Café Design

Decorating Consultations

Create Academy’s 25% OFF Easter Sale

Hey friends, great news! Create Academy is having their Easter Sale right now with 25% OFF on all of their courses! If you’ve been tempted to try out one of their classes in the past, now would be an excellent time to go for it. With their exquisitely photographed and detailed courses taught by leading experts on a variety of topics that include cooking, gardening, landscape and interior design, upholstery, block printing, sewing, interior styling etc, Create Academy offers a wonderful learning opportunity to anyone looking to expand their creativity and skillset, or to just be entertained in the company of experts. Throughout this post I’ve highlighted some of my favorite courses but there are many more to chose from. You can access the sale HERE, or by any of the links in this post, using the code SPRING25 at checkout. The sale ends on April 11th.  Happy learning!

Grow a Spectacular Garden in Pots by Arthur Parkinson

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Renovating a Cape Cod Style Cottage | Living Room | Choosing Paint Colors

Hey friends! Hope you’re enjoying a fun weekend, wherever you are. It’s a clear day with lots of sunshine here in Western Mass, though hats and gloves are still a must, and rosy cheeks and cold noses are pretty much the rule.  There’s a lot going on at our house and in our neighborhood these days. We recently joined a Buy Nothing Giveaway Facebook group and this morning participated in our first neighborhood event. We set up a station at the end of our driveway and pilled it high with things we were ready to part with, sort of. I gave away all my duck prints and decoys (reluctantly) and passed on my waterfowl obsession to a sweet old lady who took the whole bunch. Giving up something you really like sucks, but it can also be freeing (and creates room for new obsessions 🙂 ).

Our living room, and my ducks, two houses ago
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Last Week’s Finds

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Last week was a sad one for the interior design industry, marked by the passing of Suzanne Rheinstein, the legendary decorator based in Los Angeles and mother of Kate Rheinstein Brodsky. The news comes just one week after the release of Suzanne’s book, A Welcoming Elegance, which features some of Rheinstein’s best and most recent work, including her Montecito home. Tributes have been written in all the major design publications and her friends and family have filled social media with memories of her gracious personality, kindness and immense talent. The design world has lost a great one.

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Victoria Hagan x The Shade Store

Earlier this month, esteemed interior designer Victoria Hagan announced the expansion of her previous collaboration with The Shade Store – a leading name in the world of custom window treatments – with an exclusive array of luxurious materials that have a timeless sensibility rooted in tradition, yet feel fresh and modern, and relevant to a multitude of decorating styles. Hagan’s work has been inspirational for designers worldwide, and her soft and subtle approach to decorating have made her an excellent example of a decorator who can design both modern and traditional interiors. For today’s design story, I thought we could all have a peek inside her latest fabric collection.

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Living Room Progress & This Week’s Finds

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn a commission on all qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

It’s that time of the year when I am desperately awaiting the arrival of spring, getting restless and hiding indoors, away from the biting cold. I finished Part I of Spring Cleaning earlier this week, the dumpster has been filled and rolled off, just before another snow storm hit Western Mass on Tuesday morning.  Now I’m torn between continuing with our backyard, or focusing my attention and energy (both limited these days) elsewhere. While I decide, I thought I’d tell you a bit about where we are with our living room renovation, and share with you some of my favorite finds this week. (You can read all about the construction phase of our cottage living room makeover HERE. ) I’ve primed all walls and have been looking at color options cohesive with a blue, green and soft yellow scheme we already have going. The white settled in quite nicely, but why keep it simple when you can make things more complex (i.e difficult)? I was re-reading Roger Banks-Pye’ s book, Interior Inspirations, the other day and he is quoted saying that there are few occasions where walls should be left bare white and those few occasions should be discouraged. I tend to agree with Mr. Banks-Pye, which means I’m going to agonize over paint colors for weeks to come.

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