Hi Friends! Thank you so much for staying connected with me. With things closed and hugging not allowed-and I am a hugger- it means more than ever!! With your help we made the short list for the AMARA Interior Blog Awards- Best Interior Lifestyle Blog. With all your votes and support you have given me so much joy and I want to share some we have spread with our clients and with family!! So let’s gather around the kitchen table, spread some joy and stay connected!

This beautiful kitchen designed by Mandy Rochelle Designs and constructed by Crossroads Construction, turned out lovely! Organic in feel the plaster hood and floating shelves really set off the marble art feature wall. They wanted a cerused look on their oak cabinetry, but had difficulty creating that feel with such a tight poured wood.

Cerused wood is also known as cerused or limed oak because oak’s visible grain and large pour creates a surface to show the finish variation. Other open-grained hardwood such as elm, ash or even some mahoganies will work. Close Grain hardwoods such as cherry, maple, birch and poplar have small dense pours which aren’t ideal for this look. Although oak, this wood was extremely dense. By wire brushing first and layering the wood with transparent glazes, which enhanced the limited graining, we were able to give the design team the natural look they were after.

Picking out the amount of graining you would like in your wood is as important as picking the slab of marble you would like for your surfaces. The names may be the same but things made from the earth have a huge variation- the beauty in nature is no two things look alike!

What a beautiful kitchen with a glam feel! Can you spy our part?

Here is the after and before. With showcase elements like this accent tile inlaid in brass, its important to eliminate any visuals that interrupt your eye and take away its impact. Alex, Segreto’s magician, magically made these plugs go away with a great eye, a little paint and some metal leaf paper.

Well done, Alex! Designer Ashley Tisius and the sweet homeowner were thrilled with this mask to her back splash plugs.

With styles changing, creatively coming up with problem solving solutions, which save our clients the cost and mess of major construction, is what we do best! This kitchen is beautiful as is but the homeowner wanted an entirely different feel to her most used space. What would you change? What would you leave?

Wow! Is this the same space? The footprint is exactly the same, plaster surfaces, floors remain and by adding a few cosmetic changes, this space takes on an entirely different perspective. A fresh coat of paint transformed the cabinetry, a new SegretoStone top on the island with a complementary quartz grounding the perimeter counters and backsplash are obvious changes. The hood remained the same, however, a special plaster which we bonded to the existing stone gives this hood an extreme makeover! Hardware and lighting make a huge difference and the infusion of brass elevates the space.

I was so excited when my gal pal, Courtnay Tartt Elias founder of Creative Tonic, called me to do some work in her own home. One of the most creative people I know, I couldn’t wait to see her vision for her own kitchen! She called while working from home during the pandemic and said she needed a lift and wanted to add more fun and joy in the most visited place in her home. She sent me this snapshot and asked me to focus on the whimsical valance over the sink. As an art collector, she wanted to transform her sub zero fridge into a focal feature in the room.

So we got started! Taking the fabric as inspiration, we painted the fridge, and started drawing the graphic right over the face metal handles and grill! Getting her approval we were ready to paint!

Courtnay is so fun to work with when we have collaborated on her clients homes, but even more engaging with her own. Busy with installations and photoshoots she buzzed in, facetimed and was so excited about each stroke of the brush! She sent me more pics than I sent her!

What a fun creative focal to her already stunning kitchen. We are doing more at her home and when complete will feature it in it’s entirety and with professional photography. For now check out her portfolio on her website Creative Tonic– it is a visual treat!!!

Entertaining in today’s environment is definitely challenging. My sweet Mom and her sister Gayle, who I view as my second Mom, live in a retirement community. Being in lock down for months, it was challenging to stay connected but Mom was celebrating a milestone of turning 80 and wanted to celebrate! Deciding it would be safer if just John and I had them over for dinner, we put all the leaves in the table creating a 10ft span. Now that’s spreading joy & staying connected!

I found these placemats on Amazon which had trivia of 1940, the year she began her journey! Being the princess she is I couldn’t resist the tiara highlighting her 80th year!

Happy Birthday Mom! So happy we could stay connected and celebrate your birthday is a special way!

We had a lot more birthdays following. Kirby was celebrating her 30th! With her not being able to celebrate in a big way we certainly wanted it special and……… last minute she decided to celebrate with us! Getting a one day turnaround from Amazon, I was able to receive my late night shopping spree in time for the big night. With 30 happy birthday splatter, blush décor I hung from the chandelier, pink roses and things around my house, the table came together.

I used a table cloth I had made for a trade show. I ordered inexpensive ones in white from Amazon and then used Stencils and spray paint to create the design.

Because the spray was fuzzy on the edges I took a fabric marker to enhance the design.

I created another artistic touch and was an easy way to mask mistakes. Simple, inexpensive easy and fun! I am thinking about painting all the tablecloths for my youngest daughter Sammy’s wedding!

Kirby felt like a princess for the day in her tiara and we had a wonderful time being together.

A tip I always use, with table set and flowers still fresh I always have a small event the day after!!

Small charcuterie boards with some leftovers from the night before make an easy peasy display that will make your guest feel special! I have written a few blogs featuring charcuterie boards, they are just my favorite! You can read them here and here.

If you are not able to get together in person, I saw this mini cake box at a clients home which really made her feel special on her big birthday! Sendacake has these unique and fun boxes for all occasions ready to ship for any event! I hope this brought a little happiness into your day. I challenge you to spread some joy & stay connected with your family and friends this week! Till next time! XO Leslie