Easter Charm

The sense of reflection and renewal that Easter brings has always made it my favorite holiday, even as a little girl.  Now, with children of my own,  I understand how important it is to celebrate and preserve holiday traditions in a growing family.  One of my favorite symbols for Easter is a cloisonne egg necklace that my mother-in-law wears every year at this time.  The chain is adorned with beautifully embellished Easter eggs that she has received through the years.  Presently, my daughter Zoe is the recipient of enameled Easter eggs meant for her own holiday necklace [in the making].

Please take a look at how pretty and ornate they can be:

Easter Necklace with Faberge Eggs

When celebrating Easter [Russian style] make sure you kiss one another three times in alternating cheeks.

Tradition, tradition, tradition......it's a GOOD thing, don't you agree?!

'Til Monday

This week's 'Til Monday image is of a bench covered in fallen cherry blossoms.  Thinking of the people and the landscape so deeply affected by the earthquake in Japan...

OMG, I Want This House

OMG, I love this house!  I'm a modernist at heart and fantasize about living in a mid-century home.  This house has it all.  On the inside:  an open, airy floor plan drenched in natural light creates an attractive and functional family space.  On the outside:  a combination of restraint and wildness with a meticulously manicured lawn that is bordered by unruly wisteria and ivy vines.  An outdoor fireplace and plenty of places to entertain turn the outdoors into an extension of the indoors.  Enjoy the tour.

The dark floor provides contrast to the white furniture and walls allowing the fireplace to be showcased.  Check out  the ceiling.

To see more of Katrine Martensen-Larsen's styling and  Stuart McIntyre's photographs of this Copenhagen home click here.

Clever and Stylish Storage

This is so cool.  Metro shelving completely decked out to be both functional and stylish.  It's a simple and effective way to create storage when actual closet space is limited or non-existent.  Check out how easy it is to put it all together:

above images: Decorati

Metro shelves are available at most hardware stores and Amazon.

The Land of Nod and Bed Bath & Beyond have lots of canvas totes' colors to match your particular scheme.

I love the geometric pattern on Denyse Schimdt's cranberry voile fabric.  Line the inside of the curtain in a soft botanical print for contrast.

Looking through fabric samples is one of my favorite things to do.  Quilt Home is a great web source for unique patterns and color combinations.  While searching for the red version I found some blue fabric that I loved just as well.  Take a peek at how this color storage story would look:

Who would have thought that being organized could be this stylish?

Bad Ice

The same weekend I posted a 'Til Monday featuring how beautiful winter ice can be, I  experienced the very ugly side of it.  It was a rainy night and the ice on our flat roof began to melt and literally flow into the family room below.  Thank goodness for our collection of large plastic toy bins and friends that came over the next morning to break up the remaining ice and shovel it off the roof.  Take a look at the not so pretty side of winter.

Over the summer, the roof deck was covered in astro turf to protect it from the demolition our 2nd floor renovation required.  The morning after the flood, we decided to cut it up and throw it overside to ensure proper drainage.  It now covers our icy driveway enabling the kids to walk safely onto the side walk on their way to school.

I can not believe I'm posting these so NOT pretty photos...

All that remains on the roof is a rubber coating that definitely needs replacement.

The ceiling is constantly shedding.  Not until the winter is completely gone, will we be able to fully address the awful damage the leaks caused.  Consecutive dry and warm days are needed to access it at its source.  Until then, the buckets and tarps are close at hand to catch both the icy water and the shedding paint.

Oh, to make matters even worse, the arborvitae hedge that surrounds our yard has also been seriously affected by this grueling season.  Several trees have actually split due to the heavy snow and, therefore, our privacy hedge may no longer be as private.

Nevertheless, I'm grateful we all remained dry and healthy throughout this ordeal.  What we have to look forward now is an early,  restoring, revitalizing, reconstructive  spring!

Is everyone else ready?!