How do you decorate?

I have received several emails from friends recently asking me about design tips and just how to start decorating a room. Let me preface this by stating that I have no professional experience and am just starting training...I am a novice that stumbles upon beautiful combinations of things in a deliberate and instinctual manner. I was an art minor in college so the color aspect of design & decor is definitely a skill learned in my many painting classes spent mixing and turning paint brown by mixing just too much. But in my opinion--you learn best when you fail at something. I don't have the personality that allows me to accept failure so if my mind is set on creating or finding the perfect green, I will do it! Much of the following starter tips have come from my recent basic education on decor & design. So how do you begin to decorate? We'll start with three...

1. Create an inspiration book. Begin tearing out of magazines, ads, catalogs, newspapers-anything that has to do with the home or color combinations you love. Either file it in one location or compile it in a book for reference. You will watch your taste develop and clear color preferences emerge-I promise! Below you will find a short video of my work in progress-my favorite spaces & notes from the classes I have taken.



2. Lets talk about style. One of my design teachers introduced me to an interesting way of thinking about style. She didn't like the categories like modern, traditional, Tuscan, french country etc. Instead, she used two categories to define a style and two categories to define a substyle:

YOUR STYLE:

Bold or Subdued?

Warm or Cool?

Some help:

Bold vs. Subdued

*bold can be used to describe patterns or color. Do you have a monotone room with one red pillow? That would be bold. Do you have a home full of neutrals with no standout patterns? That would be subdued.

Warm vs. Cool

*warm colors are those like red, orange, yellow; cool colors are those like blue, green, purple. However, every single color has a warm or cool version, so the aforementioned rule is general. Your home likely is one or the other already...

YOUR SUBSTYLE:

Thick or Thin?
Simple or Complex?

Some help:

Thick vs. Thin

*note the width of the furniture. Do you prefer thicker furniture or thinner furniture?

Simple vs. Complex

*Notice the amount of stuff in each room. Do you like to have a lot of "things" out on display or do you like to have very little in view?

Once you have determined what your style & substyle are, be sure that anything that you buy to add to your home fits into those categories. That way, you know you are building a visually cohesive environment. You may even want to keep a checklist with your four words on it in your wallet and pull it out every time you go to buy something. If you follow those styles, you will never bring something home that doesn't "go." (And just for reference on my site, my style is Subdued, Warm, Thick & Complex)

3. If you are beginning with just one room, find one thing and base the design of the entire room off one inspirational object. Surely you've seen this on design shows! Find one pattern and let everything grow from that one base. Problems most often occur when you have too many things you LOVE and you try to coordinate too much. Keep it simple and it will be easy!

Coming soon...the 10 commandments of good design...

Giving thanks.

I am taking a moment to just stop and realize how fortunate I have been. I am so thankful for the people in my life and the opportunities I have had.

I found myself reading an article on CNN Money about Young Doctors in Debt and have to use this time to be thankful. The Air Force has allowed my husband to attend a school that has a yearly tuition rate of over $40,000. This figure does not include books[roughly $1,000/semester], exams[about $1,000 per exam], supplies[stethescope etc.] or room & board. While I often find myself thinking how much it sucks that he only gets a tiny little stipend, we are afforded a very comfortable life free of the debt most physicians incur. My husband says he enjoys living on wife support. :)

I encourage you to read the article above and really put into perspective how hard your own physicians work and how much they pay to do the job they do. You might just have a different opinion the next time you head to see the doctor. They deserve every penny they earn for all the debt, 100 hour work weeks and time away from their own families.

Thanksgiving Baking

Though I wasn't hosting this year, I had to participate in the Thanksgiving day cooking by preparing the dessert for the big feast! At the request of our host, I prepared my Pumpkin Cheesecake (which I was told was even better than the Cheesecake Factory's version--complement taken!!) Tommy also requested something minty & chocolatey...so here's what I did...

My Pumpkin Cheesecake (I am pretty sure this is my recipe) Before:

And After! We noticed a bunch of scratches on the surface while we were cleaning up, and then I caught Isabella in action! As long as she liked it...I don't care what it looks like! (notice she is choosing to fore go her nicely plated piece for finger food)

At Tommy's request I tried the Mint Brownies from Epicurious. They received a lot of good reviews, but I thought they were just OK. I am not a huge fan of chocolate though, so that might be why. Tommy said they are good enough to make again...Nick thought the filling tasted like Andes Mints.

They are triple layered: homemade brownie, mint, chocolate topping. The best part of the whole thing was each layer required thorough "chilling" and I just set them out on the deck in the 18 degree weather--they were chilled in a snap!

Gifting...

I LOVE to bake. I dont do it very often because neither I nor my husband usually eat what I make more out of strict nutrition than anything. We are, to put it mildly, very careful about making sure we eat healthy. I always give myself one portion of whatever I make and give the rest away.

