Spring Decorating!

It’s that time again – when I offer my

$99 re-decorating package

~

If you’d love to have a new look in your rooms

but don’t want to invest a bundle,

included in this $99 service, I’ll show you how to

re-decorate with what you already have,

help you with color planning,

provide some rough sketches of ideas,

and even hands-on help you

move your furniture around.

Contact me at blairsvillager@gmail.com

to set up an appointment.

Since supportive folks from all over the world read this blog, just thought I might mention

I’m located in the NE Georgia Mountains, USA

and offer this service

for residents in that general vicinity only!

Yahoo for Spring!   ******  Jo

Ask Jo!

Ask Jo! is a column written by Jo White, Interior Decorator, DIYer, Personal Chef, Exterior Designer & Garden Planner, and avid birder.  You may send your questions to blairsvillager@gmail.com, or ask them on facebook.  All questions will be answered, and some will be chosen at random to appear on either/or Blairsvillager.com and Facebook.  Although each question will be answered with a professional solution, a lot of light humor will be injected just for fun!


On Saturday, January 19th

A Reader asked:
We've built a large new living space onto our lake house, with open views on two sides, and we still have a house for sale with some furniture left in it.  My husband doesn't want me to spend a lot of money decorating the new space. Right now I have furniture in the original living room, and a few pieces in the new room. I'm not sure which direction to go, what to keep, what to get rid of, and what to buy.  Can you help?

JO WHITE:
This is a common dilemma with homeowners in transition between two homes.  You want a new look, but you'd also like to incorporate some of the furnishings you already have and just aren't sure how to go about it.  You came to the right place!

(I met with the homeowner in the lake house to assess the situation before writing the next part.  I talked with her about their lifestyle, about the pieces of furniture still in the other home, and took visual inventory of the pieces already being used in the lake house.)

Right now, you have your seating spread out between the old living room, a walk-through breakfast room, and the new large great room.  You want to add a large flat-screen TV in the new great room.  Your lifestyle doesn't require two separate living rooms, you love to cook and the only place you have to serve a meal is at the small oval breakfast table, so here's my suggestion:

1) Remove the sofa from the original living room and move it into the new great room in a corner pattern with the sofa already there.  No, they don't match, but that can be a great look once you tie it all together.  Place a rug over the carpet in that area, topped with the beautiful large trunk you already have as your coffee table, to designate your new cozy seating corner.  You've told me you love the look of a large round skirted table, and the corner between the two sofas is the perfect place for it, topped with one of the beautiful lamps you already have.


2) Use one of the two beautiful dressers you still have in the other house, place it diagonally in the corner opposite the two sofas, as a TV stand for the new big screen TV, removing drawers and drilling through the back for cords, to house electonics in an attractive way.  This will provide you with a one-of-a-kind attractive TV stand (eliminating a run-of-the-mill particle board stand), utilize what you already have, and give you some extra storage.

3) Move the breakfast table to the open area in front of the new TV and stunning lake views, to be used for small meals just for the two of you, and as a game table.

Now you have cleared two areas and you have an empty original living room, and an empty walk-through breakfast room area.

4) Build a kitchen island where the breakfast table stood, to expand your kitchen work space (this homeowner loves to cook).

5) Bring your large dining table set from the other house, and place it in what was the original living room of the lake house.  You didn't have a place for it before, but now that you've opened up the original living room, and have greater workspace in your kitchen, you can have a formal dining room where you and your husband can throw candlelight dinner parties.

Your total investment in this new plan?  The cost of building a small kitchen island -- and since your husband is a builder, he'll be happy to know, in this new floor plan, it's the only money I'm suggesting you spend.

Easy Creole - It's All in the Layering

 
I remember how excited we got around the house on a Saturday when Mom and Dad got in the kitchen to cook Shrimp Creole.  Together, they would steam spiced shrimp, dip Roma tomatoes into boiling water to peel, and chop garlic, celery, onions, peppers and slice the tomatoes to add to the stew, which simmered and filled the whole house with tantalizing aromas. I watched every movement and every step, asking questions like I did in almost every house on my block, including homes of Italians, Jews, French Canadians, Greeks, Chinese, Korean, and on the next block over where the Ocasios lived.  Mr. Ocasio was the Director of Immigration for Dade County, and the best Cuban food in the neighborhood was prepared by his wife.  It was from Mrs. Ocasio I learned to cook authentic Cuban delights and delicacies.  All the folks from the other ethnic homes came to our house to learn Southern cuisine, and Shrimp Creole was just one of those dishes.

