DO IT YOURSELF

Is something I say to others – as in “Do it yourself – I’m up to my eyeballs in my own projects.”  When it comes to doing it myself – well…I can haul things, drag things, move things, lift heavy things – but you are unlikely to come to me,  asking me to whip up a few  curtain panels or a couple of pillows for you, and while I’ve painted a time or two in a pinch, no one is complimenting me on a job artfully executed.

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Found at Bungalow. Chatham. MA for $195.

I’m more of a project manager than a DIY’er, and yet The Manse has forced me to resort to just that.  Attempting to furnish a home from top to bottom is EXPENSIVE.  But that is exactly what I am attempting to do.  The Manse had become The Land of Misfit Toys – in a manner of speaking.  In her rundown state, the bric-a-brac that had collected within her walls was fitting, but now that she’s the proud lady on the block, she’s demanding a whole new wardrobe.  People are coming for tea and she wants to be ready to receive them.

I’m doing my best on behalf of the old lady, but some things are indeed going to receive a light sanding and a coat or two of paint – in a coordinating color of course.  I feel like I’ve been on the hunt all over the northeast for tables of all sorts, side, bed, coffee, dining – for dressers, and bar carts and shelves  – for things that started out as one thing and will end up being something else entirely.

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The Caning feels very Cape Cod.

All this hunting and sleuthing has resulted in my very first DIY project.  Aided by a couple of 50 degree days, I singlehandedly dragged a desk out onto the deck, found one of my Father’s 4 – yes you heard me correctly – 4 sanders, I know not what makes one better than the other, but I am certain their is a reason to have that many.  Maybe they are like shoes?  If that IS the case, than I certainly cannot argue with having four – in fact I might ask – why not more?

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Ta Da!  What do you think?

At any rate.  I sanded and cleaned and painted, and repainted and low and behold, I did it.  I think it looks pretty good, and I hope you do too, because I have a set of $10. bedside tables that need to be done – a real find!  I have an old ice box that I am going to use as a linen closet, and a coffee table that would have been perfectly perfect, if it has only been gray.  It will be when I am done with it.  If you are worry, I would say that it may not be misplaced.  Fingers crossed.

South End Report

The Stephen Cohen Team, South End Market Specialists put out a pretty great report in the Spring and Fall -the busiest buying markets.  They let you know what to expect, if you’re expecting to buy or sell.  The South End of Boston, while not the most expensive neighborhood in the city, is pricey and it’s good to know what you can get for your money.

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Under Construction in the Eight Street District . South End

JACKIE FALLA . Meet a Southender

Jackie Falla might not have professional experience as a designer, builder, or architect, but she has been in the construction industry for over 20 years. Growing up on the Cape, her serial renovator of a father renovated every home they lived in, so a certain level of disruption in her living environment became comfortable and familiar. She bought her rst home in 2008. After four years and three renovations, Falla sold it and used the money to secure another property. It’s been rinse- and-repeat since then.

Falla documents her progress on a blog, Quest for the Nest, and the culmination of her journey will be a book she’s tentatively calling “My Life in Sawdust: How to Make a Million Dollars in Ten Flips.” To achieve this goal, she relies on her innate sense of design, as well as architect friends and sub-contractors she meets through her work as Director of Client Services at Elaine Construction, a third-generation, family-owned-and-operated, woman-certified construction management company in Newton.

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In search of glamour . South End.

Falla has made her home in almost every Boston neighborhood except
for Beacon Hill, but the South End has always held a special place in her heart. She’s lived in over a dozen different properties along Waltham Street, West Concord Street, Worcester Square, Worcester Street, Pembroke Street, Milford Street, and Hanson Street. “I know there are these beautiful amenity buildings, and I actually lived in Ink Block,” Falla said. “I absolutely loved it, they make living so easy. But in terms of architecture, the South End brownstones are spe- cial. The details, the moldings, the doors, it’s all phenomenally designed. I’m in love with it.”

Her love for the South End’s historic architecture also ties in with her Cape Cod upbringing. Coming from a family of avid sailors, she respects the cleverness of boat design. Every multi- purpose square inch of space is utilized to its full extent, and she nds that city apartments require the same kind of ingenuity. Falla describes her sense of style as “modern glamor.” She fondly recalls an Italian chandelier she bought at a Paris ea market and had rewired and in- stalled at one of the condominiums she ipped. “It was a very dramatic light fixture,” she said.

Falla is currently at the halfway point of her renovation journey, and she’s loving every second of it. “What I’m doing is an important story for me to tell,” Falla said. “It’s hard for single women to build wealth, and part of why I’m ipping houses and working on the book is to make sure young women know they can ensure their own nancial independence and stability.” This doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have fun with her work. From the fact that she lives through the process every time, to the sheer number of details she infuses into her renovations, Falla’s passion for remodeling comes through in every project she takes on.

