by July 15th. Each one of us was given a "letter" that our name was to start. We were given the letter "D". The name also HAD TO BE A BOTANICAL WORD!!! We each have to submit three (3) names to the HOA who will make the final decision!!! Yes, they still have control!!!!

MC is our Neighborhood "Captain" or what was previously called "Pod Captain". We decided to make it fun and have everyone submit names and join us tonight at our home for the semi-finals. We would choose the top 6 names and submit them for everyone to pick their top 3. We had a ball!!!!! A good number showed to our gathering and we did our DUTY!!!

NEIGHBORS GETTING READY FOR THE BIG VOTE!!!

MC GOING OVER EACH "ENTRY"

THE VOTING

We ran a very legit voting procedure. We had a quorum, which gave us the right to precede with a vote!. We had "Secret" ballots and one of our homeowners volunteered to "watch" MC do the count!

THE COUNT

From the 40+ names we received, it only took one vote to arrive at the TOP 6

Now those six choices have been emailed to the entire Pod....we will wait and see which will be the Top 3!!!!

The top Six are:

Dolcetta.......................wine grape
Doral...........................wine grape
Davidia........................Tree
Debina'.........................wine grape
Dianthus......................flower
Daphne........................flower


WE JUST CAN'T WAIT FOR THE RESULTS...................