• The Art of Beautiful Living

    ‘Tis the Season for Crushed Poinsettias

    We don’t put up a million trees at our house.  I don’t have anything against it personally and I do think that a house completely decked out is a wonder to behold.  Of course, some of that wonder is “I wonder where they store all of this?” and “I wonder where they get the energy needed to do this?”  Individual differences are a crazy thing.  It is one of life’s great mysteries why one person is a neat freak and another is happy with clutter.  Some folks are organized and some struggle.  Some have beautiful, effortless (or so it seems) lives and then there are people like me who are…

  • 1846 Homestead Renovation

    Starting on the Addition

    Oh! The Planning!!! The addition was an important part of our renovation project.  The Homestead was too small, too old, too precious to us to totally change the layout and make a more functional home out of it.  We wanted to use it gently, but also efficiently.  It seemed un-Scottish (read wasteful) to spend the money for the renovation and not use it at all.  That is also why I wanted it connected to the main house.  If it wasn’t, I was afraid we would turn off the AC/heat and not go in there for months on end. And so when we started planning the addition, we needed to figure…