New England Fine Living - Interior Design,Entertaining, and Lifestyle Topics

Welcome Baby Cocktail Party With A Birds Nest and Spring Theme

2013-05-04T21:11:00.001-04:00

I was given the wonderful opportunity to create a party for one of my clients for their third child. This Welcome Baby cocktail party was for about 60 guests. I was given a birds nest, a few key words, a budget, and I was off an running planning a birds nest theme party with a touch of spring for this special Celebration.

For a holiday party I designed for this client, I was told the guests still went to the side door even though there were luminaries marking the way to the front door. For this party, I created a quick sign to hopefully help guests find the correct door. I was surprised to find a blank wood sign and all I had to do was add raised letters and a ribbon.

For the front door, I started with empty urns. I found two topiary twig cone trees while in Maine and I purchased them before I even knew what I would use them for. When I got to my client's home, I plunked one in the urn and voila! Brain Storm! I put Spanish moss in the urns, the twig cones, fake ivy, grape vine, and then burlap bows.

The decor started with these three bird houses. When I saw them at the store, I thought it would be cute to buy three sizes to represent the three brothers. Baby Oliver has the smallest one :-). I used live ivy, Spanish moss, and a bi-level log sliver that I found in my wood pile. Who says I don't think out of the box? The table this birdhouse centerpiece is on is where the dinner buffet will be served.

I loved creating the cake design! Below is a quick sketch I did for the cake and faxed it off to Concord Tea Cakes for them to work their magic.

I was so nervous about picking up the cake, but when they brought it out in a box, I felt a bit better. Just kidding, this is not me, but it was in a box!

Now to decorate the cake!

I put a small circle of wax paper in the center of the cake and then placed the nest on top. Once again, this nest was my inspiration for the whole party theme.

I grabbed my scissors and snipped a few pieces of ivy from my table displays.

Before I picked up the cake, I picked up some white hydrangeas to place into burlap wrapped buckets.

Check out these favors! They are flower seeds. Hmmmm how can I display these. In herbs of course (the rye grass I was going to buy was sold out, so I had to think quick!). The fence was purchased the month before and I had no idea how I would use it, but I knew I would. It fit perfect around the herbs that were placed in a chicken wire and burlap basket.

I just put a few of the packets into the thyme by taping toothpicks onto the back of each packet. The rest were displayed on rolled out moss.

Below is the table that will have some appetizers on.

A battery operated candle flickers under a cloche with butterflys and Spanish moss

New England Fine Living's Web site http://www.newenglandfineliving.com and this blog was created by Linda Calder, The Fine Living Muse, as a Girl's Guide to Decorating in Style, Entertaining in Style, and Living in Style.

New England Fine Living uses Kravet's new e-shop program while shopping for design clients.

2013-02-24T09:40:00.003-05:00

Here I am, shopping in Kravets' design showroom at the Boston Design Center and using Kravet's new e-shop program. It was exciting to know I was one of the first designers, in the nation, to test out this new program. With my little knowledge of using a smart phone, this process was very easy and saved me not only time, but freed up one hand from holding a pad of paper or pencil.

The only two things that I had issues with was.... one, when there was no scanning option I had to input the numbers myself and make sure I typed in each number or letter correctly. Not really a problem, but I was quickly spoiled by the point and click scanning option. The second thing I did not like was the loud sound/buzzer that the device would make if the fabric was discontinued. After a few cups of morning coffee, before my day of shopping, my startle response was on high alert. :-)

Kravet is introducing a new shopping technology in Kravet showrooms. Called e-Shop, this program combines detailed product information with memo sampling and scanning. Using an iPod Touch and attached scanner provided by the showroom, simply log on with your account number and scan the ticket of any fabric in the showroom. You'll immediately see price, available yardage, fabric details and additional colorways. With one touch, you can request a memo from the showroom memo desk. When you submit memo requests using the scanner, the items will be pulled by memo room staff in real time as you shop. The more you know about the fabrics you've requested, the more efficient your shopping process will be, plus the memos will be ready for you at the memo desk once you submit your order. Kravet is committed to improving our products and our processes to make it easy and convenient for designers to shop with us. E-Shop is currently available in Kravet showrooms in Bethpage, NY and Boston, MA and will be available in additional showrooms in 2013.

We love making new friends and connections

2013-01-17T05:26:00.004-05:00

Drum roll please! I would love to introduce you to our new media partner GEM Magazine. There is going to be much more to share with you, but for now, I hope you will check out some of their on-line articles and digital magazine.

