Café Design

Decorating Consultations

In Good Taste

Time has been a precious commodity lately, especially this week which seems to have flown by. I did not mean to skip Wednesday’s post but a last minute hiking trip with my daughter’s class took precedence. We climbed Bare Mountain, a rocky and challenging trail close to Amherst and hanging out with (or keeping safe) a bunch of 2nd graders is so much fun (work, I meant so much work! 🙂 ) it left me without much fuel for blogging, or the ability to write coherent sentences. It also made me realize how terribly out of shape I am, must join a gym asap! 🙂 )  Many things are going on right now at our place and I’m finalizing design plans for our next renovation project which is scheduled to start next week. On that note, I would like to thank everyone who’s left messages after my Monday post. I am blown away by your kindness and support!! Thank you. Your words are much appreciated, more than you’ll ever know.

View Post

Our Home | Living Room Progress

I hope everyone’s had a lovely weekend. After a couple of rainy days the skies finally cleared this morning, just in time so I could snap a few images of our living room and finished staircase. The weather has been so capricious lately that I was worried I won’t have enough light to take photos to show you our living room, as promised. But the sun came out and I did so here they are. But first, I must say that sharing these images inevitably puts me in a place of vulnerability because one, our home is not dreamy and gorgeous (not yet anyway 🙂 ) and social media has set such impossible standards for us to try to keep up with) and second, none of the rooms is (nor will be anytime soon) finished.  (We moved in a little over two months ago and things are so far from being finished I get anxiety attacks.) So please be kind 🙂

View Post

Our Home | Staircase Inspiration

I hope everyone’s had a peaceful weekend. A string of chilly mornings and a touch of the sniffles had us bundled up with hot cups of tea and the first spicy vegetable soup of the season. It was a blessing to slow down a bit and enjoy some time indoors. The cold temps also had us unpacking the rest of our boxes (yes, we still had some to unpack 🙂 ) looking for sweaters and warm blankets. We did manage to make some progress here and there, mostly paint touch-ups on the fence and mowing the backyard but I also had some time to gather my thoughts and work on a new house project we have lined up, our staircase… 

Image of the staircase taken on the day we closed on the house…
View Post

A Fence & A Cottage

Happy Labor Day weekend! Summer is over and gone are the long, sunny days. Instead, fall is in the air, the first of the leaves are browning and the kiddos are back-to-school. Ballet classes, swimming lessons, chess club – busy, busy times ahead for this momma and her girl. I’m trying to plan our schedule carefully and to pencil in enough doing-nothing time in which we’ll just enjoy each other’s company, cook, play and, of course, do nothing . (Although I can’t remember the last time I had nothing to do, haha. I don’t remember how it’s done either! 🙂 ) And speaking of things to do, on the home front we’re wrapping up the whole building-our-picket-fence business. The end is in sight, I can feel it and, most importantly, I can see it. Our contractor just finished installing the two side gates and did and awesome job. The only thing left to do is replace one of the fence panels at the far end (it came warped, the risks of working with pressure treated lumber, I’m told 😉 ) with a fresh one. Then more priming & painting and we’ll be done. We have a three-day window before the temps drop and the rain sets in so we’ll be very busy laboring this weekend!

View Post

What We’ve Been Up To

I hope everyone’s enjoying these last few days of summer. The end of the hot season is bittersweet around here. We had the best time with our girl, we worked so hard on our cottage, took long nature walks and made countless trips to the pool. We read and listened to music, and just enjoyed the bounty of summer – fresh fruits and time outdoors. I just love how the days feel lazy and slow-paced mid-July and August.  I’m also laughing because I just called our summer days “slow” when in fact, since our move, the days have been anything but. When we moved into our new house we made a long list of projects we wanted to tackle. Some of them easy and straightforward that we could do ourselves (like painting, adding crown molding and new baseboard molding), others more involved that would require contractor work (kitchen upgrades for example). And although we’ve checked quite a few things off of our to-do list, it still feels like we’re only beginning. Overall, my plan for the house is to straighten out the architecture a bit and simplify the floor plan before we start investing in new furnishings. To that extent, we removed the old fireplace screen, painted our living room walls a soft, warm white which I LOVE (Benjamin Moore – Linen White) and used our existing furniture to decorate. I love this room right now and I promise I’ll photograph it soon and share it here on the blog. It’s nothing fancy, and items in here have been repurposed and recycled but it’s so cozy and comfortable  it’s become my favorite space in the house. I’m also learning to be patient and wait for the good things – home improvement on a budget takes time. Nevertheless, some things did get done.

View Post