The item being featured as the “steal of the day” at Decor Steals today is so hot that you may want to go over and buy it before reading this post!  I have a feeling they will sell out fast, since one of my FAQ’s is, “Where did you get the mat/rug in your dining room?” This bamboo typography mat has been under all of my dining sets… …including my latest one…     (here’s a preview of it…) …it’s the backdrop for a lot of my photo shoots…   …it was the anchor in all of my spaces at Lucketts… …and even made it into my book.   It’s become such a signature in my look that I’m not sure I can take it out of the dining room without causing a reader riot!  So, if you’ve ever wanted one, now is your chance.   And here’s a preview of

Instead of flying home from the Haven Conference, I had to fly directly to Richmond, VA, to help my mom clean out my Opa’s house.  (Opa means grandpa in German, for those who don’t know…)  He passed away a few years ago, but his wife has been living in the home until recently.  The time has now come to clean out the house and put it on the market.  Fortunately, we had already cleaned out the attic and things have been thinned out over the years, so it wasn’t too big of a job. This house is special to me.  My Opa, who was a builder, custom built this house about 25 years ago.  In addition, he built half of the houses in Petersburg from the 1950’s – 1980’s. My dad was in the Army, so I never lived anywhere longer than 4 years as I was growing up.  This

Whenever I need some clothes, I head over to Kohl’s.  When my husband needs clothes, we go to Kohl’s.  When the kids need clothes…you guessed it.  It’s sort of a given. We have the Kohl’s card, we get the coupons and they carry brands I really like.  (I always make a beeline for the Simply Vera Wang stuff followed by Lauren Conrad.)  So, when Kohl’s asked if I would like to be a part of their back to school campaign, I didn’t even hesitate.  Um.  YES! They sent me a $500 gift card to spend to get my boys all ready for the first day of school.  (They also sent me some goodies including this scarf that I wore at Haven…) (Thanks, Marianne, for the picture!) Anyway, for those who haven’t shopped at Kohl’s before, $500 goes and very, very long way. The boys, me and my mom headed out

My husband and I were cramming today to finish our bathroom for a photo shoot tomorrow for some freelance HGTV.com projects.  My, oh my, has time been tight this summer!  Things keep piling on and it’s been stressful, but we’re almost through the busiest part.  So, Haven has really been sneaking up on me.  I’ve maybe been in denial that it’s right around the corner.  And that I’m teaching a workshop and need to prepare for it!  Maybe I’m confessing too much?  Well, Shaunna and I got our act together and have a great Advanced Painting Workshop planned.  Last year, we reviewed different paint types, techniques, tools, our favorite tricks, etc.  This year, we’re going to teach a hand’s on workshop, showcasing three advanced paint finishes.  I love that we’re all going to get to play with paint. One thing that we will be repeating is our “Best Worst Paint

 For those of you who don’t know, my background is in musical theatre.  It’s was my main “thing” as a kid and what I studied in college. (That’s me as Annie when I was 9.) While I haven’t been on the stage in many years, I still listen to and sing along with musicals often while I work.  A few weeks ago, I was humming some lines from the musical The Woman in White and a line from that show came to mind.  I won’t go into the story, but it revolves around two sisters.  Marian, the older sister and Laura, the younger, prettier sister.  Count Fosco, a rather slimy character, is trying to woo Marian and says to her about her younger, prettier sister, “You live in her shadow.”  Marian replies, “If I do , it is because I am comfortable there.” It was sort of strange to me that

There’s something about having a magazine coming to photograph a room in your home that makes you a little crazy.  I did a ton of cleaning last week, down to polishing pots and pans, washing slipcovers and scrubbing my ice dispenser with a scour stick.  I do become a little difficult to live with for a couple of days, I will admit, and practically chase my family around with a vacuum and sponge.  It’s not really that bad, but it’s hard to not put pressure on myself to make everything perfect, even though I know it doesn’t have to be. This is the fourth magazine photo shoot in my home and one thing I’ve come to expect is that the stylist and photographer will change things around to make everything work for the photo composition, the specific magazine, the issue, etc.  They’re not trying to step on your decorating toes,