Café Design

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Increasing a home’s architectural charm is something I am often asked about in my decorating consultations and this is a post I’ve been planning to write for quite some time. I love sharing beautiful old houses, chock-full of detail and architectural pizzazz but I am aware that in real life many of us live, or have lived at one point, in homes that are less than perfect architecturally, lacking architectural charm and integrity. (We are living in such a home right now. ) But the good news, and the reason for today’s blog post, is that there are things we can do to add architectural interest to our rooms, things which in turn will make decorating that much easier, and more fun, and over time increase our home’s resale value.

A few weeks ago I shared with you a couple of purchases for our home that I was very excited about. One of them was an antique desk, bought from an elderly New Orleans couple. The other was a small side table with turned legs and beautiful patina that I just couldn’t pass up, even though I have yet to decide its permanent place in our furniture plan. After leaving them in our garage for a while, I got around to giving them a good clean and I am happy to share that they are now in place. As promised, here’s a peek.

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Good morning! I hope your week has been a good one so far. We’ve been really busy at home with work, school, chores, and a ton of housekeeping for me. You see, the strangest thing happens at our house… The minute I arrange one room, another one explodes in an uncontrollable mess, as if a very naughty house elf would get immense pleasure out of making this mama work overtime. It feels like I’m fighting a losing battle most days, but not this morning. Dishes are clean, the house is swept and arranged and I can breath a sigh of relief for another hour or so, before the house elf is done with school for the week 🙂 Overall I’ve been feeling less productive yet more anxious and fatigued than usual, and I blame it on the lack of time outdoors which always grounds me and brings me to a positive place. So this afternoon I’m planning a snow escapade for little elf and me to a small pond near our house to look for ducks.

Happy MLK Day! I hope you are enjoying a peaceful extended weekend at home. Thank you so much for your kind comments and advice after Friday’s post! You had some great ideas to share!! Per your request, I’ll do my best to keep you posted as we (hopefully) progress. But we’ve been taking it slowly over the last few days, sneaking in some well-deserved moments of rest and relaxation and several Antiques Roadshow episodes. We ran out of bread on Friday and wanting to avoid a trip to the store, we (OK, my husband) found a recipe online and baked bread at home instead. Yum. I also got to experiment with a new pasta sauce recipe this weekend and it was a success (but then again, pasta always is, at least at our house). I’ll share it soon if you’re interested, along with a long-promised Transylvanian sweet bread I baked this Christmas. My mom’s recipe. No kneading necessary.