A New Season, and Another "Stage" in Life

'Tis the season....Spring, that is, when we have almost forgotten the ice storm last month (other than that tree in our lake), and the piles of limbs all over our property.  We are in line for the tree people to come and chop it up, take down damaged trees, and restore the serenity of our wooded lot on the lake (Canterbury).

Although, as I write this, buckets of rain are pouring down, with more rain for the next few days, I hold fast to the promise of flowers, budding trees, and sunshine.

 For those of you who are putting your home on the market, now is the best time....blooming trees aside, there are things that you can do now (even while it is raining) to prepare for opening your home to potential buyers.

As a designer, I often watch HGTV...I am astonished by how much some very modest (read small and ugly) homes are selling for in an undisclosed location.  We sold a home last Summer, and got what we wanted, but had that same home been where those were showing, we would have gotten so much more.  I am also shocked at the condition of the homes when  a Realtor shows it.  There are unmade beds, dishes in the sink, horrid, garish colors on the walls, dirty carpeting, cramped, out-dated kitchens, and untended shrubs and lawn outdoors; which is known as "curb appeal".

Now is the time to sort through each room, and have boxes ready...yard sales not only get rid of clutter, they bring in some extra money (which you can use for paint - the least expensive way to freshen a home).

People are often willing to look past the counter tops that aren't granite, but they cannot even see the counter tops (which are not damaged and are free of stains).

 You may not have rid your kitchen of the wallcovering (I suggest you do, but having done that in our previous home, I know how much time and effort it is...but, it will be worth it). But, at least clean up the counters, and arrange pretty vignettes...these are hiding ugly outlets - they are a necessity in a kitchen, but, especially, in an older home, they are just ugly.

 

Remember those kitchens done in the 80's that had the desk at the end of the cabinet, that actually was a repository for mail, keys, and just plain clutter? Try turning it into a place to show off a bit of silver (don't show your home without a Realtor present), and a tongue-in-cheek salute to Paris. 

In a perfect world, your kitchen would look like this. I designed this  kitchen (did the entire home from top-to-bottom) . This was a few years ago, but I was a bit ahead of my time, as the trend of all stainless steel appliances is shifting to appliances that are incorporated into the cabinetry.  The refridgerator is on the left, the dishwasher on the right. Not only are people tired of the finger prints all over stainless, they are enjoying the fact that it's a room, not a group of appliances.  I did stage this room, as well.  Just a simple trug, filled with fresh vegetables, or perhaps, fruit is enough for this kitchen.

 Six dollars worth of tulips in a fan vase can really bring an early Spring into your home.  If you don't have a fan vase, that's fine...any pretty vase will do.  These lasted a week, as changing the water daily will encourage freshness.

 When you get that call from your Realtor that they are showing your home, make sure you set up a pretty table.  (Never leave candles burning if you are not there...).  And, if you are not selling your home, but want to brighten your day on a gloomy, rainy day, use your "Spring" dishes (I have a large collection...it's a weakness) and table ware.  You can pick up inexpensive dishes, place mats, napkins, etc. a places like TJMaxx, Marshall's, and Target. 

About curb appeal, I was walking my trusty dog, Missy, and passed several homes with "for sale" signs in the yard.  Some had several, mismatched pieces of porch furniture, crowding one another...some had shrubs that hid the front of the home, and some just needed to have a few touches; such as some lovely, potted plants, a table or a freshly-painted front door.  Guess which ones will appeal to a buyer?

Now, it is time to end this and go back to my seed-starting for my vegetable and flower garden....Spring waits for no one.

It's Been A Long Time Coming....

I will not even try to challenge who has had the worst winter (Boston, you win), however, here on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, we get ice storms.  This last one was a doozy (I love that word).  Four days without power, winds that equaled an F1 tornado, and so many beautiful trees down or damaged.
So, what does this have to do with art and interiors, you ask...I am referring to the art of survival.  

  Thank goodness for our wood-burning stove in the lower level (which is also my office/studio/tv room/ and our cat, Winky's very own apartment).  She wasn't thrilled when our dog, Missy, my husband, my 93 year-old mother-in-law, and I moved in for the duration.  Oh, and thank goodness for my red, rubber boots (from Nordstrom's Rack Room).  They turned out to be a literal life saver.

