Kitty Deschanel

Three years into hosting Thanksgiving, SN and I have learned a few strategies for making the holiday meal (and the time spent before and after the meal because, let's face it, there's a lot more to a family gathering than just the meal) a success. I print elegant menus like the ones at my favorite restaurant . I print funny and interesting food-related quotes and facts, which I scatter along the table. (Julia Child has some great ones. “Always remember: If you’re alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who’s going to know?”) My most popular Thanksgiving printable has to be Thanksgiving Bingo cards. Featuring gems such as "Was part of a prolonged awkward silence," "Played bartender," and "Forgot someone's name," it's the perfect conversation starter. The first person to complete their card wins a prize. When the table has been set, I place a Bingo card on each plate, accompanied by a little pencil.

Don't you love stepping into a luxury suite? You can't beat a hotel room that makes you feel like you’re enveloped in elegance. By incorporating certain elements, you can enjoy this same experience every time you enter your home.  From Marriotts and Hiltons to five-star boutiques, every hotel offers different amenities and perks for their guests, but they all adhere to the same basic interior design rules to create a calm and consistent feel.  Whether you’re ready to style your whole home like a bed-and-breakfast or just want to focus on one specific space, these ideas will help create the relaxing feel that is popular in hotels around the world.   It need not cost a lot - r earrange, refresh, and re-frame the way you think about your house and what you already have. Now that these interior design secrets from hotels are out, y ou'll be living like Eloise at The Plaza! 1. White Linens Nothing feels quite as luxurious as slipping into bed at night in a se

SN and I recently had the pleasure of attending the ARTsmart Art of Home tour in Santa Fe . Sponsored by Keller Williams Realty, it's an annual, free event that combines art from local galleries with luxury homes for sale. This year, the event fell on the same weekend as Santa Fe Restaurant Week, pairing two of my greatest loves, houses and food. How could we possibly resist? If you're considering visiting New Mexico, be sure to add the ARTsmart Art of Home tour and Santa Fe Restaurant Week to your travel itinerary, if at all possible. We always drive up from Albuquerque for the Santa Fe Parade of Homes every summer, even though we think it's overpriced...but maybe not anymore because this was so much better. At one of the homes, we were thanked because attending this event supports local school children...but probably only if you buy some artwork, right? And...we didn't.  You know what will help set things right though? An awesome blog post to spread the word for

Remember all those years ago when Sexy Nerd started knocking down walls  in a surprise master bathroom remodel? The entire renovation project, including the adjoining master bedroom, only cost about $5,000.  Our goal was to go from builder-boring to spa-like. An unexpected, and gladly welcome, side effect was that the remodel more than paid for itself when we sold out house. In 2018,  we sold our home  quickly in a 4-way bidding war - unheard of in our cookie-cutter neighborhood where homes had always sold for much less after languishing forever on the market. Our realtor was stunned.  We're fairly certain this bathroom was a big part of our success. (Our much-complimented  red kitchen  certainly helped too.) It raised the average price for our entire neighborhood. You're welcome, neighbors! I'd hate to go to all the trouble of gutting a bathroom only to end up with a different style of yawn. You know how Iris Apfel says, "More is more. Less is a bore."?