Home 101 Urban General Store.  It’s a great new little shop on the sleepy south end of Shattuck Avenue in Downtown Berkeley.  The owners, Hadley Salz and Allison Etchison, have a keen eye for vintage chic and reuseable items. Their eclectic mix of wares includes vintage china and crystal, furniture such as chairs, desks, and cabinets as well as candles, jewelry, tea towels, and more!  

   

Here is one of their tables I wish I could find a home for.

This would make a wonderful small coffee ...

Last week at the Alameda Antiques Market and Faire I found a fun fish basket (panier de poissons) that I thought would make a great pendant light. It’s a unique shape and material, and it should cast a very interesting light through the metal wire which will create fun shadows on the wall. Making a pendant light is VERY EASY to do. You can transform almost anything into a pendant once you know the basics. So here’s how!

Materials you will need:

 1. 3 feet or longer piece of covered wire
 2....

Every Saturday at the Berkeley Farmers Market on Center Street, the orchid man sits with his huge stand of lovely orchids.  He has large ones and small ones, most for only $10.

Orchids are a wonderful plant to have as a floral arrangement.  They are simple, sophisticated, and colorful all at the same time.  What is even better is the blooms can last for up to two months, and you only have to really water them well every two weeks!

Here is one way to take 2 of those orchid plants and really ...

Walking into a beautifully designed room, you instantly feel the warmth and personality of the homeowner.  You should feel at ease and comfortable sitting down.  However capturing this on film is a completely different story, no matter how wonderful the design is.  This takes many years of experience, knowledge, and talent. After several failed attempts to photograph my own designs, I needed help and was introduced to Muffy.  She has since photographed many of my designs, some of which have a...

All the spring blossoming branches are here, but only for a couple more weeks. The fastest and easiest way to make your home feel fresh and beautiful is with flowers.  Having guests? Don’t have time to dust? No problem.  A simple arrangement will distract and disguise most anything.  

Just grab a bunch,

Clip the ends off the branches and then split them wit...