New England Home

New England Design Hall of Fame – A gala evening for all!

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The 4th Annual New England Design Hall of Fame Awards dinner was held this week at the State Room, overlooking Boston. In four short years, it has undoubtedly become the biggest night for the New England design industry. New England Home magazine founder Dan Kaplan created the Hall of Fame Awards and had the foresight … Read more

Decorating the Seats of Power

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So, we’ve been all chewing over President Obama’s new Oval Office decor. It has been received with an overwhelming … eh… and that’s on the positive side. Some people, perhaps unwilling to publicly criticize Michael Smith, rumored to be the designer, have supported the decor as at least being satisfying to Mr. Obama. Because after … Read more

Road Trippin’: The New Hampshire Seacoast

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Last week I was invited to a luncheon Jewett Farms Cabinetmakers, at a their showroom in Newburyport, MA.  Newburyport is on the north shore of Massachusetts, just south of New Hampshire, about 90 minutes (without traffic) from where I live on the South Shore.  Normally, I wouldn’t bother driving that far to visit a showroom, … Read more

The Skirted Roundtable chats with Christina Strutt “At Home with Country”

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This week at The Skirted Roundtable Megan, Joni and I chatted with Christina Strutt, founder and creative mind behind the British lifestyle firm Cabbages and Roses and author of their latest book At Home With Country: Bringing the Comforts of Country Home (Cabbages & Roses) The book is just filled with gorgeous images of homes … Read more

Bloggers behind the lens

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There’s sort of a general idea in blogland, particularly the design themed ones, that we do nothing but scan or copy and paste images from other sources – magazines, websites, other blogs, etc. Of course, this does happen frequently enough and we appreciate being introduced to a designer or professional photographer we’re not aware of, … Read more

HGTV Green Home 2010 in Plymouth, MA – Second Floor & What I would do differently

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Last week I profiled the first floor of the 2010 HGTV Green Home, located in Plymouth, MA. You can read that post here.  I had been invited to a brunch and tour with interior designer Linda Woodrum and HGTV House Planner Jack Thomasson by Shaw Industries, who provided the flooring, rugs and other surface materials … Read more

Why my Kitchen is my favorite space and lessons learned from my Dad

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I lived with this kitchen for nine years. I look back and wonder what I was thinking. Really, I wasn’t. I was switching careers, building a business, dealing with aging parents, and basically trying to have a life. So, my kitchen kind of languished. And I was embarrassed about it. Decorator’s are expected to live … Read more

A great new shop on historic Charles Street

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My photographer friend Michael J. Lee tipped me off to a fabulous new shop on Boston’s historic Charles Street at the base of Beacon Hill. Cynthia Driscoll opened her shop just recently and it’s just a breath of fresh air on the Boston design scene! Cynthia has a background in that runs from teaching to … Read more

The Skirted Roundtable welcomes Diane Dorrans Saeks

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Last week at The Skirted Roundtable, we chatted with the best selling design author Diane Dorrans Saeks about her life, world travels and her thoughts on blogging. Diane has authored over 20 books, some of the biggest sellers in the field of interior design. So, scoot on over and have a listen!  Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Guest Blog: Innovative Countertop Designs

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The following guest post was written by Marcy Tate, a home improvement blogger at Networx. She writes on many home improvement topics including concrete countertops and other innovative countertop materials. The popularity of eco-friendly kitchen remodeling has contributed to the success of several new countertops successfully breaking into the mainstream market. Materials such as recycled … Read more