Author: Marni Jameson
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At Home: Too late for design school? Never!
By Marni JamesonSpecial to The Gazette In the year since I stopped writing my weekly column, since I stepped off the hamster wheel whose revolution went like this — come up with an idea, talk to an expert, find a high-resolution image, write something ideally interesting, add helpful tips, then do it again, for 20-plus…
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At Home: Moving into new house offers chance for fresh start
By Marni JamesonSpecial to The Gazette On move-in day, a runway of quilted blankets formed a path between the moving truck and our new front door. Five strong men made a steady trek from truck to door like an army of ants. Meanwhile, my arms flailed like a Dutch windmill’s, sending the movers in various…
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At home: Courting contractor chaos
Until recently, I thought the expression that something makes your head spin was just a figure of speech. I now know it’s real. After my husband and I sold our Happier Yellow House in a whirlwind deal, without even listing it, we had 45 days to find a new house, pack and move. During half…
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If you want a remodel to go fast, know what you want
Since selling The Happier Yellow House and moving out, my husband and I had one goal — move into our new house, The Happiest Yellow House, as soon as possible. But first we wanted to renovate. Our mantra became: Fix it fast. As anyone who has bought a house and remodeled before moving in understands,…
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At Home: Six ways to save on moving day
The movers stormed the house like a SWAT team, dismantling large pieces of furniture as if they were Legos. They loaded all our earthly belongings into a giant truck and then drove away. Just like that, we were de-homed. An hour later, my husband and I are outside an ice cream stand stress-eating ice cream…
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At Home: Eight items to discard during a move
Moving is the ultimate truth test. As I pack up the house my husband and I have lived in for eight years, box towers line the halls, packed and stacked like big-city skylines. Each room coughs up its contents like a kid with consumption. I fear I might never see a clear counter again. I…
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Walking the rightsizing walk: Hunting for a house | At Home
Now that my husband and I had sold the Happier Yellow House to the first buyer who saw it, we were quite suddenly, technically, homeless. Yeep! My head was literally spinning. I need to sit down often and put my head between my knees. What had we done? We had accepted a handsome all-cash, full-price…
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Walking the rightsizing walk: Yikes! Our house sold. | At Home
I should know by now, if you venture into an exploratory hypothetical conversation with a real estate broker, you might as well start packing. One casual conversation with a broker friend started the house hurricane. My neighbor had just sold his house for a tidy sum. That got me running the numbers on the Happier…
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At home: Keeping the past present — but not too much of It
Over the years, I have earned the reputation as the stuff police. I am forever nagging you to purge, declutter, toss, donate, edit, dump, oust, clear, lighten up and let go. But today, sit down: I am going to sentimentally suggest that some old things you should keep. I know. Grab the smelling salts. I…
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At home: Open kitchen shelves might look great, but are they for you?
I know it’s tempting. You see those clean, uncluttered open shelves in kitchens, with their matching ceramic dishes, beautifully staged glassware, lots of negative space, and you think, “Why not? If my kitchen had open shelving, my belongings would look great, too! Plus, everything would be so easy to reach.” Think again. Kitchen cabinets come…