Extreme Displeasure!

Mike and I are outraged by the Project Runway Finale!

As you know, I was seriously rooting for Mondo. I am sad to say, I was disappointed by Mondo's collection; it was a little too circus-y for me. But Andy! Andy's collection was lovely. And ethereal. And breathtaking. Dare I say they were spun from angels' dreams?

well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration....

And yet.....Gretchen won.

Can anyone tell me that this:

and this:

are better than this:

and this:

?????

Well, you can believe that we at the Frew Household are Extremely Displeased!

(but our Family Dinner was delish and we had a wonderful time together!)

Family Ties

The Bride has put out a plea: she needs some Family Time. She's been working herself senseless for the last few months. We seldom get to see her and her Fella.

So tonight is Family Night! We'll get almost everyone of them, missing only Big Girl's hubby, Pat, who is on the road. Or in the air, I guess,

and our sweetie-pie, Tracy, who has to babysit.

The nine of us will enjoy a good old-fashioned autumn dinner: pot roast that's been braising all day, delicious mashed potatoes and plain old frozen corn. Maybe the Hubs will even get the strawberry whipped cream cake he's been (not so subtly) hinting for over the last couple of weeks.

Then we'll watch the finale of Project Runway. (I love my family, but nothing will stop me from watching Mondo's victory dance tonight!)

It's so seldom we get the chance to get together aside from the holidays, so I'm really looking forward to a nice time. Just relaxing, laughing and loving each other.

I hope you all get to enjoy a wonderful evening, too!

And by the way, I just needed to post this freshly-taken picture of my nearly-four-year-old grand-daughter, Gracie, who's turning 4 in a few weeks.

Isn't she a doll?

Before and After

Have you ever wondered how much difference a custom window treatment can make?

Here's a downtown Chicago condo. This window is the first thing you see when you enter the residence. There are some off-the-rack, not-quite-long-enough, plain-old-white tab top panels hanging in front of the biggest window in the place.  Notice the element of cold concrete on the ceiling.  There are also concrete pillars around this room. Due to the loft style of this condo, the bedroom walls do not go to the ceiling, meaning daylight streamed into their bedroom every morning, unblocked by the inadequate white panels.

Now see what some color and pattern can do! Isn't this room warmed up dramatically?  Doesn't the whole thing look more pulled together?  The owner fell in love at first sight with the valance fabric.  We picked the pale green of the panels from the leaves of the fabric design.  The wall color was another color from the print.  We lined the panels with blackout lining, ensuring the homeowners with blissful un-interrupted extra hours of sleep, regardless of the sunshine.  The harsh concrete no longer dominates the room.

And what a pretty sight whenever they walk in their front door!

Trends for the New Decade

Wow--the New Decade!  I can't believe 2011 is right around the corner.  Remember all the excitement that surrounded the New Millenium?  I was cleaning out my buffet yesterday and found some 2000 New Year's Eve memorabilia (yes, that's how seldom I clean that buffet!) and thought, why keep it?  So out it went. The last ten years sure have flown by.

There are lots of trend reports for 2011 and beyond and I though I would share some of them with you; help you get that re-decorating fire sparked!

From all the blogs I'm reading, the top colors for walls and furniture are, hands down, white and gray.  People are loving the antique French look. Pale gray walls with white slip-covered furniture is a favorite.  Accessories often include natural elements like coral and sea shells, along with big chunky garden elements like urns and figurines.  Shabby accessorizing is very big right now, including pillows made from old grain sacks and mattress ticking. (personally, I'm not a fan of somebody's old mattress, though, French or not! but that's just me...)

Another really cool trend also being heralded by Joni Webb  of cotedetexas.blogspot.com is painting your trim to match your walls.  That includes crown molding, window frames and baseboards!  Joni used this picture as one example: love it!

Accessories?  Big, big lanterns, blingy chandeliers, the shabby garden elements and something big and round on the wall, such as a mirror or a clock.  And lots of books, stacked on tables, lining the shelves, any place you can tuck one in.  This picture is from Pottery Barn: (note the industrial-style lighting, also a popular trend right now.)

The important thing to remember is to keep it personal.  After all, this is your home and it should reflect you and your family's loves and lives.

   

                                                                                    Cheers~

                                                                              Lee

A New Day

Where have I been?  Well, I tell you what, I have been going through some yuck lately and all I wanted to do was hide my head under my wing.

But it finally dawned on me that I was literally being a chicken.

About life in general.

So no more.  In the immortal words of Randy Quaid in one of the best movies ever made:

Independence Day:

I'M BAAAAAACK!

(But I'm not going to blow up your space ship, just post a lot more.)

:-)