I knew from the start that I wanted a utility sink in the laundry room.
I pictured myself making menudo on weekends and needing the larger sink to wash the oversized stockpot.
I pictured myself doing loads of laundry on weekends and needing the convenience of a sink to scrub stains before tossing a shirt in the wash.
I have been in the house 10 months. I have yet to make menudo. John does most of the laundry. There are no stains to scrub.
But the utility sink is still one of the best upgrades we could have made.
I color my own hair at home. But instead of washing my hair in the bathroom sink and risk staining the marble or, worse, kneeling on the floor and bending over the bath tub, I use the utility sink to rinse the color out.
Even John has used the utility sink to wash his hair on days he skips a shower. In fact, I am just now learning that John has used the utility sink for sponge baths.
If it’s a no-chore, no-sweat day, John opts for the sponge bath instead of a full-on shower. Because of limited mobility following his stroke, the sponge bath is a great alternative for washing up.
Yes, the utility sink has … well … a lot of utility. It looks nice too.
The utility sink is one of the best upgrades we could have made. Photo by Cindy Hernandez
You can put them anywhere. They’re small. They’re cute. They can match your decor. Or not, because they are so functional, they can stand on their own. No pun intended.
The accent tables in my house run the gamut from pricier ones from furniture stores to the ones that belonged to John’s Mom, Diane. And the ones that belonged to John’s Mom are my favorite.
The one in the water closet came all the way from Michigan in the 1970s when John and his family moved to Arizona. It has short wooden legs and a tile tabletop reminiscent of the Southwest.
It’s not exactly the table you would picture in Michigan, so it’s almost fitting that it would end up in the Southwest.
The table is small and perfect in the master bathroom water closet where it holds the tissue box and – if I am being honest – my coffee cup and cell phone during morning visits.
The other accent table from Diane sits next to John’s chair in the living room. He uses it to place his coffee on weekend mornings. It’s a newer piece Diane picked up here in Arizona. It too does not match my decor but I love it all the same.
But what makes these pieces so special is how I came to acquire them.
Diane spent the last 15 months of her life in a nursing home. When it came time to collect her belongings, John let me pick the items I wanted before donating the rest. The tables were among her belongings. I grabbed them immediately.
From there, the tables went from the nursing home to my condo, to my storage unit while the new house was being built, to the new house.
Actually, the table from Michigan had a layover at my parents’ own water closet between the condo and the new house. My Dad needed a place for his own coffee cup during morning visits. So I brought the table over from storage on the condition I would take it back once the new house was ready.
Dad loved that table. Almost to the point of threatening to hide it from me so that I would never take it away.
Who would have thought that an accent table would make its way into so many lives and bring function into so many houses?
This accent table belonged to John’s Mom who brought it down to Arizona from Michigan in the 1970s. Today it sits in the master bathroom water closet. Photos by Cindy Hernandez
It seems everyone is organizing these days. They’re passing their quarantine time getting their house in order.
Closets. Pantries. Garages.
I’ve been organizing my house since the day we moved in 10.5 months ago.
It helps that I had a clean slate. The house was brand new, it came with plenty of storage space, and all of my belongings were boxed up. All I had to do was find spots for items I wanted to keep, donate the items I no longer wanted but were still in good condition, and throw away the rest.
If you’re unmotivated to organize your house, allow yourself to buy storage bins that add style and functionality to your home.
Choose bins in the same color or pattern for a cohesive look behind your closet doors and cabinets.
Settle on bins that come in a variety of shapes and sizes for large and small items and spaces.
If you have to clean out a space before you can organize it, set out three empty boxes – 1 for items to keep, 1 for donating, and 1 for throwing away.
To make organizing less daunting, tackle one space at a time. For example, take on the linen closet and only the linen closet before moving onto a new space.
For larger tasks, set aside a block of time. For example, allow four hours on a Tuesday afternoon to make a dent in the master closet. When those four hours are up, stop. Then set aside another block of time the following week.
If you’ve organized a space in the past year or so, give it another scan. You’ll likely find more items to purge that didn’t make the cut last time. On the flip-side, if you’re undecided on an item, keep it. It just might make the cut next time around.
These storage bins from Target come in different colors and sizes for style and functionality. Photos by Cindy Hernandez
My living room and master bedroom are outfitted with the Hayworth Collection from Pier 1 Imports, one of my all-time favorite stores.
So when I heard some locations were closing their doors, I had to stop in and see what other pieces I could add to my collection. I had been in the market for the desk and the bench. On this particular Saturday, it was the bench that came home with me.
Not only does it add style to the room, the bench provides seating for when you don’t want to ruffle the bed.
The Hayworth bench is sturdy, and tufted, and extends the length of the bed for those warm nights you kick off the blankets.
If there is one drawback it is that the bench does not provide storage. Wouldn’t it be great to lift the cushion and tuck away seasonal throws in a hidden compartment?
