The Smithy

The Smithy was brought to my attention a few months ago by a reader (thank you Jesse).  It's a property in Schoharie County – one of the most verdant, untouched, and wide-ranging landscapes of upstate New York. The tiny hamlet of West Fulton lies at the crossroads of the county in the far northern foothills of the Catskill Mountains.  The Smithy was originally built as a blacksmith's shop in the 1800's and has been lovingly restored over the past twelve years.

So beautiful.

Click HERE for more photos and information.

Terracotta

Terracotta, which means "baked earth", is one of the oldest most beautiful materials on the planet.  It's also one of my favorite colors.  Living in Texas, I have ample opportunity to enjoy this color because of the influence of Mexican art and architecture.  I just love it.  Its earthy, dynamic, sensual, neutral and looks good on the walls, on the floors, on the furniture and on you.

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Etsy

Today I'm inspired by...

 pretty
 French

 interiors

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Today is a head scarf day...

This morning my hair is unwashed, I'm a little (a lot) sleep deprived and the clothes I want to wear are still in the laundry hamper.  How to remedy this situation?  Boho head gear.  Put on the crumpled clothes (after a smell test), throw on some chunky jewelry and adorn your head with a scarf.  If you're wearing a head scarf and some big beaded jewelry, no one will notice the wrinkled blouse.  Presto: boho mama on the run!

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Do you know who to tie a turban with a scarf?  No?

Then go HERE to learn how lickety split.

Outdoor Lounge

I don't know a lot about creating outdoor spaces, but based on my extensive internet and magazine research the key seems to be throw pillows, toss pillows and floor pillows.  The lesson I take from this is don't be afraid to throw your good cushy favorite-est pillows on the ground and pretend you're in Morocco.

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Interior Shifts

Last January, we moved Baby Charlie out of our bedroom and into his brother's room.  It was my hope that we could reclaim our master bedroom (which we did) and give the boys a space of their own (which we did).  For the first seven months the boys did a great job sharing a room and sleeping soundly through the night.  Then Charlie had his surgery in August and it all came apart.  Charlie was waking up two to three times a night and Walker would get up with him.  It was a bad situation.  Charlie has been bed surfing every since, which I'm sure is contributing to his sleep confusion.  So, we give up.  We're going to give the boys their own rooms.  The only bummer is that I'm going to lose my office.

But Jack and I came up with a plan. 

Here is an unused corner of our laundry room:

I left the table (an antique purchased twelve years ago by my husband) and pulled out the leaves, which fit the space perfectly leaving about a half inch on either side.  I brought in my rolling file cabinets, which slid neatly on either side of the table legs.  I couldn't have planned it better.  Here is the new incarnation:

Its not perfect, but it serves all my needs.

For Walker's room, we removed all of Charlie's nursery furniture and replaced it with some of the office furniture.  I also brought in a Titanic poster that was hiding in the office.

And the office has now been transformed into Charlie's nursery.  I didn't paint or move the book cases out because frankly, I don't have the time.  Plus, I love the color of my office (Moroccan Spice by Behr) and I do most of my reading when I'm rocking Charlie to sleep.  The couch went into Walker's room and the harp went into my bedroom. 

...and here are Charlie's new digs. (Excuse the fuzzy photos.)

The mobile hanging above Charlie's crib was created by my mother.  The morning of Charlie's craniofacial surgery, Jack, my husband, awoke early with Charlie.  (The following might sound kind of juju-hoo-doo to some of you but here it goes.)  When Jack saw Charlie, he had a vision that Charlie was surrounded by a thousand golden butterflies, each one representing a protective prayer and love-thoughts flying through the universe to Charlie on his surgery day.  I told my mother about the vision and she created this:

So there it is... the great interior shift of 2011.

And guess what... Charlie slept for 10 hours last night.

Coincidence?  I think not.