As the years passed and I entered the world of the singles scene in South Florida, I found myself impatient with the all-day preparation of food the generation before me had prepared.  My world was turning faster, I had things to do, places to go, and people to see.  It was the catalyst for my quick-prep style of gourmet, for which various TV chefs in the generation to follow, would later become famous.

Well, I’m only famous to my cats who get excited when I return home after a day of chefing anywhere from Gainesville to Asheville (I have a large territory), because I’m their human -- they own me, and it's my job to dump more kibble in their bowl.  That makes me way famous.

This version of Creole may not be for everyone, because there are some of you still wallowing in the need to blanche Roma tomatoes, and cut, slice and chop dozens of ingredients when you get in the kitchen.  When I have time, I wallow in it also, because it can be fun and somewhat healthier. I just don't always have time, so I've spent years recreating the process, with basically the same end result.  Follow these guidelines, and you'll discover an uncomplicated method for making one of the world's greatest pleasures.
 

Jo White’s Easy Creole -- the Layering is important

1) Precook your protein in whatever manner you like, and set aside – you will add later (see step 8).  This can be 3 large boneless chicken breasts, or  sausage – about 1- 1/2 pounds such as andouille, or 1-1/2 pounds of shrimp, or a combination of smaller portions of all these, which is delicious.

2) Into bottom of a large soup pot, dump 5 cans of stewed tomatoes with garlic, celery and onions – liquid and all.  Do not stir.  Add an additional Tablespoon of bottled chopped garlic.  Do not stir.

3) One top of this, dump 1 handful (about a cup) of diced ham, smoked ham, or smoked pork chop.  Do not stir.

4) On top of that, dump 1 can Rotel tomatoes & chilis.  Do not stir.

5) On top of that dump one 16 ounce bag of frozen peppers and onions.  Do not stir.

6) On top of that will go your seasonings --  toss 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon cracked or ground fennel seeds, 1 bay leaf, 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper, 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, and 2 heaping teaspoons Chicken Base (see photo - chicken base is found on soup aisle in your local grocer.)  Do not stir, but press these down into liquid with back of spoon.

7) Slowly bring to boil over medium heat, immediately lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, but do not stir, while you make some rice – any kind you like.  White is traditional, but Creole is also good over wild or brown varieties.

8) After 20 minutes of steady simmering, now you add your protein on top of that:  the COOKED boneless chicken breasts broken-by-hand into big rustic pieces (see photo), or COOKED hefty slices of spicy sausage like andouille, or 1 to 2 pounds cleaned peeled  STEAMED shrimp, or any combination of these, BUT DON’T STIR. If you got any non-fatty juices while cooking any of these, pour up to a 1/2 cup of it into the pot.  Let the protein sit on the top of the creole while you continue to simmer another 10-15 minutes or so.  Your rice should be done by now.  Now GENTLY push your protein down into the Creole, GENTLY stir, correct seasonings to taste, and serve over hot rice, with crusty French bread for dipping, and a bottle of hot sauce for the brave and gritty.  For those of you wondering where's the okra -- you're thinking of Gumbo, and that's another recipe, a different process because it has a roux base, and another blog post.  We'll get to that.


COMMENTARY:  I think the biggest mistake most cooks make when cooking something like a Creole, is cooking it to death with the protein down inside it, and stirring it too often, so when it’s done, the tomatoes and peppers are mush and all the flavor has boiled off, the protein is overdone, and you’re left with a pot of mushy stuff without flavor.  The layering of these items without stirring, allows the flavors to combine gently without bruising any of the ingredients.  This will result in a quick creole that has a chunky texture, loads of flavor, without all the hassle of slicing and chopping onions, garlic, celery, bell peppers, chili peppers, and protein.  The only labor intensive thing you might experience is cleaning the shrimp, if you use it. Also note I did not add any additional salt to what is already in the canned stewed tomatoes and chicken base.  You may want to, but I suggest you finish it off and taste it first, before you lift the salt shaker.  Please and thank you, don't thicken Creole with cornstarch.

Bon Apetit!

Ask Jo!

Ask Jo! is a help-column written by Jo White, Creative Consultant, Interior Decorator, DIYer, Personal Chef, Exterior Designer & Garden Planner, and avid birder.  You may send your questions to blairsvillager@gmail.com, or ask them on facebook.  All questions will be answered, and some will be chosen at random to appear on either/or Blairsvillager.com and Facebook.  Although each question will be answered with a professional solution, a lot of light humor will be injected just for fun!

On  Monday, January 7th

TINA LANGE asked: Can you give me some pointers for a new Beautiful Transitions thrift store Tiffany Atkins and I will be opening in Blue Ridge?

