the comfort of flowers

Flowers comfort me and make me happy. I love their shapes, textures, colors and wonderful fragrance—I can't imagine my life without them. My back patio is surrounded by flower beds and it's where I go when I need to escape from the demands of work or life in general.

Today was one of those days when I needed the comfort of my flowers. One of my very dear friends passed away this week after battling cancer for the past year and today was her funeral. If anyone has ever lost a friend or loved one, you know how difficult it is to say "goodbye". I can not even begin to imagine what the next few months will be like without my dear friend. My only relief is knowing that she is no longer in pain and is finally at peace but that still doesn't make it any easier.

So today, I escaped to my patio sanctuary for a little while where I sat among my flowers—to be comforted and just to think and remember...

it's easier to design a web site than to renovate a kitchen

I am happy to say that I survived our kitchen renovation. It was not as easy as I thought it would be. And honestly, I think it's easier to design a web site than to renovate a kitchen—and we only did minor upgrading. I can't imagine gutting the whole room and starting from scratch!

This should have been easier for me—for I am a designer and I make design and color decisions everyday for my clients. But not for myself—that's the difference. After spending weeks and weeks looking at hundreds (yes, hundreds) of various countertop samples, I decided that I had to treat myself as a client if I was ever going to accomplish anything in this renovation project. I began by making a list of things I absolutely wanted in the new kitchen and then put together a mood board of the style and look I was after. After all, I do this for every client project so why not for my kitchen.

Even though I love modern, I knew that look would not go well with our salt box country home. So after spending an afternoon going through decorating magazines, tearing out pages of what I liked, I finally came to the conclusion that the look I was trying to achieve was "modern country"—farm style copper sink, vintage faucet, quartz countertops, subway tile backsplash, farm legs on the island with all the updated, modern stainless steel appliances and a little bit of eco-friendly products thrown in.

The renovation went smoothly but it is not completed yet. We kept the original cabinets which are solid oak and the plan was to only paint the center island to break up all the wood in the room. But now the oak cabinets look very dated compared to the beautiful new island and countertops so they will be painted in the next few months. As I said before, it's easier to design a web site—at least for me!

Here's the mood board I created and a peek at the before and after shots of this transition period before we complete all the painting.

Enjoy!

the thrill of the hunt

I spent this past weekend in Springfield, Ohio attending their annual antique extravaganza. With more than 2,500 dealers, it's easy to find something unique for your home or studio. Even though our home is bursting at the seams with "stuff," I still had my eyes open for a few special items that I wanted to buy. And of course, it's the perfect place to find color and design inspiration.

Here's a glimpse of some unique and colorful things I saw this weekend.

In honor of Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day [April 22], I'm sharing these fun, eco-friendly items—practical and perfect for the office or home. 

It's time to start living a greener, cleaner and more sustainable lifestyle. Let's work together to make a difference.   

I love using recycled bags for shopping. These are from ecobags.com

b.b.begonia bags have a variety of beautiful colors and prints

 fun and colorful water bottles from ecobags.com

I love these water bottles from Pottery Barn!

From Target—perfect for the office or home.

My favorite cleaning products, Vivesan — safer for us and the environment.

spring color inspirations

I am so happy that spring finally arrived. It has been a long winter for most of us, especially here in Ohio—I didn't think the snow would ever melt! It's exciting to look out my studio windows and finally see burst of colors throughout the landscape. A lot of my color inspirations come from nature and spring is filled with so many beautiful hues, making it so much easier to choose that "perfect" color palette for a project.

Here are a few of my favorite spring inspirations. Enjoy!

marigold wins an addy

The American Advertising Federation of Cleveland (AAF) honored Marigold with a 2009 ADDY Award, for “The Magic of Marigold” holiday gift. The ADDY Awards honor the work produced each year by the most creative local advertising agencies, across a number of categories, including print, broadcast and interactive advertising and sales promotion efforts.

The concept—the magic of marigold—is wrapped around the beautiful, handmade paper that contains marigold seeds and petals which can be planted. The first page contains the holiday message along with the recipe for successful planting of the "magical seeds." The twig pencil is perfect and added the final touch to the gift. The notepads were mailed within a simple brown kraft envelope sealed with a marigold sticker. Loose marigold petals cushioned the sharp pencil within the envelope.

I truly enjoyed designing this holiday gift for my clients even though I did obsess about it for months [just ask my family and friends]. I was under tremendous pressure because I felt it had to be better than last year's "Wishing you a Marigold Christmas" note cards which also won an Addy [now do you understand my obsession]. It isn't easy designing something for yourself to give to your clients. I have wonderful clients and it was important to give them something special and unique. I also wanted to make it practical... when the notepad is empty, they can plant the cover which contains marigold seeds and enjoy the magic of marigold all year long!

Always remember, there is a little bit of magic inside each of us just waiting to bloom. All you have to do is believe!

Hmm... now what am I going to design this year?!

be my valentine

I love Valentines! I don't know if it's the typography, colors or shapes that I'm drawn to or just the fun in picking out that perfect valentine for that special "someone" in your life. I remember in grade school, shopping for boxes of valentines and picking out the best ones for my special friends. And of course, you had to make a valentine box to hold them. I had so much fun decorating my box with all sorts of things—wrapping paper, ribbon, lace, fabric—whatever I found in the house. I think my design skills were taking shape in those early years because I always had the prettiest valentine box! When my children were young, I enjoyed helping them pick out their valentines and decorating their valentine boxes too. And yes, they also had the best ones! It does help having a graphic designer as a mother that had access to cool paper, stock books and art supplies!

Those days are long gone but I still enjoy picking out valentine cards (or making them) for those special people in my life. I hope you find that "perfect" card for your valentine. Here are a few I found online. Enjoy!

Simple and beautiful, silk-screened cards from Museum Facsimiles.

Handmade cards found on etsy.

I love the fun graphics on these – also found on etsy.

I love handkerchiefs and have a few from my mother that I  treasure.

Message in a bottle from Anthropologie.