Selling foreclosures has to be a pain. When The Beard and I were looking at houses, we saw a few foreclosures and all of them had been trashed. I’m not saying that every foreclosed homes everywhere has been given a nasty once over, but I will put forth that houses that sit empty long enough begin to look…well, empty. A house with a rock “lawn” or lots of shrubs may not lose all that much curb appear for lack of care, but lawns can drop dead pretty darned quickly.

Some banks trying to sell empty homes are apparently taking the easy way out when it comes to lawn care. Companies like the Greener Grass Company in California and Tate Turf Painting in South Carolina will paint a lawn green for about $200. The benefits, according to Tate, are multifold:

• Have a green lawn in hours, not weeks or months
• Less expensive than the overall costs of over seeding
• Environmentally safe, no harmful chemicals in our paint
• Lasts up to 3 months
• Protects the lawn from harsh winter temperatures
• No mowing during the winter
• No Spring Transition Period
• Prepares grass to “green up” on its own faster in Spring
• CONSISTENT GREEN THROUGHOUT ENTIRE LAWN!

Apparently, it won’t harm the individual blades of grass or the root system, and the paint itself is applies in such a way that sunlight can still reach each blade. It seems odd, but at the same time, is intriguing. A quarter of my lawn recently died mysteriously, and we’re not quite sure what to do about it.

I recently read a wonderful quote with which I wholeheartedly agree. In Cottage Living, designer Jeffrey French said:

“I never rush clients to completion because if you furnish an entire house at once, it looks like a snapshot of what was available at that time. Instead, houses need to evolve like epic stories with chapters from different time periods.”

The sentiment really resonates with me even though French was talking about furniture and accessories from different era as opposed to furniture and accessories from different styles and sources. My own home is filled with things I’ve found in stores, in thrift shops, in my grandparents’ home, in my travels, and, though I am always somewhat loathe to admit it, on curbs. Some of it is new, some is very old, some is mass produced, and some is handmade.

The homes I like best tend to be those whose decor has evolved over time. A room put together all at once risks looking too much like a catalog or a temporary space created just for a magazine shoot. The only downside to letting one’s home evolve naturally is that there are transitional periods. A room may not seem quite right until you find that perfect piece that pulls it all together. A perfect thrift store find may temporarily throw a room out of balance.

Unless you have scads of money and a personal shopper, you just have to be patient and wait for your personal spaces to blossom. All I can say is that you’ll be glad you did because the eventual result will be so much more YOU than a pre-fab design scheme would have been.

Fall is a great time to look at all of the summery housewares that have gone on sale…or not. In some parts of the world, it’s summertime all year long, but not where I live. Here, for every beautiful cream glass pitcher sitting on a discount table, there’s a whopping big Christmas display. Well, you’re going to have to drag me kicking and screaming into the drab pall of wintertime because I’m just not ready to accept that summer really is over.

Those who, like me, can’t bear to see the leaves changing color should do themselves a favor and fill their homes with brightly colored home accessories from Rosanna, Inc. Rosanna Bowles and her team design beautiful things for the table like ceramic bottle reminiscent of beach glass, recycled glassware in hues inspired by Mother Nature, summery dishware, and updated reproductions of turn-of-the-century English botanical transferware.

…maybe if I turn my thermostat up to 90 I can put on some shorts.

Nothing says mod like clean lines, beautiful curves, and plenty of black, white, and red. But life is more fun when you mix it up a bit, right?

Here, brushed metal cube tables, an Orbit ball chair, and a Hanako sayuri rug are paired with a lamp that bridges the gap between contemporary and classic decor.

I’ve always been a fan of white bathrooms, simply because white says clean to me. Unfortunately, white only says clean when it is clean, and white bathrooms show every tiny speck of dirt mere minutes after being scrubbed down from top to bottom. As much as I love the look, circumstances — i.e., not being able to clean the bathroom three times a day — have forced me to choose other colors in my own domicile. Green is one of my top second choices because it brings to mind the sea and all things natural.

I adore the shading variations in these glossy and matte sea green Heath Ceramics tiles because they add depth to an otherwise small space.

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