before.

where the green metal awnings are i'll add my own deep chocolate brown awnings over them.

the space jutting out to the right of this photo is part of the restaurant next to me.

an outside view of the doorway and some planters outside, love all of the brickwork.

this is a long hallway i'll close off and use for storage, there is a bathroom at the very end and then at the end to the right is another door which leads into the restaurant kitchen of the fabulous restaurant beside me.




these are my only two windows, or one window and the doors, but i love how large they are.


hey friends, here are the before shots i promised of my new chocolate shop location! it's a beautiful "nantucket style" development here on cape cod and the spaces are filling fast. i'm grateful to have grabbed a beautiful and small space which we be easy to manage and transform. i will be getting started this weekend ripping out the corporate style carpet and the awful drop ceiling. i have tons of ideas, my head hurts at this point, and cannot wait to begin. i hope to open the second or so week in november so i better get busy. i am located next to one of the capes finest restaurants with a renowned chef and am excited to have some of her customers popping into my shop. the name of my shop is sepia, and for those who may not realize, it means a dark, brown, warm and syrupy color. we thought that the name was easy to remember and summed up all that is chocolate. so i'll keep posting some "in progress" shots as well here and there and then of course a final shot. any comments or suggestions will be received with excitement! have a relaxing weekend everyone and enjoy the beautiful fall days...

i've been tagged!

chris over at reverie tagged me! if you haven't visited her blog, you must. i love reading her clever posts about her and her husband pete. it's like a great on-going story with pictures and funny commentary, and a couple of very adora-ble pets. i find myself wanting to see what happened today and i have actually laughed out loud while reading some of her posts, great sense of humor, lover of shoes, pets and a husband named pete. really unique blog! so...on that note, i included the picture above as more of an abstract explosion of feeling i felt at having been tagged, it felt exciting and i wanted to share the feeling. just that there are really interesting people who lead very busy lives, stopping to read my little ol' blog is an amazing experience to me and i am grateful for that and also am grateful i can browse the great world of blogging and meet so many of these intelligent and artistic human beings.
i'm asked to tell 6 details about myself, so let me think...
1.) i have a beautiful son who is taller than me now and that just does not seem right! he has eyes that are gold and has stopped people in their tracks to comment on them. blonde hair and gold eyes, yikes i'm in trouble down the road with the ladies i do believe. i've created another human being who is gorgeous, artistic, reads edgar allen poe for leisure and listens to opera from time to time amongst his other selections on his much beloved i-pod. so ethan is my greatest accomplishment.
2.) about me: i love eating frosted flakes, dry only, right out of the box. they are a great creation in themselves and i can't say enough about the pleasure i get in opening a brand new box.
3.) i was a music major, having family members all around me growing up who played the guitar, my father still does. then switched to my stronger suit which is art. i majored in college in fine arts, painting, and now have switched to the history of art and architecture to finish my bachelors. (which has taken about 10 years but who's counting...)
4.) i love to run, dance, embarass my son whenever i can, i love to talk with a british accent in private and public, which then embarress my son and does the job i set out to do, i love italian food, thai food and am a vegetarian, i love being outside and would live in a tent if it had a bathtub.
5.) re-finishing old pieces of furniture excites me, finding old pieces of houses excites me (like shutters, columns, doors, lights). i like the energy you feel in older pieces, what conversations have they heard? hunks of old homes are interesting and intruiging to me.
6.) i have to live near an edge. meaning, i lived in colorado once for 2 years and after having grown up right on the water in massachusetts, and even though there is tons of space in colorado, there is no edge. i need to be able to go to the edge, where the water is and look out. something comforting about that.

that's me in a tiny, itsy-bitsy nutshell! and now i'd like to tag a few others which are part of the rules and the fun: and the winners are...
lisa renee at juxtaposition design, in plain sight by kelli renee ( i don't think they are related), latelierivedi from south africa!, soulpretty in new york, kristen at dream, design, live, and finally la porte rouge, who does not say much but says alot through her gorgeous photography, maybe she'll just use images?
the rules: link to the person who tagged you, list the rules, tag 6 others, and leave them a comment to let them know you've tagged them!

mkd outdoor.

mark knudsen, having been involved formerly in the design of medical instruments, automotive products and fly fishing reels, hones in on this amazing line of built-to-last outdoor furniture, aptly named mkd outdoor. sculpture really. and again...love the use of chunky metal against the natural wood, tough holding up soft. mkd's products are equally suited for both residential and commercial spaces. headquartered in stockton, new jersey, mkd outdoor is accessible, interested and awaiting your comments or orders. simply fabulous. oh...and get outside!

pallucco

"established in rome in the 70s, pallucco has always been one of its kind, disassociating itself from the prevailing attitude of experimenting with new solutions both in the furniture and the lighting sector. with an innate instinct for stylishness, it has always sought particular shapes and furnishing accessories with a high aesthetic and design content to the extent that it is today one of the few true design companies on an international scale." love that word "stylishness" and they've got that for sure. focusing on furniture and lighting they zero in on several designers which they feel depict the image of pallucco and what it wants to offer for the utilitarian, the artistic and the sublime. wonderfully special, eye-candy galore!

gnr8.

fun take on the average clock.


very comfy quilted chair.

what i love about this mirror is the un-framed nature with those cuts along the edges. adds a texture and element to the space that's smooth and sharp at the same time.


doesn't everyone need a lit up sink for brushing your teeth with?



these next two pieces below i thought would be fun for a larger kids room or playroom. available in solid or transparent colors, you can stack them, add on or take away to design your own shape and size. very inventive.




unusual products from an unusual company located in quebec, canada. through dwell magazine (my favorite so far) i discovered gnr8 or generate, however you'd like to say it. products are featured from an array of different and eclectic designers. some pricey, some not so. i liked some of their takes on lighting things up, on their furniture and a few accessories like mirrors and tabletop pieces. fun stop to pick out something of a conversation piece for sure. easy monday viewing!

flavor paper. and happy friday!

"tasty hand screened wall coverings." wowza. if these traditional and not-so-traditional wall coverings don't get your attention, not sure what will. located in bywater district of new orleans, flavor paper has stayed steadfast in their creativity having suffered through hurricane katrina. luckily their printing lab is in the 9th ward and afforded them the opportunity to resume printing in early november 2005. "an investment in flavor paper will help us survive, support new orleans artisans, and improve your space." the company founded in oregon by a guy named ted has become a flourishing edgy company offering custom designed and printed wall coverings to offbeat funky prints such as bananas and cherries. contact flavor paper to request samples, talk about a custom design or just click away at the variety of images they provide. you'll start looking at that old wall a little bit differently...to say the least.

beat. by tom dixon.

more from elle decor this month, and tom dixon. loved his use of hand-beaten brass with painted black exterior in creating these exquisite pendant lamps and vases. i have to confess that i've really never been much of a brass lover, actually i could care if i ever saw it again. through the years everything has been this polished, generic, sterile looking brass and i just grew bored of the material. but...tom dixon made me take another look. born in tunisia and transplanted to london, tom owned (and has crashed) a motorcycle or two which demanded he know a bit about welding. so you see what this all has led to? "he is a self-educated maverick whose only qualification is a one-day course in plastic bumper repair." as quoted directly from his website. intriguing. sometimes you end up with a tool in your hand intended for another purpose i suppose, it forces you to see the possibilities, if you are as creative as tom dixon that is. enjoy.