Questions for little ‘ol ME??

A few days weeks months ago my new friend Giorgina over at Décor Medley asked me to do an interview. This sweet woman put up with me and waited about three months for me to get back to her…I really hope it was worth it! Check out my interview here to find out more about me!

So you may have noticed if you’ve asked me a question about one of my posts that I suck royally at getting back to you. I mean…ROYALLY. I see the question in the comments and then it’s gone…flitters out of my head like a little butterfly flying into the sunset…

Ahhh…butterflies…sunsets...I need to watch the sunset tomorrow -- it really is beautiful. I wonder if butterflies hibernate or if they just die before winter? What should I make for dinner tomorrow night? I wonder if it’s going to be warm again tomorrow. Should I wear my coat or just a jacket again?

SEE?? It’s GONE I tell you! So I just wanted to let you all know I’ll start answering you in the comments of each post. So if you ask something, go back and check out the comments, look for my face, and you should get your answer. If you don’t, or if you’ve asked me something I haven’t gotten back to you on, please e-mail me (see the left) and I will get back to you that way!
While we are on the topic of questions, I thought I would share a few I’ve gotten that would be good to share with the group:
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Crystal asked: I have been looking for short rods like in your dining room, but haven't found them yet. Where did you find those?

Me: I actually cut my own, because I couldn't find any either. If you want wood poles, go get a four or six foot drapery pole (at Target, Lowe’s, wherever) and cut it in half (I use my hand saw) and then drill a new hole in the new end so that the finial can go in. Most of the time Lowes or Home Depot will cut them for you. If you have a metal pole, there's a handheld tool you can buy to cut them yourself. I think mine was less than $10 and it's really easy!

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Amy asked: I've always wanted to put all sorts of moldings in our house but had no idea how to go about it. My house was built in the 80's and all the walls are textured. I'm no design expert but it seems once I paint it all out white, the texture will make it look terrible. Is it a mistake to do moldings/chair rail at all on these walls?

Me: This is a good question. I've never tried it with textured walls. If you are just doing a chair rail or crown molding, it will be fine. It should look great. If you want to do the wainscoting look, with the squares, then yes, I think it will look off. You are right. It will add a bit more work, but what you could do is put pieces of smooth plywood or MDF on the wall first, to give it a smooth texture, then put the squares on that, and the chair rail above it. (That's actually how some of the professionals do it.) It would need to be really thin, and you want to make sure the cuts are done well, so they all go together along the wall seamlessly. It sounds like a lot more work, but it really wouldn't be that bad. The only bad part would be you may have to remove your baseboards, put the wood on the wall, then reinstall your baseboards. If the board is thin enough, you won't need to do that.

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Andrea asked: I just bought my first set of three apothecary jars. I want them to be more decorative than functional and they will probably be in my kitchen, atop my fridge or on top of my china hutch. What are some ideas to put in them? Help! I'm stuck.

Me: Oh fun!! OK, for the kitchen, try fake lemons, limes, apples, pears or artichokes. For the bathroom, I put in bath salts, soap, cotton balls. For other areas, try decorative balls (like mossy balls, etc.) or rocks, or I thought about just putting moss in some too...In our dining hutch I'm going to put wine corks in some and maybe some fake grapes.
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Stacy asked: I love all of your molding projects, you have inspired me to take on one of my own...I have columns similar to yours that already have nice molding on the top and bottom, but I want to add some trim work. Do you know if I am supposed to nail in the thin pieces of if I can just use some type of glue? I want to do the tall rectangles on the columns like yours.

Me: YES you can use glue on the molding, in fact, before I got a nail gun, I used glue for all of my skinny molding like that on the columns. Make sure you have a level...and some painters tape. If you get good glue, you shouldn't need it but I always taped them just in case after I hung them. I got the big caulk gun and the glue that fits in those. Be sure to put a VERY thin line of glue on the molding or it will squish out. I have many spots where you can see glue in our dining room. :)

And there you go – a few questions answered!

So to continue this, I thought we’d mix it up a little bit…since I’m in the middle of about 31 projects right now, I thought for this weekend, you could ask me something…anything!

Welllll, just about anything! Let’s be real here folks. So if you have a (fairly quick) question for me – whether it be decorating-related or personal -- leave it in the comments. I’ll answer them next week. Fun, yes?

P.S. If you have paid for a consultation, and I have not gotten back to you yet, PLEASE e-mail me again! Gmail has eaten a few e-mails and I want to make sure I get back to everyone!

Ahhh...butterflies…