Expressive Creations

Trials and Tribulations of Selling a Home

2011-07-06T20:52:00.001-07:00

Anyone who have ever had to sell a home knows what I am talking about. You spend months putting your home in order cleaning, decluttering, touching up trim paint, manicuring the gardens and yard and finally it is ready to put on the market. It shows like a model home. It is beautiful.
You wonder if you have made a mistake wanting or having to move!

You have an open home. People are interested in your home but alas not interested enough to make an offer.

Then you have to keep it totally clean every day and picked up (at least I do), Just in case the realtor calls and wants to show the home. WOW! It can get exhausting. So 5 weeks on the market so far. One offer and alot of people making very nice comments about the home. I'll keep you posted.
Here is the link to my home video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z9gwMT06Pw

Table Scape Thursday

2010-04-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

EASTER TABLE

Hi everyone I am hooking up with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for another exciting Tablescape Thursday.

My table this year is a simple one. I am reusing all my decor from previous years. It is just my immediate family for dinner. This florals and little bunnies are the center of attention on the table. I have hung my children's three Easter ornaments that were given to them by my brother many moons ago. You can see one in the photo below.

I just love those little bunnies. Last year's purchase at Pier I imports.

My biggest delima and not much of one is how to fold the napkins. The photo above is one option.
The photo below is another. Any one have a preference? You can help me choose or give me another option. I ahve in the past used rosemary as napkin ring for a spring setting.
Here is another view of the table. I found those yellow napkins in a storage box. They are my mom's and must be at least 50 years old. I thought the colors were spring like and the polka dots were a little whimiscal.

Here is another cute little bunny I purchased last year and it is displaying in the living room on the coffee table surrounded by easter eggs. I need to add a little more Easter grass to this.

Thanks for stopping by, look around and don't forget Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. There are some wonderful tables.

Expressively

Sofia

EASTER BRUNCH

2010-03-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hi All. It has been way to long. I am sorry I have been so amiss with my blogging. I promise to with it from now on. I found this recipe on the Better Homes and Gardens site and it looks good.
What a fun way to kick off Easter Sunday than with a beautiful brunch especially this quiche.

Look below at this beautiful table setting outside for your Easter Sunday for the gals that are in the warmer areas. It is lovely. This is set in Carolina but can be anywhere in the warmer climates.

EASTER BRUNCH IDEA

Bread Pudding Quiche with Berries and Bacon

Rated : Not yet rated

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Makes: 8 servings

Prep: 40 minutes
Bake: 64 minutes
Cool: 15 minutes

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Ingredients

7 to 8 slices cinnamon swirl bread cut in 1/2-inch cubes (about 5 cups)
1/3 cup butter, melted
5 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups finely shredded Gruyére cheese (6 oz.)
2 tsp. all-purpose flour
3/4 cup chopped cooked ham
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 cups assorted fresh berries
4 slices bacon, crisp-cooked, drained, and broken in large pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread bread cubes in single layer on large ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until dry. Set aside 1 cup of the cubes.

2. For crust, place remaining bread cubes in food processor. Cover and process until reduced to fine crumbs. With food processor running, pour in melted butter until combined (mixture will be crumbly).

3. Increase oven to 375 degrees F. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 1-1/2 inches up sides of ungreased 9-inch springform pan or onto bottom and up sides of 10-inch quiche dish. Bake 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned; cool. Reduce oven to 325 degrees F.

4. In medium bowl whisk together eggs and milk. In small bowl toss together cheese, flour, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add to egg mixture. Fold in reserved bread cubes, ham, and green onions. Pour into prepared crust.

5. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. If necessary, after 30 minutes tent with foil to prevent overbrowning. Cool on wire rack 15 minutes. Remove sides of springform pan, loosening sides with a knife if necessary.

6. To serve, top with assorted mixed berries and bacon pieces. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts

Servings Per Recipe 8 servings
Calories 366,
Total Fat (g) 23,
Saturated Fat (g) 12,
Monounsaturated Fat (g) 7,
Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 2,
Cholesterol (mg) 191,
Sodium (mg) 725,
Carbohydrate (g) 23,
Total Sugar (g) 6,
Fiber (g) 3,
Protein (g) 18,
Vitamin C (DV%) 16,
Calcium (DV%) 35,
Iron (DV%) 13,Beth Dreiling Hontzas / Styling: Lisa Powell Bailey / Food styling: Marian Cooper Cairns, Article by Scott Jones

For those in the cooler climates you can improvise and set this table indoors next to the outdoor window. Set this beautiful table to celebrate with family and friends in a casual setting that certainly brings spring to life.

A pitcher filled with lemons and limes, even mint and strawberries make for a delicious flavored water. Home made cookies, of course Easter eggs, fruits , cheeses and the quiche makes for a delicious farm fresh brunch.

Carolina Casual Easter Table

Set a beautiful table to celebrate the holiday and season with family and friends.

Tomorrow Easter eggs dying tricks. See you then!

Expressively,

Sofia

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-01-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE

I am back from the holiday tour on the East Coast. We spent 6 world wind days visiting family and friends and catching up with everyone. We even had a white Christmas. Here are some pictures of the snow. A snowman made in my mom's yard in Connecticut the day after Christmas

Also a snow elephant also my in Connecticut.

After arriving home from Christmas, we turned and went right back out for a wedding in San Diego on January 3rd. The wedding was located at the Prado in Balboa Park. For those who do not know the park it is beautiful. The setting was lovely and the reception was equally lovely and lots of fun. The bride's mom paper mache and hand painted all of the horses. She did a beautiful job.

The setting for the ceremony was very beautiful outside in the park. It is set up with a fountain and wishing well. Very pretty.
Everyone had a blast.
I hope 2010 will be good to everyone. So let's get organized. I am trying to do the same by de-Christmasing. January is a good month for organization and cleaning out those closets. Sorry for the delayed posts. Hope to get back into the swing of things in January.

Expressively,

Sofia

Home for the Holidays tour

2009-12-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS TOUR

So today I am hooking up with Julia from Hooked on Houses, she is also having a holiday tour. Isn't this fun!

This tree is in the master bedroom. A smaller one this year. The star ornaments are from Lillian Vernon. I love them. It is all gold with the white stars.

Upstairs hall table leading to bedrooms. What you cannot see in the picture is a framed picture of Santa. I take beautiful gift bags and cut and frame them for Christmas time.

I had this idea for a simple but elegant look. Pinecones from outdoors and snowflake ornaments.

Thanks for stopping by for the Home for the Holidays tour. Don't forget to stop by Julia at Hooked on Houses for more beautiful decorations.

Home for the Holidays

2009-12-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Hi there! How have you all been. I have been busy trying to get my house decorated and meet with clients and build a business, whew there is just not enough time in the day. I am hooking up with Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for her Home for the Holidays segment. I love decorating for Christmas, and this year I am feeling a little rushed. So here are some pictures and more will follow later tonight when the lights are twinkling.

Welcome to my home Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas. Come on in and join the fun. This is my front porch. The sled was my husband's that he used as a little boy. The ice skates are my daughter's. This porch is very deep and one sided so I try to do a vignette to accommodate that.
Since there is no chance for snow here I use cut tree branches for ground cover, pine cones and red cardinals adorn the trees and ground. Front door was not done so I didn't photograph it.

Both banisters have garland ribbon poinsettia's and layer with two types of ribbon.

Here is the banister that over looks the living room. A close up of the bow.

This is the entry way table. This year I was able to decorate a little differently. Usually we have the Dept. 56 houses, Christmas in the City. So I bought this sled last year that was red and green. I painted it a Antique Bronze color with copper gold accents. Wrapped packages, added a floral and a Santa that was a gift. I used fabric from Joann's to try to get the snowy, sparkling look.

Here is our living room tree. It is real and 10 foot high. It was supposed to be a smaller tree this year but it was such a beautiful shape my children could not resist. I used all white and gold this year and copper accents. It does have lots of ornaments but they did not photograph well.

A close up of the tree!

The mantle in the living room all done in the same white and gold ribbons. Ornaments are hung from the garland and the tree topiary are stocking holders. I have had them for awhile and purchase at Bombay and Co. This might be the last year for these.

A close up of the mantle showing my violins resting on the garland.

I also added some floral to the painting above the fireplace. It is just fun to do.

Come on into the dining room. I have added greenery to the light fixture purchased at Richards.
The vase has Christmas balls, greenery and sparkling gold curly ribbon.
I had these two mirror from Bombay and Co and decided to use them as candle holders. the light reflect off the mirrors and it is beautiful when lite. I love the runner give to me as a gift from a good friend. It is brown velvet with antique ivory sheer fabric with music notes. It is just gorgeous.

This is part one of my post. I need to run some errands and take more photos. I will be back later so make sure you come on back to see the rest of my home. I will be looking forward to seeing all of yours. Remember to go to Rhoda at Southern Hospitality, she has some beautiful photos for all of you.

Ok I'm back. I cannot believe how long it is taken me to do this post. Anyway this is my family room, in the evening.

My Family room tree. I decided to do all red and white with the candy cane as an accent and overall theme. This tree was so cute when I saw it I just had to have it. Again it is real. I love the smell of a fresh tree!
Here is a close up of the top of the tree. The star is a little crooked but my daughter liked it that way so I left it alone! It is always fun to have a whimsical tree.! All the children ornaments are on this tree.

Here are a couple of pics of the same tree in the evening. My camera sometimes does not like to take clear photo in the evening when trying to capture the right lighting! Sorry for the blurriness

This is the bath adjacent to the family room and the guest bath.

Well this is my Home for the Holidays post for today. I do have my kitchen and master bedroom photographed. I will post those pictures tomorrow so you may visit other beautiful holiday posts. Thank you for visiting. Visit my post of February of last year when I was featured in the Valley Times, the local newspaper for their Home for the Holidays article. That was fun!
Remember to visit Rhoda at Southern Hospitality, she has some beautiful photos for all of you. Also The Inspired Room is having a holiday party go there and check it out!
So many Holiday Tours so little time. Check out the Nester for her Holiday Tour Dec. 14th

Met Monday

2009-11-22T20:22:00.001-08:00

I have been busy with life in general and have not be posting regularly, I apologize for that.
Welcome again to Met Monday hosted by Susan of Between Naps on the Porch. This week I am going to show you an upstairs office mini makeover. This first pictures are the before. The color had already been chosen and was painted on the wall. Such a warm and wonderful mustard color. The venetian mask was obtained in Venice Italy and is just beautiful and vibrant. It needed it own space on this wall. The Asian hand painted silk print was a gift from her daughter from Korea. I matted and re framed this print and others.

This wonderful chair and ottoman was purchased at Thomasville warehouse and my client just adores it. It needed to be accompanied by a wonderful wall of family photos. Below are some of the photos that I re matted and framed for the wall.