Soft natural looks in fashion

2013-01-11T07:54:00.000-05:00

There are days that going with a more toned down look with a special pop of color or bling is all that is needed to change it up.

A super natural look with the cosmetics and light lipstick, yet the deep rich nails complement the whole look

Jeans, neutral/casual shirt, and over-the-top-necklace makes this look fun, elegant, and casual all at the same time. I love this look.

Photos via whatchathinkaboutthat tumbler

Green with envy.

2013-01-10T19:27:00.001-05:00

I'm already thinking about Spring and Summer. Love that green is going to be a popular color this year.

Nail Polish In A Candy Jar - Less Calories Than Candy

2013-01-10T09:44:00.003-05:00

I just thought I would take a quick moment and share this photo of my candy jar full of nail polish. I saw this idea months ago on another post and I knew I would be using this jar after the Christmas decorations were no longer in it. I love it so much more than old plastic shoe box that held the polish for years. The box was always tucked away in a closet and the nail polish on the bottom was never seen (I have purchased duplicate colors not knowing I already had it). Now the jar sits proudly on my dresser next to my perfume tray and I love it. The only drawback I see is that I have one more item to dust, but I can deal with that! Oh and yes, some polish did not make the cut due to being old, ugly colors, or duplicates. It was a nice opportunity to clear the old polish out.

For the love of Purple

2013-01-07T17:05:00.003-05:00

Not only did I fall in love with this photo and decide to create a post on purple, but I realized the other day that I had more purple in my life than I thought. In Maine, I have my cozy flannel pjs that are a royal purple, I got a great purple sweatshirt for Christmas that I wear all of the time, and this past weekend, my lucky bowling ball was.... you guessed it purple!

Photo Via

A retro handset for cell phone? Yes!!!!

2013-01-07T13:42:00.003-05:00

How is it I am just finding out about the retro phone handset? Thank goodness for watching my housewives show and seeing a blinged out version of this phone. I know what I'm buying for myself and blinging out! Now to decide what color I want to start with. Hmmm.

2013 Pantone Top 10 Fashion Colors For Women

2013-01-01T19:54:00.001-05:00

The top colors for women's fashion for spring 2013 are here!

PANTONE 14-0446 Tender Shoots
PANTONE 14-6011 Grayed Jade
PANTONE 17-5641 Emerald
PANTONE 16-3520 African Violet
PANTONE 17-1664 Poppy Red
PANTONE 16-1360 Nectarine
PANTONE 13-0756 Lemon Zest
PANTONE 16-4120 Dusk Blue
PANTONE 12-1008 Linen
PANTONE 19-3964 Monaco Blue

Hmmmmm... Let me see if I can find accessories or clothes that match (as close as possible) each of these colors. I know some of the colors, like Nectarine, do not look good on me as clothing, but as an accessory would be striking.

Murano Glass Round Pendant w/Lace

Lucien Piccard Women's Junior Stratosphere White Dial Light Green Textured Genuine Leather 4311.20.275

1 Carat Created Emerald & Diamond 10K White Gold Ring

1 3/8 Carat Amethyst 14K White Gold Ring

Red Pashmina & Silk Shawl

Valentines Day Adornment

2013-01-01T06:41:00.000-05:00

When I was a child, as soon as the Christmas decorations came down and the New Years Eve ball dropped, I was already planning how many paper hearts I would need to cut out to decorate my bedroom room and which friends I would invite over for cupcakes and cocoa (kinda funny I host cupcakes and cocktail parties now). Valentines Day, was the "next" holiday that I had a chance to decorate and entertain. It is fun to look back and realize how long I have been decorating and hosting parties.

When I got older, and understood that Valentines day was more so for couples and love, I enjoyed and took seriously selecting my box of Valentines cards to hand out in class, especially for my puppy love crushes. I actually remember the name of my first kindergarten crush and I can't help but wonder where he lives today and if he knew that my pushing him around the playground was because I liked him.

Being the morning of New Years day, I am falling into my old childhood pattern and already thinking about Valentines day and planning my Valentines day craft posts, projects, and theme pages for my web site and blog. All I can say is.... I am so glad someone created the heart shape symbol vs the shape of an actual heart. Ewwww. Below I thought I would share some heart shaped jewelry finds that some of my affiliate sites are offering.