Our dog, "Lil Missy", aka "Mistletoes" did not like the crashing limbs, the howling winds, and the trees falling over.   I didn't like sleeping on the sofa cushions on the floor.  But, we were relatively comfortable.  At least, at first.  I literally was crawling on my hands and knees, (my husband had a very bad sprained ankle, due to being pulled down on the icy driveway by Mistletoes) so, in order to bring in enough wood (there was a wood pile, covered with ice about thirty feet from the house.)  Our new neighbors were watching and just when they were going to try to come help me. (you have to understand I had a red tote, held onto it with a bungie cord, along with my red boots, my black jacket, black velvet (yes, velvet) pants, and my black hat with the conch shells on it, and red gloves....) when they saw my husband, hanging onto a post, and reaching out with his cane, which I grabbed, and he pulled me to the house. My neighbor said (later, after we had met them) ' You were a ice storm fashionista!"

 And this is the way we spent the next four days...I will spare you the part about the fire department having to saw trees that were blocking us in, and then, rescuing my mother-in-law, and carrying her down the hill to our house (we live on a lake, and it's a steep incline to our door). There are only four or five houses on our cul-de-sac, and two were empty...but, we did have an emergency regarding our neighbors, who are in their 80's and literally freezing and starving...but, we all pitched in and they were well taken care of.
The first night, I prepared chicken breasts in white wine (cooked on the top of the wood-burning stove, but by the fourth day, we were eating Progresso soup and glad to have it.
Other than survival mode, I did get an opportunity to hand-paint (with special oil paints) one of my black-and-white photos from years ago...

I am exhausted just reliving all that...which was just the first part of March...
Now, the forsythia is blooming, and the daffy dill are, as well.
All's well that ends well...Hello Spring!

     

Far From Spring, But Hope Blooms Eternal

It's cold!  The wood burning stove is working overtime....every time I open the door to toss in more wood, great billows of smoke come, well, billowing out.  I am permanently infused with the scent of wood smoke (not such a bad scent).

I really shouldn't complain - for up here on the Cumberland Plateau, we are getting "dustings", while the rest of my friends in the Northeast are getting "hammered".  Still, I am finding the way to cope with the ice and cold is to dream about our garden, which I can actually start in March.

Last year, I rented a garden space 40'x40', and was totally underprepared and overwhelmed. The space is one of many out by our stables...nestled in a valley where the Smokies loom in the background...not the Rockies, but a gentler range.

This was taken last autumn, which is the view from across the road from the gardens...Couldn't be more lovely.

 
  Sadly, I was the "Blanche DuBois" of the gardens...my rototiller was loaned and very old..the type that had to be started by pulling on a cord..which, of course, wouldn't start...So, kind gentlemen would start it for me...I would till a few rows, it would die, they would help...it just got to be silly.  I ended up with some very braze Zinnias, Glads, some peppers, tomatoes, and a billion weeds...Not that I am a novice gardener, for I did have a wonderful, 4,000 square-foot garden in Wisconsin....I just didn't have enough (read husband) help. 

This year, my friend, Caroline, who is a dynamo, is going to split the space with me...We are going to get a "big-girl" rototiller, and with the two of us, I do hope we can be much more successful.

 As I look out over our lake, watching the Canadian Geese float on the frigid waters, I dream of all the wonderful vegetables, herbs and flowers we will plant....

Actually, I have never posted an image that wasn't photographed by me, but I do so love vintage seed packets...

One of my favorites I grew in Wisconsin were Sweet Peas...Of course, our growing season was much shorter there (but the soil was so rich)...Here, we can actually start planting in March!  I make teepees, and tie the vines up...The fragrance of a bunch of sweet peas is wonderful...

These are "Dwarf Naturtiums", but I love the large ones...They are wonderful in salads, with a peppery flavor, and are just beautiful!

This was our garden in Wisconsin...the flowers up front, the herbs, and then, all the vegetables..

Oh, I miss pulling a warm tomato off the vine, and taking a bite...(I don't use pesticides)... can't wait to plant Cherokee Tomatoes, which legend has it that the seeds were dropped along the "Trail of Tears" (actually, the Cherokee called it the "Trail Where We Cried")...

Caroline and I sat at her kitchen table last week, sleet pounding the windows, and made a list; basil, peppers, zukes, dill, sunflowers, and all things that make a salad - 

 I cannot wait to have a cutting garden once again!

   For now, I will gaze at the images, and hope that those of you, who just came in from plowing the driveway for the tenth time today, or shoveling the snow off the roof, will enjoy dreaming oa a time when the gardens will bloom once more!

 And yes, these photos are all from my garden...and, please and thank you, ask for permission to use them...

