How To Build A Room

So, I've been watching some television shows...okay, just one in particular. Candice Olsen's Divine Design. It's a kooky kind of show featuring this really tall thin blond named Candice. She's Canadian and really goofy. But, since I've been watching the show, I figured out how she builds a room.

Here's the steps.

1. Figure out the layout of the room. Where does the furniture go and what purpose does each area provide? What is the focal point of the room?

I noticed that each room typically has about three distinct areas. In bedrooms, one area is for the bed and sleeping, one area is for lounging and media/reading, and the final area is for some big piece of furniture like a dresser or armoire.

2. Pick out the biggest pieces of furniture and build up the area with smaller pieces such as a chair or chaise. Decide if you are going to install custom cabinetry to the space and where it will go.

Always, always, always accompany the big piece with another functional piece such as a small side table, ottoman to rest something upon, or a bench or stools to place at the end of a bed or to take up room under a window. I also noticed that she really likes to make a moment of the area right around a window. If the bed has to go by the only window in the room, she swathes the whole thing in tons of fabric to highlight the area.

She NEVER picks out puny furniture even if the room is small, just less of them.

3. Start to introduce color.

She begins by picking out fabrics. Usually, it's the drapery or bedding fabric that begins the process and the style of the room dictates the color. If the room is meant for "peaceful tranquil retreat" the colors are usually watery blues and faded beige's. If the room is meant to masculine exotic, the colors are deeper browns and beige's with hits of red and black in the accessories. She picks the fabrics and colors on all the furniture including the headboard. That's not something I would really know to do. I also noticed that the wall color is not the starting point of deciding the color of the room. Rather, it's simply the echo of the other colors she's chosen. That is a relief to me because I think I put much to much emphasis on the wall color.

4. Decide where you want the sparkle to go.

She usually puts some kind of sparkle into a room even if it's rustic in style. For example, even in a rustic room, maybe the heavy wood furniture doesn't have any glitter on it, but the hardwood floors have a semi sheen and the wallpaper would have some sort of iridescence in it. If the bedding doesn't give off any shine, then the accent pillows and drapery sheers would.

5. Lighting

She is the queen of pot lights, track lighting, and sconces. And, boy, does it work. Instead of having one overhead light, she usually brings down that light to a chandelier or diffuses it in a drum fixture and then highlights the rest of the room with little dots of light in the way of pot lights and sconces. Doing this creates different levels of lighting and then the whole room becomes illuminated and no corner left dark and dingy. The light doesn't get unifocal and one noted. Rather, it is multidimensional and then the colors get a chance to pop by being highlighted in different levels.

She should win an award just for her lighting skills.

6. Contrast the flooring.

She usually picks a darker wood floor and a neutral rug that ALWAYS has some sort of pattern in it. If she opts for basic carpeting, there is always something going on in the carper like a design of some sort.

7. Add some heat.

She always adds a fireplace. This, I'm not sure about because who can afford to do such a thing in every room? I think that she does for people who can afford to do so to by making a moment out of the area. I think I'd opt to just arrange an area like there was a fireplace and then just omit the fireplace.

















11842" />

I Was Supposed To Go To The Gym...

But, I got too busy spending hours Christmas shopping. I went with my friend Stephanie. She's from Kentucky and has all kinds of good sense about her. So, I figured she would be a great person to go shopping with. You know, just very no nonsense. None of this stop and linger to look at everything business. And because of that, we got all of our shopping done.

The funniest thing about the day was when we stopped at the food court to have lunch. Panda Express it was. When we finished our meal, we opened our fortune cookies. Mine read, "Sunday is a good day to relax."

Good tip and one I will never take. You see, I don't really know how to relax. I am always doing something and when I hear people say they are bored I always wonder how because I think there are too many things to do.

But, forget about that. I am most excited about this one particular purchase I made today. I bought a diamond ring for my mother! This is by far the best present I have ever given her. And, yes, it's real. It's big, and sparkly, and real. Mr. Donaghy was quite impressed and also quite taken aback at my (I mean our) generosity. He hopes that we will become the favorites and that Baby Jesus will be forgotten this year. One can only dream.

Mr. Donaghy came home sick from work today. He had coughed so much and so hard he threw his back out. Poor lad. I hope he is on the mend and quickly now, quickly.

The Exodus

Boy, what a crappy blogger I am. One year later and here are the pictures of our kitchen. I really did not want to post any pictures because I felt like a fraud. You see, Mr. Donaghy has not yet really completed the kitchen. Baseboards are still propped up against the wall and door frames, window frames, shades, backsplash, and art work still remains to be installed.

I decided to hell with it. This is how it is. Tell the truth about our failures as remodelers and join the legions of people still living amongst their "Honey Do" list. Ah well.

The really good news is that we (my brother and I) have purchased another house in Long Beach. My brother will relinquish his room and the rights to the garage. In his place, Mr. Donaghy will scoot right on in and take over THE MAN SPACE!

I am really excited. You see, my brother has a small problem with collecting car stuff. The back entrance of the house is cluttered with axels, gaskets, headlights, you name it, he has it. Also stuffed to the gills is the carport, the garage, the sideyard, and his bedroom. What were once lovely brand new sparkling clean carpets have now been deemed a health hazard caked with motor oil and the like.

With the exodus of the sibling we call Baby Jesus...shout out to Fancy This&That...the small miniscule parcel of space for Mr. Donaghy, now the dining room, shall be enlarged and relegated to said man space. Thus, the remaining interior and garden space shall be reclaimed by none other than me, Mrs. Donaghy! Alas! The dream is coming to fruition and I while I faint with delight on the chaise lounger that does not exist in my house, I am giddy with the prospects of what each room will become with the promise of order, organization, purpose, and cleanliness. Martha Stewart, take heed. I will become a protoge the likes of which you have never seen!

Hallelujah!

Madelyn Lorraine's First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was spent in South Bend, Indiana. Snow fell on bare oaks and evergreen pines creating a cotton-like sound diffuser that left a peaceful silence in the morning where only the chirping of birds could be heard half a mile away. Thanksgiving supper was superb and cousin Tony's sweet potato casserole was the biggest hit acting more like a dessert than a savory side dish.

But, the biggest highlight was the introduction of Madelyn Lorraine. The first great granddaughter of the Plaia clan. At six weeks old, Maddie closed her eyes for only a mere one hour to take a nap and the rest of the time was spent wide eyed with a half cocked knowing little smile sizing up the grown ups of her family in the midwest. Strawberry blond and thick as an elf's was her hairdo and round pink cheeks anchored her angelic little face.

Me thinks I had a flash of baby fever.

The family began quizzing me when I was going to have a baby. I stayed silent never betraying the secret agreement Mr. Donahgy and I made on the way to the airport for this trip.