LARGE HEART HINGED BANGLE PINK

Gold tone 2 row hinged bangle bracelet, pink colored crystal heart with gold tone details, crystal accents and crown embellishmentMetal, glass material7.5" length2.25" diameterHeart Width 1.7"Heart Drop 2"

Sterling Silver and Cubic Zirconia Heart Earrings
Azhar's pink heart earrings, realized in blackened .925 silver and pink cubic zirconia. Hook backing with hinged closure. Signature box included. Handmade in Italy.

0.41 ct Diamond Key Pendant Necklace
Symbol of love and trust, this diamond-encrusted key sparkles as it keeps your heart safe from harm. Set in white gold and hung on a matching box chain, it has a perennial beauty with unm atched grace. CTW 0.41; color G; clarity VS. Signature box included. Made in Italy.

New England Fine Living's Web site http://www.newenglandfineliving.com and this blog was created by Linda Calder, The Fine Living Muse, as a Girl's Guide to Decorating in Style, Entertaining in Style, and Living in Style.

Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh My! OPI comes out with limited edition colors for Disney's Oz The Great and Powerful coming out March 2013

2012-12-20T18:20:00.001-05:00

This just came across my desk and I am excited to share these fantasy land colors, created by OPI, with you. Launching in three months will be six limited edition nail lacquers inspired by Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful. The all-star cast of Oz the Great and Powerful includes James Franco and Michelle Williams with a slated opening date in theaters on March 8th, 2013.

“OPI is very excited to take this fantastical journey with Disney,” explains Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, OPI Executive VP & Artistic Director. “Inspired by the magic of Oz The Great and Powerful, this SoftShades collection captures the whimsy seen in the film, from glittery shades packed with white, gold and silvery iridescent confetti – Lights of Emerald City, When Monkeys Fly! and Which is Witch? – to soft neutrals in white, beige and pink – Don’t Burst My Bubble, Glints of Glinda and I Theodora You.

Lights of Emerald City - White confetti adds city girl flair and style to nails.

Don’t Burst My Bubble - Don’t wake me...I’m dreaming about puffy clouds of white.

Glints of Glinda - Only a good witch could turn beige from meek to chic.

Which is Witch? - Is this silver glitter with iridescent sparkle or the other way around?

I Theodora You - This adorable, sheer pink is bewitching on you.

Liquid Sand nail lacquer in What Wizardry is This?

When Monkeys Fly! - I'm simply bananas for this gold confetti.

“The new Liquid Sand nail lacquer – What Wizardry is This? – features OPI’s groundbreaking technology for a textured, matte finish infused with reflective sparkle,” adds Weiss-Fischmann. “This rich taupe hue was designed for James Franco’s character, the great Wizard of Oz, and is sure to make a bold statement this spring.” “The new Liquid Sand nail lacquer – What Wizardry is This? – features OPI’s groundbreaking technology for a textured, matte finish infused with reflective sparkle,” adds Weiss-Fischmann. “This rich taupe hue was designed for James Franco’s character, the great Wizard of Oz, and is sure to make a bold statement this spring.”

With a mix of soft crème and warm glitter shades, the line is ideal for layering to create rich, complex looks. In addition to the Liquid Sand nail lacquer in What Wizardry is This?

Salted Caramel Ice Cream Cake Shots

2012-12-18T23:21:00.000-05:00

Whoa! Now this Salted Caramel Ice Cream Cake Shots, created by Sugar and Cloth, looks yummy and sinful and I can't wait to give this recipe a try. I just had to share.

Photo Via

Ingredients

1 tablespoons caramel sauce, plus a little extra for the glasses
4 scoops vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup whole milk
Pinch of sea salt, plus a little extra for the garnish
1 vanilla cupcake

Garnishes

Gold sprinkles
Whip cream
Pinch of sea salt
Caramel sauce
Shot glasses

Blend ingredients together. Coat the rims of the glasses with caramel, and then dip them in gold sprinkles. Add a dab of caramel to each glass, and then fill with the shake just before serving. Top with whip cream and a pinch of sea salt!

New England Fine Living offers full service Party and Event Planning as well as an in-house interior design studio North of Boston. The parties and events we plan for our clients are small to large and are very casual to extremely elegant. What type of party would you like? We can create it for you. If you want to plan your own party, but would like a consultant, we can do that for you too!

