Summer of Love

I am so excited for the summer! Mostly because I won't be in school! I will admit that I have learned quite a bit this semester. I feel my photography has greatly improved with the technical aspects that I've been studying. Visual Culture is a daunting class. I have a 12 page paper due in a couple of weeks that I have yet to start writing. Tonight's the night I'll start!

This summer Nate and I will be living with his parents! Some of my friends are quite surprised that I'd even consider moving in with my in-laws. That's not a knock on them in any shape or form either. They're wonderful, loving people and I'm sure we are going to have a great summer. My friends just know how independent I think I am. Nate and I are having a house built! We are so so excited. It will hopefully (cross your fingers for us) be done by the end of the summer. In a week or two we'll be picking out colors with the builder's designer! So in preparation for my very own home, I will be starting a design notebook. This notebook will hold ideas, images, measurements, and general design information. I'm so excited!

I'm also looking forward to focus more closely on two things this summer: Nate and art. Nate and I will play a lot of tennis this summer, and that's exactly how things should be. We both love being active and outdoors, it's just so hard to find the time for it during the semester. Trips to White Sands and Cloudcroft are sure to be in store. I'm also looking forward to all the fun things (like shopping for furniture and appliances) that we'll get to do together in preparation for our home. I recently entered three of my digitally altered photographs into a silent art auction put on as a fundraiser for one of the colleges on campus. All three sold! I was quite surprised. I'm anxious to make more art, research more ways to show and sell it, and try to create some sort of website to publicise my work. Nate is also very excited for me. He's such a wonderful husband and friend. I'm so lucky he picked me.

"I've got my 45 on so I can rock on" -Soak Up the Sun Sheryl Crow

So in keeping with the design mood, here's some tips I've picked up from the Home and Garden Television Website.

Tips on how to design a great room:
1. Know what you want from a room
2. Remember who lives there
3. Learn what pleases your senses
4. Snag photos from design magazines and keep a notebook of ideas
5. Keep size in mind when buying furniture
6. Go with your flow, work with similar tones and themes
7. Focus on one great piece
8. Formulate a plan, keep key measurements and running shopping list to use for comparisons
9. Shop around, don't buy everything matching from the same store
10. Be fresh, not faddish, avoid trendy patterns on expensive pieces, choose neutral colors for large upholstered pieces (like your sofa)
11. Light it up, variety of lighting in every room
12. Make it personal, room should be a reflection of your style, buy original art work