Interior Design Blog
Make Mom Feel Special on Her Special Day...By Helping Her Organize Her Keys! Featured
Written by Room Juice
This is one of those time-consuming and important household tasks. It only takes a few minutes, but when we don't get around to making those copies and we lose our keys, it's a major hassle and expense to change the locks and deal with getting access to the house.
So, help Mom out by asking which keys she would like copied, and going to locksmith to have two or three copies made. It's important to check that the copies work, because a small mistake in the copy and the key won't work. (We just had six copies of a new key made at a local home accessories store, and none worked, so we speak from experience. A locksmith who knows what he or she is doing would have been worth the two blocks' extra walk.)
Mom will be grateful to have those extra keys ready to go. She can tuck a set in her office desk or leave a set with a friend or in a secret nook. A small gift with a large impact.
And, while you're at it, dress up the keys with a fun keyring; there are so many cute ones, and the more unique, the easier to keep straight the extra set straight from other keys in the drawer.
Since many moms were a Girl Scout when they were young, one fun key ring is the official one from the Girls Scouts' website:
http://www.girlscoutshop.com/gsusaonline/GSProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=MEDALLION+KEY+RING&sms_ss=email&at_xt=4dc2fc8456cf7438%2C0
If you want the Tiffany blue box as part of the present, we like this titanium one; it's the little black dress of key rings:
http://www.tiffany.com/shopping/item.aspx?cid=288154&Sku=26195594&search_params=s+1-p+1-c+-r+101297640-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t+-k&selectedSku=&selEmailSku=&utm_campaign=Email_This_Item&utm_medium=site_generated_email&utm_source=social-links%20&utm_content=text_link&utm_term=&omcid=SGE1
Coach, the bag and accessories store, has always made fabulous key rings to use as purse accessories as wall as key holders. Two fresh ones are the gold-toned Queen Bee and silver-toned poppy enamel hearts:
http://www.coach.com/online/handbags/ProductDetailWrapperView?storeId=10551&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&partNumber=92916_b4mc&langId=-1&storeId=10551&om_suv=
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To all the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day! We know we can never thank you enough for all that you do for all of us!
As we roll into May and June, we have many graduations to celebrate. Other than cash (green is, after all, nature's harmonizer), what are some gift ideas that will still be used by the graduate when she is celebrating her 25th or even 50th reunions?
There are three home items that really stand the test of time and can be used in every home across the decades: a great mirror, an incidental table the height of a desk (28" or 30"), and a small area rug (3' x 5' or 4' x 6').
Whether the space is a dorm room, a studio apartment, a starter apartment, or a bigger home, we always have a hallway or wall that needs a mirror, a desk that needs a credenza or front hall that needs a place to drop small items, and a bedside or nook that could use the color and texture of an area rug. As we then carry these items from home to home, they gather memories as well as wear, and make a new space feel like ours.
A long mirror, like the Rococo Mirror from Jonathan Adler, can be used sideways to light up a hall, or lengthwise to work as an almost full-length mirror. http://www.jonathanadler.com/Rococo-Mirror/?cat=0&initial= . The Ditto Table from Crate and Barrel, at 29" high, is a versatile height, it won't damage easily, and it adds the note of black we like to see in every room http://www.crateandbarrel.com/furniture/accent-tables/ditto-table/s348922. And finally, the Brandon Persian-Style 3' x 5' Area Rug has a palate and style that would work with a lot of different design schemes, and is a mix of colors that will age gracefully http://www.potterybarn.com/products/brandon-rug/?pkey=e|brandon|1|best|0|1|24||1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-
Congratulations to all those graduating in 2011, and the families and friends that made their successes possible!
With the recent holidays of Easter and Passover, we have been striving to dress up our dining room tables. Now comes graduations, reunions, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Valentine's Day....the cycle of celebrations never end. How to avoid having too many boxes and drawers filled with holiday-specific linens that are never ironed when we need them to be? Restaurant white is an option, but we can also discover the power of red!
It doesn't have to be lipstick red - it can be crimson or red-orange. But a shade of red works with almost every holiday. Valentine's hearts, fall harvest, candy canes, patriotic fever...the common thread is a red one.
Even for Easter, mix the red with its analogous colors of purple, orange, and yellow, and the table will look like someone had a lot of fun dyeing Easter eggs. By investing in a great, deep crimson table cloth, then buying several set of cloth napkins in many different colors (white for formal, mint green for a modern Christmas, deep blue for Bastille Day), we can have a great holiday table without bothering with linen storage.
Add some flowers and some holiday-themed candies scattered for effect, and we're ready for the bet part of holidays: the food!
Pottery Barn has some sharp new table linens in the latest shades of red. In particular, take a note of the Jackie Floral http://www.potterybarn.com/products/jackie-floral-table-runner/?pkey=e|jackie%2Bfloral|4|best|0|1|24||4&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_- , and Leila Block-Print tablecloths http://www.potterybarn.com/products/leila-block-print-tablecloths/?pkey=e|leila|6|best|0|1|24||1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_- .
So, when we got a hand broom for the dining table as a Christmas gift, we thought we were adding another useless item to the bottom drawer. It's cute in restaurants when the waiters use a little broom and pan to clean the bread crumbs off the tablecloth before the dessert course comes, but we don't usually use a tablecloth at home, we don't have crumb-producing bread all that often, and we rarely have any kind of official dessert course. And, although we'd love it if some fabulous waiter was part of the mix at dinner time, we don't see that happening, either.
But we were so wrong. It's wonderful having a little broom and pan that is well-designed and attractive in the dining area. It is great to grab it for a quick table cleaning. And it also works beautifully on the crumbs on the floor, or the dust bunnies in the corner that got missed, or the paper bits that fell when the three-hole punch got tipped upside down.
We find that we are using this little hand broom every day, and don't know how we lived without it. It's a lovely accessory to look at, and a helpful one, too. If only we used our KitchenAid as often!
For the Porsche of hand brooms, visit the website of Fjorn Scandinavia: http://fjorn.com/sk1600660.html
Flooring: what to do when your friends wear stilettos? Featured
Written by Room Juice
Here are two great bathmats, one from Crate & Barrel: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/bed-and-bath/bath-rugs/reversible-stone-bath-rug/s655221 , the other from Garnet Hill: http://www.garnethill.com/lilly-pulitzer-26-23174-3b-chinoiserie-bath-rug/bedding-home/bath/bath-rugs/129475