Getting Ready For A Christmas Open House

2012-11-29T21:24:00.002-05:00

It's Here! Christmas time! I love the holidays and this year will be a little extra special. We are hosting a Christmas open house with about 60 guests and I have been a busy little elf decorating the house, buying food, and setting up the two bars. I hope I find time to take some photos with the food set out and bars set up to post later.

For the banister, I started with greenery then added silver, white, and a touch of blue. I added the blue to work with the art work and our area rug at the front door.

I have used a sled before for a client's party and so I decided to bring ours in from the porch tonight and added a few items. This will be the centerpiece for the buffet.

I truly have a love for country as well as glam, and this might show that. For my kitchen, I added some crystals to our light and then wrapped the chain with a silver garland (you can see this from the hall and works well with the banister.

A few days ago, one of the guys broke the glass, in the back, on this piece and I figured I would use it in a display. My rooster had this rhinestone necklace put on him years ago after I came home from a gala and he has been wearing it ever since. I might have to borrow it this weekend for the party.

Here I used some vintage suitcases placed under the tree instead of a tree skirt. This is one of 6 trees in the house, and not the one gifts will be placed under, so I wanted to fill the space.

I thought this looked like Santa's suit was sticking out of the suitcase, but my boyfriend thought it look liked I kidnapped Santa so I took it out :-).

Back to the kitchen, I have a really dark corner with a very small counter space, so I decided to add some holiday ornaments and antique crystals then placed the hurricane globe inside of a wreath with white lights. I also put some lights under the globe. It looks a lot prettier in person.

I hope you enjoyed this quick tour of our holiday home. More photos will be posted later. I will also be posting photos of a few of my client projects once they are complete.

Thanksgiving Table Setting

2012-11-21T15:09:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving From New England Fine Living! I thought I would take a moment in between baking and cooking to post these photos of a table I decorated. I actually did two coordinating tables. One for the adults and one for the teens.

What fun this was! Below is where I started. A beautiful dining room table with the table pad in place.

I wanted to mix silver and gold, so I used two separate place settings my client already had. I used the white and silver plate as a charger and then the white and gold for the meal.

I found this tall silver and glass dome at a local home decor store then I placed some faux berries and a battery operated candle inside.

Coordinating berry garland was added down the center of the table then 4 glass candle holders. The turkey place card holders were found at a local farm stand. What a score since they were on sale from $4.99 to $1.00!

Two glasses were set in place for wine and water.

This is the table setting for the teenagers table in the adjoining room.

Using items we already had in the home, I put together this quick fall centerpiece.

Glitter Truck Centerpieces For A Christmas Party

2012-10-29T09:52:00.000-04:00

Here is a unique idea for a Christmas party. Large glittered trucks used as a centerpiece. Can you imagine all of the other things you can use glitter on? Oh My!

Here is a video tutorial of how I made these glitter trucks for centerpieces.

Homemade Apple Pie Recipe

2012-10-07T11:27:00.001-04:00

My first apple pie of the season! I was looking forward to making this and trust me, I barely had time to take photos before it got inhaled by 4 men. At least I got a small slice! For the recipe, please go to the Apple Pie Recipe page of my web site. http://www.newenglandfineliving.com/Apple-Pie-Recipe-Homemade.html

All the fixings for the apple pie recipe

Brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg

Fresh squeezed lemon to coat the apples (so they don't turn brown). You can use bottled lemon juice too.

Apples sliced thin. Mixing apple types is extra yummy! Cortlands are a great apple to use.

Since my time was limited, I used a store bought pie crust

Place the apple mixture into the pie crust

Dot the apple mixture with salted butter

Steam holes.... I made mine with love

Brush the crust with a beaten egg to make a golden brown crust and sprinkle with sugar.

The day I purchased the items for this apple pie, my daughter and boyfriend were with me. I sent them home with their own "Apple Pie Kit" and I just received a photo oh her very first apple pie!

New England Fine Living offers full service Party and Event Planning as well as an in-house interior design studio North of Boston. The parties and events we plan for our clients are small to large and are very casual to extremely elegant. What type of party would you like? We can create it for you. If you want to plan your own party, but would like a consultant, we can do that for you too!

Makeup!

2012-10-04T20:23:00.001-04:00

I'm in my "It's a new season and I want a new look mode". Just thought I would share.

I love this look below. A slight smokey eye with a smokey eye liner and nude color lips. Also loving the hair color. I wish I could give credit for this photo, but it was on Pinterest and it had a broken link to the site it came from.

