The Easter Table
Easter decor may indeed be the most uplifting of all the holidays. The first flowers of the season—tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths—are the harbinger of warmer days ahead while bunnies, soft fluffy chicks and a basket of soft pastel eggs mean…
Time for Tapers
When Hurricane Sandy pummeled the northeast in October of 2012, candles became a necessity. We no longer regarded them as a decorative or mood-altering element of a space. With many hours spent in the dark after the storm, we depended…
Christian’s Room
The design concept for a room begins with a simple idea. It may be a paint color, a light fixture, a rug or a piece of furniture. Here in my son Christian’s room, the idea was always literally staring me…
The Bed
Saturday mornings meant eating my dad’s blueberry pancakes followed by the requisite “stripping of the beds.” The previous week’s sheets were torn away from our mattresses and thrown onto the laundry room floor where they awaited their turn in the…
Symmetry
Symmetry is defined as the quality of being made up of exactly similar parts facing each other or around an axis. I recall those dreary days of Geometry class where such definitions were memorized mindlessly never realizing that the concepts…
The Ginger Jar
The ginger jar hails from the Ming Dynasty of China. These beautiful vessels transported salt, oil and eventually spices thus earning their moniker from the wonderful fragrant ginger that often filled them. A testament to the craftsmanship and pottery-making skills…
Woven
The cool blue hues, sandy sisals and breezy fabrics of coastal decor provide tranquility even when not overlooking a body of water. Wicker and rattan accessories and furnishings always complete the look, but perhaps there is a place for them…
The Desk
Before there was the home office, there was the kitchen table. When I was in grade school, my afternoon routine consisted of grabbing a snack and parking myself in front of our television to watch General Hospital. After my date…
The Boys’ Bathroom
I began the renovation of our first home in the master bedroom where the former owner painted over the wallpaper, but as soon as my husband Adam began to scrape away the thick paper, chunks of plaster came crumbling down…
Spring
If Punxsatawny Phil could guarantee an early spring, shovels and bags of rock salt would be banished to a corner of the garage until they are resurrected again next winter, and we’d dig out our flip flops and outdoor decor.…
Home
When my freshman year theology professor placed the syllabus on my desk, the heading immediately caught my eye: “The Search for Home.” It was as if Dr. John Thiel ( a brilliant man who insisted his students call him John;…
Welcome Winter
The fleeting pleasure of gaining an extra hour when daylight savings time ends is often replaced by the reality that darkness has descended upon us along with colder temperatures. The holidays make the remaining two months of the year fly…
Scent
Every year, on an early spring day, my windows are flung open, and the scent of the air assures me that winter has past. With the first whiff of freshly-cut grass, I envision drawers and closets filled with shorts, tanks,…
Eugenia
I stand in awe of the gardener. While anyone can learn about gardening by reading about the Ph balance of soil, the proper fertilizer and indigenous plantings, few are granted the power to make anything “grow.” Most inspiring are the…
Linen
My extended family visited the Amalfi coast in the summer of 2016. To say the southern Italian coastline is breathtaking just may be the greatest understatement I have ever heard. Deep blue water, rocky beaches, vines bearing bright chubby lemons,…
Moss
Last year, Americans spent two billion dollars on Valentine’s Day flowers. That is a lot of money to spend on a gift that will not last more than a week. But still, flowers are continually bestowed at their most beautiful,…
January Flowers
Each year, I breathe a sigh of relief on the night of December 25 and ponder how it all got done. The stress of the holidays are almost over. All that is left to do is crack open a bottle…
Let There Be Light
When I was growing up in the late seventies and eighties, I remember that Christmas lights meant big, pointy colorful bulbs. My father would ascend the ladder each December and attach them around the front door and windows of our…
Pine Cones
My parents built a home in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina the year I graduated from college. Having been born and raised in New Jersey, the southern way of life was a novelty, one I soon embraced. Everything moved much…
Take Charge
When I was ten years old, my parents took my sister and me to see our first Broadway play, Annie. I was so utterly excited that I pinned my hair up because I wanted to look sophisticated for my big…
Wonderful White
I discovered the wonder of white paint right after my husband Adam and I married and moved into our first home. We purchased a 1923 stucco side-hall colonial on North Summit Avenue in Chatham, New Jersey. It was a storied…
Ivy
I have a love/hate relationship with ivy. The vine proved my nemesis in 1995 when my husband Adam and I moved into our first home. The former owners planted ivy against the house along its north side, and as the…
