How to Get Rid of Viewers....ask HGTV

Kitty Bartholomew's Decorating Style: 

A Hands-On Approach to Creating Affordable, 

Beautiful, and Comfortable Rooms

Back in 2013...July I think it was...I began to wonder about Kitty Bartholomew. You remember, she was the delightful lady that hosted a show on HGTV for many years. She showed us how to make what we have sing...there was no demands for granite or demolishing outdated kitchens. It was all about creativity, paint and comfort. That post was called Kitty Bartholomew Where Have You Gone?  If you do a Google search for Kitty Bartholomew you may see it down the page a couple of places. I ended with the words:

Kitty Bartholomew wherever you are, thank you for making it okay to "live" in my little house with a cat that sheds and a husband that nests.

Even today I receive comments on this article because, back in the day, HGTV resonated with a whole generation of women that loved to create. The industry of scrapbooking and craft supply stores sprang up around these shows. Then, one day, they were all gone. Carol Duval vanished from the face of the earth and Kitty disappeared from our lives. Maybe it was just too much of a good thing. HGTV does tend be over zealous with a few shows.

Why is it that there can't be a trend that is not ground into the dirt? Now HGTV is running House Hunters all day. If I hear "I just love this space but we will have to replace all the kitchen cabinets before I can move in" one more time I will scream out loud.

While interior design is a wonderful calling and realtors are nice, there are only so many ways you can talk about a house and still be original. Either HGTV doesn't have deep enough pockets to provide a variety of shows or it is stuck in being simply a real estate channel.

So HGTV, here goes. Before you drive away yet another generation of viewers by getting stuck in a rut, consider this...why can't you introduce a show once in a while that might be about being creative...maybe even rerun vintage HGTV just for the fun of it. I bet viewers would love it. While I don't want anything all of the time, even Kitty, I would love to be able to go to your network and see something different.

I invite you to go back, read that original post and take a look at the comments. It is very interesting that even after all these years people still love Kitty Bartholomew!

I'm just saying.

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HGTV/DIY: Do You Donate What you Remove to a Charity?

A typical dumpster in Sunnyvale, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My daughter and I were talking about what a poor example DIY and HGTV set for their viewers. Specifically, we were discussing the all important dumpster that shows up in front of the house and what goes into it.

She had been watching one of the DIY TV Crasher shows (Yard, Kitchen, House, etc.) and was appalled to see the enthusiastic workers throwing french doors, cabinets, sinks and lights into the dumpster so they could make a big crash when they hit all the waste buried below. Enough things were thrown away that a whole house could have been built using what they broke being destructive.

There are places that want (and need) those things. For example, Habitat for Humanity gathers all those things and either uses them to build a new house or sells them to people like you and me to raise funds for their cause. Veteran groups, Salvation Army and even the local second hand dealer can re-purpose many things and our landfills will not be overflowing with porcelain toilets and cabinets that a designer considered a little out dated.

So hear is a message for all you home improvement TV shows; please remember, people follow your example so be one worth following! Show people how they can salvage what they remove and either sell it or donate it to a good cause...please

Just a thought.

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• Re-decorating: Kitty Bartholomew where have you gone?

Re-decorating: Kitty Bartholomew where have you gone?

I loved Kitty Bartholomew on HGTV! I know that dates me but I cannot help it. In fact, I woke up the other day thinking how much I missed those HGTV shows that inspired me to create and recreate. She made me feel at home in my home because the message was that little changes made a big difference. I could do it myself.

Kitty Bartholomew's Decorating Style: A Hands-On Approach to Creating Affordable, Beautiful, and Comfortable Rooms

I still watch HGTV but after a while every show is the same. If you have wasted enough time watching Property Brothers or Love It or List It, you know what is coming next because, in the end, every decor is the same. Nothing reflects the fact that anyone lived there. If you do it their way, a trip to the local big box store is  all you need to decorate any apartment or home. What each place is missing is the layers of life we bring to our dwellings. A home is so much more than furniture placed correctly or even the pictures on the walls. It is those personal items that make the difference.

Moving is a real test of your ability to make a home. Downsizing is a challenge in particular. All the "stuff" you have chosen to keep comes with you and now the task is to make a nest where you can feel as though it reflects who you are. But most people don't move with the thought of hiring a decorator...it is expensive to move. Yet we all want a fresh look. As a result, you have to take what you have and make it work. Someone told me once that when my husband and I moved, you could not tell we had just arrived. It was just us from top to bottom yet it all "looked" new.

The fun is in taking what we have and putting it together in a different way...like a recipe that is changed in small ways creating a totally new dish...familiar yet refreshed.  I love to take all of my wall decor, for example, and mix them together in different way. I do that several different ways:

• color combination, i.e. all black and whites or muted colors or genre
• texture, i.e. all antique frames or woods
• eclectic, i.e. a mixture of colors, textures, 3-d items (musical instruments, etc.)
• shapes, i.e. round, rectangle, square
• themes, i.e. travel photos, pictures of flowers, family photos, landscapes

I use this same technique when I arrange furniture or gather a table top arrangement.