The Hayworth bench adds style to the room and seating for when you don’t want to ruffle the bed. Photo by Cindy Hernandez
The curio cabinet in the living room wasn’t supposed to go in the living room. It was meant for the bar room to hold small bottles of booze. We bought the curio about a year before the house was ready and stashed it in storage.
When the house was done, and the bar pieces and curio were in the bar room, we realized there was too much furniture and the space felt cramped.
We also realized the Guinness collection deserved to take center stage in that room. The plan was to position the bar at an angle and hang the mirror on the same wall as the window.
But after we moved in, and my parents were over for a visit and a tour, my Dad said the mirror deserved to be on a wall of its own. This was the same wall that the curio was supposed to go against.
A week later, my Dad mentioned again that the room would look better with the bar and mirror as the main components in the space. (Yes, my Dad giving decorating advice.)
John and I agreed. But that meant the curio would have to go. Fortunately, the curio matched the pieces in the living room. It now holds crystal pieces from Waterford and Tiffany & Co instead of Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark.
But I am not completely sold on having it in the living room. Not that it looks bad. I just doesn’t look like the plan I had for the space.
For starters, there is only one spot in the living room that I can put the curio- against the pony walls that divide the bar room and living room. But that means it blocks the sight lines that should have run through the area.
I’m also not a fan of displaying crystal. The look is too 1980s. But you can’t have a curio and nothing on the shelves.
I’m sure it looks nice. It provides another piece of the Hayworth Collection to the space. But the curio is an example of not being 100 percent happy with the outcome. Then again, are designers every 100 percent happy with the outcome?
The curio cabinet moved from the bar room where it took up too much space to the living room where it holds pieces of crystal, a look I’m not particularly happy with. Photo by Cindy Hernandez
Growing up, I remember our house always being clean. Decorated. Updated.
I remember going to the store with my Mom to buy a new piece of decor, or to just look around and see what new items had come in.
I remember my Mom rearranging the furniture in the house because it needed a refresh. She still does that today.
I think that is where I got my bug to decorate. To make sure my house is always presentable.
I remember my Mom hosting interior decorating parties at home. I remember going to other women’s houses and my Mom being able to call out which items were from interior decorating parties.
I remember items in the house not having a purpose; they were “just for looks.” And carrying that idea into my own spaces as an adult.
I remember the formal living rooms being for company and off-limits to the kids. I think that is why I still hold a soft spot in my heart for floorpans that have the formal living and dining rooms.
Formal. Does formal even exist in the design world anymore? Everything is cozy. Relaxed. And there is nothing wrong with that. But cozy and relaxed can still look nice. There is no reason for a house to not look beautiful at best or well put together at worst.
Today, my Mom shops at dollar stores. If she allows herself to splurge at Kohl’s, it’s always with a coupon. And not a holiday goes by that she doesn’t show up at my door with a table runner or matching spoon rest and bowl. It was my Mom who pointed out the Hayworth Collection at Pier 1 Imports that now outfits my living room and master bedroom.
For years, I just assumed this is what you do. You buy a house or condo or even rent an apartment, and you decorate it. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that a decorated home is not everyone’s reality.
So it must have been something that was ingrained in me at an early age. Or maybe it’s hereditary. Or maybe I just became accustomed to living in spaces that were organized and put together. But whatever it is, I got it from my Mama.
The Hayworth Collection outfits the living room, thanks to my Mom who spotted the mirrored furniture during a shopping trip to Pier 1 Imports. Photo by Cindy Hernandez
If you’re like me, you buy something at the store with the intention of setting it out. One day.
Over the years, you come across the item. You could get rid of it.
Or you could set it out now. But the space just isn’t ready for it. So you wait, knowing one day the space will be ready and this item is going to look great.
That was the case with a collection of chevron mirrors I bought back at my condo when I thought I would be living there forever.
I bought the two smaller mirrors at Target. I wanted three. They only had two, so I grabbed them, thinking I would find a third one at another location.
I found the large- and medium-sized mirrors at Bed, Bath & Beyond. All with the intention of hanging them up. One day.
Well, that day never came at my condo, but the day did come at Goldilocks.
The larger mirror works perfectly on the wall near the entryway. I am a firm believer that a mirror belongs in the entryway, if you have an entryway.
The two smaller pieces fit just right on the half wall behind the front door.
The medium-sized piece works alone in the hall leading into the bathroom.
The mirrors hang on separate walls, but they are close enough to each other to tie the spaces together.
And like I said all those years ago, the room would be ready for the mirrors. One day. And today was the day.
Every entryway should have a mirror. Photo by Cindy HernandezThree smaller chevron mirrors tie the spaces together. Photo by Cindy Hernandez
The design blog you are reading was two years in the making. The idea came to me when John and I bought our house.
Construction of the house took a year.
Then there was the busy-ness of moving in. And getting settled. And then the holidays. I also needed a laptop.
