November 20, 2019

Great Big Canvas helps Everyone "Say No To Empty Walls!"

November 20, 2019/ Meryl

Hey Friends I recently installed some new art in the Chalet and I’m super excited to share it with you. Thank you so much to Great Big Canvas for partnering with me and supporting me on Instagram and here on my blog. *All opinions are my own!

Everyone knows how much I love art and filling the walls of the Chalet with all different kinds. This is exactly why my hashtag is #saynotoemptywalls! Over a little more than a year the Livingroom has gone through a transformation - with a new couch, coffee table and rugs. Originally we had a large scale clock on the wall - I tried to find just the right piece of art for this spot; some of you may recall the cow I had for a bit and sure Bessie was fun but, she was not the design aesthetic I wanted to live with permanently.

So - I was beyond thrilled when Great Big Canvas reached out to me with an invitation to partner with them on some wonderful Artwork for the Chalet!

Immediately I started looking at art by Vincent van Gogh - above are a few of the amazing works I thought about.

Ultimately, I settled on Acacia in Flower - I loved how the greens and blues of the canvas would interact with our vintage mid-century lamp and the rugs. Also, its not a work I was familiar with by Vincent van Gogh and I loved finding something different. My son a huge van Gogh fan chose The Starry Night and Self Portrait With Grey Felt Hat for his room.

Both of these works are a 1.25” deep canvas print with a hard sealed finished back and came pre-installed with hanging hardware. It couldn’t have been easier to hang these up and Liam is overjoyed at having real art in his space.

In prepping to hang Acacia in Flower - I touched up the wall paint and reviewed the hanging instructions - the larger canvases are stretched over wood frames and are shipped with mounting hardware and a hanger system for drywall. I utilized the mounting hardware and added picture hanging wire to secure it onto our plaster walls.

It has never been easier to bring museum quality art into your space. These pieces are all Artist-Grade Canvas - Fade-Resistant Archival Inks Patented - Warp-Resistant Construction and Made in the USA.

Just in time to spruce up your home for the holidays or find a unique gift for that special someone. Great Big Canvas is offering my readers and followers a discount. Use the code CHALET to receive 50% off of all products site wide.

Til next time - Happy Shopping!

October 02, 2019

Chaletmomma Turns 2!

October 02, 2019/ Meryl

POP the Prosecco Friends!

I can’t believe year two is in the books! This past year has brought exciting growth. I’m thrilled with where the business is and I’m super stoked about where it’s headed!

When I started Chaletmomma I had an LLC and a dream! I knew I loved all of the following: chatting, my home, design and styling. I’m proud to say this is my 103rd post. This space has always been a little bit about me, a little bit about design with whatever strikes my fancy thrown in for good measure! I was pleased to write about my favorite books and have friends share theirs - now, there’s a permanent link to this article in my sidebar under my Current Read section. I love learning about people and sharing this knowledge with you my readers. - so it was a natural progression to incorporate interviews into the mix. I’ve published six:

I redesigned my logos in 2019 I think Navy with Gold is so very me… it’s basic like a favorite navy tee topped off with a great necklace - everything needs a little touch of something!

This year we got real business cards…. I love ‘em and since I love notebooks…we have those too! Now, I’m always thinking about where else the Logo would look brilliant!

The reason for the cards…for a tool kit, for proposals and invoices - CLIENTS! I have had the best time realizing this dream of helping people feel better about their spaces both living and virtual ones - I’ve assisted clients with their websites as well as retail related queries.

I’ve always said that this space and Chaletmomma is about

Design Blog Brand.

The one aspect of Chaletmomma that continues to blow my mind is the connections… the wonderful friends I’ve made through social media - specifically Instagram. The growth of my brand has been helped exponentially by Instagram but, it’s not about followers for me. Its about connections. It’s about inspiration. I am beyond exited about the creatives I am fortunate enough to “meet”. They are friends be they someone who lovingly comments on my posts daily or simply likes a comment I leave for them. I have found designers and bloggers to follow and in turn collaborate with.

The friendship game is strong on the Gram and I’m a huge fan.

My top three images in 2019.

Thank you to my friends both in and out of design for having their businesses associated with Chaletmomma! Thank you to my advertisers! Thanks to my family. A humongous debt of gratitude to you my readers. I thank you all for being part of the Chaletmomma Family!

Til next time! xoxo

July 24, 2019

Celebrating 16 years of Chalet Life!

July 24, 2019/ Meryl

Today marks the Anniversary of the day we took ownership of the Chalet! 16 years ago today … we signed the papers on this quirky little beauty. The Chalet was the first home built on property subdivided in 1924 from the Leaycraft Estate. Our street bears the name of that Estate.

Chalet: a wooden house or cottage with overhanging eaves typically found in the Swiss Alps.

While driving with a friend we stumbled upon a For Sale by Owner sign that soon turned into our destiny. A home for sale in my old neighborhood! My dream location full of quiet streets, unique architecture and close to the park. I knew the house - while growing up a few block away I trick or treated here and rode my bike by what we called “The Red Schoolhouse” because it was painted red and the center chimney looks like a bell tower. You can see it here in the 1968 watercolor by artist Nat Lewis. This painting was gifted to us by a former owners daughter. We are so very blessed to have this hanging on our wall.

We started calling it “The Chalet” soon after moving in. Built as a vacation home by Austrian craftsmen brought in specifically by Dr. Morgan the original owner. At roughly 1400 square feet it’s not overly large - it has three-bedroom and although we were originally moving to gain space we have forgiven the Chalet for only offering us one small bath. It has wonderful unique features such the hand cut railings and multiple sets of French doors throughout - there’s so much to love.

We’ve so fortunate to enjoy open-concept living in a home which is almost 100 years old. We’ve jokingly coined the phrase Step-Saver to describe our Kitchen because if you stand in the middle of the room you can reach out and touch everything without taking a step!

Adding to the homey feel, is the fireplace with it’s beautiful carvings in the center of the house.

One major change we’ve made to the Chalet was enclosing our porch. It was an open air galerie - you can read more about it here. Hands down the best thing we’ve done. Both the Master bedroom and our son’s bedroom are above this space. The Chalet is weather tight and quieter!

We love sleeping in the tree tops!

1952

2004

1976

I love these images - the middle is when we still had the humongous American Beech out front. We loved that tree but, it started loosing limbs. You can see it in the image that was published in a local history book in 1976.