Is there a South Ender you think should be featured next? Contact our Communications Specialist, Anastasia Yefremova, at anastasia@stevencohenteam.com.

 

As a South Ender, my good friend Nicole Spencer who is a Buyers Agent for the Stephen Cohen Team, asked if I would be interested in being profiled in their market report.  I first moved to the South End in 1993.  It was a different South End then it is today.  Let’s just say I didn’t exactly fall in love with it.

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Pulling it all together . South End.

After that I trotted all over the city.  I lived in the North End, Back Bay, and Charlestown, before making my way back to the South End.  Since then, I have lived in 9 different South End locations, making me a bit of an expert – also known as someone that is insanely driven to achieve their goal of flipping 10 properties to make a million.

Paule Marrot: born to art

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Doves . Paule Marrot via Natural Curiosities

Destiny – perhaps Paule Marrot was destined to be an artist.  At just 14 years of age she attended L’ecole Des Arts Decoratifs. She was painter, a textile designer, an engraver, and a  teacher.  She was a favorite of Jaqueline Kennedy, who used her textiles to design a room in the White House.  Two dimensional  in nature – at first glance, they may appear to be simple, but they are in fact quite sophisticated.

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Shell 2 . Paule Marrot

They are cheery and whimsical.  They are a walk through a European garden in summer.  They are in full bloom, when you are in need of a smile.  Drawing inspiration from nature, and the ocean, Paule produced over 320 textile designs during her career.  Collaborated with Renault and sold one of her fabric designs to renowned fashion designer, Paul Poiret.

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Trees . Paule Marrot

Today her prints can be purchased from Natural Curiosities, and fabric from Brunschwig  Fils.  I adore them, and would love to have them in one of my homes, and I wouldn’t ever sell it.

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Cherries . Paule Marrot

A Question of Style: you are what you decide to be

I’ve been talking about myself in the negative.  Not negatively mind you.  Just stating what I am not, rather than what I am.  I am not an Interior Designer by trade.  I am not an Architect.  Not a builder.  For the record, I am also not a Paleontologist – in case you were wondering, or a magician, or a Sommelier or any of the dozens of terribly interesting professions that exist-I am not them.  What I am is a writer, and I’ve been thinking how very unimaginative it is of me,  to not just create a title for myself that encapsulates all that I AM.

Left: Sister Parish:  Bolero in Indigo (headboard and roman’s)  Right:  Tillette . T4 Textiles:Burma in Indigo ( window seat cushion)

I am a stylist of sorts.  I am always on the lookout for unusual trinkets, art, and oddities at flea markets, vintage and antique stores, in friends garages, and at garage sales.  Why not, you never know exactly what you will come across that will tell an interesting story.  I’m a story teller.  My friends, I think, would prefer it if my stories were a little a tad shorter.  They appreciate when I use vignettes to tell the tale.   I a picture is worth a thousand words, a vignette tells at least 999.  My ability to pull disparate things together, even before I am able to articulate why they  belong, is a strength.  This artistic eye has served me well.

Top Left and Bottom:  Sister Parish Right:  Tillette T4 . Scattered Dot

I’m a Producer of sorts too, and this perhaps is one of my very strongest skills.  Like a movie producer I am responsible for raising the funds for my construction projects, shaping the vision for the renovation and design, selecting the cast of characters that will allow me to execute the work, procuring all the materials, setting the stage, arranging and directing the photoshoot, providing context and interest to the story, and finally using my contacts to get it published.

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Sister Parish

I live through all of this, which requires me to be incredibly organized, resilient, and tolerant.  As I write this I can picture myself covered in sawdust, digging through boxes to find my winter coat.  An organized girls worst nightmare.  Why do I do it?  The vision  and my competitive nature, supersedes all other talents, and proclivities.  I am tenaciously sticking to my goal, and when I reach ten, and I’ll do it with this title next to my name….Maestro of Curation.

Perfect Picks for People Like You and Like Me

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Zara Home . Golden Sphere Coffee Table $199.

Take three parts obsession, mix with two parts curiosity, and one part spending problem and you’ve found someone – ME –  that finds a lot of things.  Things that I fall for, quickly, like a crush.  I know it’s just as likely to be a passing fancy.  Two primary reasons for that are money, and space.  It’s true that some of those obsessions keep me up at night.  Some find their way into my dreams, and skip along into my waking hours.  These I know will likely not leave me alone until I find a way to make them my own.  Least you think I get whatever I want, I’ve been doggedly hanging onto the idea of the Jean de Merry sea urchin chandelier in wrought iron.  This I spied for the first time in 2007, eleven years ago.  I want it nearly as badly as I wanted it that first time I walked into BG on the 8th Floor of Bergdorf Goodman.

