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
Read MoreOn 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
Read MoreI’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
Read MoreI 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
Read MoreAfter 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
Read MoreAs 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
Read MoreOur 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
Read MoreAfter 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
Read MoreAfter 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
Read MoreI 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
Read More‘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
Read MoreDon’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
Read MoreI’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
Read MoreNothing 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
Read MoreAfter 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
Read MoreI 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
Read MoreWe didn’t have much cash left after buying the house (duh), and decided the most shrewd choice for what remained was paying for wallpaper removal. …Because who knew if it would be the easy-to-remove
Read MoreWhen I started writing gardening content, I had imposter syndrome. I wasn’t a real gardener. That was a title bestowed on others — older others … by what must be some secret society. Because
Read MoreArhaus Furnishings for a Coastal French look – Living Room Stage 3 | Family Room Stage 2 | Kitchen Stage 7 We first took the financial plunge (during a Labor Day sale) with Arhaus
Read MoreIf you want to skip to the wondrous results of our Coastal French Country style makeover, you can fast forward here. If you prefer a story from the start, you’re in the right place…
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