Café Design

Decorating Consultations

It’s The Little Things

A fresh bouquet of flowers, the right picture frame, a pretty pillow, or a lamp shade – interior design is all about the little things, those very details that make rooms original and beautiful, don’t you think? I find that designing a home is a lot like baking …you gather the right ingredients, you try to keep out the wrong ingredients and do your best to combine them in a way that tastes good, ahem, is harmonious, beautiful, and hopefully functional. There is a recipe, of course, but whether you follow it to a T, tweak it or ignore it completely is up to you. But more than the big picture, design recipes and rules (they do exist, and for good reason) it’s about the little things that I’d like to talk to you today. The right clay pot and saucer, the right paint color, the right sconces, a great shopping find…they all collided to make my week a little bit prettier, a little bit different, and a lot more exciting.

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Scribble-Scrabble

I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend! Despite clear skies, friendly temps and a ton of yard work that needed to be done, we deliberately set a slower pace this weekend and it felt good. For a couple of hours we forgot about to-do lists (or at least we tried to 🙂 ) and hunkered down in front of the fireplace. Instead of fussing around the house like we always do, we spent Saturday afternoon like never before, watching a movie and serving copious amounts of apple cider and apple pie. Unholy amounts!

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Our Home | What We’ve Been Up To

Thank you all for stopping by and reading! In case you were wondering, I’m still here. A little bit swamped, quite tired and behind on sleep, but still here. I am very happy to report that our living room renovation is well underway and grateful that the first phase of the project, and the messiest one (I hope) – construction- is behind us. After moving into our cottage a little over three months ago, we found ourselves in a whirlwind of renovation that keeps on gaining steam. Our updates have been mostly cosmetic (like replacing stair railings and adding picket fences here and there) but our latest one involves opening up walls and is by far the biggest we’ve done yet.  For those of you who are new to Café Design (welcome!) here’s the idea… Our home is a simple Cape Cod style cottage with a center hall layout. The second floor is pretty straightforward but the first floor was chopped up into multiple tiny rooms. The living room was quite charming with ample south-facing windows and a fireplace but it felt quite small and closed off. On the other hand, right next to it there’s a tiny  bedroom (roughly 11’x11’ ) that we rarely got to use because 1) it was small and rather bland 2) it had an awkward entrance right next to our coat closet.

The door to the spare bedroom, next to our coat closet
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Book Review | The Well Adorned Home by Cathy Kincaid

One of the best things about living in Western Massachusetts (besides the natural beauty of the region and the countless little antiques shops I’ve come to know as the back of my hand) is being able to travel to Boston and New York City on a whim. Last night I made it to John Rosselli Associates on 61st Street and attended a book signing organized in honor of interior designer Cathy Kincaid’s new book, The Well Adorned Home – Luxury for Everyday Living. The event was coordinated by Niven Breen (Thank you, Chesie Breen for the invite, and Coco Van der Wolk for your kind words! ) My hands were steadier this time and I managed to take a ton of decent photos of John Rosselli’s GORGEOUS shop, decorated to the brim with exquisite antiques, art and one of a kind pretties! And I got my book autographed too!

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Decorating Dominoes

Warning: Dearest Ivan, if you’re reading this please stop! 🙂

I can’t remember where I heard the wording decorating dominoes before but I do remember thinking how clever it was. Decorating Dominoes (aka DD) is a dangerous condition scientists are still attempting to explain. Husbands fear it, contractors and supportive girlfriends love it! It’s when the tiniest attempt to upgrade your home turns into a whirlwind of change. “While we’re at it…” is probably the most feared phrase by husbands everywhere. Or at least everywhere in my house. You start to upgrade your newly bought home with something very innocent, something manageable (or so you thought) like having the living room ceiling painted and somehow (how?! No really, how!?!) you end up with a 4 foot hole in your living room, new electrical wiring, the promise of new windows, popcorn ceilings gone and, while we’re at it, why not throw in a patio door. Ah, wait. You don’t have a patio. Or a door. No problem! Your generous contractor immediately suggests he’ll add them for you. And a portico!!

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