Sunday, May 6, 2012
A new home and garden column focused on helping you create a sense of "home" anywhere.
The first thing I do when I go camping, after I pitch the tent, is lay out the sleeping bags, unpack my rucksack and tidy up around camp. I go through a similar process of putting away clothes and bags when I stay at hotels except there I'm also likely to rearrange furniture and hide knick knacks in unused drawers or closets. I'm a quintessential Cancer, if you put any stock in the signs of the Zodiac. If astrology strikes you as hokum, then I'm someone who likes to create a feeling of "home" wherever I am: from a tent in Denali National Park to an oceanside hut in Zanzibar. Either I suffer from an obsessive compulsive disorder or I love home and hearth. Let's be honest, it could be both. With this new column, "At Home in the Garden," I…
38.826142
-77.058659
St. Elmos Coffee Pub
2300 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA
/articles/at-home-in-the-garden
1236940
/locations/6940332
Saturday, February 4, 2012
As our family grows, we adjust.
This has been a big week for us. My 1-and-a-half-year-old made the move from her nursery to her 3-year-old sister’s room. We moved her so that she could get accustomed to the new digs before No. 3 arrives. While I was a little apprehensive, the transition has gone beautifully. My toddler has really taken to her new surroundings and her big sister is working through mixed feelings of enthusiasm and loss with the utmost grace. Early morning wake-ups continue, still managing to alert my husband and I in the next room while somehow not phasing our 3-year-old or our family dog, which has also taken up residence in the room. It’s amazing how your house (and everything else) adjusts when you have kids. Our finished basement-turned-…
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Finding home inspiration online.
Have you discovered Pinterest yet? If not, you must rectify that oversight immediately—especially if you are seeking remodeling or decorating inspiration for your home. Pinterest labels itself a “virtual pinboard” and serves as an online gathering spot for your favorite images culled from the web. Pinterest is an online version of ripping a picture out of a magazine and placing it in a file to keep and reference later. Pinterest members create boards on their pages in which they can best organize the images they collect. For example, some boards might be labeled, “Kitchens” or “Outside Ideas.” Inside each board are favorite images relevant to that category. Members can pin new images, re-pin images from other members or upload their own …
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Adding a touch of whimsy to your windows.
An accepted part of living in Del Ray is living in close proximity to your neighbors. There’s no urban sprawl here—just a direct line of site from my son’s second-floor bedroom window to my nextdoor neighbor’s second-floor bathroom. I stumbled upon some lovely hand-painted windows, our Weekly Find, while browsing recently at A Show of Hands. I immediately thought of how they would be an excellent solution to a privacy problem. The painted panels, by local artist Carrie Riesback, could be securely mirrored up to an existing window to provide a bit more privacy in a highly visible space while still letting light shine through. I could also see these acting as a porch divider in a row of townhomes, creating a more private space to relax. A …
38.826149
-77.05866
A Show of Hands
2301 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA
/articles/the-weekly-find-painted-glass-panels
1237031
/locations/5358116
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Gaining longer life from everyday items.
We recently had dinner at the home of close friends and even though the celebration was an extremely casual one, the hostess used cloth napkins. Well, they were actually lightweight washcloths repurposed as napkins. When I asked about them, she explained they were less expensive than cloth napkins and easy to throw into the washing machine with loads she was already cleaning. In addition, using them meant no paper waste. Her approach got me thinking about ways we could repurpose products around our own home. After all, I can remember my mother, a homemaker, repurposing and reusing all manner of products around my childhood home. This is an approach that seems to have been discarded since my youth. I’ve included some of my favorite …
38.823211
-77.05811
Bungalow Homewares Gallery
1901a Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA
/articles/go-green-repurposing-products
1237135
/locations/5319108
38.819787
-77.057489
Potomac West Interiors & Antique Gallery
1517 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA
/articles/go-green-repurposing-products
1236935
/locations/5319109
Monday, August 22, 2011
Lush grounds mingle with kid-friendly gear
I have a bad case of backyard envy. While the all-brick patio behind our home is charming and easy to maintain, it is small. It proves perfect for tricycle riding but will always be too tiny for a swing set. Finding a home with an ideal backyard for equal parts kid play and grownup relaxation is on our wish list. Todd and Elyse Tomanio found just such a sanctuary when they purchased their new home. Their lushly landscaped backyard is our Garden of the Week. Having looked throughout Del Ray for a new home, Todd and Elyse finally settled on a two story colonial on Central Avenue, just up the hill from Russell Road. Elyse explains that, “the backyard is one of the reasons we kept returning to this house in our search.” I can see what kept …
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Alexandria real estate holds steady.
Property sales in Alexandria for the month of July were up a little more than 3 percent from July 2010, holding at a steady mid-level when also compared to July 2009. July saw 183 properties sold, according to statistics released by Coldwell Banker, a decrease of almost 17 percent from prior month. This type of decrease can be expected as July typically marks the end of the busy spring and early summer selling season. The average sales price during the month of July was $516,177, an increase of more than 7 percent from July 2010, while showing a modest decrease of not quite 2 percent from the prior month. The average sales price for the month of July was at a two-year high. The average number of days listings spent on the market prior to …
Monday, August 15, 2011
Finding period appropriate fixtures online.
My husband and I were recently watching the film, “A River Runs Through It,” because, apparently, emotionally-draining movies from the early 1990s are what pass for fun around our house lately. My husband was intrigued by the Montana mountain scenes while I was intrigued by a young Brad Pitt. Surprisingly, what caught both of our attentions was the vintage kitchen in the characters’ home featured throughout the movie, which is set in the 1920s. The kitchen sink was one of the old cast-iron styles with the built-in drain board and curtain skirt. We declared that our next kitchen needed a sink exactly like that one. Thanks to the Internet, you can find just about any vintage or period-appropriate fixture for your home for sale. I’ve listed a…
Abhishek
9:46 am on Thursday, September 20, 2012
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