Here are the photos re framed and in the prominent place in the office. The lamp and table were already in the room in different areas. They made a great addition to this corner. ( the fabric in the corner are the window treatments which could not be hung yet oops)

The picture at the top in the center was an antique photo of three sisters, one of them her mother. It is a beautiful picture and we re framed this also to bring out the girls and colors.

It was a treat to be able to use the entire space for these photos. Making a wall collage of photos can be a little tricky. The easiest to find out how to place the photos is to make the collage on the floor next to the wall make all your changes on the floor with all the spacing and then transfer each one to the wall. It is better to vary the sizes and frames to add interest. There is one gap to the left for another antique photo of her dad that needed a new frame.
This cozy corner is now a wonderful reading and relaxing area away from the rest of the home. Next week I hope to had a picture of the window treatment we put in this room.
Thank you for joining me in another wonderful Met Monday. Be sure to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for other wonderful makeovers.

Have a wonderful day and Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Expressively
Sofia

Met Monday

2009-11-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

I hope you had a great weekend! I am joining up with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for another Met Monday. This week I am featuring a client's new home in a town called Rescue, CA in the foothills of the Sierra mountains. She moved in back in August and I have been travelling up about once a month to help transform her home. She has a lot of items that she moved so we used all she had and try to be very selective in this process. The first room we worked on was as she calls it her Hawaiian room (AKA Jenna's room, her daughter) . This is the room right after she moved in. She has many pieces of antique furniture, very beautiful pieces, so we reused all her pieces.

She had this beautiful iron bed an bedding. She is a Pottery Barn lover, hence the bedding is from Pottery Barn and the red polka dots sheets. The Hawaiian print over the bed had been re frame with a bamboo frame. The lamp you see is a Tommy Bahama lamp with a bamboo shade. We did change the window treatment here adding a bamboo shade to both windows and changing the sheers to matching green on all the windows.

Here is the other side of the room before.
Here is the other side of the room and after. This dresser is beautiful with a marble top that coordinates with the side table that the lamp sits on. Of course she has many, many accessories and I tried to limit what she put on the dresser.

This is the wall opposite the bed. We put up the shelves and added all the Hawaiian themed items that are her daughter's including her daughter's graduation picture. Again the dresser is a secretary desk with a side chair. (another antique). Of course we had to add to the chair a crab that played Under the Sea and danced. (a little crazy) but that is her style. So the only purchase in this room which you do not see is the new frame for above the bed and new bamboo shades for the windows.
When hanging art work or photos around shelves like these, use different sizes and shapes to create interest and keep your eyes moving. all the frames do not have to match exactly but they should coordinate together.

She likes themed rooms and all the items she has purchased over the years. The other guest bedroom which will be the grand children's sleeping placed when they visit is the "Disney room". So again this is the vacant room.
This is the same side of the room with a high boy dresser and mirror. It is opposite the twin bed.
Here is the bed all dressed up with all her stuffed Disney characters. The bedding is a batten burg lace comforter and pillow shams with a red bed skirt. We loved the lamp in the corner that we found at a consignment shop about 6 months ago. It goes well with the print above it.

I love this Antique dresser. We had to polish this dresser and clean it up. We used lemon oil for that. It had been stored in an attic for lack of room in her other house. It is mahogany vanity dresser with a swivel mirror. It fits well with the Disney decor and reminds me of the Haunted Mansion decor. She had many Disney "Cells" that we incorporated into the room along with a few posters. As you know try to create high and lows with your accessories and always use odd numbers for more interest.It took us one full day to complete these two rooms from start to finish. Cleaning and polishing as we went. It was so much fun to do and we laughed while trying to move some of these pieces around. Since they are antiques and all solid wood they we pretty heavy. We did add some cellular shades to the windows that were ordered the day after we put the room together.
I hope you enjoyed seeing these room put together. I thoroughly enjoyed working on them. I stay for two days helping to unpack and put rooms together. I will post more of them at a later time. Thanks for joining me today and also to Susan from Between Naps on the Porch for hosting. Check out her blog for great transformations.

Expressively
Sofia

Tablescape Thursday/Wedding Planning

2009-11-05T10:57:00.000-08:00

Tablescape Thursday/Wedding Planning

Here we are again for another Tablescape Thursday thanks to Susan from Between Naps on the Porch. I had said in an earlier post that I would share some photos of the Wedding that I helped to plan on October 3rd. I thought today would be good for sharing these photos.

The wedding took place at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. It is a beautiful old hotel rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake and opened in 1909. This year is the 100th anniversary for the hotel.
I will show you a few designs of tablescapes for the place card, cake and breakfast buffet the morning after the wedding. First let me show you where the ceremony took place.

This is called the Sunset Court on the second floor of the hotel. The hotel staff set the chairs nicely accordingly to the bride and my specifications. There is an atrium for the ceiling so natural and mood lighting occurs nicely in this area. We added some florals on stands down the isle as well as rose petals to line the runner. The palm trees were a great backdrop for the ceremony area. In the center was the unity candles that the mothers and then bride and groom lite. It was beautiful.
Here is where the cocktail hour took place. This is a before shot of the place card table.

Here is the same table with the floral arrangement and place card and favors arranged on the table. The floral had fall flowers, tall curly willow and pears.
Here is the gift and guest book table. Instead of an actual book to sign the bride wanted to use note cards and a box to hold advice and good wishes for the newly married couple. The wired bowl was for gift cards. This picture takes place before the guests arrive.

Here is the set up of the cake table. The cake was beautiful. Fresh flowers were place on the cake after it was placed on the table. We added votive candles the throw away bouquet and the champagne flutes and cake knives for the couple.This is a picture of the centerpieces for the guest tables before they are placed on the table. Since I was in twenty places at one time on this day I did not get a picture of the guest tables set for dinner.

The wedding was beautiful and everything went off without any problems and on time. They were a very happy couple. The next morning, we had breakfast for the guests. It was held in the French Parlor of the hotel. This is such a beautiful room and over looks the garden court of the hotel.

We reused the centerpieces from the wedding for the tables at the breakfast. These centerpieces were great because we were able to use them in three different places. The first was at the ceremony.

Here is the buffet table for breakfast. I added rose petals to the plate table and arranged the floral and gave some height to the table as well.

Here is the arrangement given some height on the buffet table and in the background is a leaded glass window overlooking the garden court below.
Here is a picture of the Garden Court from the window . Isn't it gorgeous.
Another picture of the buffet table from a different view and again the interior windows that open and look to the garden court.

This was truly a dream wedding, beautiful location, very well planned (I did that mostly), and wonderful bride and groom. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share this day with you all. One last picture of the Anniversary cake in the lobby of the hotel. This cake was done by Ace of Cakes!.
Wow that is all I can say, this cake is incredible. Every tier represents a decade of the hotel with different features of the hotel recreated in this cake. Thanks again to Susan from Between Naps on the Porch for hosted. If you would like to see more pictures of the wedding you can go to Peter Bruce Photography. He did a wonderful job photographing this special day.
I had such fun being the wedding planner for this couple!. Any one else need a planner?

2009-11-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

How are you all doing? I hope you had a Happy Halloween! I am joining up with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for another Met Monday and another transformation for me.
After moving my daughter into her new apartment in January (See post in Jan and Feb. 09) We need some accent pillows. We purchase two at Marshall's for 10.00. We added them to the room but it was not quite right.
So I decided to take the left over fabric from the window treatments we had made and make a couple of pillows.

I have to say I do procrastinate when it comes to getting out the sewing machine. That is not my first love. I did finally drag the machine out and made two 20" pillow covers. I used the check fabric, the brown window treatment fabric and purchase some coordinating ribbon for 2.99 for a spool. I purchased two spools of ribbon. I made one pillow with the check fabric in the center, and a board of brown. I then took the ribbon and outlined the entire square with it. I made a envelope type opening in the back to slip the Marshall's pillow in.

The second pillow, I made slightly different, taking half the check and half the brown, using the ribbon two separate the two fabrics and added three buttons that I made out of the check fabric.
Those were simple to make with button covers that I purchased at Joann fabrics for 3.50 for the kit. Here is a picture of the second pillow. Sorry I do not have a picture yet of the first pillow. My daughter took that one too quickly.
I think it turned out nice and goes well with her window treatments. Shown here and in an earlier post.
I still have the sewing machine out as I need to change up two more window treatments before I put that baby away. Wish me luck!.

Thanks for stopping by and please make yourself at home and browse around a bit. Also don't forget to browse around Susan's at Between Naps on the Porch as she is always happy to host a Met Monday.

See you again soon
Expressively
Sofia

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE

2009-10-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone. I hope you have a great and frightful day and evening.
This is a picture of my neighbor's decorations on their front lawn and my front porch decor. The front door wreath and the three tier pumpkins were featured in Southern Living Decorating year. I look at both and recreated with a little spice of my own.

This is my neighbor's front yard welcome and front porch. Quite a difference from mine. Much more freightful. Which do you prefer, festive or freightful? I know my choice!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Expressively
Sofia

Tablescape Thursday

2009-10-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

I am hooking up with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for another wonderful Tablescape Thursday. Today I am going to tell you about a baby shower that my daughter had for her friend at our home. My daughter with a friend's help put together a menu, games, and party favors for this wonderful day. Their theme was Mommy's "Little Pumpkin". It was given in November of last year and I have been just waiting for fall to share the tablescape with you.

As you see here, I love adding layers to a party tablescape it makes it more interesting and you fit more food items on the table. Of course, lots of pumpkins, baby teddy bears covered the table.This cute little bear was the centerpiece for the table. He was bought at Pottery Barn kids and part of the money that was paid for him was donated to a children's hospital. I thought that was perfect. I also like to add picture frames with family photos to the table to make it personal.
I took small square boxes and created some baby blocks wrapped in orange tissue paper. There are clothes pins in one vase for one of the games to be played at the party.

Here is a close up of the table and pumpkins. I also used ribbon, fall leaves and colorful fabric to create the levels and interest.

We also decorated with a clothesline filled with baby clothes and the baby's last name to welcome the baby.

This was a cute little t-shirt that I could not resist.

This was the mom's chair for opening gifts. It was so nice outside we actually sat outside to eat and open the gifts.

This was the dessert table. We had a cake, a fruit salad and cookies. I love putting apples in the tall vase.

Decorated in the same manner with a center pumpkin, leaves trailing down to the wonderful desserts.

This was the cake. Unfortunately it was ordered before the theme and color scheme was picked. It was still cute.

Well I hope you enjoyed my tablescape Baby Shower. We enjoyed decorating and hosting the shower. Do come back again soon and enjoy all the other tablescapes at Between Naps on the Porch. Thank you to Susan for hosting another great one!

Expressively,

Sofia

DayBed Part II/Met Monday

2009-10-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Sorry I have been gone so long. I was a wedding planner for a wedding that happened on October 3rd. It was wonder but had taken up most of my time. I hope to post pics of the wedding on Wednesday.