This eye makeup technique, a bit heavier than above, had a lot more steps and colors than I thought, but I am pretty sure I have most of the colors already and I can't wait to play!

This tutorial is from Natty: http://www.missnattysbeautydiary.com/2012/06/step-by-step-smokey-taupe-eyeshadow.html

Easy to create Halloween Decorations

2012-10-02T11:57:00.001-04:00

I love Halloween, but this is the first year I am not creating a large Halloween party or fundraiser for a client, nor am I hosting a Halloween party at our home, so I decided to add just a touch of Halloween Spirit (get it... spirit??) by using a few things in my holiday prop boxes. Who knows, we might plan a last minute bash and I will be opening all of my Halloween boxes, but for now, I went with a minimal approach

Above is a plastic wreath I had painted copper then I added a trick or treat sign. This is hung over my stove (safe from the burners).

In our stairway, I draped some black and purple garland and plastic chains that I have had for years. I believe I purchased both items at Michaels Craft Store. Then I attached a plastic spider web, rubber spider, and a rat.

This pumpkin first had a witches hat added to it, then I found a top hat that I liked better. You will see that in a photo below. I think this witches hat was part of my dogs costume in years past. I am sure Chloe is glad the pumpkin is wearing it and not her.

A close up of the web. I attached it to the railing using thread.

An old rubber skull gets put into a large candle holder and another rat and fake piece of bread are placed on a cake pedestal.

From one of the parties I did in the past that had an Edgar Allen Poe theme. This raven is placed on a table in our sunroom. Poor thing has to watch the real birds eat at the feeder.

The dining room table gets a gauze runner and yes, another rat! Did I mention that a rat was placed in the refrigerator by my boyfriends daughter? It was so funny seeing her older brothers get startled when they opened the door. I have to admit I forgot it was in there and jumped a bit when I went to make dinner.

Just having a little fun with the kitchen light. I hung a bat from the chain then added black tulle I had and more plastic chains.

There are a few more little Halloween touches in the house I won't bore you with, but thought I would share these. We are planning a large Christmas cocktail party and I will go all out decorating for that and will share those photos with you then.

Happy Halloween!
Linda

New England Fine Living offers full service Party and Event Planning as well as an in-house interior design studio North of Boston. The parties and events we plan for our clients are small to large and are very casual to extremely elegant. What type of party would you like? We can create it for you. If you want to plan your own party, but would like a consultant, we can do that for you too!

2013 Trending Color For Spring and Summer Weddings Is Mint Green

2012-09-15T07:33:00.000-04:00

Top Row: Cake topper with mint green hearts - Cherrytime; Mint green dress - River of Romansk; Mint green wreath - Zsa Zsa Bellagio

Middle Row: Mint green, crystal, and feather hair piece - Exquisitecreations2u; Mint green tassel -Pomflair; Bridal photo via Style Me Pretty; Hair halo via florabond

Bottom Row: Feather photo via The Lonely Heart; Mint earrings via Kande; Babys breath photo via Shannon Eileen

Photo found on http://www.weddings.banquetevent.com/blog/2012/2/29/get-inspiredmint.html

Mint green cocktail dress - photo from Google/etsy

Mint green cocktail dress with red sash - Glamouradvocate.com

Mint green peep toed shoes from shoeperwoman.com

Mint green butterfly cupcake toppers - Etsy

Mint green straws found on bakersstock.com

New England Fine Living offers full service Party and Event Planning as well as an in-house interior design studio North of Boston. The parties and events we plan for our clients are small to large and are very casual to extremely elegant. What type of party would you like? We can create it for you. If you want to plan your own party, but would like a consultant, we can do that for you too!

A grape and orange martini that tastes like koolaid!

2012-09-13T08:41:00.001-04:00

Looking for a fun and delicious drink that might remind you of your childhood? I created this grape martini which was inspired by how my mother used to make our grape koolaid when I was a kid. Now you can have a party and wow your guests with this refreshing cocktail. Not too sweet, not too tart! Below is a video on how I created this grape flavored beverage that is just for adults "OH YEAH!". Enjoy!