 

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlepeople

The Holidays are upon us, and I've been doing floor cloths...no time for a big tree, but have "done up" the house for the holidays.

My 93 year-old mother-in-law insisted we move into her home of 30 years, and she find a smaller home (3/10ths of a mile away..no stairs) nearby.  She eats dinner with us most evenings, and she's enjoying not having the upkeep on a larger home..we have much to do, but I always loved her red doors....the wreaths were hers, but I added a bit of "us" to them.

 I found these wonderful "Dickensien" bookends at an estate sale (I painted the carafes with Pebeo, French paints.

Dear, Sweet Aunt Lillian left us a Dickens bowl and platter...I put these two to work...

Due to technical difficulties, our "Heat & Glo" fireplace was doing neither (up until today..hooray), but, the mantle was glowing, so that was good.

Didn't do the big tree this year, but the white, tinsel one is reflected nicely in the mirror in the dining room.

  I did this painting of "Shadow" when we lived in Texas...I miss my dear deer.

It is all about light this time of the year...I wish for you light in your hearts, your homes, and that the light of peace (please Lord) shine down in the darkest places on Earth.

 Our "rescue" dog, "Lil Missy" (we call her "Mistletoes) agrees...actually, she rescued us...from a time when we came home, and this sweet face wasn't looking out the window, welcoming us.
God Bless

Making Floor Cloths -How I Spent the Last Two Months (besides moving twice)

 

From that - to this....

 

In case you've been wondering where I've been hiding (or not), I'll fill you in....
We sold our Canterbury home, and moved into my mother-in-law's home (she's 93), found her a house a mile-and-a-half away (she cannot do stairs anymore), and moved her...gah...but, that's done, and we are almost finished digging out.
It was August, when a couple commissioned me to create four floor cloths.  For those of you who do not know what they are, they are canvas rugs...that one paints, and then, seals, and then walks on and enjoys for years.

   This is a compilation photo of some of the floor cloths I have done in the past...certainly, not all, but some...Can you tell I was living in Texas at the time?  We had stained concrete floors, which are ideal...You can put floor cloths on a hard surface...no carpet..or else it will not work...Porches, kitchens, (I don't recommend them for bathrooms - I am concerned that wet feet will slide and fall) Powder rooms work well.  Also, table runners, and placemats (I put felt under them).
Soooooooooo, the photo at the top was the first step in the floor cloth - I drew it to scale, and approximated the colors, so my clients could review and revise.  This is the largest floor cloth I have done - 3ft. X 13ft.  again, Gah.

  It took some creativity and desperation to figure out how to create a work table long enough to accomodate this very, very long floor cloth...you see before you: a deck glass table, two bridge tables, and a smaller, round plastic table (later replaced with a short bookcase).  Getting them all the same height was a trick...I had one sheet of Masonite, (4x8) and purchased another (at Lowes) that was 4x6)...getting it home in a Toyota was interesting....I even had incorporated my husband's grandmother's baking board...then, taped the seams....

 I found a wonderful resource on line...,https://canvasworksfloorcloths.com .  which is in Vermont...Lisa, the artist and owner, has quite a set up...a building dedicated to working on large-scale floor cloths...and they are huge...She also sells canvas....good canvas...expensive, but worth it canvas.  I used to go to Hobby Lobby, and buy a roll of canvas...not the best thing, but all I could find at the time...Canvas comes in various weights; the higher the number, the lighter the weight...the lower the number..the heavier the weight (well, sure)...I ordered number 4, which is the heaviest, as this floor cloth runner is going on a four-season porch, and will be used heavily.  Lisa cut the canvas, hemmed and mitered the corners, (did I mention pre-shrunk it) and put a primer of gesso on it.  For this, she charges $10 a square foot.  It sounds expensive, but I couldn't have found the canvas and done all that with my limited space and, let's face it...I'm in my 60's, don't have a sail maker's sewing machine, etc...well worth it...baby.

Shipped in a roll, it needs to be rolled out, a pressing cloth put over it, and steam ironed until all, and I do mean ALL the wrinkles are out...very difficult job, but, the prep is what makes all the difference.

 
My client's were concerned about colors..as my drawing was quite a bit brighter than the colors we chose (I am an interior designer, and I have the Sherwin Williams "big girl" paint specifier, which has large samples, as opposed to the little blocks on the fan)...As we selected the colors, I put them in an envelope and took them to the Sherwin William's paint store...I used Resilience, (Exceptional Resistance to Moisture) Exterior Acrylic Latex (flat) paint.  Yep, house paint.  I used to use interior, but Lisa clued me in to this product - Thank you, Lisa.