As for today I have the daybed saga part II. I finally found bedding and pillows that I liked as well as one piece of art work so I have joined up with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for a Met Monday. As seen on August 30th the daybed went a partial tranformation with a new coat of paint. Now it has new bedding and a fresh new look.
Tada a brand new look for the bed. The comforter came from JCPenney Cindy Crawford collection. It was a pretty good price and then of course I had a coupon and free shipping. It came with the two shams bedskirt and comforter. I am going to cut the bedskirt and make a window treatment out of part of it. The smallest size was a full size so I had to make adjustments to fit. It shams need to be stuffed a little more for me. The three pillows with the buttons are from Pottery Barn. The yellow were on sale for $11.99 for the covers and $19.99 for the red. I suplurged a little on that. The bolster pillow I made from a $5.00 bolster and leftover fabric I had. I also had leftover tassel fringed which I tied the pillow with. The colors work perfectly together.
I found the sunflower print at Ross store for $12.99. That was a good deal since the framing has such an intricate pattern on it.

I also tried to spruce up the top of the computer cabinet. I added pictures of my children, a frame I got for free, which a printed an S for my name and put in it. Also the hat box which I already had, a white final also in my home not being used and my new favorite Party Planning book.

This is the room as you would be looking into it from the doorway. I replaced the black and red lamp with a lamp from my bedroom also not in use at the moment. It goes well in here. The second hat box is being used to raise the lamp and another free picture frame on the end table. I also had a piece of leftover sheer fabric with a leaf patter which I placed on the table.
Ok that is my makover for this Met Monday. I hoped you enjoy and love the colors as I do. I hope to complete the window treatment and add shelves soon!
See you then. Watch for my wedding post coming soon!. Again that you to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting the Met Monday transformations. Be sure to enjoy everyone's.
Expressively
Sofia

Daybed tranformation

2009-10-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone and thanks for joining Susan from Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday and Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Bargain sale finds . I have been away from the computer trying to finish a room I started a couple of months ago. I am also busy with a wedding planning job I acquired a while back. Life sometimes gets in the way of progress. I recently acquired from a friend this daybed to be put into my daughter's room and make into an office/guest room. The daybed I felt would fit well in the room and take up less space than a full size bed.

I did not like the white and brass look however for my purposes, so I decided to change the color and style. This is the daybed before. Very country and cute. It went well in the room and home it was in.I decided to update the iron and finials to fit the decor in my home which is Italian/Mediterranean country. So I went to Home Depot, of course and started with two cans of espresso color spray paint. After I was done with that I still was not happy with the color choice.

So back to Home Depot, and Michael's to find a Bronze spray paint and a Copper Spray paint. I started to mottle the sprays together to give me a patina of bronze and copper over the dark brown. It gives a lustre to the plain brown paint. It is hard to see the colors in the picture but it works, especially with the new finials I found at Calico Corners for 50% off for two.

In this photo you can see the bronze and copper patina a little better.
I hope you enjoyed my transformation so far. Now if I can just find some bedding! I'll just keep looking. Keep your eyes looking for me also. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out Susan at Between Naps on the Porch and Rhoda at Southern Hospitality

Expressively
Sofia

Hooked on Fridays

2009-09-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hi there, I am joining Julia at Hooked on Houses, today because I am Hooked on Beaches. We recently vacationed in Cozumel, Mexico and if you have never been there, the water is absolutely gorgeous.
The hotel was an all inclusive place. You didn't have to worry about drinks, food or entertainment. It was very lovely, Caribbean beach feel and definitely Mexican architecture.
All of the coverings had that thatched grass hut look. It did rain on morning and it didn't rain under the roof.
This hotel had the best beaches, wonderful servers, activity director and just overall very friendly. The maids would sculpt an animal out of towels. It was fun to see which animal you would end up with.This was the Bob Marley bar on the ocean side of the island. Look at all the t-shirts hanging from different people that had visited.
This is a picture of the inside of the thatched roof building where there was always food. This was a dinner entertainment evening.
I loved the bamboo lighting.
Look how they decorated the kids buffet line. It was just very family friendly, and fun. I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and if you have never been, that you too can experience the beautiful beaches, crystal clear water and swim with the tropical fish.

Don't forget to visit Julia at Hooked on Houses for more hooked on... adventures.
Expressively,
Sofia

Met Monday/backyard structure

2009-08-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, sorry to be gone so long. Life happens!. I wanted to show you the progress on the new outdoor structure we have had built. I have hooked up with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to show the changes.This is what the room was as it is being stripped down. Pretty ugly.

This is the start of construction of the new arbor. Sorry bad picture quality.
This is the structure with the hot tub still under it, which was in the room before.
This is the structure as it is now. There is still much work to be done. The structure itself is very pretty. It is beautiful in the yard.
Here is the hot tub in its new home. Again alot more work to be done. It will get there eventually. I would like to have it done asap. We will see what happens.I will bring you updates as they happen. This is the progress so far. I hope you like this and make sure you stop by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for many more exciting transformations.
Remember to have patience when doing any type of construction work!!

Expressively
Sofia

Hi Trying to get back into the swing of things

2009-08-03T09:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be away from this blog for so long. I have been busy with trying to redecorate a downstairs bedroom into a guest room and office. I am having difficulties finding the right bedding for a day bed that I put into this room. Funny how that goes.
Also we have been working on the new arbor that is constructed right now. Photos to come shortly. Thanks for your patience.

Met Monday/bench makeover

2009-07-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Met Monday hosted by Susan from Between Naps on the Porch. Today I am featured a bench I reupholstered for a client/friend. Unfortunately since she was there I could not take pictures of the details of the change. I only have the before and after. This is a bench that was her father's and has had f0r a very long time. She wanted the exact same look only different fabric. I tried to get her to change the look a little also and not have the legs tops show but she liked that feature. You have to give the customer what they want even if you know it would look great a little differently.

So this is the before picture in a blue 80's looking fabric.

I did not take off the old fabric as it was glued to the bottom of the seat cushion. That made it harder to expose the legs and cut around them. I used a staple gun to the under side of the bench. Pulled and stapled as we went. When I reached the legs it took a little maneuvering cutting and tucking to get the leg to show and cover the cushion and the blue fabric.
It came out really nice if I do say so myself. The fabric is now updated along with the walls that were painted just recently. ( it was a mauve sponge painted look) Now it is a calming Benjamin Moore color of Powell buff. ( sorry I don't have the paint color in the picture)
The bench took about 2 1/2 hours to complete and she loves it.
Thanks for stopping by for a visit for my quick and some what easy Met Monday. Don't forget to peek at Between Naps on the Porch for more exciting transformations.
Expressively
Sofia

Hooked on Houses/My Friends

2009-07-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hi there from Expressive Creations. Today on I am hooking up with Julia and Hooked on Houses. My hook this week are homes that my friends have purchased, one for retirement and one as a second home. It is so fun living vicariously through your friends.

I even get to help with the decorating, Of course my forte!

My friends Laurie has retired and found a home near Placerville CA. Below are some gorgeous views of the inside of the home. It is set on 5 acres over looking the Sierra foothills. This will be so much fun to decorate. There kitchen is fabulous. Look at all the windows with the spectacular view.
This is the room adjacent to the entry way.

Great room that joins the kitchen.They also have three bedrooms and bathrooms. It will be so much fun to help decorate.

The next home will be a second home for a friend of mine in North Carolina. This is an investment property for them.

This home is brand new and both are move in ready. Entry way looking into the living area.

Kitchen with breakfast bar, and master bedroom. I love all the paint colors and this should be easy to decorate.
Well thanks so much for letting me share my friends exciting new plans with you. Stop by Hooked on Houses to see many more hooked on houses stories.

Outdoor Wednesday/Outdoor Wedding

2009-07-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome. Today I am joining Susan from a Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday. If you recall I had mentioned that I would be decorating for an outdoor wedding and then coordinating the event.
Here are some pictures of the backyard transformed into a wedding setting. The bride wanted just light pink added as color. We brought in an arch with tuling and the a floral swag as the centerpiece for the wedding.

I lined both sides of the arch with Shepard's hooks and baskets of florals. The arch also had a bucket with a larger Shepard's hook to add florals to draw the eye up and down.

We added white linens to all tables rented and owned so everything looked similar. I added ribbon and ribbon roses to the high boy tables.

I also lined with steps down from the deck to the ceremony area with tuling and pink ribbon. White impatients also lined the stairs.

In their kitchen garden window I transformed that into a wedding setting with a family photo, floral arrangement, basket with a plaque that says "all because two people fell in love", also the "R" initial framed for the families' last name.

Outdoor tables getting ready for floral petals and floral arrangements.

This is the table the food was served from. Just a floral and rose petals here to leave enough room for food.

The cake table was decorated with white, pink and tuling overlay. We added the fresh roses and rose petals as a finishing touch.
All in all it was a gorgeous day and everything went according to plan. The bride and groom was very happy and pleased with everything. Thank you for visiting and don't forget to visit Susan from a Southern Daydreamer.

Have a glorious day!

Met Monday - Garden Window/ Summer

2009-06-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome once more to Met Monday hosted by Susan from Between Naps on the Porch. These weeks are sure going fast, it seems like we just had a Met Monday yesterday.
This was my spring theme garden window.

I have transformed my garden window once again to the Red, white and blue 4th of July theme.
All these items you see I have had. The basket I bought a few years back at Michael's. It is a flag look on the top of the basket. The silk geraniums also are great for a summer floral theme, they are inexpensive, most crafts store carry them and always looks festive.

I have joined the geraniums with the Flag barn star, and small flag, red and white check fabric, as well as red, white and blue star fabric. All the fabrics were purchased at Joann's about three years ago. Equally inexpensive especially when you use the 40% off coupons.

I have joined the geraniums with the Flag barn star, and small flag, red and white check fabric, as well as red, white and blue star fabric. Sorry my kitchen faucet seems to get in the way of pictures sometimes. but I can't do anything about that!

Well I hope you enjoyed my small transformation in the kitchen in honor of the 4th. Happy 4th everyone and don't forget to drop by Susan from Between Naps on the Porch, who has once again sponsored today's transformation. Oh by the way Anita at They call me Jammi is hosting a giveaway, stop by her blog and check it out.

Expressively,
Sofia

Tablescape Thursday /July 4th BBQ

2009-06-24T19:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. I am early for this post but I have several different options for a July 4th BBQ, so I thought I start this week. Especially if you are having a crowd for the 4th you want to plan ahead to get all the great bargains out there before the stores are sold out.

I purchased most of these items at Walmart. They had great buys on melamine accessories and paper goods. The items below were found in the $1 section at Target (the kitchen towel that can be used as a large napkin for those messy BBQ's. The star bucket was from a couple of years ago though. The paper plates were from Walmart. $2.00 for a package of 8.
Below I changed the paper plate to white and added a star/striped paper napkin. The fabric on the table was from Joann's a few years back, they do have some nice fabric right now and there is a 40% off coupon.

