Yes, you're in the right place

You may have noticed that my blog looks a bit different today...different from yesterday, which was different from the day before that, which was different from a few days before that.

I've been experimenting with its design. Now you know how my husband feels. He never knows how the furniture will be arranged when he comes home from work...or if someone will have started sledgehammering out the fireplace hearth...or if the bathroom will be in the midst of demolition. (I told you...didn't I tell you?)

But, I think this blog design is here to stay...for now, anyway. Do you like it?

Tomorrow: Photos from the redesign in the mill building.

A Snapshot: Perfect summer accessory

Love this little 1960s metal pin I spotted on Etsy.

Summer: Bring it on

My son graduated from college this week. Seems like just yesterday we were sitting through his preschool graduation ceremony. Oh wait a minute, I'm wrong. That was just yesterday. Getting ahead of myself a little bit.

His school, a wonderful co-op nursery school, put on a little program. The kids sang songs (well, most of the kids sang songs...my son had his own agenda. When the other kids praised the rising sun, my boy covered his eyes and said: "The sun. It burns my eyes!" When they held up letters of the alphabet, he perched his letter "N" on the head of the kid next to him. Doing a duet with a little girl that involved waving his arms, Jude preferred to whack himself in the head. It was a better bit for it, I will admit.)

So, now summer. And summer reading...for me that is.

Here's what I subscribe to these days:

Better Homes and Gardens
Country Home
Country Living
Elle Decor
Home
House Beautiful
Traditional Home

And catalogues of all sorts. Do they count? I think they count.

What's on your summer reading list?

A little P.S. regarding yesterday's post: My mother emailed me to say I should always wear a mask when spray painting (a lot of capital letters were involved). Mom, you are right, of course. Please refer to the complaint department for a number to call to get your concerns on record.

A sneak peek at a surprise redesign

It's been hot in Rhode Island. I mean, seriously hot, especially for June.

So, what am I doing during all this? Spray painting tables outside (see them, up there, in the orange). Remember that client I mentioned? The nonprofit organization that won an office redesign? The office is in an old mill building and these tables are going to go in there.

I know what you are about to say... But, Mary, aren't you risking your life, spray painting outside in this heat?

Why, yes, I am. But I am that devoted.

I found these tables (and a cute little Chippendale mirror, too) in a consignment shop. The tables had been kicking around for a few months so I got the three for $30. They were pretty nondescript except for the shape.

So I spray painted them orange, and the mirror too. (They are the same orange, just took one photo outside and one inside. Try to keep up, please.)

Besides heat stroke, I got spray paint on my hands, feet, and the lining of my lungs. (Because gloves and a mask were upward of two to three steps away and I Don't Have Time For That.)

I know what you are about to say... But, Mary, aren't you risking your life, spray painting without gloves and a mask?

Why, yes, I am. But I am that devoted.

The tables are going to serve as a coffee table in front of a sofa in the office. Now that I look at them, aren't they shaped a little like bear faces? Like you could have painted them out as animals and used them in a child's room?

Oh sure, now everyone wants them.

Next time you are scouting around, keep your eyes open. You might find something you can transform.

But, hey, this is dangerous work. Let's be careful out there.

Real Estate Staging: I'll take the door Carol Merrill is in front of

The mom of a child in my son's preschool was asking me today for a little advice for her parents who are trying to sell their house in this tough real estate market. She showed me a few photos, and for the most part they had done a wonderful job getting ready, particularly since they've lived in the house for 40 years.

Given how much stuff I can accumulate in the back of my car in a weekend, I can appreciate just how much furniture and accessories a household can wind up with over decades.

I did, however, suggest her folks remove just a few more pieces from the house.

Take a look at the before and after shots above of a dining room I staged not too long ago. The carpet and lighting fixture were updated, but the biggest impact, I think, comes from what is not there anymore.

The decorations are now simple and there are two fewer chairs (and a corner hutch you can see reflected in the mirror in the before photo).

The impression you are left with: A tidy, pretty space where you are more apt to notice the deck and yard outside.

Paring down is definitely worth it...even if it means putting items in storage for a while. You never know what will seal the deal for a potential buyer, and the impression of a large, breezy space might just do it.

Turns out, you can't nap in their beds either

I had mentioned last week that I was going to check out the The Providence (RI) Preservation Society's 29th Annual Festival of Historic Houses on Saturday.

The homes, many built in the early to mid-1800s ranged from the magnificent to the everyday...just like homes built today. But they were all interesting to see.

Here's an idea we (my sister Kat and friend Chris) loved: Asian silk lanterns hanging from an arbor and over a table in a city garden. (No photos were allowed, so I've posted this one from JustLanterns.com to give you the general idea.)

We wanted to sit right down and plan a party: We'd put LED lights in all of them and use lanterns in rainbow colors for a kids' party; monochromatic for a twilight dinner; blue by the ocean...

But here's the thing about house tours: They don't let you plan parties in their homes, or rearrange the furniture, or try on their clothes... selfish, very selfish.

Forget roses, give me squash flowers

My 5-year-old son has been wanting to plant a vegetable garden, and this weekend we finally got around to it. But I am going to remember this for next year: Loosely translated, "I want to plant a garden" means "You do it. And call me in two months when the fried squash flowers are ready."

Fried squash flowers? What, you've never had them? (I had them for the first time only last year, but it makes me feel like a Southern belle to act like I've made them my whole life. Like I garden in white gloves, my hair in a bouffant, and ice tea at the ready...when in fact I'm a Northerner, who gardens without gloves so my manicure is ruined, my hair in a ponytail turned in on itself, and the only beverage in sight is the one that comes out of the garden hose...or from a bottle that says Mike's Hard Lemonade.)

Anyway, Jude refused to help because of the bugs that my superficial tilling uncovered. To be honest, these aren't your usual bugs...they are prehistoric bugs, like maybe our yard is some sort of Gateway to Bug Hell, with all tarantulas and Africanized honey bees safely ensconced in Bug Purgatory.

So Jude runs off to his swing, me reassuring him: "They are more afraid of you...No bug has ever eaten a person...that I know of."

Back to the moral of the story: All vegetables taste better fried in oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. And with yellow squash, same goes for their flowers.

So here's my tip of the day: Grow some yellow squash and then pluck off the male flowers (the larger ones). Remove the stamens and gently rinse the flowers and pat them dry.

And then do this:

Combine about a cup of milk with a tablespoon of flour and some salt and pepper and maybe a shake of hot sauce. Dip the flowers in the mixture. Fry in olive oil in a hot pan until they are golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

Eat. Repeat.

The design part? We should probably have a design part: Put them on a pretty plate.