JO WHITE: Great question -- not only have I been the opening consultant for thrift stores in three states, but thrift stores are close to my heart. I grew up with a savvy mother -- and shopping outings in Salvation Army stores are some of my earliest recollections.  Back then, they were pretty much the only thrift stores around.


My best advice for you and Tiffany is to remember that thrift stores are retail stores.  The same concepts used in retail boutiques should also be used in thrift stores, the main three being (1) the use of both psychologically stimulating and emotionally soothing color and music, (2) consistently rearranging floor plans and displays to keep customers seeing something new, and (3) knowing your merchandise -- even if it was donated. 

In addition -- in a retail thrift store setting where clothing is sold, you'll need to have comfortable, attractive dressing rooms with good lighting and distortion-free mirrors.  One of the main turn-offs in thrift stores is being directed to a public bathroom with concrete walls and floor to try on clothing. Often you have to take off your shoes and stand on that cold, bare floor.  It's so easy to build dressing rooms which are nothing more than boxes without plumbing.


In Treasures on First, a thrift store I opened for Oconee Christian Academy in Seneca, SC, we built two dressing rooms that were each 5' x 5'.  We painted them pretty colors, covered one entire wall in each with plate glass mirror (which made them appear more spacious), placed pretty boudoir chairs & side tables and attractive oriental rugs in each, provided soft lighting from table and floor lamps, installed plenty of wall hooks, and hung tiny stereo speakers in them.  Ladies actually came into the store -- which is still going strong 9 years later -- because they'd heard about the beautiful dressing rooms!   When customers were in those dressing rooms, they may have been trying on inexpensive second hand merchandise, but they felt like they were in a tony boutique, which made them feel good and made the  merchandise more attractive, which in turn created sales.  Everything --- EVERYTHING about retailing is psychological, and must appeal to the senses.  

I know you'll have a lot of questions, so I'll sit down with you and Tiffany to help you have the best thrift store in Blue Ridge!

Readers:  Tina Lange has communicated with me that they are starting over in Blue Ridge from scratch, and are in need of clothing and household donations.  Their contact information is as follows: Tina Lange 706.851-5872 or Tiffany Atkins 706.855-5630, or email them: beautifultransitions@live.com

Let Them Eat Coca Cola Cake!

The first time I had Coca Cola Cake, I was down in southwest Georgia in the little town of Lumpkin.  My daddy was born in Lumpkin in 1922, and in 1976, we carried his body back there to be buried, all the way from Miami, Florida, where I was raised.  The viewing was held in the parlor of my cousins' old Victorian on a lazy side street off the courthouse square, and it was there one of the town ladies who I did not know (in Lumpkin, everyone turns out for a funeral), brought a 9 x 13 pan of Coca Cola Cake.  I was sitting on the verandah in an antique white wicker chair (Daddy's family were all antique dealers), when the woman brought me a plate filled with cheese straws, snow white divinity, a small triangle of crust-removed pimiento cheese sandwich on white bread, and a big ol' piece of Coca Cola Cake.

Although I wasn't raised in Georgia, I was raised by Southern parents from Georgia and Alabama, so Coca Cola was as big a part of my life as the beach and The Beatles.  A Daddy's girl, I'd often sidekick with Daddy when he ran errands to the hardware store, the drugstore, the veterinarian (I was forever bringing home strays), and 7-Eleven, where he picked up wood cases of return-for-deposit 6-oz bottles of Coca Cola.  We may have run out of milk from time to time, but I don't think in my 18 years at home, we ever ran out of Coca Cola.

As for Coca Cola Cake, even today when I'm lucky enough to have a piece, I think of that time decades ago, sitting on that verandah in Lumpkin, GA, the day we buried my Daddy -- the sweetest, gentlest, and kindest man that ever lived.  

I'm chef-ing for Dr. Manfredi's group over at the Cancer Center in Blairsville on Friday, and I'll be serving Coca Cola Cake for dessert, so thought I'd share the recipe with you.  The unique flavor will dredge up the yummmm factor from the depths of even a yankee's soul.  This one's for you, Daddy.  So here we go...


COCA COLA CAKE

Preheat oven to 350, with rack in center. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.  You'll need 1 mixing bowl, one medium sauce pan, 1 wire whisk, and 1 mixing spoon. No electric mixer is used.

Place the following into a mixing bowl, then stir with a wire whisk to sift and combine:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

In a medium sauce pan, slowly bring to boil, stirring occasionally:
1 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup coca cola
1/2 cup buttermilk
When mixture boils, pour into bowl of dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Then mix in:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Pour into prepared pan.  Bake 30 minutes.  Toothpick should come out clean.