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Zara Home . Rattan Cage Coffee Table. $199.

Sometimes the anticipation is nearly as good as the actual getting of the thing.  Sometimes…but other times I just want it immediately.  This week I came across a few gems I thought I’d share.  First, Zara Home has put out a collection that is really affordable and super cute.  The Golden Sphere Coffee Table, and second the Rattan Cage Coffee Table, both $199.

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Seraphina Velvet Bed . CB2  $1099.

CB2 has a simply angelic, tufted bed called the Seraphina Velvet Bed, in a soft off-white that will send you into pillowy clouds of heavenly sleep.

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Voila Custom Seating . The Wing . NYC.

And last but not least…Voila – a contract design and furniture fabrication shop.  Voila in deed.  If you can imagine it, which I do ALL the time – they can build it for you.  How cool is that.  The Belgian founder, Katrien Van der Schueren first brought her skills procuring and framing prints to the LA in 2008, and later added staging, furniture design, and events to the line-up.  I wonder if she has plans to open on the East Coast?  While I feel entirely worthy of the pieces, the price of shipping these days is a killer.

Some day – until then, I’ll dream a little dream.

Pretty in Pink

 

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The Company Store . Heart Felt . $24.00

I was ridiculed for considering writing about love, and for relating it to one of my very favorite palette’s – PINK.  Ridiculed until I erased all reference to it.  How inconsiderate of me to write about a subject, a feeling that other’s might not have …. but while the aggrieved party isn’t paying any attention, I am in fact going to write about it.  Who doesn’t love the innocent hue that is pale pink, a simple heart, a cheerful pouf, a garland that hangs from an otherwise dull cabinet or lonely hearth.  Who could possibly object to loving things that are lovely?

Left:  CB2 Simone Blush Chair $499.  Right:  Quince Branch

Sometimes I even love things that are not lovely.  I call them “good ugly”, but today’s post is about the truly pretty.  It’s about hearts and flowers in the form of furnishings and fabrics that make me happy, and if love is worth its salt – it will make you happy.

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Cole and Sons . Magnolia Lavender – Lee Jofa

It often starts by shopping in the baby section, it sometimes makes it way into kids.  By Preteen it’s too cool to be represented.  It makes an appearance now and again in the world of adult decor, but is often relegated to a single small space – a powder room, a guest bed, a walk in closet where one dresses.  Why when the color makes me so happy should it be delivered in such small doses?

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The Rug Company . Harrington . From $3740.

Well, it’s Valentine’s Day – almost – so I am going to celebrate this warm in the cheeks hue as if I were a kid again.  Here are some of my happiest petal pink, and blushy brights for you to view.

C2 it!: Stepping out on Ben

I haven’t really entertained trying another paint since – well I think since I was allowed to paint my own place.  That would be March of 2008, and since then I have gone steady with Ben Moore, with whom I carry on about, as if we were young lovers.  Whether I want to see the world through rose colored glasses, or prefer to mimic that particular shade of bordeaux that swirls around in my long stem, on the walls of a cozy study, Ben – ever so loyally has delivered.  He is two coats of perfection.

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Lucious.

So what would make me even consider another?  Well, I love artisans, and Thomas Hill III –C2 Paint Founder and Paint Chemist certainly can be considered one.  As a Marketer and Writer I really lean toward clever written banter, and the use of three’s.  They caught my attention when they penned these lines:

  • Artistry over Automation
  • Quality over Quantity
  • Creativity over Corporate Structure

Isn’t that beautiful?

As much as I like the romance of the written word, if the colors were pasty, flat and uninspiring – that would have been the end of my wandering eye – but they aren’t.  They are beautiful, and while I admit that I enjoy the process of testing paint, my inability to select the right hue first time around, gets rather expensive.  Think of the doe rae me I could save if I availed myself to the 17″ x 24″ samples C2 provides.  Now that’s a chip!

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Inspiring minds want to know…

While durability isn’t top on my list of reasons to buy a paint, of late, I am thinking it should be.  Even if I am handing my beauties over to another, I have been drinking the durability Kool Aid – don’t go looking for a wall or a closet on one of my projects making a splash in Fruit Punch.  That’s NOT going to happen, but I have bared witness to homes that house ruffians.  They are seriously tough on painted surfaces, which made me wonder if C2 could hold its own with a houseful of boys that think they are on the field, the court, the ice, or hunting in the woods, locked and loaded to go.  Yes, there could be something to this durability thing.

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Red is for roses.  Love is all around.

So while I haven’t tried it, I think I just might.  If you’ve branched out, and C2 was a suitor that suited you, or not.  Please do kiss and tell.

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Birds of a feather….gray matter.