For more party planning ideas, please visit our web site, http://www.newenglandfineliving.com

The items you will need

Grape Pucker

Your favorite vodka

Triple Sec

Sprite

an orange

Linda Calder Smith, owner of http://www.newenglandfineliving.com is an Interior Designer and Party Planner North of Boston. Classic New England Style or Glam Interior Design and parties have been most recently completed in Middleton, Carlisle, Andover, North Andover, Marblehead, Boston, Salem, Newburyport, Newbury, Ipswich, Westford, Boxford, Topsfield, and so many more surrounding towns!

Bubbling Candy Corn Martini and Creamy Candy Corn Cocktail

2012-09-09T11:14:00.001-04:00

I had so much fun creating these two cocktails for Halloween. My sister inspired my desire to create these since she likes candy corns more than me which is HUGE because I love candy corns. But here's the thing... I am not one for very sweet drinks, and these are sweet since I infused the candy corns in marshmallow vodka. The recipe for these Halloween party cocktails can be found on my web site page http://www.newenglandfineliving.com/Candy-Corn-Cocktail-Martini-Recipes.html

This photo shows the crystallized candy corn wedge that I created. I did not notice the candle I had going during the video softened it and it slid into the glass during most of the photos. Minor technical difficulty!

Linda Calder Smith, owner of http://www.newenglandfineliving.com is an Allied ASID Interior Designer in Middleton MA, Westford MA, New England, owner of New England Fine Living, and Party Planner North of Boston. Classic New England Style or Glam Interior Design and parties have been most recently completed in Middleton, Carlisle, Andover, North Andover, Marblehead, Boston, Salem, Newburyport, Newbury, Ipswich, Westford, Boxford, Topsfield, and so many more surrounding towns!

Great idea using a calendar instead of a guest book

2012-09-05T19:21:00.000-04:00

What a great idea to use a calendar instead of a guest book at your next party or at your wedding. This way you will have everyones birthday. If you know you are having a cocktail party with all couples, you could even ask for their anniversary date.

Photo found on facebook via Bride Attraction.

Linda Calder , owner of http://www.newenglandfineliving.com is an Allied ASID Interior Designer and A Party Planner North of Boston. Classic New England Style or Glam Interior Design and parties have been most recently completed in Middleton, Carlisle, Andover, North Andover, Marblehead, Boston, Salem, Newburyport, Newbury, Ipswich, Westford, Boxford, Topsfield, and so many more surrounding towns!

A 50th Anniversary Party For 100 People

2012-08-05T19:29:00.001-04:00

I had the pleasure of planning a 50th wedding anniversary party for a wonderful couple. What made this party a bit more special was that it was held on their actual 50th wedding anniversary. With colors of white, cream, green, and gold, the room looked beautiful.

Floral centerpieces of white hydrangea, roses and orchids were placed in glass cylinder containers with leaves wrapping and hiding the stems.

Here is a picture of the room before it got decorated when I first saw it in early Spring.

I created the table numbers with my handy black marker brush pen.

This beautiful cake was created by Cakes For Occasions (they have created cakes, cupcakes, and cookies for a lot of my client's events). The florist then added roses, hydrangea, and green ivy. Photos and a photo album of the couple 50 years earlier.

This blurry photo shows where I placed the escort cards for the guests. We had ferns placed on the marble tables that are inside the front entry hall.

Here they are! Such a sweet couple and wonderful to work with. They told me that one of the secrets to their long marriage is to kiss each and every day!

I could photograph this venue all day. This beautiful chandelier is located in the ballroom. Here we had the buffet set up and the band.

On the table, I placed favor boxes with chocolates on each bread dish. Below, you will the piles of chocolate I got to work with. I loved smelling the yummy vanilla chocolate while putting the favors together.

I love how the lemons add a pop of color to the table.

A simple bouquet of roses are showcased on the dessert table.

A few more photos of the venue space that I took in the Spring

Linda Calder Smith, owner of http://www.newenglandfineliving.com is an interior designer and party planner - stylist in Massachusetts

Our new entryway is waiting to be decorated.

2012-07-23T12:28:00.001-04:00

Our new entry way waiting to be decorated.

Since I believe in fate, I was thrilled to find our new home which filled so many things on our wish list. One of my personal wishes was finding a stairway with a landing and railings I could paint black. Why fate? This railing was already painted black by the previous owner and just a few months before, I created a blog post on stairways with black painted railings. I especially loved the ones designed with landings. http://finelivingmuse.blogspot.com/2012/01/black-painted-railings-can-update-oak.html .