The two items above were also purchased at Walmart for $2.50 each I believe. You can use the star dish for condiments, salsa or whatever you would like. It can also serve as the salad bowl for individuals salads. The plate is nice in lieu of paper if we really want to go "green". However, it would most likely be for a smaller gathering at $2.50 each.

Well I hope you enjoyed an early Red, White and Blue themed 4th. The only way to go. I will be adding to this 4th of July decorating post, so be on the look out.
Have a Happy 4th and don't forget to stop by Between Naps on the Porch for exciting table decorating.

Expressively,
Sofia

Outdoor Wednesday/Outdoor Wedding Plans

2009-06-24T07:43:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. Today is outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan at a Southern Daydreamer. I have been busy helping a client with her son's outdoor wedding. I thought I would give you a glance at what I have been working on.

These little tin holders I found at Michael's for $1.29 each. They say Love, Peace and Faith on them. I thought they blended nicely with the outdoor theme. If the client doesn't like them I will paint them a espresso color. She wanted to have pink in the theme so I used pink spray roses, and cutting of greens from my yard.

I am using a Shepard's hook to hold these buckets, with pink ribbon to tie around them. Depending on the look I may change the ribbon to white.

This is a test run to see if she likes the look. I am also going to try the arrangement with white flowers with a hint of pink on them.

What do you think, pink or white a combo of both. I didn't find the right flowers that I was looking for. I wanted little white bell flowers and pink sweet William's, maybe I'll find them elsewhere.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting and don't forget to visit Susan at a Southern Daydreamer.
Have a glorious day.
Expressively
Sofia

Father's Day table

2009-06-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Father's day is here. Do you need an idea for a cute and easy table decoration. I came up with one after looking are the Better Homes and Gardens' website. They had taken beer bottles empty, using them to hold flowers, and had DAD written on them.

Well since my children are grown, we just took beer bottles out of the frig and used our PrintMaster program to get a Father's Day logo and print D A D out, cut them out and glued to the beer bottles.

We also found an old picture of the children, added roses from the garden, empty Mets beer cans and a baseball, dad favorite game.

We set the table around this centerpiece. Just a fun and easy way to decorate for Father's day with their favorite items. If you dad is more of a football fan, use a football and decorate around that. Any item that is dad favorite, use your imagination. Golfing, Fishing anything itemsthat says DAD would be fun. You can also use BBQ type napkins, plates if your having a big crowd.

Enjoy your Father's Day with your special DAD.

Expressively,
Sofia

Hooked on Houses and Hooked into Transforming a Gym

2009-06-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hooked into decorating a gym!

Hi everyone. I am sooo sorry I have not communicated lately. I am hooking up with Julia at Hooked on Houses for this Friday. I recently was hooked into transforming the church gym into a Bayou swamp for their vacation Bible School. Sometimes we are called to a task for the greater good. So for the last week we have been doing just that.
I did not have much time to prepare in advance for this but here are some pictures I took yesterday after three 8 to 10 hour days of working and creating.

Since we only had a short time to prepare we used a lot of paper and table cloths. The entire gym was covered in three different color plastic rolls of tablecloths to assimilate the look of a sunset and swamp water.The stage was made to look like a dock with a big old cypress tree and lots of tree limbs and vines, and moss growing on them.

The teenagers who are going to be camp counselors came on Tuesday evening and ready their group shack or boat and painted up a storm. 150 teenagers painting and creating a mess and some banners and trees as well.

These banners were made with felt and the white felt was cut out to create the sayings. We also made some fireflies out of felt as well. I would have liked a little more texture but we did not have a lot of time, money or supplies.

Our cypress tree below did not come out great but looks the same as the sample they gave in the decorating video. The Crocodile is really cute, and came with the bible school literature. The tree was made with craft paper, chicken wire, wrapping paper rolls, duct tape. Fake moss was used to decorate it.
So that is what I have been up to the last two weeks. That and getting my youngest daughter home from college. The garage is a mess (that is another story).
I am going to stop procrastinating now and get back to work on cleaning the garage and decorating for father's day. Catch you later.

Have a wonderful day and don't forget to check out Hooked on Houses for great stories.
Expressively

Sofia

Outdoor Wednesday Outdoor Room Project

2009-06-10T09:35:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone and thank you to Susan from A Southern Daydreamer for hosting another Outdoor Wednesday. I thought today I would get your thoughts on a outdoor room. We are taking down this screened in room pictured. It leaked from the day we moved into the home. Apparently it was never constructed properly. So after 10 years of living with rain come inside the room we decided to dismantle it

We have several options for a new outdoor area that we would like.

We would really like a room similar to this but alas it is too costly. Beautiful but not really in our budget right now.So we are hoping to have an outdoor patio arbor/pergola type structure. What do you think? Something along this design less curves with some sort of protection from the winds we get here in the evening.

A little larger than this but again we need a little protection from the winds coming in at night bringing with it the fog from the ocean. It is kinds of weird, if you have never been in San Francisco before.
Sorry for the late post and thanks for visiting. Hope to see you again soon. Don't forget to stop by Susan, A Southern Daydreamer for more outdoor inspirations.

Met Monday

2009-06-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of my daughter's homecoming from college for the summer I thought I would repeat her postcard collection from London and Paris, so here goes....
It is time again for Met Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Sorry I am so late in my posting. Some days are so much busier than others. Anyway today I thought I would give you an idea of what you can do with a poster or large postcards you collect when you are traveling. My Daughter studied abroad last summer and brought home a few souvenirs that she wanted to frame some how. Of course she asked "good old mom" to put it together for her.
Here is what I came up with.

She brought back these large postcards of London. They are different black and white with a burs of color in each of them.

I looked around Michael's, Richards Crafts and Aaron Brothers before I found frames that would work for the prints. Of course these prints were an odd size so the frame does not exactly fit the picture. The frames were on sale 40% off and were about $40 for two different frames. The paper was $4.99 for the sheet.

I kept looked around Aaron Brothers as I didn't want to use Mats that would cut of some of the print. I found something new they had there. It is similar to wallpaper but it is a extra large square, larger than craft paper or memory book paper. It is really sold to cover plain mat boards to give a more custom look. I decided I could use this paper as the background for the prints that would border the print in the frameI cut the paper to fit the frame using the glass as a guide. Then I centered each print onto the paper using double stick squares that you would use for memory albums. I made sure each was center in the frame before I added the backing to the frame. Below is the finished product hanging in my daughter's room.
I did two in one frame and one in another. The paper coordinates with her wall color and the black and cream coordinates with her bedding.
It is a custom look for a fraction of the cost. I hope you enjoyed this Met Monday, and please join Susan and Between Naps on the Porch for more exciting changes.

Expressively,
Sofia

Paint Colors

2009-06-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

MY FAVORITE PAINT COLORS!

OK , I am so sorry for being so late with this post. I had to go out of town unexpectedly and did not get to post before I left. Melissa at 320 Sycamore is hosting on June 4th.

I hope you will get to see this anyway. I love painting with color. It is so much fun and easy to change when you tire of a color. Hopefully you choose colors that you love,so you don't have to change so often.

I love using Benjamin Moore paints the best. Their color palette is fabulous and always has a great selection of warm colors. The paint is easy to roll on and usually covers in one coat.

My newest color that is a favorite of mine is Warm Cognac. I painted a bathroom we renovated this color. I love it.
It is a fairly new color and paint from Benjamin Moore. The paint is a little more difficult to work with, only because you have to do your trim work first and let it completely dry for 24 hrs. You paint it on and leave it do not go over again and again or you start taking off the color. Then the next day you can roll the color on, only rolling down once and overlap your strokes. Use a thick roller. Once you get the technique down it is fabulous paint and has a great depth of color. Only one coat needed and touching up is really easy.

I also recently re-painted my daughter's room. I also used a Benjamin Moore Aura paint. The color is Turmeric. It is a warm neutral tone with a touch of gold look to it.

Unfortunately when you take pictures with natural light and artificial light the color changes. Both the above picture and below are the same color and same room. I hate when that happens.

Again I so apologize for being tardy with this post. I hope you enjoy it and head on over to Melissa at 320 Sycamore for more awesome colors. Thanks for stopping by and visiting. Come again soon!

Expressively
Sofia

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-03T09:35:00.000-07:00

I am hooking up today with Dixie at French Lique, Texas for Wordless Wednesday. The words are Water and/or Wind. Enjoy

Stop by Dixie's place - French Lique, Texas to see more wonderful photos.

Met Monday -Family Room Chair

2009-05-31T20:07:00.000-07:00

It is Met Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. You may also want to mosey on over to Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for some thrifty treasure finds.
My Met Monday is small in renovation, however it is greatly appreciated by my family.
I have been in need of a new family room chair for some time now and hadn't quite found what I was looking for until a few weeks ago, when I was at the Decor Store with a friend of mine. This warehouse type store is great for decorators, staging, and anyone who loves home decor.
I spotted this chair below and captured it on my camera. I thought it would work really well in my family room with my Rowe sofa that I purchased a couple of years ago and the main ingredient it have to have was comfort. This chair seem to fit the bill and the price was right.

After taking the photo home and discussing with my husband who just trusts my judgement I decided to purchase the chair.After taking the photo home and discussing with my husband who just trusts my judgement I decided to purchase the chair. I did not need the ottoman. This is the chair I was replacing. Now you know why I needed a new chair. This poor thing had seen better days even with the chair cover and pillows.
I also purchased that cute little floral arrangement on the side table for $8.00 at the same store.
Here is the new chair in its new home. Doesn't it look great! The family loves the comfort of it and I love the look of it. It was meant to be.
The chair coordinates with the sofa well and the rest of the family room. I did not have to change anything else. Some times you just have to wait for that perfect piece and it is definitely worth the wait.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and visit today. Don't forget to check out Between Naps on the Porch for many other exciting makeovers. You may also want to check out Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures hunting. Have a great time exploring and Happy Monday.

Expressively
Sofia

Tablescape Thursday Pottery Barn beach decor

2009-05-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

Hello again and welcome to Table scape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Be sure to visit Susan and take a look at all the wonderful table decor.

I had recently been to Pottery Barn (again!. Seems like I have been there a lot lately). Well they had a very Beach like table scape done and I thought I would feature that today. Please excuse my picture as I cannot seem to lighten them up.

The used all sea blue salad dishes with brown plates and white chargers. They also have a grass linen as the table runner. There are a vast amount of different size and shape sea shells on the table.
The lanterns have a light blue candle with sea shells. There are other wicker and glass candle holders with the light blue candles. Do you see that white fish, it is also a candle. Again I apologize for the dark picture. The table is simple but very sophisticated. You feel like you are by the sea with the table decor. This table decor is something you can replicate very easily by visiting TJ Maxx, Marshall's and Michael's. At this time of year they have many sea shells, blue dishware, lanterns and blue candles.

