Welcome to the first edition of HomeSpirations monthly newsletter.

I am extremely excited about the launching of this new source of information to my readers and subscribers.   Look for this newsletter to appear permanently the first Monday of every month in your email.  My goal is to recap on the blog posts from the previous month and also offer incentives by way of prizes to thank you for being my audience.

I would also be providing you useful hints and design tips to help you to create a home for you, your family and friends to enjoy and feel welcome.  As time goes on, I will also keep you informed with all the latest trends and news that arise within the interior design world.

I hope you enjoy my first issue and, as always, I appreciate your feedback.  All comments are welcomed either on the blog posts itself or on my Facebook page.  If you have any suggestions about a particular topic you would like me to blog about, please let me know and I would be happy to do so.

Let’s get started shall we? Simone

Exciting NEW Series:

The month of May began with HomeSpirations offering a new endeavor, Popcorn Fridays!  To showcase a “blog entry” via a video. My purpose for creating movie Fridays was to make you feel like you’re going to a movie but instead of a mainstream movie, it will be a way for me to showcase design ideas.  After all, you’ve been reading all week, Fridays should be the day of decompressing to let your mind wander to places that inspire design.  So far, it has been a huge success.  Thank you!

• On May 4th, we began the series with an eco-friendly beachfront property in the Mystic Hills area of Laguna Beach, CA.   The architect used all eco-friendly materials like natural clay and bamboo for the framing, and for some final touches he included a solar radiant floor heater system, solar power, and energy-efficient windows. An inspired design like none other.
• May 11th, the topic was “Let’s Talk Vacation”.  The video was on Italy, specifically the Amalfi coastline and the Island of Capri.  I showed it to highlight the areas that Christopher and I vacationed for two weeks the latter of May. Our trip included stopovers in Sorrento, Positano, Capri and Panaerea. On that trip, we celebrated our wedding anniversary
• May 18th, I had a guest blogger, Madeline Foster, who happens to be my web designer and a really great source of inspiration to me. Her topic was “modern room designs for modern kids”.  I’ll let her words speak for her reasons as I cannot put it better myself  ”Thankfully for everyone, I do have a bit of a creative side when it comes to kids stuff. Inspired by Simone’s latest blog, in which she mentions having to design a child’s space when she returns from vacation, I thought it would be fitting to show a video of some amazing child bedroom designs. There are so many rooms that I like, I could not choose. I will admit that I have a preference for rooms designed with purple, black and silver. I like the “alien” “space” feel they offer.”
• May 25th, my choice was “the most expensive hotel rooms in the world”. It was the start of the Memorial Day weekend holiday, I thought about family and friends descending upon you and awaiting the barbecued food.  This gave me an idea to show how the jet set lived and what you could have been doing if you were lucky enough to have a lifestyle like the rich and famous. I wanted you to imagine yourself lounging at the pool while drinking champagne and eating caviare, instead of eating just hamburgers and hot dogs and drinking beer.Again, thank you everyone for watching.  I am having such a great time playing producer.  I never thought choosing movies could be such fun!  P.S.  Stay tuned for what’s been planned for June.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Our Month in Review

In this blog, I shared my appreciation for Domino Magazine, which was one of my favorite go-to sources for ideas on how to decorate.  Some of features included the best ways to hang art, how to decorate small spaces, how to mix and match textures, etc. I think you get the idea. I loved the snippets of designing tips as well.  I owned several issues and in a fit of cleaning I stupidly donated them, only to later realize that they are now considered a collector’s item.  Unfortunately for me, Domino Magazine, is no longer regularly published, but I read some exciting news from the Washington Post’s April 26th Home and Garden section profiled the special edition of Domino Quick Fixes magazine. As the article stated: ”Quick Fixes is a 128-page glossy that combines some of the most popular images and tips from Domino archives with new and updated content.”  Sadly, it is extremely difficult to locate a copy to purchase.  I am determined to find one.  Click here to read more

May 7th, Let’s Talk Cleaning

In this posting, I mentioned that in our house, we switched our ceiling fans over to the summer mode.  Another great way to save on energy efficiency!  As I was cleaning, it got me thinking about what’s new and trendy for in home products.  Are there new products that are easier to clean, smudge proof, sleek, and dare I say, sexy?   One of the  products I talked a little about was Kohler, and it’s a flipside shower head.  It’s four shower heads in one. All you do is flip it for your desired setting. From Moen, a MotionSense kitchen faucet.  You have three choices in how the faucet can be turned on–wave sensor just by waving your hand above the faucet, ready sensitive, putting your hand underneath the faucet and, of course, just turn the handle.  From Fanimation, The Enigma, a one blade ceiling fan. The Enigma uses just one sleek blade to produce a powerful airflow.   To read more about this click here