I have been a fan of Alexis Stewart, Martha's daughter ever since I began listening to her talk show on Martha's radio station, Sirius 112. Alexis really is the one who inspired my blog since hers is absoultely amazing. Her blog (you can find Alexis's Blog here) is jam packed with great info about baking and cooking and little tidbits about her life. Alexis has inspired me to begin putting more thought into my baking gifts, as she claims that the goodies inside only taste as good as they look on the outside. So...I went and grabbed some of her mom's line to package my recent baking gifts. Martha has a great line of stuff at Michaels and there are also a lot of really great packaging materials at Nashville Wraps, a company my sister in law turned me onto a couple of years ago.

Adding the pumpkin to make my mom's famous Pumpkin Cake. I made sure to make it in my fall Nordicware pan, complete with pumpkins!

Packaged for the girls! My "good luck on your residency interviews" gift.

See the pumpkins!

From the Kitchen of Shawna...someday I will have my own personalized tags.

Amazing Pecan Coffee Cake

I made this for brunch with the girls this weekend and it was a hit! I made a couple alterations to the recipe so check the note at the bottom.

Amazing Pecan Coffee Cake

Allrecipes.com, Rated: 5 out of 5 by 153 members
Prep Time: 20 Minutes (took me 40)

Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 50 Minutes

Yields: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
DIRECTIONS:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9x13 inch pan with aluminum foil, and lightly grease with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2.In a large bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sour cream, then beat in sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. By hand, fold in the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Spread batter into prepared pan.

3.To make the Pecan Topping: In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over cake batter in pan.

4.Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack, and remove foil.

*I used a bundt pan and added half of the batter, then the topping, then the rest of the batter. I baked for a total of 1 hr. Dusted with powdered sugar.

So out of control...

At this point in my life, things are seemingly so out of my control. Due to my husband's upcoming match to a residency in general surgery, my time in this city will shortly come to an end and I have no say in where we are going next. I am not much of a control freak, well, I guess that is not entirely true. I am a perfectionist by nature, so I like to have a firm grasp on my life, but I am not a control freak beyond myself and how I operate. I am trying to take this whole adventure in stride, I really am. But with our financial future so up in the air, and having to leave a job I am very good at and a home that I love, I am feeling unsettled. I am trying to channel these feelings into constructive behaviors like making sure my home is freakishly clean and even more freakishly organized. If I can create order here, maybe that will translate through more of my life. :)

I have taken on the task of "undecorating" my home into my bedroom, which was just completely made over a few months ago. It is now undergoing a soft makeover. I now realize that when you commit to a print in a room, you better like it or it will get real old, real fast. Case in point: my duvet. Granted it was another bargain find, I am SO over it and am going solid now. For now it is a work in progress... I am calling this process a "preparation to sell this place" just to shut my other half up about my issues with constantly changing interior surroundings. It's more of a hobby than anything else. That...and a bit too much HGTV.


Here's what I have so far: Walls are "Master Room" by Ralph Lauren, furniture is a warm walnut, the duvet is Nutmeg by the Company Store & the throw is a find from Omaha's local boutique, House of J. The throw will go at the foot of the bed. I'm thinking bronze colored sheets but cant find the color I want, at the thread count I want.

Also, FYI---Bombay Company is officially going bankrupt and all of their stores are offering amazing deals on their current stock. I grabbed a couple pairs of curtain panels today for $17/pair. They have beautiful stuff, at beautiful prices right now. :)

The Madeline...

My new winter fashion find of the season...mine is in charcoal and I love it! So chic! With my job, most of the winter I wear slacks, a coat and tall boots so I have built up quite a lovely selection of wool winter coats. One color I was lacking was charcoal, and I just stumbled upon this one at the Macy's (a mini Macy's in Sioux Falls) for 30% off. Score! This is the Madeline by Guess. I particularly love the super high, asymmetrical collar which will block out this nasty South Dakota wind. It also means I can slack off planning matching outfits since you can't see the top under such cozy outerwear. Even better! Now I just hope I move somewhere cold so I can wear it next season too.

I gave in...

So I was near Pottery Barn Yesterday and dropped in...only to find a great sale happening. I said I wasnt going to do PB pillow covers again but I found some that I had been eyeing for a while on clearance for dirt cheap. I didnt notice how bad my old covers really looked until I put the new ones on. My goodness, it was time! There are two new covers that I used, one is envelope style, with a big button in espresso and the other is a french knot style called maple, but is more of a peachy neutral. Rusty, my boxer baby, doesnt seem to want to let go if my old ones. Notorious for clearing the couch of all pillows before he naps, he sought out the only one that remained covered in the old fabric and claimed it as his headrest. :) He's so darn cute.

And, today I finally got a good new picture of me...my look changes often and my haircolor is really never the same. I am a natural blonde but prefer to be darker...and auburn is my new hue. Well, not really new, but...this was us today!

My Loot and Redesign...

So here are the awesome fabrics I found yesterday. All were a whopping $4.99/yd...but originally marked at the least $24.99/yd. I have had a change of heart for where I am using what but here's what we're working with. The backdrop is the color of my office...Toasted Nutmeg by Behr.