Thanks for visiting, come again soon and don't forget Between Naps on the Porch for other great tablescapes! Have a great day!
Expressively
Sofia

Outdoor Wednesday

2009-05-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hi and how are you doing today. I am a little late today in hooking up for Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan at a Southern Daydreamer. I am featuring a client/friends' backyard that has just been redone. It is beautiful and will be the setting for her son's wedding in July.

This is her deck complete with a new outdoor patio set from Costco. The table has inlaid slate of the rusts,browns, and grays. It coordinates beautifully with with flagstone patio adjacent to the deck.
Here is the stairs leading you to the flagstone patio. They also had their dining room window replaced with french doors that open up to the patio. The flagstone steps are gorgeous.
Here they left the redwood trees and this will be the setting the for wedding ceremony. It will be beautiful. I will be helping to transform this to a lovely wedding setting.

This waterfall feature is just fabulous and you can see it everywhere you walk in the yard.

This is the other side of the waterfall with a bench and a pathway that joins this area to the flagstone patio and deck .
I hope you enjoyed this backyard and I know they have been enjoying the yard and water feature every day. Thank you for joining me today and don't forget to stop by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for other glorious outdoor fun.

Tablescape Thursday/Hooked on Houses - David Tutera

2009-05-21T21:18:00.000-07:00

Another tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan of Between Naps on the Porch is upon us. I am also featuring this designer on Hooked on Fridays hosted by Julia at Hooked on Houses.
I am featuring some work by a party planner David Tutera. I have just recently purchased the latest book by this party planner. It is fabulous! He creates such wonderful table arrangements and creates a whole room of ambiance.
This is a summer look that is created with pinks, greens, and white flowers, highlighted by pink and white lighting. The candles are fabulous. He creates different heights to keep your eye moving around the room. I love this idea of floating flowers is a long retangular clear container. You can see all the flowers and various colors and highlighed by lite candles.
Here is another table scape with moss green tablecloth and copper brown charges. Look at the height of this arrangement. The slim candles at the top of the arrangement accompanied by lavendar candles all around the table. It is just gorgeous.
I am just loving this new book call David Tutera, "The Party Planner". It has such great theme parties and table decor. If you have a chance please check out the website at Davidtutera.com you won't be disappointed. Don't forget Between Naps on the Porch and Hooked on Houses for great ideas.

Thank you again for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the eye candy. Have a great day and come again.
Expressively
Sofia

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-19T18:36:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday - Blogger's Choice

Thank you to Dixie at French Li que for hosting Wordless Wednesday. Join her for more wordless fun.

Thrifty Treasures and Met Monday

2009-05-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

It's Monday again and today I am hooking up with Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures and Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday since the item was re purposed.

I happened to be at the local High School's annual Flea Market and browsed around for quite a while, unfortunately without my camera. Some nice items but definitely not needed by me, until I saw this gem. I spotted this wire butler's rack from a distance and admired it. I realized my daughter could use this for her outside patio to hold her plants and add height to the space.. Since the high school students were running the flea market I went over to one of the students and asked the price. He said $10 and I said I'll take it!. You can't go wrong for $10. I took it home and decided it needed just a little sprucing up. I had two can of rustoleum spray paint in an off white color. I took the rack to the backyard and gave it a coat of paint. (Sorry again I didn't have my camera).
Here it is re purposed on my daughter's patio. We brought it over today.
It fits perfectly in this nook on the patio. Now all her plants, lantern and work bucket can be displayed and have their own space, instead of being all cramped on that small table you see to the right She is very happy!Thanks so much for visiting today. I hope you too will find Thrifty Treasures that you can remake and reuse somewhere. Stop by Southern Hospitality for more Thrifty Treasure and Between Naps on the Porch for great transformations.

Expressively
Sofia
P.S. I also went to an estate sale that was happening on my street and found an iron (black and decker) for $2.00. Sorry I didn't get a picture of it but it does work! This item all went to the same daughter.

Table scape Thursday 5/14 Outdoor dining

2009-05-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Susan from Between Naps on the Porch for hosting Table scape Thursday. I decided to bring us outdoors today since it is a gorgeous day for outdoor dining. Have a seat and a glass of wine and enjoy the day.
I used a galvanized metal container I purchased at a consignment shop for $15.00 to hold the wine bottles. (similar ones at Pottery Barn) You can add have ice in this container and it will not leak. The ice bucket is sooo cute, purchased at Kohl's for $7 at 50% off last year. .

I used these cute little containers from the dollar section at Target to hold the napkins and utensils. ( I replicated this from a Pottery Barn display I found I couple of years ago at a fraction of the price). The place mats were from TJ Maxx 6 for $5.00I decided this was a very informal table scape so I am using paper plates with these wicker holder from Cost Plus 6 for $10. These give texture to the table and hold the paper plate better.

e This lantern I found at Ross stores I don't remember the price but not much. I love it. I use it for candles or as you see today for seashells to give the beachy feel to the table.
Those little fish are votive holders and bring color to the table. The plant is a dwarf boxwood $5.00 at Lowe's the other day. It bring a little life and greenery to the table.
Thank you for enjoy our outdoor dining today and thank you to Susan for hosting. Be sure to visit Between Naps on the Porch for more exciting table scapes.
Come back again soon!

Expressively

Sofia

Outdoor Wednesday 5/13

2009-05-13T07:16:00.000-07:00

It is time for another Outdoor Wednesday Hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer .

I am featuring some of my hubby's work on our deck that he renewed by replacing the old deck with the new products out there similar to treks. This product is very nice and looks very similar to cedar wood. It is called Fiberon and will never crack, split, fade, or rot away. You just have to wash it every once in a while to keep it looking new. This photo show the railing that we chose that is a wood and iron look. In case your interested the color is mahogany.
This photo show the railing that we chose that is a wood and iron look. Also my little sitting area right outside the kitchen slider.
Here is another sitting area a step down from the main deck. He also made a pergola a few years back that is above this, shown in the picture below.This picture is from the yard looking back at the house. You can get a better idea of the pergola and the deck and railing. There are no screws that show. It is fasten on the sides, so it give the appearance of outdoor hardwood flooring!
This is also a picture of my mother's day present. A Beautiful hanging basket of flowers.
He just recently finished the steps to the patio. He used the same products but then added a garden area that steps down with Moss rocks to hold the dirt in.

He had to add lattice to the bottom of the deck to keep critters away and have a finished look.
In this area before we had creeping jasmine that would smell beautiful but was very messy. We replaced it with 12 x12 stone and is the same material that our patio is made of. I purchased this hose keeper from Lowe's yesterday for $35.00, not bad I and it looks very neat and clean.

I hope you enjoy are new deck, we sure are!. The product is very nice and really does look like real wood. The treks product did not look as nice as this one. Thanks for stopping by today don't forget to check out A Southern Daydreamer for more great outdoor ideas. Have a wonderful day and stop by again soon!
Expressively Sofia

2009-05-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

The 3rd Annual Cottage Charm giveaway. Visit the Lettered Cottage to sign up for this great giveaway.

Expressively

Sofia

2009-05-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Have a great day with your family and friends.
Love you to all

It's So Me

2009-05-09T17:24:00.001-07:00

IT'S SO ME
Room Service Decorating 101 asked me to join the posts going around that shows your
" true" style in only one picture...This was very very hard for me, as I like and feel that I am a combination of pictures. So this is what I came up with. I would totally enjoy a outdoor room like this. What do you think? Don't you just love it!

Check out Room Service Decorating 101's picture also, dated April 26th. It took me a while to come up with a picture!
Expressively
Sofia

Tablescape Thursday (Decor Store finds)

2009-05-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

It is time for Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan from Between Naps on the Porch. I really love this day but I don't always have a good tablescape to share so this will be short.
I found these dishes and tablescape at the Decor store the other day. The dishes are just beautiful. I especially love the artichoke on the left corner of the table. The 3 tier white iron serving tray is just scrumptious. How about that gorgeous table runner in the deeper tone of green brings out the green dish color well. Sorry for the papers they were doing inventory.
My friend and I finally realized it after I took the picture.
We remedy the inventory sheet for this next shot. We even rearranged the table and added some florals to the green vase. The Calli lilly arrangement is beautiful. Did you notice the lamp. It has a birdhouse base, how cute is that! There was an item in this picture that I bought for a friend of mine. I saw it and immediately thought of her. It is hard to see but it is the green and white toile print in the very bottom right hand corner.

Can't you just see these dishes in a nice porch setting. I hope you enjoyed the very short tablescape post. It was just too pretty not to share. Enjoy your day and enjoy the other tablescape linked to Between Naps on the Porch

Thank you for stopping by.
Expressively Sofia

Outdoor Wednesday & May Garden Party

2009-05-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

I am hooking up with Susan at A Southern Daydreamer and Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for outdoor Wednesday today. Sunday was my oldest daughter's birthday and for her birthday we went to Napa at her request for a picnic lunch and tasting at the new Castello di Amoriosa.

This is V. Sattui winery in Napa. They have a nice picnic area to sit and enjoy sandwiches and your favorite V. Sattui wine. My daughter (the birthday girl) and son are also in the picture.This is the walkway leading up the Castello Di Amorisa.
There is an olive tree towering over the flowers. Sorry the it was very hazy as it had been raining in the morning and then the sun tried to come out so the picture has a little bit of glare.
This is the view from the top of the walkway leading up to the castle. Nice!

Here is the castle itself. Inside the walls of the castle. The story is the owner of V. Sattui winery had the stones brought over from Europe and reconstructed the castle in Napa. I don't know if it is all the stones or just some but it any case it is pretty awesome to see.

Since this is outdoor Wednesday I am just showing the grounds of the castle. I will post the interior on Friday. Here is where the filmed a scene for Bedtime Stories. I thought that was interesting.
There was a path leading up to a pond and a tower which we took and these are the views from up there. all the grapes vines just starting to sprout with grapes.
You can see the castle, the hills and the vineyards from this spot.

I kept taking pictures, I just thought this was a lovely view from this path.

I hope you enjoyed our outing to Napa Valley. We always enjoy going to the valley. Is it always so lush with vineyards and beautiful wineries and good wine also. Enjoy your day. Don't forget to visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer and Southern Hospitality for many more beautiful Outdoor Wednesday views. Expressively Sofia

House on Peppertree lane

2009-04-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

I friend of mine is trying to decide on the color of her home. She love the tan and white with black shutters so I took a picture of a house she admired when she lived in the area.

It is a darling home with many rhod iron pieces in front. Notice the black urns with green juniper bush.
What do you think. Do you like the tan with white and black trim? It is a classic look for all style homes.
Denise also loves the french style for her home. I found this lovely item at the Decor Store in Livermore, CA . It is nice a chunky possibly for her stairway wall. What you do think? Do you love it.

Denise what are you thoughts. Do you like this fleur de lis? Let me know.