After pressing - and pressing - and pressing, I applied two coats of the base coat. Then, I painted the border...and let me tell you...not fun.  With such a heavy canvas, one cannot use blue tape (or green frog tape), as it will, (I promise you) bleed under.  So, I drew my border by hand and painted it by hand, placing a large index card under the edge as I went along, to prevent smearing...This was probably the next hardest thing...I used a cutting-in paint brush, and meditation - as in "be the line"...a steady hand and concentration are required...Oh, and a very important something I just realized I left out...I flipped the cloth over, and painted the hem- that's where I used the card, so it didn't color the rest of the cloth...Gah again ....THEN, with help from my husband, I flipped it back over....IT IS IMPORTANT (SHOUTING HERE) NEVER, NEVER FOLD A FLOOR CLOTH) always roll it...In fact, I went to Lowes (or Home Depot or whatever), and bought the largest in diameter piece of PVC pipe (had the nice man cut it into three lengths) so that I can roll the finished cloth around it, to keep it from caving in on itself when transporting it.

Are you drooling out of the corner of your mouth yet?  There's much more to do, so wipe it off and pay attention, if you ever want to do this for yourself.  (I mean that in the nicest possible way).  I painted the border using the house paint, but I used Mattisse acrylic paint - (got it at Jerry's on line) for some of the dragon fly colors...it's called "structure" for a reason..it's thick and needs a medium to thin it...you don't want it too thick or too thin.  I used Matisse Acrylic Painting Medium (Thin Viscosity Binder)...water doesn't thin it well..it loses it's "punch", for lack of a better word...It's made in Australia, by the way.
 As you can see in the last photo, I drew my pattern for my dragon fly...I have a thing for them...I drew it on regular drawing paper, then I bought a roll of transfer paper (again, Jerry's)..it's expensive - $13 a roll, but worth it...it comes in white, blue, red and I believe, yellow...I chose blue..It comes in a roll similar to wax paper, etc...used sparingly, it will last through several transfers...I found that I needed to place my pattern over it, but slip a piece of paper between where my hand was resting so as to keep it from smudging..if it does, don't panic..use a white eraser or touch it up with the base coat...Hey, I never said this was easy, which is why people commission them...that said, small ones aren't such a challenge.

 I chose to keep the dragon fly not too large, so it wouldn't be "the dragon fly that ate the porch"...It's about thirteen inches across and 18 inches from head to it's pincers...Yes, Virginia, dragonflies have pincers.

 You don't have to be compulsive to do a detailed cloth like this, but it helps, as each dragon fly took about an hour-and-a-half to transfer and to paint.  I laid them out as close to the pattern as I could, but realized it was going to take a lot more dragonflies, hours, and money for supplies than I orginally thought...but, after all this, one cannot cut corners...

 After painting in all the "main" dragonflies, I decided it needed to have a few "partials"...I had to be careful not to transfer onto the border, but could touch up if I did.
Next...yes, there's more; there's sealing the piece.  I used to use plain non-yellowing acrylic urethane, but was warned off it by Lisa, who said they have changed the formula, and it will crack in time...can't have that after all this!
What to use..well, she sells it by the quart, and it's very expensive...I promised to buy more floor cloth blanks if she would reveal what she uses...(I did buy a quart of it from her, but that only did about one and a half coats...It is Sherwin Williams Sher Clear semi gloss clear marine urethane..and I had my local dealer find it for me..it's what they put on the bottem of boats, and is industrial strength...but, (wait for it)..it's $101 a gallon...gah, gah, and whoa...but, I hope it's here by tomorrow, because the weather has turned cold, and it has to be applied in warmer temps...it takes about three to five coats, and needs to dry between coats..it's low voc, oderless, and I was assured that even though it starts out pretty glossy, it matts down well.
To keep your cloth from sliding...you can buy this "stuff" called Mounting Putty
 from Walmart or on line, that is similar to putty, that kid's use to stick posters on walls...I haven't gotten that far, but will let you know the "real name" of it. Roll out a pea-sized piece - stick it under the corners and press it onto the floor.  It will not harm the floor.

Care for your floor cloth is minimal..just wipe it with a damp cloth and dry it...perhaps, every four or five years, a coat of the urethane can be applied...You need to let it cure for at least 5 to 7 days before walking on it...

So, good luck....I have three more to do, but they are much smaller.  Lisa had a great suggestion...a ping pong table makes an ideal table, as it folds up...anyone have one they aren't using?