HOUSE HUNTING CT

This weekend my hubby and I went house hunting in Connecticut. We been traveling there once in a while checking out the area and looking for houses without any serious commitment. Sometimes we consider of finding a get way weekend, where we can mellow out life, after hectic weekdays in the city. This weekend we moved one step forward. We met our real estate agent, Ileana Santore from Marrin Santore Realty, LLC. What I nice lady! And she drove us around from 10am to about 5pm on Saturday showing a bunch of houses, and she even paid lunch for us! We looked at a lot of cottages, capes, ranches, colonial types; all generally surrounded by a good size of land with a lots of trees, grass, and even a stream. Almost all of them need to be fixed, or need great updates. Mike, my husband, is not happy about it; but for me this is kind of an exciting the idea… saving a lost house or fixing it up and making into beautiful home. Today I my post is about exercising the idea of fixing up a house with a new paint coat, adding some features here and there, cleaning it up like removing the old carpets and wallpaper, and adding charming furniture and accessories, and of course planting a lot of flowers. I choose one of the houses we looked at (one of my favorite) and started imaging what that could be transformed into without spending too much. First, I took pictures of the house when I visited. Now I found beautiful images of well done rooms that I like that kind of assembly in some features with the “potential house”, then try to image the possibilities…

I would paint the exterior of the house in white, the doors in back, the windows and doors' frame the color that is there, which seems to be a warm gray....  Then get some black pots fill with lavender... and lot's of hydrangea around the house.  Ah, and one lantern of each side of the door!

 

Living room before...

After...

The sunroom before...

After...

The dining room before...

Dining room after...

The kitchen before...

The kitchen after...

The Master Bedroom before...

After...

Guest Bedroom before...

After...

The backyard before...

After...

And then if we could afford later... much later...

maybe we can extend that porch... to...

And then... if the baby comes...

Let's keep looking...!  And letting the universe undersdand what you are looking for!

CHINA EXPERIENCE

I have disappeared longer then I thought I would be… Coming back from vacations, long trips, always been very difficult for me. I know that happens for a lot of people… and I am one of them. Those who experience that kind of feeling understand what I am talking about. But anyway, it’s been two weeks since I came back from my trip to China. Well, the first week it was really tough because I was sick and felt awful about the time difference, which is 12 hours. The second week I was trying to catch up with my life with all the personal and professional details that had stayed behind and the new ones. Well, they never end!
Ok. Finally, I think I am back. China is kind of behind me already… I started contemplating the experience in a more serene way. I will never forget that trip! It was an really intense and rich cultural experience that has added a lot to myself personally and professionally. There is a lot of magic in the Chinese way… starting with the buildings, the interiors and details. It seemed that the past of China is intricate and that is clearly reflected in their houses, palaces, furnishings, clothing, food and art. I would like to share some photos of interiors, decorative details, gardens and architecture that explain visually what I am talking about… things that you have seen already in books, film or even in person. I would love to discuss with you about this style. It’s intriguing for me as much as it is intricate. How about for you?

THE MAGIC ASIAN LANTERNS

I have disappeared! Here I am, but ready to disappear again! Wait a minute I will explain. The last few weeks I have been so busy with my mom and brother in town, who came all way from Brazil to enjoy a little of the summer with us! I tell you: We were busy together and having a lot of fun! But the truth is… summer is going to become busier {for me and Mike} from today on! We are leaving to China this afternoon, going for an adventure for 21 days. I am excited, but not with big expectations. Sometimes I think I am going to be really surprised…!

We try to watch movies and documentaries about the place where we are going… I think it’s important to learn about the place where you are going to visit before you go, in that way when you are there you would experience the culture in another level. The last movie we watched was “Raise of the Red Lanterns” (a movie I watched so many times already), but I wanted to watch again to get in the “Chinese mood”… So talking about lanterns… today I would like to share the magic of the Asian Lanterns!

Well, if you are not going to Asia… and maybe is a little bit jealous of me I would like to help you to bring Asia to you, just to your backyard! To start: get inspired by these amazing indoor and outdoor spaces… table arrangements… from these images. All beautifully designed with an ancient kind of touch_ the paper or silk lanterns; creating a magical mood to your space. It’s a simple and inexpensive solution to make your party a visual delightful experience with an oriental detail.



A little of the history of the paper lanterns…

According to China Travel , the precursors to Chinese paper lanterns might have been torches carried on the eve of the Chinese New Year by Buddhist monks as early as 250 B.C. Monks carried these torches at night in hopes of spotting the ethereal figures of the Buddha and his bodhisattvas. Soon, commoners began making lanterns with frames of bamboo, redwood or wire and covering them with thin, oiled paper, gauze or silk. Today, lanterns are largely unchanged in design, though paintings of historical or heroic figures, divinities, and landscapes on the paper are popular.


Here some great new designs of paper and silk lanterns:

If you are interested in shopping for lanterns go to:

Paper Lantern Store

Just Lanterns

Allsop Home & Garden

SEE YOU IN 3 WEEKS!



POOL HOUSES TO CHILL MY EMOTIONS OUT

This whole weekend I wished I had a pool… and a pool house together would be better! A cute and cozy place where I could make a mess when I had the pool parties; and at the same time a place to have my special ones stay when visiting. It was the 4th of July yesterday… Oh, how great it would be to have a gathering with friends around the pool, barbecue, beer, have fun; really enjoy the pleasures of summer. Today when I woke up and I looked outside the window from my apartment I got in a bad mood… how awful to be in a bad mood on such a beautiful day! The sun was bright, the colors were saturated, the sky was blue… so blue, and it was such a hot day (I mean, still)! And then I thought about the pool again… and headed off to the dentist! When I met my dentist and asked him how he was doing, he said: _ “I wish I could be around the pool today!” I bet almost everybody from my area today thought about hanging out around a pool. So, while I don’t have my pool and my pool house I will keep collecting inspiring images and I will be building this dream in my mind.



… It’s still sunny and beautiful outside. The sun is coming down… It’s dinner time; and I wish that I could be now having my dinner with love ones, around the pool, enjoying the sunset over the mountains.

The truth is… I fell really down today, and maybe the pool would “chill my emotions” out!