Tablescape Thursday

2009-04-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch it is table scape time again. Today I am having a friend over for lunch and I am serving Root Beer Floats, out of the deck. It is a nice day so I thought we could sit outside and chat. The glasses and bowl I am using for the floats and strawberries were my grandmothers. I always loved these glasses, mainly because my mom always made floats or ice cream shakes in them. I believe they are depression glass.

The Root Beer float is made up of ice cream and root beer soda. How easy is that. I used my everyday dishes which are Mikasa harvest pattern.
This table is a cute little find at Marshall's a couple of years ago. ( about $40) It is a red and yellow toile mosaic tile top.Those floats look so good!

The roses are fresh cut from my garden. The bushes are looking great and so are the roses.
Thanks for stopping by today, I must go now and drink my floats as they are starting to fizzle out. Don't forget to visit Between Naps on the Porch for other fabulous table scape's. Enjoy your Thursday!
Expressively
Sofia

Wordless Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

2009-04-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

This is my first time posting for Wordless Wednesday. I thought this was a fun idea. Thanks to Dixie at French Lique, Texas for hosting The word is PLATES.

Be sure to visit Dixie at French Lique, Texas for more great plates.

Outdoor Wednesday

2009-04-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am hooking up today with Susan of A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.
Today I took pictures as I did my 4 mile walk with my son's dog. I love walking for exercise and the walk tires out the 7 month old puppy Maya.

It is a beautiful morning, still a little brisk though. At least the sun is shining today. This is the view from the corner of my street. The fog retreating over the hills, everything is green right now so it is very picturesque.

Many people have palm tress around but these are beautiful. The long stem is called a Date Nut Palm.
This house is across from the house with the palm trees. I also admire this front English garden. There is always shrubs flowering all spring and summer.

I also walk by a Garden Center. They have very lovely shrubs, trees and fountains. This fountain is on the corner of the main road. I always loved the look of the fence with the garden pots anchoring each section. Reminds me of Disneyland. I love the white fence and there are two Adirondack chairs right in front of the fence. They do blend in with the fence though. It must be a pretty spot to sit in with the fence and the arbor, with vines growing on them. I hope you enjoyed coming on my walk with me for Outdoor Wednesday. As always thank you for visiting, come and visit often and don't forget to visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for many beautiful outdoor views.

Met Monday (Diana's Apt)

2009-04-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Met Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Today I am blogging about my daughter's new apartment that I have been helping her decorate. She wanted a Nantucket style look for, of course, little cost. She moved out of our house into this apartment a few months ago.

We gave her some furniture and she purchased just a few items on her own. We found a coffee table, matching end table and TV cabinet at a consignment shop for just $500. (You can see the table in on of the pictures. She purchased a new small dining table and 4 chairs at JC Penney for $265.00. My daughter does not like alot of clutter and she does like white and off white items, which you will see pictured, however, she does like the "lived in" look. (as seen by the items on the table)
Do you recall the clock and enlarge for her. Well here it is, in the dining area. I am really not pleased with the look and will update this soon. It works for now!

Every time I went shopping a found an item that would fit her theme. She wanted window treatments, so we reused some window treatments (tab top panels) from her place that she had while studying in New York. I found some fabric, a small check with brown and sea glass blue, at Calico Corners about 2 yards at 50% off for a cost of $18.00. I also found some coordinating brown ribbon. Pictured below. We needed the treatments to be 97" in length.
So I took out the old sewing machine and starting creating a look that my daughter would like and had seen in magazine photos. This is her window before the treatment was completed. We also found on overstock.com a chair slipcover for my old plaid chair pictured here.

We had to relocate the mirror to the left of the window. This is the window treatment that was created from the old tap top panels and a small amount of fabric and ribbon. Not bad for $20.00 total. Notice the plaid chair now has a neutral slip cover that coordinates with the treatment. It gives the window and room and nice finished look to the vertical blinds that have to stay.
The tabs on the panels had both the dark brown, with the plaid over the top of them to bring the fabrics together.
Notice the starfish and vine balls in a white Pottery Barn bowl. The balls were only $1.99 at Cost Plus and the bowl was on sale at Pottery Barn for $23.00. She had the starfish for quite some time.She love the barn stars and grouped three on one side of the window. I think we have achieved her Nantucket look and of course will need to add a few more details to complete the look.
Remember to always look for items that you can reuse in a different way. We did not want to buy expensive treatments since I know she will be moving again, so we improvised.
Bet you can't wait to see what we add next! I will post this room again as soon as it is totally complete. What do you think we should add?

So glad you could visit today, stay awhile, look around and come and visit often. Don't forget to
visit Between Naps on the Porch for more exciting ideas.

Table Scape Thursday and Friday

2009-04-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

I am a little late for Table scape Thursday but I thought I would share with you some foyer designs on a recent trip my husband and I took to Las Vegas. So check out Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for more Table scape Thursday designs and I hope you enjoy the entry pieces I took in Las Vegas last week.

We stayed at the Bellagio hotel, oh what a beautiful hotel. All the hotel on the strip are just gorgeous. I love to go there just to see the architecture of the buildings, we really don't gamble much you see. This table arrangement is in the lobby where the check in desks are. You can see them in the rear of the picture. Also look at the umbrella's hanging upside down as landscape decor.
These are all fresh orchids , Lillie's, pussy willow and curly willow.
I love this centerpiece because it is so simple. Tree branches sprayed green with a bed of grass at the bottom. The flowers are is small clear vases tied on by wire.
This one is also in the lobby on the registration desks. There was on of the beauties placed on the registration desk and spaced out evenly.

Grapevine birdcage of a sort with tulips, ivy,orchids, curly willow in a hugs vase. Just gorgeous.
Thanks for stopping by to see the table scape arrangements for a foyer. Don't forget to stop by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for more beautiful ideas.

Outdoor Wednesday

2009-04-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

I am joining Susan today at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday. Be sure to visit Susan to see other beautiful Outdoor Wednesday gardens.

Susan mentioned planting annuals for Earth Day. Here are some of my annuals that have turned into perennials. Wow imagine that. First my nectarine tree that have lovely blooms a few weeks ago. We may even have some actual fruit this year for the first time.

Here are some annuals by our front door, welcoming you into our home. Pink Snapdragons, as well as petunias.

Oh look what is blooming in our backyard. The iris's are coming out and are very colorful. I purchased many of these at Napa Valley Iris farm. The blooms are watching over the statue of a little girl. I took these pictures at twilight. These yellow iris's are supposed to bloom twice a year but they seem to bloom most of the summer months into the fall. They are lovely. Iris bulbs multiply quickly and I must confess I do not thin them out as often as I should.
I hope you enjoy a bit of my garden today. Gardening is a lot of work but I sure do enjoy it. Be sure to visit A Southern daydreamer for more lovely gardens.

Met Monday

2009-04-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

Wow I haven't been very reliable with my posts lately. I have been busy with family and clients though and that is a good thing. I decided to join the Met Monday group with Susan from Between Naps on the Porch for a simple fix. I have some time this weekend to finally fix my dining room chandelier that has been bothering me since we installed it about five years ago. My husband had installed this chandelier and as you can see from the picture below there is a vaulted ceiling in the dining room so the electrical cord needed to be extra long and we needed to splice the wire to add more wire to have it be the right length. Of course this has been an eye sore to me since then.
As you can see from this picture my husband had to connect the wires with the yellow plastic connection piece. It is very ugly and has been an eye sore to me since that day. I knew I wanted to make a fabric cover for the chain and wire and of course because we all get busy with our lives and work I never did make the fabric cover I also would have had to add Velcro for fasteners because I was not going to convince my husband to take the fixture down to cover the wire. About six months ago I was shopping and found a fabric cover for wires that was made with snaps so you do not have to remove the light fixture to add the cover or use Velcro which can become very bulky. I purchased the cover for $12.00 and then it again sat until this past weekend when I finally took out the ladder and with a little ingenuity, using a telescopic pole (the ladder was not tall enough to go to the ceiling), Ta da...
It is nice not seeing the yellow plastic cap. The color of the fabric is nice and goes with the fixture and you cannot see the snaps once it is scrunched up. I recommend this fabric cover option to everyone that does not looking at the chain and wire.

It looks clean, neat and much more decorative. This is definitely my tip for the day. Inexpensive way to dress up your dining area.

House A Home Giveaway

2009-04-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine Denise at Kofford's in Colorado has hooked me up with , "Lucy's Life" who is hosting a fun Lucy's House A Home Giveaway. She asked her readers to list the Top Ten things that make their house a home, and to blog about them. She has some cute prizes for her readers that participate, and I couldn't miss out on the fun! So here, are a few things that come to mind when I think about what aspects of our house make it feel like "home" to me!

I love to garden although I don't know how to do it well.

Coloring Easter eggs with my children no matter how old they get. They still have a good time
Just hanging out coloring eggs with the family
Cooking Christmas Eve dinner with Grandma and the family. My family as you can tell love to be in the kitchen cooking!
I love decorating for Christmas and sitting by the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa or coffee. Enjoying the decorations in the living room.
My son's puppy Maya laying under the ottoman. She has become part of the family and home.

I always loved fireplaces and am very glad our home has two. This family room fireplace is cozy in the winter months and also has places for family photos.

This bookshelf holds favorite books that my children used to read and many more family photos.
It is a little messy right now but this is what makes a house a home and lived in.
Cooking old family recipes handed down two generations.
I love filling the house with music if not on the radio then my girls place this piano. It make the house really feel like a home an fills the home with song.

Well this are my 10 house to home treasures. What are yours? Join in the fun and see you again soon.

Expressively

Sofia

HI there

2009-04-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

Hi there from blogland. I was away for a few days am just getting back. I will post later today.

Thanks for visiting!.

Expressively

sofia

Blessed Happy Easter

2009-04-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

Blessed and Happy Easter
I spent the morning decorating our church for the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday. It was a great way to prepare for Easter.

We have some very beautiful flowers around the altar and we draped ribbon and toile from the ceiling. The girls were having some fun with the new full immersion baptismal font.
My pictures do not do this new baptismal piece justice. The Easter Vigil should be amazing!

Have a very Blessed Happy Easter everyone! Thanks for visiting!

Spring Fling

2009-04-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

I am joining the The DecoratingVoice in a Spring Fling. Visit the Decorating Voice and you also can join in the fun. So I decided to redo my garden window for spring!.
As requested everything I had in my home. I had purchased the cute bunny a few years ago. I love him because he carries a basket that you can fill with many different items. Now it is filled with small pears and eggs.

Everything has been reused well except the daffodils. I were already spent and I was shopping at Trader Joe's and spotting these daffodils for $1.29 a bunch. What a bargain. They were not opened yesterday and today WOW look at how beautiful they are!.
So this was a quick Spring Fling update for my kitchen for the upcoming Easter holiday. Of Course this window will change again in a couple of weeks. Hope you enjoyed and visit The Decorating Voice for more fun Spring Fling changes!
Hope you enjoyed and visit The Decorating Voice for more fun Spring Fling changes!

