Blog Of The Week ~ Perfect Places by Glenda

Perfect Places by Glenda is our Blog of the Week for this week. Meet Glenda:

Glenda Hodge of Perfect Places by Glenda

Glenda offers One Day Makeovers, Room Redesigns and Home Staging, and started her blog in March of this year. You can easily click over to see her Portfolio and the lovely work she has done for her clients.

Her blog includes topics on one of my favorite subjects ~ Color! I love reading about all aspects of color ~ how it is being used, what the new trends are, what's "out" and Glenda has a few posts on this topic.

Below are just a few posts that I linked to so that you can get a taste of Glenda's blog.

Word of the Day {WOD}

Does Home Staging Work?

Why Decorate With Color

Let's welcome Glenda to the blogging world ~ I think she has a lot to share with us.

French Country

The stinky thing about food shopping with your spouse {or significant other} is that if you say "no" to the chocolate that is 10 for $10.00 then your spouse {or significant other} will, in turn, say "no" to you trying to stick some decorating magazines in the cart.

Well somehow the Fall/Winter 2009 Country French book {and I say book rather than magazine because for $9.99 it is not a magazine} found it's way into our green, environmentally friendly Stop & Shop grocery sacks {along with 10 chocolate bars for $10.00}.

Country French Spring/Summer 2009 cover

I didn't believe that I had any one particular style that I would say straight out that I like, but I was in heaven just a few pages into this book! I am SO loving French Country! I am working on getting the scanner to work with my laptop so I can share these pictures with you. I'll do a Part Deux when that's done. In the meantime, I found some pictures that I also liked and thought I'd share them here.

I think I've pinpointed the inspiration for our next home's decor!

Some shopping resources for French decor:

http://www.pierredeux.com/

http://www.ballarddesigns.com/

http://www.jcpenney.com/

If you have any other resources that you'd like to share, please let me know in the comments section and I'll add it here in the post {with appropriate credit given}.

All photos from BH&G.

Curvaceous Couches

Reading through my New York Spaces magazine this weekend, I came across this curvey sofa. The color, pattern and shape caught my eye, so I decided to see what else I could find. Below are some interesting examples.


Isola 8 by nien kamper

This Marshmallow Sofa was first brought out in 1956.

Nelson Marshmallow Sofa ~ Herman Miller

Kloud Serpentine by nien kamper

Vladimir Kagan ~ NY Times

Curvey to the extreme:

Lila Jang Climbing Sofa ~ decorfair.com

5 Things You Didn't Know About . . . .

Debra from The Bunnies Bungalow:

Favorite music at the moment: Currently the music from the cd Rejoice, Praise and Worship by Eternity.

If you didn't live where you do, where would you live: If I could, I would live closer to my daughters but after that I guess.....back a long tree lined lane in a beautiful cottage in the woods and it would be in a place that has a cold winter and a hot summer because I love the seasons.

Favorite cocktail: None.....don't drink.

Best advice you ever received: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and put on your lipstick and deal with it!

Person you most admire: Jackie Kennedy

You can read 5 Things You Didn't Know About . . . . Donna at dh designs by clicking on this link to her blog.

Donna from dh designs

Now you know 5 things about Debra at The Bunnies Bungalow and Donna at dh designs! Check back next Wednesday for another "5 Things You Didn't Know About . . . "!

Five Things You Didn't Know About . . . .

Sept./Oct. 2009 issue
I just finished looking at my new issue of Southern Accents magazine and on the last page saw this little area entitled "Five Things You Didn't Know About Amelia Handegan". I thought we could incorporate that into blog posts, and I'm going to ask 5 other bloggers to join in and answer these questions:

• Favorite music at the moment:
• If you didn't live where you do, where would you live:
• Favorite cocktail:
• Best advice you ever received:
• Person you most admire:

Nothing real personal, but something interesting and fun. Here are the first 5 that I've chosen from my subscribed to list.

Debra from The Bunny's Bungalow

Jane from Decor Mama

Donna from dh designs

Laura from Decor to Adore

Marie from Decorator on Demand


I'd like to try and make this a weekly feature on Wednesdays. I think it will expose all of us to even more talented bloggers and perhaps introduce us to some new ones.



The first one will be up shortly!
UPDATED to include links to the posts:
5 Things You Didn't Know About . . . .
{Debra from the Bunny's Bungalow}
{Donna from dh designs}
{Laura from Decor to Adore}
{Marie from Decorator on Demand}
{Jane from Finding Fabulous}
{Tiaa from Exclusively Yours Interiors}
{Christine from Design Esquire}
{Kelly from Design Ties}
{Miss Mustard Seed}
{Kristen from Kristen's Creations}
{Joy from Joys of Home}
{Chris from Just A Girl}
{Nester from Nesting Place}

{Debbie from Love the Decor}

{Karen from My Desert Cottage}
{Lisa from Pickles and Cheese}
{PK from Room Remix}
{It's So Very Cheri}

Blog Of The Week {Julie Beck ~ Paintings in Progress}

Julie Beck

I came across this very talented young woman, Julie Beck, on Twitter. Her blog title "Paintings in Progress" is very apt.

