I like to follow decorating trends to see what’s new. Decorating my own home to be warm, cozy and inviting is a priority. Peaceful, calm, warm and inviting are the words that describe how I want my home to feel. To do this, I’ve added pillows and fabric, color and warm quilts to throw over my lap when I watch TV.

When reading up on the decorator trends, I realize that my home has some of the following decorating mistakes that designers would say, “FIX!” It doesn’t matter because I’m doing these anyway.

#1: Draperies

I decided that our huge triple window sliding glass door did not need drapes. I know that the timeless design of drapes makes a room softer, brings color and interest to the room, and is a designer’s trick to make the home feel cozy. There’re millions of choices – from soft sheer to dramatic color designs.

Some of these can beautifully transform a room adding a polished and finished look. Drapes provide privacy and sometimes a sound or weather barrier to the outside world. Going without draperies could be my missed opportunity to add class and design to my open concept living, dining and kitchen area.

But instead of drapes, I chose cordless shades that fold up into a few inches at the top of each of the three big glass windows. They are light filtering rather than light blocking shades, so when the northern sun shines too bright or too warm, I pull them and still have a room full of filtered light.

The window is 100% exposed when these shades are folded up at the top, and 100% covered when the shades are all the way to the floor. I skipped the decorator tip of dramatic and stunning drapes, and I love it that way. Daylight streams in with the view to the outside unhindered.

#2: Walls Painted Neutral Everywhere

All my walls are painted in a soft light gray. As you sit in my open living, dining and kitchen area, the paint you’ll see is exactly the same. Trends right now say to add a pop of color with paint or even peel and stick wallpaper design. I’d rather add my color in furnishings, rugs, or pillows instead of paint.

There’s something about my neutral walls that’s soothing. I know that a decorator would call it safe, but to me, it’s beautiful. When I hang a painting or wall hanging, it stands out on the wall.

All the frames of my gallery wall are dark and look stunning against the light gray. Is my neutral paint color because I’m not daring enough to take the chance? I don’t think so but could be! Whatever the case, this so-called decorating mistake of neutral painted walls is in my home to stay.

#3: Seat Cushions for My Dining Chairs

I made the seat cushions for my chairs because I couldn’t find any patterned ones that fit my taste. They are a funky weave with a diamond dark gray repeat pattern on an off-white background. I tried to make the ties to keep the pads in place on the chair, but they looked bulky and distracting when tied around my black chairs. My solution? I left the ties off.

Putting rug stabilizers under the chair pads was supposed to work to keep them in place, but I gotta say, it doesn’t. This results in the cushions shifting around and looking off kilter on the chairs after people get up, or even while they are sitting on them!

Even though I need the ties, these cushions are simple with no fuss. The string ties around the back made the look too fussy for me.

#4: A Welcoming Entrance to Your Front Door

I live in a town home community. You know, the kind where every single door and home look exactly alike? The way to tell if you are in the right home is by the house number. The steps up to the door are bland concrete with a pipe railing for support. All the doors have the same, HOA approved outer screen doors on them.

I thought a lot about how I could make the entrance appealing and warm but gave up. The curb appeal to my town home is zip, zero, nada! I guess my guests will have to experience the warm appeal of visiting me after the door is open and I greet them.

#5: Lighting Under Cabinets

I ordered magnetic lights to clip under my kitchen cabinets for help in reading my recipes and generally illuminating my space. Can you ever have too much light in the kitchen?

The ones I chose are motion activated, which I thought would be great! It would save batteries as they’d only come on when I needed them in the kitchen then off when I left the area. They had superb customer ratings and were recommended by decorators.

But this completely backfired. The lights would come on when I approached the counter area but not stay on unless I was actively moving about. When I would be studying a recipe from a cookbook, they would go off due to lack of movement.

Then, when I was not in the kitchen, my cats walking on the floor past the cupboards triggered the lights. The batteries were used up fast, probably due to cats roaming. I got rechargeable batteries to save money, but they were a hassle due to recharging about every two days to give the light I needed.

What a designer mistake. I need the built-in electrical under cabinet lighting to solve my problem. The money spent on this designer suggestion was a waste.

#6: My Rechargeable Vacuum Is Right in Sight

I absolutely love my cordless vacuum. What a wonderful invention! It would be even better if there were outlets in closets to set the vacuum in for recharging. Mine has to sit out in the room – by an outlet and on the charger – to be ready whenever I need it.

It doesn’t exactly fit the décor, but with two cats, a husband, and myself making messes, it’s going to have to stay ready and be right there in plain view.

You may get the idea from reading my decorator mistakes, that my home needs a designer’s help. I don’t think so. It feels cozy, warm and inviting to me. It’s full of light, open and airy, with comfortable light gray recliners for my husband and myself.

We have a beautiful navy-blue sofa with an area rug that gets lots of guest compliments. The walls reflect us, with a gallery wall of our favorite pieces. When you walk into our home, it’s homey and safe, with a feel of love that fills our rooms.

