Painted chalkboard kitchen wall

I just read the newest issue of Cottage Living. And I love, love, love this idea from their 2007 Idea Home. So much so, that I fully plan to do something similar in our next kitchen (our current kitchen wouldn't really work with this). And I really love that this "recipe" below lets you choose your own color, instead of standard black. Oh, and that rustic sliding door -taken from an old bank in New Orleans - awesome.

"Everyone loves the novelty of a chalkboard surface, but most of the time you're limited to black or green. This recipe allows you to mix your own colors. For the pantry area, we mixed the chalkboard paint in 1-gallon batches.

1. Pour 1 cup of acrylic latex paint, in the color of your choice, into a clean, 1-gallon bucket.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of dry, unsanded tile grout mix into the paint, and mix until the paint is smooth and clump-free. (Use plain grout mix without added pigments to prevent color shifts. We used a kitchen whisk to mix our paint.) Repeat the mixing process until you have enough paint to complete your entire project.

3. If necessary, prepare the wall with a light sanding or priming. Apply the chalkboard mixture to any paintable surface with a roller or brush. (We used two coats of our chalkboard paint to build up a thick surface.)

4. Allow the paint to completely dry, then sand the surface with fine sandpaper until you achieve a texture that accepts chalk. Next, "color the surface with the wide part of a piece of white chalk to get a chalkboard-like patina.

5. Wipe away excess chalk with a damp cloth."

(quoted article from Cottage Living, photo by Robbie Caponetto for CL)

Poppytalk Handmade launched today!

A huge congratulations to Jan over at poppytalk. Today she launched a site dedicated to her favorite handmade treasures from over 75 vendors, and all are for sale! Spend some time clicking around on the site - some truly adorable finds. What a great way to support emerging artists. Check it out: Poppytalk Handmade

(screenshot from poppytalk handmade)

Affordable throw pillows

How great would these be against a white or pale blue couch? I just saw this site called Wrapables for affordable throw pillows, cushion covers, and fillers among other things. Some are as low as $21.95...

(images from Wrapables)

ZARA Home

A few months after graduating from college, my good friend Ann and I moved to New York City in 2001 for a brief stint. We shared a tiny a sublet apartment on the Upper East Side. One of our favorite things to do on the weekend was to shop the discount stores such as H&M and Zara (this was before either store had arrived in DC - so we were in designer knock-off heaven for clothes!). NYC was my first experience with either store, and since then I have been hooked on the good deals. I only just recently discovered that Zara has an entire Home division. The bad news - not in the U.S. The good news, their online catalogue is still lovely to browse. Does anyone know (perhaps from the UK) if their home-wares are as affordable as their clothing line?? I can't tell online. Some of my favorite shots from their Autumn/Winter 2007-2008 collection...

(Images from Zara Home)

Martha's Vineyard

And lastly, to round-out my homage to the Vineyard, some of my favorite landscape shots. I know that I will come back to these images from time to time when the hustle and bustle of city living prove to be stressful, and I need a good dose of the MV feeling...

Oh, I almost forgot: the sweet yellow lab pup is named Munson! We met him on the dock in Menemsha. I seriously about melted...adorable.

(images by RowHouse)

Martha's Vineyard: salvage and antiques

While out on a run one morning I came across this neat salvage/antique shop called Above Board, located in Oak Bluffs... I came back later that afternoon, and was totally amazed at the neat treasures in this nice gentleman's shop. He explained to us the history behind the fish mounted to the wall ... we chatted about loving claw foot tubs (we have an original one in our rowhouse). And he was very kind to let me take some photos. If you are ever in that area, it's a must-see shop, filled with gems found all over the Vineyard.

I really like the Menemsha Fish Market sign (below the fish) - I didn't even realize that until looking at these photos. We had lobster bisque and seafood chowder there one day, so I'm smitten with that little harbor.

John really liked this old ticket booth. ...sigh... if only we had the space. Oh, right, and a way to get it home. The owner did say that they ship some of the smaller items. I need to check in with their website from time to time.

(images by RowHouse)

Martha's Vineyard: shops

Onto the fabulouso shops! This place is prime for good shopping. Some of these images are from Edgardtown, some from Oak Bluffs, and the last few are in Vineyard Haven. My favorite shop was in VH -- called Nochi. Seriously, have any of you been to this shop??? Or heard of it? It completely inspired me want to redo the look of my living room. Everything was white washed, with a great mix of vintage pieces, and fine luxury goods. I vowed to return to Nochi one day...

(images by RowHouse)