bold2boss

Fall is here! I love the renewed greenness that comes with the fall. In the garden fresh sprigs, tender shoots of grass and even new blossoms are coaxed out by the rain and gentle warmth of the horizon sun – the world is lush and alive. ...fallen leaves amidst the lavender and heather... ...lavender scent fills the autumn breeze... ...soft filtered sun through the turning leaves... ...the hens scratching up fallen seeds and tender new sprigs... ...grateful for the cool reprieve of fall... ...pecking at the flowers pushing through the grapevines... ...even new blossoms emerge in the fall warmth... ...Russian Sage waves in the fall breeze... ...cozy nest in the lush tuffs of grass... ...babies grown, moving onto ventures of their own... Have a beautiful week! xo shelley

The spring sunlight streaming through my windows has inspired me to do some decorating…adding fresh arrangements to my livingroom to take advantage of the beautiful visas.  These beautiful stems just opened their blossoms…perfect accompaniment to my spring arrangements. image my favorite spot to curl up with my morning coffee to watch the sun rise.  Our beach-combing collections…such perfect summer memories.  Some of my favorite garden ornaments snuck from the flower beds.  I’m collecting lavender to add to this vignette…it’s in full bloom in my garden just waiting to be picked.  Some more of my favorite garden ornaments…these hold lovely verbenia scented candles.  Shells and lightly scented candles – the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon glass of wine.  Have a beautiful week!  xo  shelley

I love the look and feel of finished concrete –  the texture and feeling that is both organic and industrial – and although typical in modern and industrial design, I think it works really well in many other genres…it reminds me of old French farmhouses and converted barn spaces. I used concrete for a fabulous countertop in my bathroom – it is easy, flexible and creative.  There are tons of instruction online…but it is super easy, just trowel several coats of a feather finish (made to be able to be trowelled on very thinly) concrete product onto a rough material, such as plywood, and seal. I wanted an especially distressed look with some efflorescence and color variation so I faux-finished using drywall compound and some cement powder, troweling it into the surface to highlight the texture (I used drywall compound because it is what I had available to create needed a white color – applied in this very thin way and mixed with the cement powder it has been durable). Many of...

I love painted wood floors…its a perfect fit to that farmhouse, beachy, creative aesthetic I love…and a large canvas to express your unique and personal creativity. I have done this quite a few times…some as temporary measures on the sub-floor while we waited for our ‘real’ flooring and other times on hardwood permanent flooring – either way, I love the results (and love getting to do the paint too…the possibilities!). Painting the sub-floor with paisley designs on a painted creamy checkered base…waiting for our final flooring material Painted wood floor in our sunroom sub-floor painted faux wood, pink and blue checkers, and faux saltillo tile…waiting for our real flooring material white-stained distressed wood floor with hand-painted scroll designs Have a beautiful week! xo shelley

This Easter we did Ukrainian style Easter egg dyeing, thanks to my mom’s initiative (Mom took Madeline to a workshop in dyeing Ukrainian Easter Eggs and came home with supplies for the rest of the family to create Ukrainian Easter Eggs). The process is quite simple but delicate, painting fine designs in wax and coloring in various amazing colored dyes. The designs emerge seemingly magically throughout the process with each dye dip, and finally, at the end with the wax removed that reveals the final picture. I became enchanted with the final dip in a deep rich black dye which adds an iridescent glow to the flowing lines of colors. Happy Easter xo shelley

As part of my ongoing project to address the narrow hall entrance in our house, I’m doing a subtle plaster finish on the walls. The lovely soft mottled colors and texture adds to the layers of subtle colors and textures throughout the room. I added a thin patchy layer of drywall compound in it’s natural color, an off greyish white, on the entire wall surface. Most of my wall was fresh drywall, but on the already painted sections the drywall compound needed to be slightly thicker to smooth the orange-peel texture of the paint. My second coat of plaster (drywall compound) is mixed with approximately 20% latex paint in a soft grey and covers approximately 50-75% of the wall. The coats are of various thickness. For the third pass, I alternate between the two mixtures, adding texture and color where it looks like it is needed. I lightly sand out the few lines and areas that need texture adjustments and then wipe on several coats of glaze – this glaze has about 10% of iridescent glaze mixed ...

It’s January. Christmas vacation is over and it’s time to get back to work….well, actually I’ve spent a good chunk of vacation time plastering walls and painting so I should say back to my other work…my other work that I also love, as a nurse teaching at the local Baccalaureate College. I love my work in health care and I love-love-love my work in design…but it’s kind of a weird combination!…and every day of the last 30 years I’ve wondered ‘Health and Design – what’s the connection??!! Well, let me tell you what I’ve figured out – the connection is nothing and yet also, I think, it is everything . …nothing…well not completely nothing . , I have found connections between the two concepts – people, creativity, organics, and many others points of curious interest. …but more importantly, I have also found it’s everything …core, essential interconnections between health and design. And I have to tell you, so much of the really deeply important, meaningful things I know about beautiful ...

Bliss…Christmas vacation…Christmas carols, falling snow, the crackling fire…I’m lounging in our vacation ski chalet, gazing out the window at the snowy ski hill (the image above is the amazing view)…my attention distracted only by the awkward furniture arrangement hampering the beauty of the chalet. A large sectional (certainly too large for the space) divides the small ‘great room’ into two isolated spaces, one for eating and one for lounging…the furniture hampers our socializing, the flow of traffic and our zen!. Such awkwardness can be easily fixed with just a few simple adjustments…as I’ve learned from years of aggravation, exploration and experimentation. So, I set down my wine and start pushing the furniture into the positions that make sense and create that desirable cozy, calm ambience. ...sectional divides this narrow room into two small spaces… sectional seating is cramped against TV wall and creates a visual and physical barrier that makes the space feel small... Turning the...