My view is that we don’t need a decorator to help us design our dwellings to feel like home. Tap into what makes you feel good when you walk in the door. My “so-called” decorating mistakes are part of what makes it my home… and they are here to stay.

What makes it feel like home when you walk in your front door? Do you think you need help from a decorator to feel at home? Are you doing some well-known decorator mistakes? What advice would you give someone to make their home cozy and inviting?

Melissa Gorga’s Neon Yellow Hoodie Sweater on Instagram

Real Housewives of New Jersey Instagram Fashion 2021

While Melissa Gorga took the opportunity in this post to teach us about @TeacherStyleBox (a clothing rental subscription service created exclusively for teachers!), she also schooled us about the existence of this neon yellow hoodie sweater. Which needless to say we can’t wait to shop now so that like Mrs. Gorga we too can be very bright.

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to Shop Her 525 America Sweater

Click Here For Additional Stock and Colours

Melissa’s is from Envy (Sold Out)

Click Here to Visit Teacher Style Box

Photo: @MelissaGorga

Originally posted at: Melissa Gorga’s Neon Yellow Hoodie Sweater

I’m so excited. It’s spring! If you’re like me, getting outside and enjoying nature, sunshine, warmth, and family are top of my list. With that though often come sunburn, skin damage, and potential dehydration we all want to avoid.

How can we get the lovely, bronzed beauty look of the sun, without the negative downsides? What’s more, how can we avoid foundation altogether, yet not have the weird look of a pale-face (from using sunblock) with a lovely, tanned body?

Looking weird is, well, bottom of my list, so with that in mind, here are my suggestions to have a sun-kissed look without the sun damage.

Bronzing Gel

In the above video, I demonstrate how to use a bronzing gel without foundation to add color. Bronzing gel can be amazing, or it can make you look like you’ve been vomiting. I used FACE Atelier Pro Ultra Sheer Bronzer, which goes on sheer and adds a lovely warmth to the skin without heading toward the crazy-lady orange-face look.

You can also combine your foundation with the gel bronzer, or apply a sheer foundation on top of the bronzer. I chose to go for the no-foundation look, with a little Amazing Concealer to brighten under my eyes.

Powder Bronzer

Having some definition under your cheekbones, jawline, and forehead can be really stunning in the summertime. It’s a simple trick and makes a huge difference. I used Bobbi Brown Medium Bronzer blended in on top of the gel bronzer to achieve this.

As a warning, if you have oily skin, be sure to powder your gel bronzer before you use the powder bronzer. You know that streaky makeup look you see on some ladies in the grocery store checkout queue? We want to avoid that. It’s an extra step, but worth the time spent.

Cream Shadow, Cream Blush

Break out the cream makeup! Cream eye shadow and blush hold up wonderfully well in hot, sweaty weather. Recently, I worked on a photo shoot in the 90-degree heat of Costa Rica.

Besides getting dehydrated, diarrhea (too much information, I know), and nausea through the whole four-day shoot (yikes), the makeup looked gorgeous and didn’t need retouching because I used almost exclusively cream products.

Thank goodness, because I kept dashing to the bathroom and guzzling Coca Cola to keep me from passing out (always fun).

In the video, I used MAC Pro Longwear Paint-pot in Groundwork all over my eye lid, and Jane Iredale Gel Mystikol Eyeliner in Dark Topaz. On my cheeks I used MAC Glowplay Blush in Cheer Up blended on top of my cheekbone and into my brow bone. It’s a lovely peachy shade that makes my skirt fly up.

Don’t Forget the Sunblock!

There must be a million sunblock products on the market. I love Image Skin Care Prevention SPF 30, and have been using it for years. In truth, you don’t need an SPF higher than 30, as the difference in length of time and quality of protection between 30 and 50 is minimal.

If you’re out in the sun, be sure to reapply every two to three hours. Having said that, we have all been locked inside for a year due to the pandemic, and we need some vitamin D! My advice is to protect the skin on your face but allow your body to receive the full suns rays until your skin starts to turn color, then apply sunblock.

Enjoy the summer sunshine, protect your skin, and look like the bronzed goddess I know you are! Happy family time, outdoor activities, and sunshine!

What do you expect to do as the weather warms up and summer arrives? How do you plan to protect your skin? Do you use sun tan makeup to look sun-kissed? Which products are your favorite during the summer season?

Melissa Gorga’s Gold “GG” Stud Earrings

Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 11 Fashion

If you’ve noticed—which as a Blondetourage Babe I’m guessing you probably have—Melissa Gorga has been wearing gold GG studs in her second earring hole pretty much all season. And as I’m sure you guessed, those G’s don’t stand for Gorga.

If you love a logo and you’re going to splurge a little on some earrings, take a lesson from Melissa. Purchase a pair you can wear everyday that won’t go out of style quickly just like our fave Guccified Gorga.

The Realest Housewife,

Big Blonde Hair

Click Here to Shop her Gucci GG Stud Earrings

Click Here for Additional Stock

Originally posted at: Melissa Gorga’s Gold “GG” Stud Earrings