Foodie Friday

Chicken Soup

Comfort food for a crazy week in Atlanta!

The snow fell and the roads iced in an amazingly short period of time and within an hour all of the major roads were grid-locked. The MR was out of town the entire week, thankfully I was at home and had plenty to keep me busy for a couple of days.

I looked up some soup recipes and took what I liked from several.

I threw 2 frozen chicken breasts in my crock pot on high covered in broth.

While that was cooking I sauteed some onion, carrots, tri-colored bell peppers and smashed garlic in a wee bit of olive oil. In the microwave went a peeled chopped sweet potato-cooked al dente. After the veggies were tender I seasoned with thyme, rosemary, oregano, salt and pepper, then I threw in a bunch of spinach until it was wilted and added the sweet potatoes.  After the chicken was cooked, I shredded it and put back in the broth with all the veggie mixture and brought it to heat. Garnished with some avocado and a few red pepper flakes, I have to say it was quite tasty and I think I got 4 meals out of it!

♥

Moore Designs is ready to help you turn your house into a lovely home.

E-design services available too!

Lifestyle and Living Beautifully

Graciousness

...in note writing

I am a note writer and love to open my mailbox and find a little note from a friend or family member.  In our technological age it is definitely a lost art.  I remember the day when I would devote an afternoon to writing my girlfriend's fairly regularly and anticipate their return! These days those letters are put in emails.  When it comes to a thank-you note, those are best for pen and paper in a timely manner.

I keep lots of fun papers on hand...

and have them all organized in a drawer in my office.

My sons were taught as soon as they could write to write thank-you's for the gifts they were given.  Mama made sure they had age appropriate stationary and we would sit at the table and get them done.  While still in high school I had stationary monogrammed for them and they still use it.

***Because of our techy age, do send a quick text when a gift arrives in the mail and follow up within the week with a hand written note.

My notes come from my heart but it is also good manners and to me having good manners is part of being gracious and living beautifully.

Are you a good note writer or do you need to be better?

♥

Moore Designs is ready to help you make your house a home.

E-Design services available.

Project Monday

Book Shelf Styling

New year, new ideas, wanting to change things up.  

Do you ever look around and think, 'how did 'that' get to look like that?

It was after reading a few of my 'go to' blogs that I enjoy that I started looking at the bookshelves in my family room and thought; those need help. I did what most do and started dropping things on them.

This is what I looked at...

First off, I'm not crazy about bookcases flanking a fireplace. I painted them the same as the walls (SW Crushed Ice) to help them blend in. There's no getting around the 'box', and wires and cords are one of my biggest pet peeves. I acquiesced to the MR's desired to mount the television over fireplace a couple of years ago. 

I removed everything and started over.

I used to do commercial display and our homes should reflect us not look like a store. Odd numbers are good for grouping, try to find things that are meaningful to you and your family. The plate on the stand is commemorative of when I played my 'cello in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles celebration when I was in my 20's. The antlers are all from the MR's hunts.

Bring different textures and elements into your displays, for example glass, metal, iron, etc.  Short and tall, hard and soft. I am not good with keeping plants alive but these natural dried hydrangeas work well as I'm not crazy about silks or fake. I'm also a nut for clocks.

I do like to add a few photos to my shelves.  

The Sid Dickens tile in the middle is part of my collection hung on a different wall. (another post!)

World Market has fragrant mixtures of potpourri's like this.  I got the silver/pewter basket at the Paris Flea Market years ago. It has found rest in many different places in our home.    

A couple of years ago I changed out the silver knobs for these from Anthropologie.  

Another place for fun knobs is World Market or Hobby Lobby.

Thank you Mary Ann at Classic Casual Home

and

Sherry Hart at Design Indulgence 

for the inspiration!

♥

Moore Designs is ready to help you make your house a home!

E-Design services available.

Project Monday - All Time Favorite

Black Doors

I was really surprised to see that this post generated the most traffic on my blog ever! Crazy.

I would love to have tall beautiful doors with a gorgeous finish but it's not so right now. July of 2011 I decided to paint all of the interior doors in my house black. You can see the details here.  It took me a week and several coats but I was very happy with the results.  I found great inspiration on Pinterest, here are a few that got me to get to it!

source

source

source

As I said in the original post I tried a Behr paint that is sold as a primer/paint all in one. I used that in my bedroom which has a total of 6 doors including entry, bath and closets and built-in vanity that I also painted. 

After 2 1/2 years the doors had chipped quite a bit. I just re-painted with the Sherwin Williams Black Magic All Purpose Enamel (green label), that I used on all of the other doors in the house plus two vanities. The paint is a little spendy but well worth the extra $$$.

Paint - the best 'face-lift' for your home.

Before

After

And after again...all walls are SW Crushed Ice.