I can use my formula for my home and it looks okay. But Kitty knows that a home is where you live. Every item in her rooms seemed to say that she put her hands on it and made it her own. I always had the feeling that each piece had a story and she could tell you where it was from and why she loved it. I want to be like her.

When you come in my house, you will know that what you see is what my husband and I love. My husband is the ergonomically correct person and he wants to have his things at his finger tips. I have come to love that. His clutter is a thing of beauty because it tells me that he is at home too. I suppose this fact explains why the walls are not pink and covered with flowers. Our home is a shared space.

So, Kitty Bartholomew wherever you are, thank you for making it okay to "live" in my little house with a cat that sheds and a husband that nests. Even as our home gets smaller we feel comfortable. In my eyes it is beautiful. You have given me a very special gift.

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They didn't call HGTV's Yard Crashers!

Back Patio's Summertime Look

Technorati Tags: HGTV, lifestyle, travel

Seriously, our front yard look like a neglected vacant lot when I arrived home from Arizona 2 weeks ago. I live in the Portland, Or. metro area.  Things grow here fast and well...even weeds. Six months with not one whit of care left our flower beds littered with leaves and a million sprouting maple seeds.  All I could think was that someone in the neighborhood could have called the HGTV Yard Crashers and tv cameras would appear.  The lady next door would tell the tv people how she could hardly wait for them to clean up the trash so she would have something beautiful to look at. I would be embarrassed.

If you are a snowbird that owns two places, you know what I am talking about. This is one of the dilemmas that faces us each year.  There is a need for us to keep our home's appearance up if for no other reason than to make it look as though someone is at home.  Nothing invites trouble more that a house that looks abandoned.

Timing is one solution that comes to mind right away.  Here in the northwest we can leave in late October and arrive back in late April.  The yard just sleeps while we are gone.  Even as bad as ours looked, the spring rains were keeping everyone else from doing more maintenance too.

Landscaping services really don't charge that much around here.  I have a neighbor that pays $60 a month to have her very small yard mowed and flowers trimmed or a tree shaped up once in a while.  That is something that would help a lot.

In some situations, a house sitter can be helpful.  The sitter can do some yard work as part of their sitting job.  I always dream I will come home to clean windows and maybe a house sitter would do that for me.  Golly, wouldn't that be nice.

So, HGTV has not shown up.  We have cleaned, raked, bagged leaves and planted 40 petunias.  It actually looks like someone lives here again.  Good for us!  As for the window, that remains for another time.

Have a lovely day.

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Hot Favorite Interior Design Websites...is spring here yet?

When I begin feeling restless and need a change I always go to the experts...interior design magazines or interior design website provide the inspiration that will get me going.  I woke up feeling bunchy this morning for some reason...I just need a change.   Am I dreaming or could spring be on it's way?

Even here in Arizona we have been suffering a very harsh winter.  Normally our park would sport beautiful snapdragons in bloom all winter.  But this year the season is going to be over soon and the snapdragons have not begun to bloom.  Call me a dreamer but spring needs to happen and soon...so I am moving spring indoors.  My little park model needs some jazzing up.

When I lived in Oregon during the winters, I would buy potted flowers at the grocery and set them in the window sill until some spring weather would come our way.  Here in Arizona I think that some color on the walls and maybe the pillows will help a lot.

HOME DECORATING MAGAZINES AND WEBSITES
I love the Canadian website for interior design called Style At Home.  The magazine reflects what we see on HGTV when the Canadian decorators like Candice Olsen and Sarah Richardson host their shows.  The trendy ideas seem to appear on their shows first.  The home decorating website featured vinyl wall designs from UrbanWalls this morning.  UrbanWalls sells through an etsy.com online store.  These wonderful designs are applied to the wall much like a decal but can be easily removed.  I thought the graphics used in the picture above were very appealing.

The oatmeal colored natural linen storage bin by Blue Bird with a small graphic bird design caught my eye too...it too was featured on etsy.com.  Both of these are small touches that can change the look of your space with out the cost of a big make over.

Apartment Therapy is all about living small.  I love their little ideas for brightening things up.  For example.......did you know that March 14 is pi day?  In honor of the most auspicious day bar ware with the numbers representing pi, 3.1415926535 are featured…!

Because I live in a small space both here in Arizona and Oregon, I am interested in their stories about small bedrooms or kitchens.  Today I found a picture of a very small bedroom with splashes of color in the accessories only.  White is such a flexible background in any room. Naturally I chose one with lots of girly colors because I am only dreaming.  If I were to do this for my house, I would need to take into consideration the fact that I share my space with a husband of 50 years.  He's pretty tolerant but I try not to push the envelop.


Have a wonderful day.  I hope I see you tomorrow!


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