Media Talk: My little kitchen gets its closeup and John Derian's P-town home

The Boston Globe featured my kitchen renovation in today's issue! You can click on the image above to read it as it appears in the paper, or easier yet, click here for the online version.  Thanks to Jaci Conry for writing such an excellent account of the project!  I've probably bored all my regular readers with stories about my kitchen, but if you'd like to see more of the final pics, such as the one below, click here.

(photo by Michael J. Lee)

I'd also like to point out that there was also a feature story on designer John Derian's house out in Provincetown, MA. It was pretty exciting to be featured alongside one of my design crushes idols. I was joking that I was featured with John Derian and one of us is referred to as a "design surperstar" - guess which?

Here are some images from the article, click here to read it online.

John's house dates to 1789.

Flea market finds mixed with a sofa from Derian's furniture line.

John Derian house photos by Julia Cumes for The Boston Globe

Happy 4th Everyone!


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Media Talk: My little kitchen gets its closeup and John Derian's P-town home

The Boston Globe featured my kitchen renovation in today's issue! You can click on the image above to read it as it appears in the paper, or easier yet, click here for the online version.  Thanks to Jaci Conry for writing such an excellent account of the project!  I've probably bored all my regular readers with stories about my kitchen, but if you'd like to see more of the final pics, such as the one below, click here.

(photo by Michael J. Lee)

I'd also like to point out that there was also a feature story on designer John Derian's house out in Provincetown, MA. It was pretty exciting to be featured alongside one of my design crushes idols. I was joking that I was featured with John Derian and one of us is referred to as a "design surperstar" - guess which?

Here are some images from the article, click here to read it online.

John's house dates to 1789.

Flea market finds mixed with a sofa from Derian's furniture line.

John Derian house photos by Julia Cumes for The Boston Globe

Happy 4th Everyone!


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Why my Kitchen is my favorite space and lessons learned from my Dad

I lived with this kitchen for nine years. I look back and wonder what I was thinking. Really, I wasn't. I was switching careers, building a business, dealing with aging parents, and basically trying to have a life. So, my kitchen kind of languished. And I was embarrassed about it. Decorator's are expected to live glamorous, well-appointed lives. Well, self-employed decorator's have to pay the mortgage and their health insurance too.

Of course, many of you followed my blog posts about my kitchen redo last year.  I was just done with the clutter and lack of anything pretty in my kitchen and it was time to roll up my sleeves. Budget was still a big issue (a never ending constraint that the downturn in the economy did not help!) but I was determined to finally create a pretty space that I could be proud to show off. What I ended up with was so much more than that.

First and foremost, I realized how kind other people can be and how truly lucky I am to have them in my life. My dear friend of over twenty years Rob O'Connell (cute guy below) spent nearly every Sunday afternoon at my house working on my kitchen from August through mid-January. Seriously. He gave up half of nearly every weekend for almost six months. For me.  And he got to do all the heavy lifting and tall work.

I was incredibly lucky to have forged a relationship with New England Home magazine and Ferguson appliances, which resulted in the delivery of an entirely new set of kitchen appliances. Whew! Beyond that, I challenged myself to spend no more than $300 on everything else. Okay, it ended up being closer to $500 - because all design projects cost more than expected, let's face it.

The big task that I did do myself in my kitchen was to repaint my kitchen cabinets. I've never done this kind of thing before and I pretty much made it up as I went along. I knew what I wanted them to look like and I got there. And all the while, I had my dear Daddy (cute guy above) whispering in my ear from above to do it right. So, when I considered not even removing the hardware and painting around it - whisper - and when I thought about not sanding between coats of paint - whisper whisper.

My father was the quintessential DIY guy. He built, sanded, sawed, painted, papered, upholstered, electrified and even hung window treatments. He built the kitchen in their house - by himself.  I know, beyond a doubt, that he would have been very proud of the end result of all the work on my kitchen. And he would have been prouder still of my friend Rob and his dedication to me and the project.

You see, for my Dad, family, friendships, loyalty and gratitude were everything. He was a kind and giving person and never took kindnesses offered to him for granted. I try to live up to his example, although I am sure I fall short.

The final player in my little kitchen story is my photographer Michael J. Lee (cute guy with me below at an event just last night!) who gave of his time and talent to provide me with the most beautiful final images of this small yet really very big project. Michael is not just an excellent photographer, he's become something of a business mentor. (And, he's a doting father to two adorable little girls as well).

And so, the reason why my kitchen is my favorite room in my home is not only because I simply enjoy how it looks (and I do), it's really because of all it represents. Hard, hands-on, nail breaking work mixed with collaboration and friendship. I miss my Daddy every day. But I try never to forget to be grateful for all I have been given.

If your father is still with you, spend time with him and make the most of the time you are given together. Because when that time is done, you will only have your memories and the lessons learned.

If you're in the Boston area, I will be giving a lecture called "Strategic Splurges" on Wednesday, June 23rd at the Boston Design Center. This is part of the Jr. League of Boston's kitchen lecture series.  I hope you'll join me as I share two very distinct projects - my kitchen and a living room project - and how creative and strategic choices led to a big look on a strict budget.

Happy Father's Day everyone. And Happy Friend's Day too.

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Why my Kitchen is my favorite space and lessons learned from my Dad

I lived with this kitchen for nine years. I look back and wonder what I was thinking. Really, I wasn't. I was switching careers, building a business, dealing with aging parents, and basically trying to have a life. So, my kitchen kind of languished. And I was embarrassed about it. Decorator's are expected to live glamorous, well-appointed lives. Well, self-employed decorator's have to pay the mortgage and their health insurance too.

