Easton Place

Terrarium Inspiration and Planting

"Terrain", "black thumb", "hike", "moss", "nature", "planting", "terrarium"Easton Place

One of my favorite retailers is Terrain. They have terrific buyers who fill the shop with gorgeous goods for the home and garden. I'm fortunate enough to live within 20 minutes of a Terrain. This past weekend I decided I'd plant the terrarium again. Technically, the planter belongs to my older son. When he was roughly 10 years old, he asked for a terrarium for his birthday. He enjoyed planting the terrarium for a couple of years, but with age comes other interests and eventually the glass planter found itself in storage.

This beautiful tree fungus (discovered during one of our hikes) inspired me.

On Saturday I collected the terrarium from storage, cleaned it up, and gave it another go. Terrain has an amazing selection of small terrariums, plants and accessories. Most plants are $5 each and accessories as low as $4, so the investment isn't a large one. I chose a handful of plants, a sweet faux mushroom and a jar of green glass bits. I already had a collection of fresh moss from a hike with my husband last week which completed look. Truth is, I seem to have a "black thumb", but every now and again I try planting something. Wish me luck!

Matthew and I found this beautiful moss on our last hike.

I couldn't resist picking out a mini (faux) mushroom.

Looks like a scene right from the forest.

Added the dome.

That little yellow flowering plant is clearly the star of the show!

Martha's Vineyard Wine Fest 2014

"Atria", "Detente", "Harbor View Hotel", "MVWF", "Martha's Vineyard", "Not Your Sugar Mamas", "Nutmeg Nanny", "Organic Bath Company", "Wine", "cooking with books", "running to the kitchen"Easton Place
I love Martha's Vineyard. I've written a few times about my family's travels to the vineyard, but today's post I'm sharing my recent solo trip to MV! That's right... this wife/mother of 2/small business owner took a lovely trip sans family.

The weekend of May 8-11 found the island filled with visitors welcoming the Spring season, enjoying the Pink & Green Weekend and the Martha's Vineyard Wine Fest(benefiting the Martha's Vineyard Boys and Girls Club). My dear friend, Marnely, author at Cooking with Books, is in charge of the MVWF Social Media/Public Relations, so it was also a chance for the two of us to catch up and enjoy a glass of wine and a few meals together.

I was thrilled when Marnely asked if I would design the insert cards for the "Swag Bags".  These cards listed the websites and twitter accounts for the wine fest donors! Take a look at all the amazing businesses who so generously gave samples (and sometimes full sizes) of their goods.


I arrived Friday around noon, giving me plenty of time to rest up from the long drive and ferry ride before meeting up with Marnely and another friend, Brandy O'Neill of Nutmeg Nanny. The three of us had dinner at Atria. This event was appropriately called "King of Cabernets". The five course meal was paired with five different Cabernets from the following wineries: Frog's Leap Winery, Hewitt Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyard, Louis Martini, Faust Winery and Trinchero. The meal was prepared by Chef & Atria Owner Christian Thornton.


Saturday morning, breakfast was at The Harbor View Hotel with Marnely, Brandy, and Gina of Running to the Kitchen. Later that afternoon we all met up for the grand tasting where I also got to meet Gianne of Organic Bath Company. Wine after wine samplings, tasty canapés, local artisans and even a little sangria made the event fantastic. So much hard work went into making this festival special. Please be sure to read about the hard-working men and women who made this event a success!

Sunday was my last day on the Vineyard. It began with an amazing brunch at Detente. A trip to MV wouldn't be complete without a little shopping, and a stop for some chocolate from Not Your Sugar Mamas. This was truly one of the nicest visits to the Vineyard. A special thank you to all the people who made the MVWF so enjoyable and a BIG thank you to Marnely Rodriguez-Murray for being such a wonderful hostess and friend.

Cheers!
-Patti

Hall Bathroom: Before and After

"benjamin moore", "black and white", "guest bathroom", "subway tile", "wunder reno", "wunderreno"Easton Place

When we started our major remodeling project nearly one year ago, the first thing we addressed on the inside of the house was the hall bathroom. We didn't change any walls or plumbing locations. We did gut the room completely (including a new window) and start from scratch.

We chose an oversized, soft white subway tile on the walls and shower/tub area and we went with a classic one inch black & white square tile for the floor. The fixtures are polished chrome and polished nickel. The counter tops are honed Carrera marble. You can see the transformation below!

The hardware

is from Restoration Hardware.

The sconces

are from Potter Barn.

The plumbing fixtures

are by Moen. The

medicine cabinets

are from Pottery Barn. The bowed shower rod is from Moen. The paint is

Wickham Gray by Benjamin Moore

. The vanity was custom made.

So, how do you like it? I love it! I still have a little artwork to hang. I'm considering enlarging some vacation photos and have them printed in black & white. That should give it a personal touch. I think I've covered all the details and provided links when I can. If I've missed something, let me know in the comments!

Stay tuned for the Primary Bathroom reveal and eventually the kitchen reveal! I still have a little painting left in that room. I have already shown the kitchen on my Instagram account, but I'll be putting together a before/after post here as well.

Cheers,

-Patti

I Did It: 30 Days of Blogging

"I Did It", "month of blogging", "nablopomo", "recap"Easton Place

Well here I am at day 30 of NaBloPoMo and I'm feeling pretty good! I started the month of April, accepting a challenge from my Twitter friend, Liz Thompson. All I had to do was post on my blog every. single. day. of April. Easy, right? Honestly, not always easy. I began with being completely organized and writing blog posts ahead of schedule, but ended with squeezing in a blog post at 10:00 at night (or later!). The bottom line is... I did it and I enjoyed it! I can't say I'm ready to try it again, but I will tell you it was a positive challenge. It forced me to be creative everyday. Creativity is a good thing, especially when you're in a design business such as Easton Place! I hope you enjoyed this month of blogging. If you missed any posts, scroll through! Let me know which post is your favorite. I can tell from analytics which posts received the most views (Master Bedroom and Breakfast Nook), but I'd love to know from you what you'd like to see more of or maybe less of in future posts.

Below are recaps of each post, grouped by week. Thank you for reading! I hope you continue to stop by my blog and maybe even my Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Shop!

week one

week two

week three

week four

April 29th
Cheers!
-Patti