Five Beautiful Years

Today is my wedding anniversary.  I can't believe it's been a young five years, the best of my live!  I'm proud of what we've done together and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with my sweeter than honey, soul mate!   HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Our Wedding Day!

Rooms that work: Global Chic

The Global Chic look has always appealed to me because it's probably the kind that speaks more eloquently about it's owners' life, travel and sense of style.  I also especially love it because it's the most purest of all to it's habitat.  These images are from a wooden home, probably a Yali, overlooking the Bosphorus.  My wildest dream or maybe one of them!  Interior Designer Serdar Gulgun, sorry no website, was the one in charge of the magnificent restoration of this incredible 19th century home.  Enoy!

That bathroom, looking like something you would find in a Hammam (turkish bathroom) is, without a doubt, one of a kind.  Take a look at the mosaic ceiling, amazing!  Love how the detail of painting the moldings in different colors adds another layer to the room.  The ceiling of this house is pretty spectacular as well.

A very monochromatic dining room with very ornate dining chairs and a black and red Suzani tablecloth that picks up the red from the carpet and console.  The incredible ornamentation above the doors appears to be a Tromp l'oeil
Photos by Juergen Frank

Food For The Soul

 “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.” Pablo Neruda

Who, being loved, is poor?  Oscar Wilde

"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity."  Henry Van Dyke

"Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction."  Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939

Happy Valentine's Day!

How to add value and interest to your home for little money and effort

When we first started remodeling our home, one thing I regret is not having opened up the doorways.  I've always loved big, tall doors, but being just one month due from having a baby all I wanted was to move in and wait for that day without any hassle.  With that in the back of my head I always knew I was going to do something to my doors to make them look their best.  I crowned them, literately.  It's a simple and very affordable way to add interest and value to your home while enhancing the architecture.  I also painted them in a dark gray color and painted the molding silhouettes.

I chose a 3" Greek Key as part of the crown molding, but they were not too visible, so I painted it with a mixture of two colors, the door paint and the molding paint to make it lighter. 

When there is not enough storage space and no additional space to expand, look at the corners and turns in your home which are usually not utilized.  I had this closet custom built on the landing of my stairs and it didn't take any extra space from the walking area.  I painted it the same color as the wall to have it blend in and the outside corner was done with a curve for free passage.  The new one became the linen closet and the empty one became an additional clothing closet we didn't have before. 

Niches are another way of adding functionality and storage to your home.  Pretty them up with decorative paper or mirror and they become a point of interest as well.

Over the doorway storage like this one is very smart and interesting too.

Two last images via Pinterest and Apartment Therapy.

Kitchen of the week: Tommy Smythe's kitchen

This delicious kitchen designed by Tommy Smythe, co-host of Sarah's house is very much like a perfect dessert where the red vintage lantern plays the role of a cherry on the cake.  Tommy revamped a  classic Victorian home in what he calls the new "Victorian look" and I can see why.  Painting the molding kitchen cabinets with three very traditional colors, paneling the ceiling and using red throughout is a genius way to modernize the Victorian style.  The beautiful floor is painted in a Roman style geometric pattern.  That custom made range hood, how handsome with that gleaming brass accent!

This kitchen has all the thoughtful details, from the gray grouts that gives it an older feel to the brackets under the cabinets that add more ornamentation to the style.  

A kitchen with a sitting area like this is not an average one.  I love how Tommy used black wood instead of an old-looking and Victorian era mahogany color.  The chair and tufted red sofa make a nod to Victorian style as well, but in a very updated way.  The floor to ceiling tiles add another beautiful layer.
Images via House and Home.