May 9th, Hotel Rooms Designed to Inspire

My post on that day was about hotel rooms and how inspiring they can be with the use of scale and color.  When we stay in hotels, we experience, in some cases, the ultimate in luxury and being catered to. They are, too, a showcase of interior design savvy! The attention to detail is given to perfection. I’ve always been in awe of how interior designers for hotels can make rooms feel so inviting, whether a suite or a standard room. These designers have a knack for knowing which colors will work and how to place furniture selections. It makes you wonder, why didn’t I think of that? The designs are especially well done in Europe, where hotel rooms are generally small in comparison to their counterparts in the US. The European designers have developed the art of making the rooms appear very spacious.  Click here to read more about it.

May 14th, Basements Designed Down Under

I wrote about basements because we had dinner with friends the previous Saturday night and I was asked to offer ideas on re-decorating their basement.  They have a cottage that I’ve loved from the moment I saw it. They have a lively 2 year old son and an equally lively dog. These are two things they will definitely have to take into consideration when deciding on the decor. It has to be child friendly with an area to keep him entertained as he grows. Some ideas showcased was a muraled trainwall; a corner in the basement decorated with a theme; a colorful and boxy storage unit and a tent for him to sleep in.  Read more here.

May 16th, Celebrities and Their Home Design

We left today for our vacation.  The night before I bought my magazines to read on the plane and started browsing through the Architectural Digest and came across an article on Oscar de la Renta’s shop in the Dominican Republic.  This inspired me to blog about celebrity fascination.  How we live our lives vicariously through them, we follow some, more than others, we look to them for trends in fashion and attempt to copy it and we are fascinated with how and where they live.  Read more here.

May 23rd blog, Italy~Truly Bellissimo!

Greetings from Italy!  We are at our bed and breakfast in Anacapri. It is such a quaint little town with a maze of narrow streets. The roses are at their peak; so beautiful and colorful. Honeysuckle shrubs are abound, I love their fragrance.  We have been typical tourists with guidebooks clearly visible and cameras easily accessible. We have visited and seen some truly beautiful sites. The scenery is just breathtaking and you cannot help but find yourself taking picture upon picture.  Click here to read more and see the pictures.

May 28th, CityScapes~Garage Sales and Gingerbread Houses

Another great post written by Madeline.  She began by writing that I was still on vacation.  Her topic was about garage sales.  She states that she spent the greater part of the weekend browsing the numerous garage sales in VanKleek Hill. She writes; “For some unknown reason, garage sales seem to be a weekend ritual in this town. There were at least 30 of them in a five- mile radius of our first stop. Fifteen minutes from our home, north of Montreal, Canada, this small Ontario town is famous for its’ weekend garage sales and “gingerbread” style homes.  According to Wikepedia; “Vankleek Hill was named Ontario’s Gingerbread Capital in 2003. Gingerbread is the woodwork that adds architectural detail to building exteriors and interiors. The porches, windows, gables, and roof-lines of over 250 homes in Vankleek Hill contain Victorian era decorative gingerbread elements. The backdrop for these homes are red brick, a hallmark of Vankleek Hill Victorian and Edwardian period buildings”  Click here to read more and see the pictures.

And, finally on May 30th, it was my turn to blog about Saying Addio to Italy.

I posted that Tomorrow, alas we must say Addio and Grazie to this wonderful and exciting vacation/anniversary trip. It was totally spectacular! Everywhere we went, we were treated graciously. There were no two days alike.  It was a very athletic vacation. On this trip, we concentrated on getting to know the landscape. We were constantly hiking and walking. The vistas and wildflowers we encountered along the way; spectacular!  Each town we visited offered a unique experience. We went from modern conveniences in Sorrento, Anacapri and Naples to a rather primitive island known as Panarea. It is so far behind modern times, it only began to use electricity in 1982.  Click here to read more and see the pictures. 

Design Tips:

• Have a vision of what you want to do?
• Before decorating think about the purpose of the room.
• Is there a theme attached to the space?
• Clip and keep a file from pictures from magazines that attract you!
• Have a well defined budget.
• Scout out garage sales and thrift shops for items.
• Remember you can always repaint.

 This newsletter is an example of what you will receive each month in your mailbox ~ how cool is that?

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