Met Monday

2009-04-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hi there and welcome again to Met Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. I have a rather simple one today. This is a preview of my client Denise's home is Colorado which she and I have been working on. I traveled to her home in February and we had a whirlwind 4 days decorating finding accessories,picking paint colors etc. She had a vignette area in here entry way going up the staircase. She had a french print up there and some silk ivy plants. This picture unfortunately does not do the spot any justice. You can see the print in the far corner of the picture.After warming up the walls with paint color Whole Wheat and great finds at Real Deals in Longmont, we transformed the vignette.
Denise loves clocks and we found this awesome clock the filled the space well and went with the decor in her living room, adjacent to this entryway.
We added a vase with some tall mixed greens and curly willows and a sign that says Celebrate family, friends, tradition. We also added and iron plant stand with one ivy plant. Denise will be showing the complete transformation when we are finished with some items that are being worked on now!.
Thanks again for visiting and be sure to stop by Between Naps on the Porch for other great transformations.

Tablescape Thursday

2009-04-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan from Between Naps on the Porch please be sure to visit Susan for other great tablescape designs.

I decided to set my table early for Easter Sunday dinner. How cute is this little watering can! I love to give a little gift to my guests for coming to my home for dinner. These cute little watering cans are just the little something and they look darling on my table

Look who is peeking out as I was taking some pictures this morning. My sons' 6 month old German Shepard puppy trying to get into the act. I created the centerpieces on the table. Those cute little bunnies that Rhoda has from Southern Hospitality I could not pass up.

Would you like a strawberry or something to drink? I found these cute dishes at Pier I along with the watering can. (Watering can was $ 2.95 and the dish was $5.00) I just purchased a couple as accent pieces for desserts, butter, or bread.

The candle eggs were purchased at Pottery Barn 6 for $10 and will also make a nice little gift for my guests. I found these napkins at TJ Maxx 4 for $4.99. What a bargain. The dishes are mine and are not new as you can see but make a nice spring presentation. The centerpieces were made as I had mentioned. I found a bunch of white roses at Richards Craft for $10.00 on sale and the hydrangea I had. The vases were on clearance at Michael's for $6.99.

I spent about $30.00 for all the little extras and have a new spring look to my dining table. I just love those bunnies thanks Rhoda for finding them. Barbara at Grits and Glamour had a bunny on a stick party, so there you go more bunnies on sticks!I love to have visitors over, so thanks for coming by and visiting with me. I enjoyed having you here. Enjoyed what you see here, stay awhile and look around. Again thank you to Susan from Between Naps on the Porch, see all the other wonderful tablescapes here. Come back again soon! Love to see you

Traditional vs Contemporary

2009-03-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome, and welcome back if this is not your first visit.

I am doing the first of a three part series on decorating styles at the request of one of my clients and friend.

Traditional Style vs Contemporary Style

This is definitely the shorten version of what makes up the two design styles

A contemporary home allows you to be comfortable without being cluttered. This style usually starts with neutral colors such as white, black or beige as a base for window treatments, wall coverings, floor covering and upholstered furniture. Punches of color are usually added in accessories to add some drama and flair. (such as a red or orange pillow in textured geometric shapes).

Essentials for contemporary furniture are clean lines, geometric shapes and lack fussy extras. They usually have exposed legs. Bed and chairs have no skirt, trim or tassels.These pieces can be leather in blacks, whites or textured natural fibers. Tables are usually glass and metal as well.

Fabrics often have a natural look found in wool, cotton, linen and silks. Lighting is sleek and streamlined in a metal tones with white or clear glass. Notice very large bold artwork yet sleek and stark furniture with a splash of yellow in the pillows.
( NYC Townhouse)The stuffiness associated with traditional style is no longer, and has been replaced with warm, inviting furniture, fabrics and accessories.

The traditional style of decorating is to create rich sumptuous living space using layers of luxurious furniture accessories, and window treatments. The color palettes that are used can be pastels or bold, regal jewel tones such as burgundy and golds. fabrics are usually heavier quality, textured structured draperies with multi layers.

Unlike contemporary style traditional uses more wallpaper and the walls are usually highlighted to architectural details such as crown mouldings. (as seen above)
Traditional furniture has more of the soft curved lines such as Queen Anne style and are in warm wood tones. Metallic tones in in artwork and framing are key to the traditional look. Artwork on the walls are placed in a more compact manor. Accessories include floral arrangements, baroque style frame work with landscape subject matter, ornate pottery and multiple layers of accessories on tables.

Both styles are beautiful and have their own unique flair. So what is your style? Contemporary, traditional or somewhere in between.

I hope you have enjoyed this segment of design styles. Please let me know what other styles you would like to see.

Met Monday

2009-03-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

Met Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Be sure to visit Susan and other beautiful met monday posts. My Met Monday is an orchid plant I have that never fails to bloom. I don't know exactly what I do right with this one since I have others that only bloom once and never bloom again but the leaves are great. So here is the plant with the blooms waiting to openHere is the blooms opening. I have these plants in a sunroom off the family room but since we don't use this room much, I decided the plant needed to be moved so we can view the beautiful blooms.I moved the plant to my living room for the spring and Easter season. It had a prominent place on my fireplace hearth.
It looks nice here and we can enjoy the flowers.

Here are the blooms up close and personal. Aren't they beautiful. I did something right with this plant, I just wish I knew what it was.
Have a great Met Monday, oh and did you happen to see my post on Traditional vs Contemporary, take a look around, let me know what you think and don't forget to visit Between Naps on the Porch. This is a great way to see other great decorating ideas.

Gardening, and visits

2009-03-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone and welcome. I am feeling guilty for not posting the last few days. I have been busy with my daughter who is home on spring break and trying to get my vegetable garden tilled so I can plant yummy plants.

I will have a good post real soon. Stay awhile, have a look around, and come back to visit soon. Have a fabulous, blessed day

Expressively
Sofia

2009-03-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone and welcome back to Met Monday hosted by Susan at "Between Naps on the Porch" and " UBP 2009 "hosted by 5 minutes for mom. Don't forget to stop by Susan's blog to see her transformation of her entryway, and 5 minutes for mom to learn about the Ultimate Blog Party 2009.

I have a fairly simple transformation today. My kitchen table is always a dumping ground for just about everything and sometimes I just procrastinate and say "I'll do that later". (sound familiar) Well I could not take it any more .I made a new floral arrangement with flowers I already owned and reinvented the container it is in. I also used some spring cloth napkins to make a tablerunner down the center of this some what dated oak table. Here it is-YIPPIE!

I had yellow tulips, red geraniums, and white accents flowers.
I had these pears so I hid some in the arrangement.

Here is a close up of the tulips and yellow daisies I also had.

Just another view including the napkins and a clean table. Ah how nice it is!

The container had been used as a fruit bowl on my kitchen Island with fresh fruit.

So now I have this lovely fresh fruit bowl that had been used for the artificial pears.
Re purposing is always a good idea.

If you are tired of looking at the cluttered counter or kitchen table, take an hour of your time. Look around the house and in your silk flower stash, organize the smallest area and add a decorative item. You will be so happy you did.! This small transformation makes me smile, whenever I walk into the kitchen, instead of looking at the dreadful pile of papers that I just could not get myself to deal with.
Expressively, Sofia

2009-03-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

March 20, 2009

The Ultimate Blog Party 09

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE AND Welcome! If you are stopping by from the Ultimate Blog party, I hope you’ll stay a few minutes and look around.

I’m am right now from California but was born and raised in New York (Long Island that is!) and I love a great party (good clean fun!). I am new to the blogging world and hope I would make a few new friends from the party. I also love to decorate, so I hope you will take a look around for a few minutes and view my posts. Even though I am new at blogging, I am always try to create a new decorating project and would love to meet new friends.

5 Minutes For Moms is a very popular site that hosts a blog party every year and it has just started today. The blog party will run for a full week and it sounds like there will be lots of prizes, lots of fun, and it’s a great way to meet other bloggers that you might not normally visit or meet. Just click on the party picture for more information on how you can win fabulous prizes and get in on the fun.

I hope I win a prize! I would be happy with #19, 21, 89 , 92, 123, 91, 50, or Intl #14, 15 29 33, 34, or USC #40. It will be fun to anticipate which one I would win

So, if you would like to get in on the party, just click on the links above and go check it out yourself. These girls do this blog party as a way to encourage blog friendships and meet others, this is a perfect opportunity to do that. You don’t have to donate a prize to win. Read all the rules and be sure you sign the party post with a comment, then do your own post so others can find your blog, add yourself to Mr. Linky and be ready to have some fun this next week, while meeting new friends! Let the party begin!

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

Life Makeover

2009-03-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Life Makeover

There are many reasons to write about myself for a life makeover ,but I would this be about a dear friend of mine Denise Kofford, who in the last two years has lost both her parents, moved away from all of her friends because of her husband’s job and is trying to make the most of everyday. She is now trying to take care of her parent’s estate, run a scholarship in their memory, and will have to sell her parents home.

She is trying to find who she is inside. Outside she is a beautiful person full of life and vitality. She worries about so many things in life, such as raising her children right, ensuring her home beautiful enough, and sometimes I think she fills her time with just too many items and puts herself on overload. I know she asks God for guidance every day.

So I would love to see the makeover, (although I would love to have suggestions about being successful in the business world, being more computer literate, and economically sound), go to Denise. She loves listening to advice from others now that her parents are gone. She sometimes feels alone and would like to have her friends from CA come to visit more often. I would love to see her find a balance between family life, activities, and time to relax. It would be very exciting to honor a life makeover to my friend Denise. I feel she really deserves it.

Tablescape Thursday

2009-03-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

My Tablescape Thursday a birthday pastry recipe for my dad and the feast of St. Joseph and a Pottery Barn tablescape.

Zeppole Di San Guiseppe

1/2 cup butter dash salt 4 eggs beaten
1 cup water
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of orange rind
1/2 teaspoon of lemon rind
1 quart of vegetable oil

Combine butter, salt, and water in saucepan and bring to a boil. add flour all at one time and mix well until dough leaves the sides of the saucepan. Remove from stove and cool a little. Using electric mixer and dough hook, add eggs one at a time mixing well with each addition. add sugar, orange peel, lemon peel and mix thoroughly.
Should look like this:

Heat oil in a large pot so dough can move around as show above. Oil is ready when dough dropped in rises to the top of the saucepan. Drop by tablespoonfuls into heated oil. Dough will start to pop and turn around on its own. (this is how you know the dough is right). When dough floats and turns and is golden brown remove and drain. Continue this until all dough is used. Use your favorite pudding to fill with and generously sprinkle with powdered sugar as the dough is not sweet. Enjoy!

I saw this tablescape at Pottery Barn and just had to share it with you. That dinnerware is so light and bright and the colors are so vibrant. I just loved it!
To also confess I just lost track of time because I made a pastry for St. Joseph's day 3/19/09. I will share this recipe with you above. It is so yummy!

