At the end of October my daughter Brook made me an offer I couldn't pass up. She offered to fly me to Boston in early November to spend my week's vacation with her. We had a week of pure girl fun. Since she recently moved into a new apartment she wanted my decorating advise. I was totally flattered that she wanted my help. All grown up and still needing her Mama. I'm so lucky!
We shopped at Pottery Barn, Target, Ikea, TJMax, Burlington Coat Factory and quaint little local shops until our feet needed a good soak! We found the mirror in the photo above for Brook's entryway and loads of accessories to fill the Samantha shelf from Pottery Barn.
I had the Samantha shelf and bench delivered to Brook before I arrived, but she waited for my help to fill it with cute things.
When you enter Brook's apartment there is a wonderful entrance with a staircase to the left leading up to her office and bedroom. To the right is a powder room (which I forgot to take photos of) and the kitchen. Straight ahead is her treatment room. Brook is a shiatsu massage practitioner and she works from home, which is very convenient when the winter snow arrives!
Brook hadn't had time since she moved to put her bed together so she was so grateful to have another pair of hands to help her get it together. We found bedding at Pottery Barn and extra decorative pillows from Pier One to help make her bed inviting. Now her bedroom will be a refuge after a busy day working.
The lamps next to Brook's bed belonged to her grandmother and they are so lovely but they needed new lamp shades. We tried a couple of different styles and then settled on the burlap shades from Pottery Barn. I know if my mother were alive today she would definitely approve.
We found the cozy white rugs at Ikea. We also bought an armoire at Ikea but ran out of time to put it together, but I know she will be motivated to get it put together, even though I'm not there to cheer her on.
Brook's office is all decked out too. That was the only room we didn't have to do anything to because her new Printer's corner desk from Pottery Barn was delivered and set up before I arrived. She had already painted the room this energetic blue color.
This is the room Brook spends a lot of time in, organizing her life and writing music, playing her guitar and practicing on her keyboard and dreaming big dreams!
Brook found this chair online at Target and called me to see what I thought of it. Brook's business card has a photo of a dandelion with a butterfly that landed on it...a photo that she took. This chair just seemed like it was made for her. I ordered it for her because she couldn't get her computer to access the page that would let her order it. We got the very last one. This fabric is no longer offered. Brook was thrilled. It was meant to be. Since I work in customer service and I know even if you order something there is always the chance that you will get an e-mail saying an item is no longer available I was not confidant that she would get it, but Brook was certain that she would get it and she did, yay!
Brook's girlfriend suggested Brook add more white to her treatment room, so Brook took her friend's suggestion to heart and we found ways to infuse her treatment room with white.
We covered some of the books in Brook's built ins with white and natural colored paper bags. We also added accessories in white tones.
The soft cushy pillows are from Pottery Barn. The throw on the left is from Target and the throw on the right is from West Elm. These item not only added a little more white to the room but also added a real sense of comfort.
The chair in the corner also belonged to my mother and the afghan belonged to one of my mother's friends who passed almost two years ago. They add a sense of comfort and connection to the past. We found the shag rugs at Ikea, they not only warm up the space, but give the feeling of floating on a cloud, a healing cloud. I know because Brook gave me a treatment while I stayed with her and I'm still on cloud nine...l.o.l.
Brook makes a mean breakfast. I felt totally spoiled sitting in her darling kitchen while she cooked.
We hung aprons from the kitchen window.
From all of Brook's kitchen windows there is a view of the woods behind the house. I needed a change of scenery and the scenery in Hamilton was just what I needed!
We found these Queen of the kitchen spoons at a local apple farm.
Flowers on the window sill adds a cheerfulness to kitchen duties.
This wing back chair was also my mother's and this is where I sat and drank my morning coffee while Brook prepared breakfast.
Brook was using this rack in her bedroom to hold her clothes, but after buying an armoire for her bedroom, we decided that this rack would be very useful in the kitchen to hold her appliances. It has freed up the counters for preparing food.
It was a wonderful week and it went too quickly. I look forward to many more visits to my sweet girl's home.
