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Party planning Goldilocks

There’s a birthday coming up in our household. John’s birthday.

I guess you could say it’s a quarantine birthday. But John and I love being home, so it’s not a huge sacrifice to stay in and celebrate.

If the world were normal, we may have traveled to Lake Tahoe for the week or Las Vegas for the weekend, two of John’s favorite destinations.

If stay-at-home orders were not in place, we may have taken a rideshare to one of this favorite Chandler spots that serves a great sazerac. John loves New Orleans, too.

But the world is not normal and we have to stay put until the middle of May. Not a problem. We’ll throw a fiesta at home.

We’ve already placed an order for pre-made margaritas at a nearby liquor store. In the next few days I’ll put in the call for a party platter of Mexican munchies at a local restaurant. If I’m lucky, I’ll find a cake shop that is open. I’m thinking bundt cake.

And just like that, a fiesta is planned, albeit with a guest list of two, and the two includes the birthday boy.

But the concept is the same, whether big or small, under quarantine or not. Order the drinks, food, and dessert. Decorate. Celebrate.

If anyone wants to see the birthday boy, maybe they can do one of those drive-by parades we’ve been seeing a lot on social media lately. I’ll wheel John out onto the balcony where he can wave to the unwashed masses.

Then later, we will nap. Or watch a movie. Or who knows what? There is no game plan, and that is all part of the fun, right?

*Every good fiesta needs margaritas, amirite? Photos by Cindy Hernandez*

*Party platters are perfect for serving crowds, even if it’s just a crowd of two.*

*John* prefers pie over cake, but I’m sure he’ll love any dessert I come up with. He’s sweet like that.

Budget friendly decor

A lot of Americans are struggling financially in this pandemic.

Some Americans are doing okay, but are holding back on buying non-essential items.

Others are frugal, pandemic or not.

The argument could be made that home decor falls into the category of non-essential items.

While I would agree with that, I also believe that home decor doesn’t have to be expensive, pandemic or not.

For those who cannot make such purchases right now, I get it.

I too have been unemployed, or employed but financially strapped. But I never stopped dreaming about how I would decorate my personal spaces once circumstances improved.

If this blog serves as inspiration for your home, that makes me happy. Because the purpose of the blog is not to spend money you don’t have, but to use new or existing items to create calm, functional and happy spaces for you and your family.

Many of the items you will find in my house I have had for years. It’s true that I have splurged on some of the decor. But for the most part, the purchases I have made lately complement any budget.

Below are some examples.

*This Project 62 landscape wall art from Target was under $15. Photos by Cindy* Hernandez

This wooden accent lamp was under $10. It’s also from Target.

This accent plant was about $5. And yes, it’s from Target too.

A home is never done

I was talking to a co-worker recently who had just bought her first house. She was loving her new home, but was surprised that a week off of work was not enough time to get settled.

“You’re never done,” I told her.

I had been in my house for 8 months and still had boxes to unpack, artwork to hang, items to donate.

And I still do. In fact, I always plan to have furniture to arrange, bedding to buy, closets to organize.

That is because a home is never done. There is always something to decorate, refresh, update.

As the house ages, there will always be a repair to make, a major appliance to replace, a bathroom to remodel. And just when you think you’re done with the last room, the first room needs attention again.

It’s a vicious cycle. But a necessary cycle, if you love your home. The best plan of attack it to stay on top of everything as best you can.

Strike a balance between staying stylish and maintaining the major systems, such as the roof and HVAC.

Build routine maintenance into the budget so that you’re not in fix-it mode, which can be more costly in the long run.

If and when the time comes to sell the house, most of the major updates will already be done. I had to pump $7,000 into my condo in order to sell it and never got to enjoy the improvements.

This is the boring stuff, I know, but well worth it. Think of it this way, it’ll give you more money to spend on the fun stuff.

*These items are stashed in the guest bedroom until we decide whether to keep, sel*l or donate them. Photos by Cindy Hernandez

*Staying on top of* the house’s major systems will prove less costly down the road.

Statement pieces

You won’t find clutter in my house.

No bric-a-brac on shelves.

No knickknacks.

No trinkets.

This is mostly because I hate to dust. So the fewer items on display, the fewer items to get dusty.

Instead I go for statement pieces. A vase. A plant. A votive.

The pieces are grand. They speak for themselves. They encapsulate my decor. They don’t take center stage, they take the whole stage.

If you’re in the process of organizing your house and want to de-clutter, take these steps to maximize your space without forgoing style:

Pick a cluttered tabletop.

Choose a favorite object that represents your decor. Be sure it is large enough to pack a punch without overtaking the table.

Place it in the center or the corner, wherever it makes sense.

Stand back and evaluate. The piece should be eye-catching. A conversation-starter. It should cause someone to do a double-take and say, “This piece looks like you.”

Here are 3 examples of statement pieces in my house

This pineapple piece takes the stage on the buffet, all from Pier 1 Imports. Photos by Cindy Hernandez

*This artificial* plant from Target adds greenery to this mirrored accent table from Pier 1 Imports. It’s okay to leave the bottom shelf empty.

*This centerpiece says it all, ‘centerpiece.’*

Utility sink

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

The story of an accent table

I love accent tables.

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

Organizing tips

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*

Wherefore art thou Curio

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*

I get it from my Mama

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

Mirror mirror

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.