Fantastic, isn't it? I love this clock picture!

Julie's "Awake" painting was chosen for one of the months for the Aquent 2010 Calendar!

And here she is at work:

Julie also has an Etsy shop where she sells some of her pieces. These are just two of the pieces she is selling.

I think you will enjoy looking through, not only Julie's blog, but her Etsy shop as well.

So, I Embellish A Little

Here's a little decorating tip I wanted to share.

This is a picture of the linen closet door in my master bathroom. Exciting subject, I know. This is the only room in my house that does not have stained trim or doors. When we did this bathroom I really wanted to do a cream color on the doors and trim, and play with it a bit. This was a typical, hollow core, unfinished door ~ probably the cheapest door you can buy.

I found these wood embellishments {unfinished} at Home Depot to dress up the door. After painting them the same color as the door, I put one in each corner using wood glue.

Here's a close-up of one of the top corners.

The one in the middle just fit the width of the door.

I really like the outcome and the style they add to our master bathroom. Simple, inexpensive things can change a whole look.

Let's Get This Straight

BH&G

BH&G

I saw a picture in the new issue of Decorating magazine that reminded me that I have wanted to do a post about hanging pictures in a grid. There is just something about the grid pattern that appeals to me ~ perhaps my sense of order, symmetry, or maybe just making a lot of nail holes ~ I'm not sure. Maybe a combination of all three!

BH&G

Enjoy these inspiration pictures as you read along with my post.

BH&G

My first attempt at this was putting these fern prints over my bed.

We redecorated our bedroom and wound up without a headboard. Since I wasn't sure if I wanted a wood or upholstered headboard, I hadn't gotten one and now that we have our house listed I might as well just wait. In the meantime, I wanted to put something on that wall and not just the typical one big picture to fill the space.

I got the prints, mats and bamboo style frames on eBay {from three different sellers}. I held onto them because I knew I wanted to do them in a grid pattern, but it was just a matter of where. Then my bedroom project came along!

BH&G

I never did this type of picture hanging before, but we had a laser level and I decided to give it a shot. I really liked the way it turned out {straight} so much that I purchased egg prints, got frames for them, and hung those in a grid pattern in my downstairs entry. I've taken them down since we are selling, but I have plans to find a great place to hang them once we do move.

BH&G

BH&G

How do you like to hang your pictures?

~ Giveaway Winner ~

Why draw it out? The Winner is {#11} ~ Design Esquire!!! Congratulations! : )

If you send me an email with your name and address, I'll get this packed up and on its way to you! My email {spam proofed} kathyp {at} creativehomeexpressions {dot} com.

~ The Giveaway I Won ~

I won my first giveaway a couple of weeks ago, given by Melissa from Melissa's Heart and Home. She was celebrating her birthday and giving away two gifts ~ how cool was that?


I recently received the package with each item very neatly and nicely wrapped, with a notecard right on top.







I took each item very carefully out and put them on my kitchen table.







Here is Melissa's lovely note ~ love the way she wrote it and the color!





Love, love, love everything! The blessing plaque will have a spot in our new home when we move. I love the strawberry salt and pepper shakers as a nice change for summer from my regular shakers.





The picture frame matches my master bedroom! Good thing I'm looking to paint that same color when we move! I can see that frame holding a picture of hubby and I.





So, there you have it. Just thought I'd share the lovely giveaway that Melissa offered up for her birthday! Thank you so much, Melissa! I love everything!

~ Blog Of The Week Garrendenny Lane ~

Lorna Sixsmith is the proprietor of Garrendenny Lane Living Interiors blog. Lorna is based in Ireland and here is a bit from her blog:

Hi. I’m Lorna, married to Brian (who is an ex-scientist, now dairy farmer) and we have two children, Will and Kate. This blog is somewhat varied in its themes at times! It is primarily about interiors; the new looks for the coming season; new fabric and wallpaper collections; new arrivals to the shop; what’s new at the trade fairs etc. I will also ramble on about the farm though so you’ll hear about new calves, goat kids and pet lambs each spring as well as the latest fabric ranges!

What a busy life Lorna must have and yet she seems to manage it all, while sharing with us on her blog.

Here are just a few of Lorna's most recent blog post titles:

Wallpaper Wednesday ~ More Darling Darly

A Week or Two of Pictures

Friday Fix It ~ Interior Design Solution

So, why not plan a trip to Ireland this week and visit through Lorna's eyes!

~ Clock Giveaway At Charmed, I'm Sure Blog ~

Kim over at Charmed, I'm Sure is having a clock giveaway on her blog sponsored by CSN who carries everything from clocks to mattresses. Stop by before 11:59 pm Mountain Time on August 28th and enter to win.

The one up top is my favorite!

Even though this one below is considered an outdoor clock, I might just use something like this inside the house. It has the clock on both sides.