 The Sherwin Williams paint has not chipped and still looks great. I will say that the black shows all dust and hand prints so lots of wiping down comes with the great look!

Even if you are not in your 'forever' home as we aren't, go ahead and make your nest uniquely yours.  If you don't own and rent, most landlords/homeowners are happy to let you paint if you pay for it and they approve color etc.  Being a military wife for many years I always made our house a home and left them better than when we got there, the rented ones too!

♥

Moore Designs is ready to help you make your house a home!

E-Design services available.

Foodie Friday Favorites

This is a past Foodie Friday that was one of the most favorite by you all. 

A definite crowd pleaser and one that the edges will never be straight enough!

Butterfinger Cake

oh so yummy!

A few years ago one of my dearest friends made this decadent cake and it has been a favorite ever since.

Make a yellow cake according to the box instructions.

While the cake is baking, crush the butterfingers, I like big pieces so I roll with a rolling pin.

Mix together condensed milk and caramel sauce. Bet you can't keep your finger out of this.  Oh my gosh, it's so good.  :)

After cake comes out of the oven, 

poke lots of holes all the way through.

The more holes the better to take in all the yummy milk/carmel mixture.

Mmmm.  Start whipping up the heavy whipping cream.

Fold in the butterfingers.  I think I actually I used too many butterfingers - is there such a thing really?

Put the whipping cream butterfinger mixture between the layers. 

Need to keep in the fridge!

yellow box cake mix - make 2 layers or 1 9x13

(bake as directed)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 jar carmel sauce

heavy whipping cream (or cool whip)

butterfingers candy

How fun is this?  3 mason jars with white flowers tied together to make one bouquet?  You can do it!

♥

Do you need help turning you house into a lovely home?

Contact MD for design services.

Lifestyle and Living Beautifully

Flower Power!

Creating a beautiful life doesn't mean one has to spend a lot of money!  Through this series I want to encourage us - remind us - to live our lives in a beautiful way, not to show off at all, but to treat ourselves and our families kindly...graciously. Our children are never too young to learn, they will remember it one day!

Today we are going to start with bringing life into our homes with flowers!  I bought a simple bouquet of sunflowers ($4) which happen to be one of my all time favorites.

Go out into your yard and see what you can find. I cut some juniper and foliage from a gardenia bush and gathered some baby's breath and heather that I had left over from last week.  That stuff never seems to die!

Be sure and trim off the foliage from the lower end of the stems, that left on is what makes the water stinky!

I start with the flowers varying their height...

 I usually like odd numbers but today I made one taller than the rest as the center and started adding the foliage.

Make sure it looks pretty from all angles. I like sort of a 'wild' look with little branches coming out on all sides.

Now on my coffee table for all to enjoy!

$4 and a little bit of time.  You can do it too!

♥

It's a new year, Moore Designs is ready to help you with your projects large or small Don't live in Atlanta?  No problem, online design services available! Contact MD today!

New Year Reflections

Hello 2014!

It has been interesting for me to look back on the life of this blog.  It was started in the fall of 2008 after a move to a new state as an empty nester and no friends. I had recently begun my interiors business in Washington, DC, after being part of a professional organization community. The prompt to blog came from the monthly news mag of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), which said if you didn't blog you should. I thought about it for a few months, had no clue how to get started and googled 'design bloggers'. Joni Webb, writer of Cote de Texas was the first I saw, I truly believe she was one of the 'design blog' pioneers. 

 From there I traveled down her blog roll and began reading. I don't consider myself a 'writer' but attention to detail in correct grammar and spelling is very important to me. I gradually made 'blog friends' and have met several in person.  There is something about like minds loving beautiful things and wanting to learn from each other.  Since my business was new and I don't have a formal design education (I took an online design program and got a certification), blogs became my school.  I have always decorated for friends and when I was organizing, decorating always came next.  There are seasons in our lives that prepare us for other seasons.  For example when I was a young woman I did the 'Color Me Beautiful' color draping, teaching people what colors look best on them for wardrobe and make-up. There I learned undertones of color, cool vs warm, etc. Who knew years later - after 20 years in the fitness industry - that season would be now in design.

Building a business in a new community and Atlanta of all places where there are design mega-stars is tough. It takes time - lots of time - years. But God is good and small projects have led to larger ones.

So...new year...new features!

Based on popularity 'Project Monday's'

 and 'Foodie Friday's' ...

...along with pretty tables are keepers.

 In our hurried life of technology and interstates, many times we don't take time to live life beautifully. I want to encourage us all in that so that our children will grow up with those special little details.

Here are my boys 20 years ago. Cloth napkins and flowers on their trays!

They grew up using cloth napkins at every meal! One of my high school girlfriends' recently reminded me of this image she had in her mind! Hmmm, I think some of those colors from the early '90's are coming back.

I love flowers and treat myself regularly!

I'm looking forward to a great 2014, how about you?

♥