Of course, many of you followed my blog posts about my kitchen redo last year.  I was just done with the clutter and lack of anything pretty in my kitchen and it was time to roll up my sleeves. Budget was still a big issue (a never ending constraint that the downturn in the economy did not help!) but I was determined to finally create a pretty space that I could be proud to show off. What I ended up with was so much more than that.

First and foremost, I realized how kind other people can be and how truly lucky I am to have them in my life. My dear friend of over twenty years Rob O'Connell (cute guy below) spent nearly every Sunday afternoon at my house working on my kitchen from August through mid-January. Seriously. He gave up half of nearly every weekend for almost six months. For me.  And he got to do all the heavy lifting and tall work.

I was incredibly lucky to have forged a relationship with New England Home magazine and Ferguson appliances, which resulted in the delivery of an entirely new set of kitchen appliances. Whew! Beyond that, I challenged myself to spend no more than $300 on everything else. Okay, it ended up being closer to $500 - because all design projects cost more than expected, let's face it.

The big task that I did do myself in my kitchen was to repaint my kitchen cabinets. I've never done this kind of thing before and I pretty much made it up as I went along. I knew what I wanted them to look like and I got there. And all the while, I had my dear Daddy (cute guy above) whispering in my ear from above to do it right. So, when I considered not even removing the hardware and painting around it - whisper - and when I thought about not sanding between coats of paint - whisper whisper.

My father was the quintessential DIY guy. He built, sanded, sawed, painted, papered, upholstered, electrified and even hung window treatments. He built the kitchen in their house - by himself.  I know, beyond a doubt, that he would have been very proud of the end result of all the work on my kitchen. And he would have been prouder still of my friend Rob and his dedication to me and the project.

You see, for my Dad, family, friendships, loyalty and gratitude were everything. He was a kind and giving person and never took kindnesses offered to him for granted. I try to live up to his example, although I am sure I fall short.

The final player in my little kitchen story is my photographer Michael J. Lee (cute guy with me below at an event just last night!) who gave of his time and talent to provide me with the most beautiful final images of this small yet really very big project. Michael is not just an excellent photographer, he's become something of a business mentor. (And, he's a doting father to two adorable little girls as well).

And so, the reason why my kitchen is my favorite room in my home is not only because I simply enjoy how it looks (and I do), it's really because of all it represents. Hard, hands-on, nail breaking work mixed with collaboration and friendship. I miss my Daddy every day. But I try never to forget to be grateful for all I have been given.

If your father is still with you, spend time with him and make the most of the time you are given together. Because when that time is done, you will only have your memories and the lessons learned.

If you're in the Boston area, I will be giving a lecture called "Strategic Splurges" on Wednesday, June 23rd at the Boston Design Center. This is part of the Jr. League of Boston's kitchen lecture series.  I hope you'll join me as I share two very distinct projects - my kitchen and a living room project - and how creative and strategic choices led to a big look on a strict budget.

Happy Father's Day everyone. And Happy Friend's Day too.

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Linda's Kitchen: Photoshoot sneak peak

Yesterday was an exciting day here in my kitchen in that I did the final photo shoot with Michael J Lee. It's going to take a few days before I get all the final photos back, but wanted to share a sneak peak of the photo shoot, a little of the set up and one of the final images.

I took the photo above on Sunday evening as I was cleaning and prepping the room. Michael had done a site visit a week ago so he could view the space and give me his assessment of the shots to be taken and so we could brainstorm about the styling. I had ideas, Michael had better ones. He's not only a fantastic photographer, but with his design background, he has a keen sense of style and we had a lot of fun pulling it together. I'm a big believer in keeping things real in a photo shoot; the room should look largely as it always does or hopes to, just spit shined. And, the photos need to tell a story about the owner or about the project being documented. Since this was my design in my own kitchen done with my own hands (and those of my friend Rob!), I wanted to be sure that the photos ultimately read "Linda". Maybe it's "Dream Linda", but Linda, all the same.

Here is Michael working at my dining room table, camera set up to shoot from dining room into the kitchen. My kitchen is north facing with only one small window, but the south facing dining room is flooded with natural sunlight in the morning, which is nice.

Previously, I had an old dry sink that I used as a bar when entertaining. Below is a "before" shot of my kitchen. You can see how narrow the passageway is into the kitchen proper. On the left is the laundry behind the louvered doors.

Here is a little reminder of the new skirted counter that I have installed (my photo). The purpose of the counter was to add storage and surface space to my small kitchen. This piece has wire shelving below to keep things out of site and has literally doubled my available counter top space. As you can see, a significant improvement in terms of looks and functionality over the before.

And below is a shot I took yesterday of the lighting and camera setup to get a straight-on shot of the new counter top.  As you can see, the camera is practically inside my laundry closet. I was willing to move all the stuff on top of the washer so Michael could sit in there, but he didn't take me up on that offer.

And now, your official sneak peak of one of the final images taken by Michael Lee.

Doesn't he take a beautiful photograph - even in a very tight space? I am so looking forward to using this new counter as a bar and serving area for when I entertain. And this is what I mean about feeling that photo styling should indicate how a space is really lived in by the people who live there. I have always used this are of the kitchen as a bar, it's just now, I have a nicer one with more service area.  While we certainly spent a lot of time putting all the elements into place just so for the photo, there's nothing here that's foreign to how I live. And, I just love the simplicity of the image and the play of light on the wall.

As I said, more photos are to come, so stay tuned.  Meanwhile, will you have a gin and tonic, or a martini?



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