How's that for creative visualization? I still need to decorate the space with some furniture and more accessories, but I did find time to place an oriental rug by the front door and hung a print that was once in my design studio. I wish the print was a wee bit larger, but I am going to keep it there to pay homage to all of the bunnies that are living on our property, including the babies in the front garden.

The foyer even has a star light similar to the ones I kept pointing at on the outside of homes we drove by and said "I would like one of those someday". This one is on the inside, but it is still exactly what I was visualizing and I was very excited to see it as soon as we entered the house.

Soon I will start painting and decorating rooms. The previous owner chose some beautiful colors, but SOME are not for us, especially in the main living areas. The colors currently in the house include.... ready?.... an aqua room off of the kitchen, a periwinkle living room, light purple laundry room and bathroom, red trim with green and blue walls in a bedroom, green, beige, gold, a gray and tan bedroom, blue, salmon color in the kitchen (keeper for us), baby blue, and a khaki and white stripe wall in the dining room (first to be changed since it is a little busy and bold for me). My color fan deck is out and I am working on a new color scheme to work with our current furniture and accessories. Now to find the time to paint!

Linda Calder Smith, owner of http://www.newenglandfineliving.com is an Allied ASID Interior Designer in Middleton MA, Westford MA, New England, owner of New England Fine Living, and Party Planner North of Boston. Classic New England Style or Glam Interior Design and parties have been most recently completed in Middleton, Carlisle, Andover, North Andover, Marblehead, Boston, Salem, Newburyport, Newbury, Ipswich, Westford, Boxford, Topsfield, and so many more surrounding towns!

We finally moved into our new home and boy do we have a lot to do!

2012-07-15T20:17:00.000-04:00

This is just the outside of our new home. I will be giving you a before tour of the inside soon. I thought for sure at this point I would be painting rooms and placing furniture, but with our work and travel schedules, that thought was just that... a thought. We are merging two homes into one and with just one of the two houses moved in (mine is still on the market "errrrrrrr"), we are busy putting things away and organizing the house.

While looking at properties, we had our wish list for the inside and out, and for the outside we kept saying we wanted a private yard and garden spaces. Well did we luck out! These are all BEFORE pictures of some of our yard. With limited fun time for yard work, we have been busy weeding, cutting back trees, adding new plantings, fixing sprinkler heads, and adding garden decor.

Weeding is certainly needed in the gardens around the pool, but I have been finding them very easy to pull up since they are in stones. As of this weekend, I am almost done.

I can tell, by the brackets I found in the concrete, that there used to be some sort of arbor to hold up and back this climbing plant (still trying to figure out what it is... thought it was a type of wisteria, but I have found no flowering buds of any kind. Any ideas? Anyone? At this point, they have been cut back to look like bushes until an arbor is made.

As of today, the lavender has been trimmed back to remove all of the dead and woody stems. It looks so much better.

I have to look this leaf up I was not sure which type of mint this is, but I know from a lot of experience it is very invasive, so I decided to pull much of it and left a few pieces on the other side of the deck.

Woody stems of the hydrangea, that have no hopes of budding, were trimmed back.

I have been watching how the sun hits in this little planting area to decide what I should do with it. At first I thought I would plant some kitchen herbs, but there is not enough sun during the day except for where the daisies are. Any suggestions?

I am looking forward to adding a bit of color in this garden. I am not one for the yellow yarrow, but the baby bunnies living in this garden seem to love it, so it is staying for the rest of the season.

We have two of these lamp posts, I was hoping for something more traditional, but they are growing on me. The only thing I need to change are the bulbs. I think the previous owner put 100 watt light bulbs in each socket, so needless to say they are VERY bright at night. I had no problem finding our house at night for the first time.

This is a little pond that is in the front yard. As of now it is a mosquito and frog pond :-). We are thinking this is going to be where our flag pole goes.

Hmmmm. what do you think of the fake rock covering the well pump? I have never seen one before, and the first this that gave it away when I was walking around the yard was the shine it had in the sun.

This is a real rock. Today, for the first time I walked on the other side of this rock and there are some pretty plantings. I have a wood and iron bench that is crying to be sanded and repainted . I think it would look nice in this part of the yard.

Just another view of the garden area outside of the pool. See the red umbrella in the photo? Today I found out that the wood of the pole is so swollen and old that it is stuck in the concrete table. I have a cobalt blue and white umbrella that I was antsy to put it its place. The old umbrella looks like it is ready to snap, so when it does... we will cut it then possibly drill out the old piece.