After I ran out of excuses, I sat my ass down and punched out 12 blog posts over the course of a week just to “get some in the can” as we used to say in my newspaper days.
Most of these posts were written a month ago. And more posts are ready to be written if only I could peel myself away from news about CoVid-19 long enough to set out an Easter dish towel and take a picture of it.
I’m not alone.
Shortly before I launched the blog, I created an Instagram account – designing_goldilocks – and began following other design bloggers, influencers and hobbyists. Partly for inspiration and partly to share the love with them in the hopes that they would return the favor.
But in between the colored eggs, bunny figurines, and gingham tablecloths, I have realized these women have more than the love of designing their home in common with me. They have anxiety.
Instead of curling up in bed to IG stories of springtime tablescapes, I lie in bed and listen to their struggles of the day. My struggles of the day.
On March 12, my employer sent me home with my laptop in response to the coronavirus pandemic. I haven’t left the house since.
Not even to check my mail.
I haven’t driven my car.
I haven’t stepped over the threshold of my front door.
I ventured into the alley today to bring in the trash bin and immediately turned back when I saw two neighbors driving up on their bikes.
I’m afraid someone will pass the virus on to me and then on to John who falls into the sensitive group category.
Because I haven’t left the house, I have had to subscribe to a grocery delivering service. The first time a delivery came, I answered the door and retrieved the bags from my shopper wearing a mask and latex gloves.
The second time, I advised the shopper to put the groceries in the box that John set out on the front porch and then drive away. Once I deemed enough time had passed, I opened the door and retrieved the bags. Also while wearing a mask and gloves.
My anxiety is at an all-time high over this pandemic. I barely open the windows and let in fresh air for fear the virus is wafting in the air.
I feel fine when I’m locked in my office and working my day job. I’ve even taken on extra hours to keep myself occupied. And the extra money won’t hurt. But once I punch the clock, the anxiety kicks in.
I love my house and I love being at home. I’m a homebody by nature and never saw the appeal of buzzing around town on weekends. But social distancing by choice and social distancing to save your life are two very different realities.
The thought of something deadly lurking on the other side of my front door has made me sick. It has paralyzed me. And I’m not the only one. My fellow designers are living the same paralysis.
Maybe there is a connection between creating the perfect home and anxiety. There is something about order. Organization. Everything in its place.
I have kidded a few times these past two weeks about picking a fine time to start a design blog. Just when I’m about to write about purchases from my favorite stores, a global pandemic hits and forces retailers to temporarily close their doors out of an abundance of caution for their employees and shoppers.
But maybe the blog is just what I needed during these scary times. And not just to keep my mind focused on something I love, but for the community of women who otherwise would not have been in my life during these scary times.
Getting a grip on our freshly poured foundation back in September 2018. Photo by John Hooks
And ever since the growing coronavirus pandemic pushed employers to let their people work from home, I have been doing just that. And fortunately for me, I had already designated a room in the house to work from home.
The room has a desk with a chair and hutch, a chest of drawers, and a twin bed. What it doesn’t have is personality.
That is partly due to the fact that I have not made the time to decorate it. No one goes into the room except me, and that’s only when I’m working.
The other part is, I cannot settle on a decor.
The desk, hutch and chest are matching pieces with a washed-oak finish. The twin bed was mine from childhood – my first bed out of the crib.
The furniture works in that they serve a purpose for now. I bought the washed-oak pieces at the turn of the century when I decorated the home office/spare bedroom at my condo in a giraffe theme.
I still have the giraffe items and a global-inspired throw to match. I could simply set out the stuff and see how it goes.
Or I could extend to that room the Hollywood Regency style that I have in the living room. The downside is that it would take some time to afford those items.
Or I could just do nothing, which sometimes is the best decor when you’re undecided.
My work-from-home space has no personality, mostly because I’m undecided on a decor. Photo by Cindy Hernandez
Some decors have a combination of metals. I used to think you had to be either/or. That was, until I started designing Goldilocks.
Because John and I wanted yellow for the exterior color, we kept with the warm color palette and chose brown for the interior walls. This made it easy to go with the standard sable-colored cabinetry. And when I think of yellow and brown, I think of gold metals.
But I had a growing collection of silver and grey furniture at my condo that I wasn’t about to part with. Plus, the kitchen appliances and vent hood were going to be stainless steel and the chandelier over the dining table, silver.
What to do?
How was I going to mix the cool effects of grey and silver with the warmth that exudes from yellow and brown?
Enter the monochromatic artwork we found for the dining room walls. The art pieces include gold, silver, grey, cream and black and help transition the warm color scheme in the kitchen into the cool color scheme in the adjoining living room.
I realize now that it would have been okay to mix the metals without the monochromatic pieces. But the artwork gave me the permission I felt I needed at the time to cross the color palette lines.
What metal is your house? Have you ever thought of metals in this way?
These monochromatic art pieces help mix the warm browns and cool greys throughout the main floor. Photo by Cindy Hernandez
Designing Goldilocks 