Be sure to visit our host Between Naps on the Porch for more exciting tablescapes.

Thank you for visiting! Have a fabulous day.
Expressively Sofia

2009-03-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

Spring Fluffing!

Sorry for the delayed post. Spent St. Patty's Day with my family. Thank you to Southern Hospitality for hosting a Spring Fluffing. Don't forget to go to "Southern Hospitality" to view more beautiful spring beauties.

Tulips are a sure sign of Spring time!

East eggs and bunnies help put us in the upcoming Easter season mood.
This egg garland was purchased at Pottery Barn two years ago.

Little touches of spring in a potpourri bowl. I have repurposed some of my decor and just added spring elements to them.

Easter egg candles purchased also at Pottery Barn just last week. $10.00 for six
You can use the as votives in a votive holder or as place card holders for your table scape at you dining table.

I love tulips and bunnies for spring as is evident at this table.

Here is my entry table All done up in its new Spring attire!
I hope you have enjoyed my Spring Fluffing and encourage you to visit "Southern Hospitality" to see much more!
Expressively Sofia
Have a great day!

2009-03-16T16:06:00.001-07:00

I am involved in a new site called, "Project Create A Home"

developed by Meme of "Screaming Meme." Meme has gathered a group of ladies who will contribute life and style tips to readers on topics ranging from finances, decorating, fashion, organzing, health, fitness, etc...It's an exciting site and today is the "Grand Opening!" There is a special giveaway today where one lucky reader will receive a life and style makeover.

Think "life coach" rolled into one giveaway! Many of the contributing writers are also doing giveaways, so be sure to stop by and enter! You can find me there from time to time submitting articles as well.

Have a great week, and let's win! :-)

Met Monday Bathroom renovation

2009-03-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Met Monday hosted by "Between Naps on the Porch" be sure to visit this site for many more decoration transformations.
This Metamorphosis is my hall bathroom that my children have used for 10 years. Unfortunately my old pictures of this bathroom are on non digital photos. So this is the overhaul we gave the bathroom. We had oak cabinets and sponge painted walls. The counter had been cultured marble that had lost its finish. We chose to use a six" ceramic tile for the counter tops with a tumbled marble decorative back splash. We carried this decorative item over to the shower. My husband and I did all the work ourselves which was very time consuming, a lot of fun and very rewarding.

Here you can sneak a peek at the sponge painted walls (below). We changed the shower fixtures and raised the shower head up 6" to accommodate my son who is 6 ft.. We did keep the existing tub as it is white and was in great shape.

We had a linoleum floor (does anyone else have them!) in that room which we changed out.

So here is the reveal of the beautiful work my husband did on the tiling. This is the border in the shower.

We chose oil rubbed bronzed fixtures in this room. The shower door is clear so you can see the beautiful tiles, shelf fixtures.

The cabinets also received a face lift. They were primed and painted with an off white paint and treated with a mocha glaze to give the old world look. We changed out the full width mirror with this beauty found at Marshall's for $24.99. I purchased two one for each sink. Yes there is a second vanity in this room

Here it is. The second vanity. We debated about excluding this sink all together and thought it would be better for resale to keep it.

The walls are Benjamin Moore Warm Cognac. Sounds so yummy and looks so warm and inviting.

Some decorative items I found. This was originally painted a green patina. I needed it to be oil rubbed bronze, sooo out came the espresso spray paint with a copper overlay.... oil rubbed bronze there you have it.

The linoleum went out and the 20" tile floor with another decorative feature carried from the shower and back splash to the floor.

My husband also decided to try his handy work with crown moulding. He did a fabulous job.
We also decided to keep the medicine cabinet for practical reasons.

My tip for today: Don't be afraid to use big tile even in a small room. It make the room appear more expansive and you have less grout lines. Also you can mix your tile elements ceramic and natural together. As long as the color tones go together.

Thanks for visiting today and be sure to visit other Met Mondays changes here at Between Naps on the Porch

Laura's Bedroom

2009-03-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

My daughter Laura came home from college and asked me to make her room over from the High School teenage years to the more sophisticated college years. She asked for her room to be black and tan/gold. " Not to many flowers Mom" she added. So I set out to try and make her dreamy bedroom come true. I know the above picture does not give you much idea of what the room was like but the room was ocean blue with tropical prints all over the walls. She had a twin bed with a blue and white Pottery Barn tropical toile print. There was a netting over the twin bed that covered the bed. She had a oak dresser in her room and lots of clutter.
Above is her room all done. The comforter set came from JC Penney American Living collection. I also bought the matching valance. (picture to come). I found the two white dresser's at a model home clearing sale for $75.00 for the two. (Wow what a deal). I painted the white bookcase black. Found the three extra pillows at a consignment shop for $45 for the three. We had the Paris from her dorm room her sophomore year. She also went to London and Paris so she brought home a few prints. The friends picture frame was a gift.

She stills loves the tropical look so some of the prints are tropical but in sepia tones. All the prints in the room are either sepia tones or black and white. The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore Aura C: Turmeric.

Tip: When redesigning a daughter or son's room keep in mind whatever the age you will be redesigning the room at least three different ways from the time they are one yr old until they are 21st birthday. I have redesigned Laura's room four different ways since her 3rd birthday. Paint is an easy way to change any room, window treatments and comforter in the age appropriate style and print will help to complete the look. Use ready made treatments since you will be redesigning many times, this is more cost effective. Have fun and remember to try to please your child, they are only young for a short while, it is only temporary and in the blink of an eye they will be full grown and on their own!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Expressively Sofia

Metamorphosis Monday!

2009-03-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to "Met Monday" hosted by "Between Naps on the Porch." You can click on "Between Naps..." to see more great decorating transformations!

Hi Everyone! My oldest daughter has moved into her own apartment and we have been working on decorating the place for a month or so. We are getting close to being complete but not quite there yet. She loved a clock she saw in a catalog. it was 29" in diameter, very large but would fit her wall space well. She did not want to pay the price, so we are trying to improvise.

Here is the clock we purchased at Ross stores for $19.99 So I added a round piece of wood 29" diameter then added the following materials. I covered the wood with the piece of burlap $3.00 at Joann's Fabrics. Then I took the roping ($4.00 at the hardware store) and painted ($3.50 also at the hardware store)that the robin's egg blue color. I then glued the roping to the wood around the edges. I did not like the blue. It was too bright, so I started using a mocha glaze that I had to tried to subdue the blue. I must have rubbed on at least three to four coats. I am not sure I am totally happy with the results yet. What do you think? I feel It needs a little more copper in the roping, or just more bulk to the trim. The ultimate test will be mounting in its spot. I will send more pictures when that happens. It will be going to the left of the print seen in the picture below.

So for $25-$27.00 I achieved the look she would have had from the more expensive clock ($80.00) . Always look for low cost options when possible to achieve to the look your after. Then you can splurge on the bigger ticket items! Have a fabulous decorating day!
Expressively, Sofia

Table Scape Thursday

2009-03-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

I went to the grand re-opening of our town's full renovated City Center, that was rebuilt to hold parties, preschool, and town activities. They had some beautiful tablescapes that I unfortunately could not help put together but they were beautiful and I thought I would share with you. The Center called the Shannon Center. They did a great job and it looks beautiful.
Here are pictures of the tablescape and floral arrangement.

Garden Window Design

2009-03-01T13:21:00.001-08:00

RAINY DAY PROJECT

I have a garden window in my home, as I know many of you do as well. Here are some ideas for a garden window that will give you a needed change throughout the seasons.

Since today was a rainy day, I went shopping in my home, as we should all do from time to time and changed my garden window to add a touch of spring and Irish feel for the upcoming St. Patty's day. I started with many green items then added some touch of spring colors in tulips and roses. The olive branches intertwine the items of the window and pulls the together. There is some texture with the green moss and olive branches, added to the smooth surfaces of the French Pig and pears. I raised the french pig up to give it the height and attention it deserves.

I love fall decorations so in the fall I added pumpkins, a scarecrow, lots of burnt yellow, red, rusts in floral stems to give the window color and contrast.
I have taken out the shelf that ran through the center of the window. When I did, it opened up the window made it seem larger, brighter and I could add elements with height to create more drama to the window.

During the past Christmas season, I transformed the window into a winter wonderful, (which is a little difficult when you can see green grass and flowers coming in from the outdoors). There is a red cloth with snow sprinkled on it. The snowman is holding a candy cane and a cardinal. Clear jars hold candy canes and round mint candies. There are large snowflake candle holders with candy cane candles, and snowmen votive holders. It definitely had a candy land feel to the wind and in the evening it all sparkled with delight.

Again quick fixes which do not take more than one hour of your time, little or no money (shopping at home) and changes the whole look of the window. Have fun with your window.

Window treatment in silk fabric

2009-02-24T20:50:00.000-08:00

Here are window treatments I created in a master bedroom suite. We were trying to re create an Italian theme window element. The rod is a wood rope called Italian Gold with great finials. The top of the treatment was turned down and an embellishment of tassel fringe was added to tie in the hold backs at the center of the treatment. These are made out of silk fabric with lining and interlining.

These are aboslutely gorgeous. Whether having custom made window treatments or window treatments created on a budget using interlining with silk style fabrics will give the treatment more body. Also embellishments always gives an extra punch to give it that decorator look.

Tip: Always try to embellish in some way the window treatment even ready made type.

Expressively yours,

Sofia

Home for the Holidays 2008

2009-02-21T17:16:00.000-08:00

This was so exciting. My home that was Decked out for Christmas was chosen by the Valley Times to be featured in the Home for the Holidays section of the Newspaper. I was surprised and thrilled. I love decorating for the holidays and have added holiday decorating to my services menu of my business. The newspaper took pictures and asked questions about the decorations that was featured in an article on Dec. 20 2008. One of the questions was about all the coordinating ribbon and if that was a costly item. I stated with a laugh not when you purchase the ribbon from Costo at $7.99 for 50 yards.

My tip for today: look for great decorations after Christmas at the 50% off bargain price and great ribbon from Costo before Christmas.
Expressly, Sofia

2009-02-20T18:47:00.000-08:00

DECORATING A THEME PARTY

A 50th Birthday celebration! What fun this was. I decorated for this party with a good friend of mine Kalyn. This party was given by another good friend's husband for her 50th birthday. We used the Fabulous Fifties theme and deck her whole house with Fifties music, trivia, fabrics and we whether real or fantasy.

Reader tip of the day: Tablescape uses highs and lows, Centerpiece was created with 33 records 3 tiers high embellished with real roses and small pictures of 50's actors.

Welcome to Expressive Creations!

2009-02-14T08:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome Friends!

I am happy to assist you with all your home and office design needs. From redesign, to staging a home for sale, to complete room makeovers, I am happy to help you create your dream home!

Contact me for more information on all design services.

Let's Decorate!

Expressively,
Sofia