Birthday sky-a special guest post

Nearly a month ago my neighbor gave birth to their third daughter. I had been watching their oldest daughter, Madelyn, after school for over a year and she had an extended visit that day.

As the sun began to set we noticed a most beautiful sky. I snapped a few photos. My husband said, "You should paint that." we both thought the same thing at the same time and said "Its a perfect baby gift!"

I painted it and wondered, "Will they get it? Did they see it?"

Here is the story as told by 6 year old Madelyn.

 When Andi was born at 4:13 on November 6th, Daddy left the hospital about an hour later to pick  us up to bring us to the hospital to meet our baby sister. When he walked out he was greeted by this absolutely beautiful sky. We couldn't help but think that our loved ones in heaven were sending a message to Andi that they love her too!

 Look at the heart in the clouds! Is that not amazing or what??? Daddy did NOT capture these pictures although he said that he captured a mental picture that he will have forever. My neighbor, Kerry,  noticed the sky at the same time that we let her know that Andi was born. She was watching me at the time and captured these beautiful photos!

AND Kerry is also a professional artist. She not only surprised us with the amazing photos, but she made this gorgeous canvas for Andi's room! 

It is perfect in her nursery and every time we look at it, we can't help but think that Pop and Great Grandma Betty didn't have something to do with that sky!  She is so talented. Since I spend so much time with her, she has inspired my inner artist too! I love making abstract art now and call it my masterpiece! Thank you, Kerry! Thank you Pop and Great Gram for the message....we love you too!
Love,
Madelyn 

I just love that Steve saw the sky and they totally understood the special meaning I intended with the painting.

End of Summer guest post-Design addict Mom

Hi everyone! I am Stacey of Design Addict Mom and I am thrilled to be guest posting for Kerry today! I think we need one last hurrah before Summer draws to a close so I decided to post this breathtaking holiday home. Spotted on the French by Design blog,  this Brazilian holiday home exudes a tropical flair and screams lounge and relaxation! With that said, pack your bags and some clip on off and let's go!

Thank you for having me today Kerry! Happy day everyone! XX

Oooooh! Wouldn't you love to be there right now?
I know I would but I am traversing country roads towards a tiny college town at the moment.
Many thanks to Stacey for this taste of loveliness. Be sure to stop by her blog and see what she has got going on today.

Guest post: studio inspiration with Linda from Calling it Home

 Today Linda, of Calling it Home is saving my proverbial blog butt. After a weekend of non-stop commission work and today in the gallery, I am fresh out of steam for blogging. Here are her ideas to make my painting life easier and more gorgeous.


Hello, Design Du Monde-ites! I'm Linda from the blog Calling it Home.  Along with all of you, I have been watching Kerry go from her kitchen, to her basement, and now the office space of her home with her art studio plans. Not being an artist but a lover of her art, I think she should paint where she darn well feels like it! My opinion in her home will go as far as my husband's opinion in my our home.

Here are some inspirational pictures for your new studio.

Artistic Designs For Living

Dave Adams Photography


Whitney Lyons

RDM Architecture

Avondale Custom Homes
Richard Wintersole Architect


Ron Yeo, FAIA Architect

Once her art studio is fully functioning she can bring in the interns.


?

If you lived closer, I would come help you. In fact since I like working alone I would probably just do it for you....and then you could thank me with one of your amazing pieces of art.  I would say, "No I really couldn't accept this." You would say, "Oh, but you must!". I would say, "You really shouldn't have." And you would say, "But you sent me all those instructions on exactly what you wanted?" Yeah, that's enough dreaming for me. Good luck with your studio planning, Kerry. Feel free to disregard all of the above ;-)

  Wouldn't you love it if Linda came to your house to help you get a room shipshape?

Thank you, Linda!!!

Using Pinterest to plan decorating projects

Hi friends, I have a guest post today that my kick your Pinterest boards into some organized shape! Its a great tutorial on taking the random images you have and putting them together in clear way to help a designer help you. Oh, and Rob is a hometown boy.  I went to High School in Springfield, Virginia.




For years homeowners have filled 3-ring binders, accordion file boxes and scrapbooks full of ideas collected from the pages of House Beautiful, Better Homes & Gardens and many other home design magazines. Designers – like Select Kitchen & Bath – would then be showered with the resulting mass of glossy photos – one that has the cornice she likes, a half-dozen unique backsplash ideas, a few faucets, layout ideas, a dozen cabinet colors and styles – and be expected to turn the patchwork quilt of ideas into the perfect room for their client. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

Technology has come to the rescue with Pinterest!

 

If you’re already using Pinterest, you know what a great tool it is for gathering and organizing your ideas. You can set up individual ‘boards’ to collect images to. You can ‘pin’ images from anywhere on the web using the ‘pin it’ browser tool. You can also ‘repin’ images you find on Pinterest itself.

No more ripping out magazine pages and filing them with hopes of remembering in the future which part of the photo caught your attention. Collecting and sorting digital images on Pinterest has taken the gathering of design ideas to the level of near perfection. 

Here are 5 ways to use Pinterest to create the perfect kitchen:

1. Divide and Conquer
Organization is the key to making sense of the kitchen ideas you collect. If you pin everything into one board called ‘kitchen ideas,’ for example, you can easily end up with an overwhelming collection of images that might actually confuse the process more than help. A better approach is to create separate boards for each aspect of your kitchen. You could consider these labels for your group of kitchen boards: countertops, sinks & faucets, appliances, lighting, islands, layout, eating bars, cabinet doors & styles, cabinet storage, pantries, hardware.

2. Search
Spend some time searching Pinterest for images that you like and repinning them to your boards. Pay close attention when you repin to make sure each image gets pinned to the appropriate board. If the image fits more than one category, simple! Just repin the image from one to another. Following our kitchen example, you might begin by simply searching ‘kitchen ideas’ and then become more specific such as a search for kitchen sinks or cabinet lighting to gain ideas for certain boards. Don’t forget to use the ‘pin it’ tool on your web browser for pinning ideas you find outside of Pinterest too.

3. Follow
When you do find an idea you particularly like, you may want to look at the Pinterest account it was originally pinned in for more ideas. If the image comes from a certain designer or brand you like, you may want to ‘follow’ their boards so that new pins from their boards come into your Pinterest feed automatically.

4. Add Notes
As you are pinning and repinning to your different boards, don’t forget to type in descriptions or short notes to remind yourself later what it was you liked about this image. Was it the faucet or the sink? Was it the stain color or the style of the cabinet doors? Having them sorted into different boards will help eliminate most of the confusion, but a little description will define things even more.

5. Create a Master Board
Once you feel you are ready to talk to a designer about putting all these ideas together and creating that perfect room, it’s time to create a new board that will capture only the best of all the images you collected. Go through each board and look through the images. Repin your favorites from each individual board into, for example, your ‘Perfect Kitchen’ board. Once you have that board filled with images from all your other boards, you’re ready to make your appointment with your designer. Take your laptop or iPad with you to provide the visuals from Pinterest as you discuss your ideas with the designer.

Technology has made so many things easier in our lives. When it comes to collecting and sorting home design ideas, Pinterest is the designer’s dream come true.

- Rob, Select Kitchen & Bath

Follow Select Kitchen & Bath on Pinterest!