Decorating Do Bits Newsletter March 2000 Archived

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MyInteriorDecorator.com Newsletter

A Web Site Dedicated to Decorating & Interior Design
Advice, Services, Products, & Articles for the Home
March 2000

Vol. 1 Issue 2

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Within our territory we feel safe and comfortable, our self-image and sense of well-being are enhanced, and we feel in control. Often this is the only space in our lives we feel we can exert control over, and, as such, it satisfies our need to be creative, to express our individuality.”
-Inside Today’s Home

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Table of Contents:

Letter from the President
Spotlight on Decorating
Feature Article: Nooks & Cranny’s
Decorating Do's
Updates & New News

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Letter from the President

Since our last newsletter, things have been nuts around here! We have been busy marketing and advertising the web site on the Internet and in our community. Just when I think, “whew, that’s done” I figure out something else that needs to be done. With the changes the web keeps going through, it is a daunting task. We could definitely use your help in this process by asking you tell your friends about us. My ultimate vision for the web site is to have wonderful chats, a full bulletin board, a place you all find answers to your questions and a safe place to shop. I would love to have your help. All you need to do is send the web site address or this newsletter to someone you know. It’s simple!

In a month I will be taking a small road trip with some friends to the upper part of Connecticut. We will be staying in an old home that has 17 rooms. For a designer who drools over homes this is going to be a delightful trip. May’s newsletter and hopefully a future decorating article will have tales of that trip and some photographs to go along with it. I hear the house loves company so it should be a wonderful relaxing trip.

People keep emailing me to let them know when the web site will be ready. It is now. It changes a lot but that is due to search engine requirements, load times for visitors and new content. So come visit: http://myinteriordecorator.com

A million thanks to Annette Clark for allowing us to use her decorating article this month.

One last thought: I want to thank you all for your support, it means the world to me and the company. So, until next month, happy decorating, happy spring and I hope you have a great month!

Rhonda Morin (formerly Rhonda Layton)
President, MyInteriorDecorator.com

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SPOTLIGHT ON DECORATING

Spring has been teasing us here in the Washington, DC area the last few weeks. It reminds me that this is the perfect time of year to scatter the dust bunnies in your home and get it ready for the warmer months. At Christmas time I replace just about EVERY accessory in my house with an ornament or some type of holiday thing. In the spring and summer, new quilts are placed on the beds, new pillows, fresh crisp white battenburg lace adorns the windows. Always bunches of flowers and forced bulbs next to a pitcher of sweet tea and fresh fruit. I encourage you to shake things up a bit at you home. Spring is a glorious time!

Sometimes colors kind of grab you and won’t let go. In the April 2000 edition of Country Home, on pages 142-151 there is an article about a home. Not so much that the style of the home grabs me, but the colors on the walls do. There is a purple color on pages 142-143 and a beautiful pink color on 146-147. No where in the article does it state who the manufacturer of the paint is. They are glorious colors and painting a room is an inexpensive weekend job. Hint, hint, hint.

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FEATURE ARTICLE
Nooks & Cranny’s
by Annette Clark

Moving into a new house is always exciting! An older house, though, already has a history and cozy details within that say 'home' even before moving the furniture in. With foresight, this kind of character can be planned into a new house or a remodeling project.

Some inclusions that make older homes 'cozy' are arched doorways, decorative window trims, and crown mouldings at the ceilings. A nice nook can say 'home' as well.

A nook is a cuddly corner in which to share treasured old family photos, a favorite collection of antique do-dads, or an area for seasonal displays. Consider the hall closet that reaches to the ceiling. Often the shelf inside above remains unused because it is difficult to reach. Why not design the closet to be 72 to 84 inches tall, with a ledge above to be seen in the foyer as we walk in? It could include a finished wood top, decorative edges, and uplighting to accentuate the display items of your choice. If you don't like to dust, consider encasing the nook with sliding glass doors.

A nook can be shallow shelves built into the wall behind the range to house spice bottles. Or, it can be a similar shelf tiled in around a tub for a shrine of candles. A kitchen with a corner sink offers the opportunity to build a ledge behind the faucets, into the corner and reaching to the sill of garden windows. What a wonderful area to nurture an indoor herb garden!

A friend chose to close in her porch and remodel it as a den with a tongue and groove pine ceiling. The room was backed by the foyer closet, with the area above the closet built as a nook for the den. With the touch of a small picket fence and some garden items, the nook creates a bright, casual atmosphere. Visit this nook at: http://www.cozykitchens.com/nook.jgg.

When planning your new home or remodel, don't forget the look of nooks. Planning such an area or two can create the cozy and inviting feel you want in your finished home.

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DECORATING DO'S

With spring knocking on our door and gardeners looking for any signs to start digging, this is a perfect time to ready your interiors for the coming season. Winter can be depressing and blah so fluff up everything with some color. Add slip covers to upholstery furniture or a new comforter to your bed. Just add some light touches to spruce up your home.

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UPDATES & NEW NEWS

Yes, this newsletter is a few days late. The short month of February got away from us. Our contest ended January 31st and our winners are:

Grand Prize (Choose & Charge): Joyce Cintron
3 Shopper’s Buddy Services: Celia O'Callaghan, Jacqueline Campbell, & Lawrence D. Katz
5 Floor Plans 4 U Services: Pat Williams, Awa Kane, Terry Downey, Jennifer Mustoe, & Kim from Longmont, CO.
We have just been selected as a Shopper’s Safe Site by The Public Eye.com. They will be adding a new feature to their web site where you will be able to search for the products or services you need. Everyone who is listed in their database is considered a Shopper’s Safe Site. That means your privacy is protected, your information secure and you satisfaction is guaranteed when you shop from a Shopper’s Safe Site.

Our Book of the Month is Mary Emmerling's Smart Decorating. Its a great book filled with ideas about how to use everyday things to “spruce” up your home. (We haven’t selected next month’s Book of the Month. If you have one you would like to see listed, please send us an email about it.)

Tuesday we meet with our accessory representative and hope to have some wonderful new accessories to place in The Interior Design Store.

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