House Hunting

I'm sorry for the shortage of posts this week. I spent the last half of the week out of town house hunting. While walking through each house, I took furious notes. I had made a large checklist before heading out of town. The checklist was broken down by the types of rooms I needed. Each room was rated by size, storage, layout, current decor and overall functionality. Some rooms had extra criteria such as the kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms.

My checklist worked wonderfully for each house. I walked through and was able to objectively measure how each home would fit my lifestyle. But then I went to the last house, and I realized my checklist had one huge flaw. I forgot to rate the homes on how they felt - how they made me feel when I walked in.

Buying a new home is more than just a functional purchase. In many ways, it's like falling in love. You just know when you've found the right one.

But don't let those feelings get in the way when negotiating a price. Then you'll get screwed.

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Where Our Mothers and Design Sense Intersect

The May issue of Domino Magazine had a wonderful letter from the editor about how our mothers influence our decorating decisions. It shocks me seeing how decor styles were passed from my granny to my mom and then to me. No, they're not exactly the same, but we all like golds and greens, have a flair for bringing nature indoors and somehow can't live without flowers. And I'm guessing you can see the same trends in your family.

Maybe we bring pieces of our mothers' styles into our homes because it brings a sense of comfort and familiarity to wherever we are. Maybe it's just genetic. Either way, more than likely we decorate somewhat like our mothers. And while it's fine to decorate like her, just don't fall into the trap of trying to impress her. That pretty much never ends well. Decorate for you ... After all, it's finally your house and your rules.

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Season Two is Here!

After a long wait, season two is finally here! Hooray! We're starting off with the wonderful videos from my visit to Advanced Concrete Enhancement: Decorative Concrete and Concrete Countertops.

You could say the owner, Blayde Penza, is tougher than his product. On the day we filmed, Blayde was worried he had caught his son's strep throat. But despite his sore throat and pounding headache, he stuck in there and was a wonderful interview. You would never guess he felt sick when watching the videos.

Of course, everyone else was worried they would catch Blayde's illness. So every time Blayde walked out of the room, one of his all-too-nice employees would pull out the hand sanitizer and pass it around. And it worked. Neither Brent, my videographer, or I got sick. But we did have a wonderful time.

And no, I'm not joking in the Concrete Countertop video. Concrete countertops really are that soft and smooth. I couldn't believe it. They were the best feeling countertops I've ever touched. Absolutely amazing!

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Shopping the Antique Stores

I just recently fell in love again with antique stores. After a worthless, all-too-long search online for a Chinese vase with a delicate pattern and beautiful, vibrant colors, I was left with only one option: visit an antique store. Fearful that I would just be wasting my time sorting through mostly junk, I was thrilled when the first place I stopped had the beautiful gem pictured to the left.

That's when I realized antique stores are one of the best hotspots for decorating finds. We're so used to jumping online and searching for home decor items. But sometimes the best items aren't sold online. They're in your local antique shop.

Now that's not to say that everything in an antique shop is beautiful. I had to sort through tons of junk before I found the perfect vase - but it was well worth it because I got exactly what I wanted and didn't need to settle.

But be warned. Before shopping for antiques there are a few things you should know.

Antique Store Shopping Tips

1. Take a picture, fabric samples, paint samples and measurements of the empty spot you'd like to fill in your home. In some antique stores all sales are final. So if you buy it, you keep it - even if it ends up clashing with the sofa.
2. Don't touch anything. Not only might you break it and then have to buy it, but also because you could get hurt. I rubbed my hand across a Chinese porcelain pot and ended up getting a piece of it stuck in my finger. The pot had a hairline fracture that I didn't see. So you've been warned.
3. Take your time. Unlike chain stores that take hours perfecting their displays, most antique stores have items thrown together in a chaotic mess, which makes it easy to miss the good stuff. So take plenty of time to look everything over. If you're having a really hard time taking everything in, ask the owner if they have what you're looking for. They just might lead you right to it.
   
4. Sometimes the lighting in antique stores is pretty bad. If you think you like the color of something, but aren't sure, ask the owner if you can step outside with the object to see how it looks in the sunlight.
5. There's no late night shopping. Unlike many stores that are open until 9pm, some antique stores close around 5pm and aren't open every day of the week. Check the stores hours before heading out.
6. If you think you're getting ripped off, take a picture of the item and then head home to look it up online. See how much antique stores online are asking for the item to verify if the price the store you were at is reasonable. Also, check to see if there are any ways to verify that the item you're looking at is not a fake.
   
7. It's not all about paying top dollar. Sometimes the best finds at an antique store are in the $5 range. Then again sometimes they're $300 or way, way more. It just depends.
   

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Cincinnati Flower Show

After my Earth Day post, I was inspired to spend the day at the Cincinnati Flower Show, which happens to be endorsed by Royal Horticultural Show. But I'll be honest, I don't have a clue what that means. It does sound important though.

While there, I got tons of garden ideas and took some pictures to share my favorites with you. Although, bad planning caused my camera to run out of battery right at the beginning. So most of the pictures were taken with my cell phone. Sorry about that.

My favorite garden of the day was one inspired by beach shacks. It was so beautiful because it was absolutely bursting with color.

I thought this was a great example of how to make an outdoor fireplace look beautiful. Instead of having a picture or mirror outside, use plants to adorn the mantle. So smart and pretty.



You could say I'm a bit obsessed with window boxes. I think they're one of the best accessories for a bland home exterior. So I was thrilled to see tons of window box examples at the flower show. Here were my favorite three.







To my surprise, Dick Wells, the orchid expert I interviewed last year for two videos: Orchid and Orchid Care, had a giant display at the garden show. He showed off tons of beautiful orchids in a pretty, white greenhouse. Unfortunately, Dick wasn't at the show yesterday.

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