I’m not going to mince words. Taking my kids to swim in a bioluminescent bay was a dream come true. Many moons ago, as a marine biology student, my semester-at-sea ship anchored in Mosquito
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It’s hard to choose just one. And in selecting Coastal French metals, we don’t. We mix it up! Like adding textures, mixing the metals in Coastal French design adds some interest for the eye.
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I love a stand of tulips. They are simple, yet bold. They come in colors to match every mood. They are simply delightful. Planting them in Connecticut is painstaking task. (So. Many. Rocks.) But
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After moving, we couldn’t afford to renovate our kitchen, so painting the cabinets was the way to make it more likable until we could. At the time, we were just starting toward Coastal French
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Locations: 115 Main St. Unit 12 (Route 25), Monroe, CT + Etsy shop This is a full-fledged shout out for The Marketplace on Main in Monroe, CT. No, they aren’t paying me to say
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On a tropical island, you can obviously let the beach do the heavy lifting in the activities department. Swimming, sunning, surfing, and snacking can blissfully kill hours upon days. But if you want to
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I’m only part way through our Puerto Rico series, but I’m interrupting to tell you about a fun family of five trip to Montreal! It’s the polar opposite of sun and sand — snow
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I know. It’s still winter. But this is when you start planning for dahlias! As winter drags on and on wanes, one of my favorite things to do is mentally fast-forward to summer by
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After two decades living in the Northeast, I can file this under ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ It took a drive north, into my bucket-list destiny of Montreal, to discover what I’ll forevermore
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As we mentioned in ‘What is Coastal French Design?’, color is where a Coastal French look begins. In trying to meld the two interior design approaches, what makes any item work is its adherence
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Our Puerto Rico trip started with local eateries and chilling by the pool, then kicked into high gear Day 2 with a family waterfall hike in El Yunque rainforest. That’s typically how we roll
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After painting and buying sofas, the next step would be critical for nailing a cozy family room: incorporating Coastal French textures. A coastal color palette is limited — basically blues and neutrals. Those shades
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After you get what Coastal French design is, you can set about making the change happen in your home like we did in our makeover. Finding a Coastal French dining room light fixture is
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I love home, but sometimes you gotta fly the (Coastal French) coop. Do you hear that tapping and clicking? It’s the sound of my Northeastern neighbors fending off cabin fever by booking flights outta
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‘Coastal’ and ‘French’ aren’t mutually exclusive design goals. Mainland France has 2,000 miles of coastline — someone is living (beautifully) on those shores! From a design standpoint, as you leave behind the high style
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Don’t ask me why it’s called chocolate chess pie. It has nothing to do with chess. I read up on it once, and everything I read was a guess… the best one being that
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I’d like to say after throwing every last dollar from the move into removing wallpaper and painting, I’d nailed the paint colors. But I absolutely did not. That’s what happens when you’re hurriedly pulling
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Nothing takes an ’80s child back like Twinkies, Michael Jackson… and some damn fine wood paneling. It was living. My grandma’s basement had it. Your grandma’s basement had it. In this house, it adorned
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After painting the wood paneling, it was clear the multi-colored brick fireplace was our next target for a freshening up. We wanted to maintain some of the brick’s texture and authenticity, though, not just
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I love to bake, but I don’t generate recipes. I usually pull them off the web, or out of books. However, I’ve lived in a lot of places and come across a handful of
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BEFORE & AFTER PHOTO INDEX