Near the end of the baking time, take the medium sauce pan again, and bring to a boil while occasionally stirring:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup coca cola

When it boils, remove from heat and carefully stir in
4 cups powdered sugar.

Stir in 1 cup chopped pecans if desired. 
Pour over cake hot from oven.

Allow to cool completely.  Dust with confectioner's sugar if desired. Cut into 16 portions.

Bon Apetit!

Ask Jo!

Ask Jo! is a new column written by Jo White, Interior Decorator, DIYer, Personal Chef, Exterior Designer & Garden Planner, and avid birder.  You may send your questions to blairsvillager@gmail.com, or ask them on facebook.  All questions will be answered, and some will be chosen at random to appear on either/or Blairsvillager.com and Facebook.  Although each question will be answered with a professional solution, a lot of light humor will be injected just for fun!


On Saturday, January 19th

A Reader asked:
We've built a large new living space onto our lake house, with open views on two sides, and we still have a house for sale with some furniture left in it.  My husband doesn't want me to spend a lot of money decorating the new space. I'm not sure which direction to go, what to keep, what to get rid of, and what to buy.  Can you help?

JO WHITE:
This is a common dilemma with homeowners in transition between two homes.  You want a new look, but you'd also like to incorporate some of the furnishings you already have and just aren't sure how to go about it.  You came to the right place!

(I met with the homeowner in the lake house to assess the situation before writing the next part.  I talked with her about their lifestyle, about the pieces of furniture still in the other home, and took visual inventory of the pieces already being used in the lake house.)

Right now, you have your seating spread out between the old living room, a walk-through breakfast room, and the new large great room.  You want to add a large flat-screen TV in the new great room.  Your lifestyle doesn't require two separate living rooms, you love to cook and the only place you have to serve a meal is at the small oval breakfast table, so here's my suggestion:

1) Remove the sofa from the original living room and move it into the new great room in a corner pattern with the sofa already there.  No, they don't match, but that can be a great look once you tie it all together.  Place a rug over the carpet in that area to designate your new cozy seating corner.

2) Use one of the two beautiful dressers you still have in the other house, place it diagonally in the corner opposite the two sofas, as a TV stand for the new big screen TV, removing drawers and drilling through the back for cords, to house electonics in an attractive way.  This will provide you with a one-of-a-kind attractive TV stand (eliminating a run-of-the-mill particle board stand), utilize what you already have, and give you some extra storage.

3) Move the breakfast table to the open area in front of the new TV and stunning lake views, to be used for small meals just for the two of you, and as a game table.

Now you have an empty original living room, and an empty walk-through breakfast room area.

4) Build a kitchen island where the breakfast table stood, to expand your kitchen work space (the homeowner loves to cook).

5) Bring your dining table set from the other house, and place it in what was the original living room of the lake house.  You didn't have a place for it before, but now that you've opened up the old living room, and have greater workspace in your kitchen, you can have a formal dining room where you and your husband can throw candlelight dinner parties.

Your total investment in this new plan?  The cost of building a small kitchen island -- and since your husband is a builder, he'll be happy to know, in this new floor plan, it's the only money I'm suggesting you spend.




On Monday, January 7th

Tina Lange asked : Can you give me some pointers for a new Beautiful Transitions thrift store Tiffany Atkins and I will be opening in Blue Ridge?

JO WHITE: Great question -- not only have I been the opening consultant for thrift stores in three states, but thrift stores are close to my heart. I grew up with a savvy mother -- and shopping in Salvation Army stores are some of my earliest recollections.  Back then, they were pretty much the only thrift stores around.

My best advice for you and Tiffany is to remember that thrift stores are retail stores.  The same concepts used in retail boutiques should also be used in thrift stores, the main three being (1) the use of both psychologically stimulating and emotionally soothing color and music, (2) consistently rearranging floor plans and displays to keep customers seeing something new, and (3) knowing your merchandise -- even if it was donated. 

In addition -- in a retail thrift store setting where clothing is sold, you'll need to have comfortable, attractive dressing rooms with good lighting and distortion-free mirrors.  One of the main turn-offs in thrift stores is being directed to a public bathroom with concrete walls and floor to try on clothing. Often you have to take off your shoes and stand on that cold, bare floor. It's so easy to build dressing rooms --- which are nothing more than boxes without plumbing!

