September 21, 2010

Thrifty DIY Bath Renovation

Baths, Projects & Tips

One of our readers, Jen Murray, sent us a couple of photos and a brief description of one of her home improvements. Here’s an excerpt of her notes describing the thrifty DIY bathroom renovation by her husband, Erick, who retiled the dated shower and tub surround. I’m just going to take a moment and tell you that I found your blog through Facebook, I believe, on the site of Company C. I read your post about that wonderful pillow you made from Company C fabric. I enjoyed it so much—I had just ordered 2 yards of Maine Cottage fabric (the inexpensive … Read Post

August 31, 2010

Tips on Enhancing Your Life with Feng Shui

Projects & Tips

I’ve been gradually shifting gears with my career over the past few months, and my husband is considering doing the same, so it’s a good thing we’ve decided to renovate our kitchen. At least that’s true if you take the Chinese art of feng shui into account. You see, our kitchen is located in what’s known as the “career area” of our home and according to Katherine Lewis, an L.A.-based feng shui master I consulted a couple of weeks ago, making positive changes to this area will positively affect the career opportunities that come into our lives. Trained in several schools … Read Post

August 26, 2010

Tips from a Pro on the Psychology of Getting Organized

Projects & Tips

While I was working as the editor in chief of the Woman’s Day special interest magazines, the advice most often requested from our readers was information on getting organized. A couple of months ago, my fellow editors helped me record a conversation I had with Fran Harris, a life coach, former professional basketball player, and the host of a new HGTV show called Home Rules. The premise of her show is to get the participants to clear up their “inner house,” meaning their psychological and emotional issues, before they earn the right to embark on their “outer house,” or home … Read Post

August 24, 2010

Using Feng Shui to Create Harmony in the Home

Projects & Tips

It’s not everyday that a person undertakes a renovation project, so naturally it pays to do some due diligence before starting one. Among the things I promised myself I’d do before reconfiguring any spaces or painting any walls was to research feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement and design, and apply some of its principles to the home I share with my husband, Anil. I have reservations about the efficacy of the system, since aspects of the practice are mystical and hard to measure by scientific standards. But one of my goals with our improvement projects is to … Read Post

August 13, 2010

Super-Simple Centerpiece Idea

Projects & Tips

Sometimes, the simplest projects are the best. Take this easy idea, for example, generated by my stylist friend and colleague Donna Talley for Better Homes & Gardens’ Garden Shed magazine. All you need is an urn or two—hauled in from the backyard or a tag sale—some ferns, moss, and potting soil and you’ve got a instant pick-me-up for a console or an outdoor table. Place the plant in a small terra-cotta pot to allow for drainage before setting it inside the urn.

July 30, 2010

Designing a Home in Accord with Vastu

Projects & Tips

When my husband, Anil, and I visited our family in India last October, we were invited to the home of friends in a village in the hills near Pune, about 2½ hours by car from Bombay. There was an exceptionally serene quality about this home and I learned from our friends that it was designed with the input of an expert in vastu, a 5,000-year-old Vedic system of architectural planning that enables houses and buildings to be situated and constructed in harmony with nature and unseen energies. The system combines science with spirituality and was the precursor to feng shui, … Read Post

July 16, 2010

Understanding the Emotional Impact of Color

Projects & Tips

Everybody has a visceral response to color. We tend to either like a color or we don’t. Lots of studies have been done to document the physiological effects that color elicits in humans. Red, for example, has been shown to increase the heart rate, while deep shades of blue, like the sky at dusk, can make people feel drowsy. Yet little research has been done to evaluate the emotional impact of color. To find out more about how color can influence emotions, I recently spoke with Catherine Poole, a medical intuitive and former spokesperson for Home Depot’s Fresh Aire Choice paint. Catherine … Read Post

July 7, 2010

How to Make a Tuteur

Projects & Tips

If I had a yard, I’d carve out a spot for a kitchen garden and grow tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries and rhubarb in addition to herbs and flowers. I’d also build an obelisk-shaped tuteur like the one I saw at The Hedges Inn in the Hamptons a couple of weeks ago and put it right in the middle of the garden. I don’t have a yard, so I won’t be building the tuteur, but a girl can dream. If you do have a yard, however, and would like to make a tuteur like this one, here’s how: Materials: •Four 2”x2” 8-foot-long … Read Post

June 29, 2010

Pretty, Simple-to-Sew Pillows

Projects & Tips

In general, I prefer neutral rooms with walls and floors and furnishings defined in shades of cream, oyster, amber, chocolate and gray. But there’s something about summer that brings out my colorful alter ego—and I love introducing pops of color that play off Mother Nature’s seasonal styling cues. One of the ways I like to do this is with easy-to-switch-out accents, such as pillows. Sometimes my husband will let me look through the showroom of Milli Home, a company he owns with his partners that produces affordable pillows, poufs and table linens for retailers such as Home Goods, Sam’s Club, Costco, … Read Post

June 2, 2010

Fresh Start

Projects & Tips

There’s nothing like a change of scene to clear out the mental cobwebs and alter one’s perspective. My husband, Anil, and I ventured off to the Chesapeake Bay over Memorial Day weekend, and the beautiful historic buildings in Easton, Oxford, St. Michaels and Annapolis—as well as the lovely rural landscape surrounding these villages—gently diverted my attention from my home improvement projects to quieter ways of living as well as the rich history of our nation (I’ll write about my visit to the landmark home of William Paca, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, in a later post). … Read Post