Finishing Touches-Tying Together our Living Room and Workspace with Serena & Lily
Adding my vintage desk to the window corner in our living room was brilliant. Creating this little side office made practical use of the corner; I use it, my guests use it and my kids use it- it’s like an at-home WeWork area. The only problem was that my existing living room rug was not […]
Easy and Breezy…..
As you already know, for years, I struggled with finishing our master bedroom. I never quite felt inspired enough, having made a few mistakes in there, and never really addressing them. The wood wall that divided our dressing area from the main room was an issue. The contractor mistakenly used walnut instead of oak; and […]
Scratch That! ( Built from Scratch, Again.) Correcting Mistakes in Our Master Suite
Sponsored Post – Sawyer Mason One project in our home that was daunting was re-addressing our Master Bedroom Suite. In theory, it had all the makings for a great Master Suite: We found beautiful vintage french doors (with glass) for the entry. I loved how they allowed for natural light to carry though into the […]
Beach House Essentials, Getting Ready for Summer with Serena & Lily!
Living by the beach on Cape Cod, Summer is everything! And gearing up for this summer season, (hopefully this year with lots of friends and family), I’m pulling out some of my favorite Serena & Lily products. I love Serena & Lily, they understand the casual, coastal lifestyle. I can rely on them for high […]
It’s Summer on the Cape!
The Summer Solstice is extra special for us on Cape Cod, our spring is basically an extension of winter! So, Summer Solstice is the light at the end of the tunnel-it begins the countdown of our precious summer days. There is a constant flow of summer guests at our home. Our house gets booked up […]
A Father’s Day Tale
Phil and I moved to Zurich, Switzerland shortly after we got married for his work. I was able to commute once a month to my work as a stylist for a company in NJ. In the Fall of 1996, I caught a lingering cold, and suffered for a few weeks in Zurich, waiting until I […]
ReBuilt From Scratch – My Dining Room Gas Fireplace Makeover
Building our home from scratch was no easy task. I am all about a project but this was a monster! It was the first home I had ever designed from the ground up, and working with your spouse on something this big can be challenging! (European Home model HVF42.) Fortunately my contractors were okay with my “design-on-the-fly” approach […]
Oma’s Apfel Kuchen
Serve with a spoonful of fresh whipped cream. Photos: Courtesy of Matthew Mead As you all know my mother-in-law Oma comes from Regensburg, Germany. She met my father-in-law during World War II where he was a medic in the U.S. Army. They married in Germany after the war and settled in Philadelphia. My husband, Philly, […]
Food For The Soul – A Couple of Traditional Italian Family Recipes
My mom, Helen (originally Elena) with her mom in about 1937 in Yonkers, NY. She was a sassy one! I come from an Italian family. My grandparents immigrated here from the Abruzzi region of Italy. My grandmother was six months pregnant with my mother when she arrived in Ellis Island, NY in 1928 with her three children to […]
A Closer Look: Simple But Precious
Our Center Hall Styling Details Salt Marsh rug shown here available at Old Silver Shed SHOP. Click on image for more information. Living on Cape Cod in a house with a lot of windows, my natural instinct is to bring the beauty of outside inside. As you enter our home, you can see straight through […]