Plan:

A-Chenille-will be used to make two Euro Shams likely for my Master bedroom. I ordered a solid coordinating duvet cover and will continue to look for a few coordinating fabrics for accents. The color looks great with my deep olive walls & walnut furniture.

B-Microfiber-will likely be used for my do-it-yourself headboard I plan to make for my future guestroom. I plan to cover batting padded plywood, and mount it to a dark stained wood slab and affix it to a wall...more on that project when we know where we're moving...

C-Linen-this currently lines a pinboard I have hanging above my craft table (will add that project here later) and I am not sure what I will do with it yet. Was originally meant for headboard covering, but microfiber is more durable. Goes best with the printed fabric...so we'll see...

D-chenille-possibly for some pillows? Not sure what I will do with this yet but it was so cheap. Looks great. Might be some neutral pillows for living room if I can ever find a cool print for the main pillows...

Here's just another look. The colors can so easily be manipulated to look totally different tones than they really are. The fabric does really match my office well.

I ordered a duvet for my master bedroom in the color second from the left, below. The potential (if the color is right) is for the Euro's to be in the print above. All linens ivory and bring in just one other simpler fabric for a couple accent pillows...I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's see if the duvet works first. You can find these at The Company Store, my favorite place for linens&basic bedding like down comforters & pillows. My grandma got me hooked on them as they are based near her in Wisconsin and they used to run a cheap-as-dirt outlet in her small town. They had unbelievable deals! Now, they have a secret online outlet you can find here.

Fabric Euphoria!

I stumbled upon the most amazing textiles store while I was winding through Sioux Falls, SD today. I picked up a bunch of inspiration--all of their designer fabrics were 80% off! It was unbelievable! Since I finally purchased my first sewing machine this week I have been eagerly hunting for new projects. I am currently looking for fabric to create new pillow slipcovers. I have used Pottery Barn covers for several years now and they bore me. The catalog always looks the same. So I am searching for the right coordinating patterns to cover my overpriced PB "inserts."

I found some amazing fabric (will post pictures later, since I am traveling!) that is my inspiration for my future guest room...I will game plan that in a future post where I can include pics of the colors.

Oh I am sooo on a textile high!

Bye bye flowers...

Well...tonight we are in the twenties. It definitely feels like winter. How soon is too soon to decorate for christmas? I think two weeks after Halloween is perfectly acceptable. But, before we get there, here is the fall decor. Complete with Mr. Viscious himself.

(Kim, note the wedding bows put to good use)

Given we had the wettest October in history here, it has been a very strange sight--the leaves are all on the ground and fell to very GREEN grass. The color show was amazing this year, mostly because the trees were set on a bright green canvas but with the unseasonable amount of rain & warm weather, the plants did crazy things. For the very first time, I experimented this spring with some gardening and had quite a bit of success! My impatiens just finally froze this week, but they sat under a tree with no leaves for nearly a week! It looked so funny to have a blooming flowerbed at the base of a leaf-less tree! Here is my photographic ode to spring planting...now that it is all dead in my trashcan.

Impatiens, with King & Queen Froggy (I have a slight obsession with frogs)

*photo taken the week of 10/22!! Still blooming strong! *Below is what these vibrant plants begas as...

Rusty next to my beautiful Petunias.

Front yard landscaping...Experimented with Spirea

And lastly...my backyard landscaping, mostly Hostas from the previous homeowner

Clock Project

So I looked and looked and couldnt find a clock in the right shape, style or scale for my kitchen. I went all over omaha in search of the perfect clock and then began online shopping. Nothing suited my standards so I figured I would have to settle for what was just OK and customize it.

I found this clock at one of the local discount retailers (half the fun is the hunt, right?) and at a bargain price snatched it up. I didnt like the color at all, since nothing in my house was the weathered rasperry color. But that could be changed...I liked the face & hands enough to experiment.

So I popped the face out of the frame and got busy with the exterior shell. I used a cheesecloth and some black satin paint to gently coat the exterior to make it more of a soot black, with a hint of this reddish base showing through. I dabbled it on in layers.

And this is the final outcome. The softened black looks opaque in the photo but it is actually quite translucent and matte, which makes it a nice, soft, sooty black. It goes perfectly with my accessories & style.

Not bad for $13!!!

Mitchell Corn Palace

Seeing as I do live in "Husker Nation" I found myself driving in a part of my territory that is home to the Mitchell Corn Palace. I never took the time to drive by to see what this "palace" was but an article in the newspaper peaked my interest and I thought that I should check it out.

Every year an artist does sketches of a number of different themed scenes and they become art, made out of corn, on the walls of the palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. There are roughly 20 different types of corn grown to produce many different colors used in the art. Last year's drought in south dakota put the annual project on hold until this year, when there were enough crops to complete the mural. It costs nearly $130, 000 to complete the murals annually. The artist plots out what colors of corn go where and a group of workmen, using special saws cut each cob in half, and affix it with a nail gun. This year's theme was community service so the art depicted Firemen, Policemen, Teachers, Doctors and more. It is really amazing!

Men hard at work

Artist's Instrutions All Corn!!!
More corn!!
wow...pretty creative art.