In Treasures on First, a thrift store I opened for Oconee Christian Academy in Seneca, SC, we built two dressing rooms that were each 5' x 5'.  We painted them pretty colors, covered one entire wall in each with plate glass mirror (which made them appear more spacious), placed pretty boudoir chairs & side tables and attractive oriental rugs in each, provided soft lighting from table and floor lamps, installed plenty of wall hooks, and hung tiny stereo speakers in them.  Ladies actually came into the store -- which is still going strong 9 years later -- because they'd heard about the beautiful dressing rooms!   When customers were in those dressing rooms, they may have been trying on inexpensive second hand merchandise, but they felt like they were in a tony boutique, which made them feel good and made the  merchandise more attractive, which in turn created sales.  Everything --- EVERYTHING about retailing is psychological, and must appeal to the senses.  

I know you'll have a lot of questions, so I'll sit down with you and Tiffany to help you have the best thrift store in Blue Ridge!

Readers:  Tina Lange has communicated with me that they are starting over in Blue Ridge from scratch, and are in need of clothing and household donations.  Their contact information is as follows: Tina Lange 706.851-5872 or Tiffany Atkins 706.855-5630, or email them: beautifultransitions@live.com

~ 

On Saturday, January 5th

A READER asked:  When I moved into my house a few years ago, I immediately replaced the builder light fixture in the dining area of my great room with a simple five-arm brass fixture, but now every time I try to add seasonal decor, the base of one of the "candles" keeps coming off and sliding down.  I found the fixture at a yard sale, so I definitely got my money out of it, but I'm tired of dealing with it and want to replace it.  I saw the chandelier pictured here and I really do love crystal chandeliers, but the furniture in my open great room is casual.  Would something like this look out of place?

JO WHITE:  My answer is both Yes and No.  Still with me? 
One of the most popular additions in the "look" of today's interiors, is the crystal chandelier.  It has made a greater comeback than almost any other one item, has impacted the lighting industry in a big way, and is considered a great investment item for your home.  They've become such an integral part of today's homes, they're now even used in kitchens and bathrooms.  I'm glad to hear you love them.  Yes, a crystal chandelier can be incorporated into almost any style interior, even casual, to give an updated look, but there's something else you should consider doing to tie it all together.  DO THIS: If you have a lot of casual furniture with a strong rustic wood-grain such as oak, it's time to update some of it by painting it distressed white or lightly white-washing it.    In Europe, this look is called Paris Flea Market, and here in America, you know it as Shabby Chic or Country Chic.  Crystal chandeliers work best in casual settings if there is a substantial amount of white in the decor.  This can be inexpensively accomplished by covering a piece or two of upholstered furniture with washable ready-made white slipcovers or throws (I often comb thrift-stores for textured white bedspreads), white-washing a pattern on the floor, painting a few picture or mirror frames white, or painting a piece or two of wood grain furniture in the distressed white finish.  You can also mix and match white chairs with a wood table, or vice versa.  The look can then be accessorized by adding a few white crocks or vases filled with pastel flowers such as hydrangeas, or if you have high ceilings -- white pussy willows or pampas plumes in a tall white vase will complete the look.  You'll give your great room a fresh new casual "now" look that ties it all together, and the crystal chandelier will look right at home.   It's that simple.

~

JANEEN PLOTT asked:  I painted my bathroom a beautiful shade of yellow, but it’s only beautiful during the day.  It looks like baby poo at night!  Why is that?

JO WHITE:  Janeen was brave enough to express her frustration in a visually colorful way.  Incandescent lighting will change the color of paint.  Light bulbs actually come in several colors, from yellow, true white, to pink which simulates day light.  Do this: Try using true color bulbs, such as bright white, and see if that helps, Janeen. Next time you paint a room, get a color chip of the paint and tape it to the wall. See how it looks in daylight and in artificial light. If there's a difference, try different light bulbs before you paint to see if it helps. I'm sure artists and painters such as Al Garnto will agree -- the color yellow you chose probably has a lot of green pigment in it that's shining through like poo under artificial light!
  


FLOYD SCHULTZ asked:  I see beautiful bookcases in photos, but the built-in wall of bookcases in our office/library area is a mess.  How do I make it look like the ones I see in photos? 

Jo White: First of all, Floyd, photos are staged to make the homes you see in magazines, on-line and on TV look perfect.  That’s not the way people live.  I see bookcase challenges in both homes and offices everywhere I go.  Second, there is one simple thing anyone can do to make their bookcases look fabulous, but for some reason, it’s the concept least often taught by designers.  I haven’t a clue why.  Do this:  Move ALL your books to line up evenly with the FRONT edge of your bookcase.  Most people push them to the back wall where some stick out and some disappear because of the different sizes of books.  Vary the books by lying some down in stacks on their sides, and some standing up, but in either case, make sure they ALL line up with that front edge.  You’ll be amazed what this small change will make.  After that, you can balance your accessories and collectibles here and there for interest, such as photos, baskets, and pottery.  It’s that simple.