Kit Davey, Interior Designer
18 Years in business - Over 2,600 homes transformed!
Newsletter: May 2004
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Contents:
1) Quote
2) Fun Website
3) Feng Shui Services
4) Feng Shui in the Garden
5) Free Article: Identity Fraud
6) Catastrophe Update
7) Classes
8) Time Management Tips
1. Quote of the Quarter
Connect our inner light to the external light of our environment. -Goethe
2. Entertaining Website to Visit
Is it a dog? Is it an alien? Visit MrWinkle.com and take a look at an unusual animal!
3. Feng Shui Services
I am now a Feng Shui practitioner, having completed my training in February through the Western School of Feng Shui. I can give Feng Shui-focused consultations to help you make your home a place of refuge, beauty and harmony. Appointments usually last about 2 hours and include suggestions on how to improve the flow of chi, how to balance the 5 elements and how to use the Bagua to increase your prosperity and improve your health and relationships. Or, during a regular consultation, you may ask for ideas to improve any area of your life, or to learn a few quick enhancements so you can feel better in your home.
4. Feng Shui Tips for the Garden
"Chi" is the life force that is present in all things. Its free circulation through your home and garden is essential to your well being. To allow the life force to come into your garden and nourish both it and you:
- Make sure your front door is easy to find and that the path to it is cheerful and free of obstacles. Place a "greeter" by the front door (a sculpture piece, a pot of flowers, or a banner with bright colors) to welcome guests.
- Let the path to your door serve people first and cars secondly.
- Animals add positive chi to your garden. Attract birds with birdhouses, birdbaths and feeders. Plant shrubs which attract butterflies and hummingbirds (fuchsia, butterfly bush, penstamon).
- Clutter drains us of our energy. Remove garden clutter (dead plants, old pots, rusty tools) and create attractive zones for storing your trash containers, garden supplies and potting materials. Make sure your tools are well cared for and safely stored.
- Make sure you have well-oiled and easy-to-open gates to either side of your home. A blocked off side yard can stall the life force and cause stagnation.
- Make the view from every window beautiful and worthy of your gaze.
- Create meandering or curved, rather than straight, pathways.
- Consider adding a water feature to your garden.
5. Free article: Identity Fraud
If you would like to receive an informative and useful article on identity fraud and how to protect yourself from it, please send me an email at KitDavey@aol.com. Include the name of the article in the message box so I know what you want, and I'll send it right back to you. Sorry---I can't send out the article by snail mail!
6. Catastrophe Update
On Dec. 16 of 2002, the healthy, huge 350-year-old oak tree in our back yard blew down and came crashing through our roof as we slept. Most of our home was damaged and we had to move out. We rented a house in the Emerald Hills area of Redwood City while our home was being repaired and remodeled. Since most of the walls and the entire roof had to be torn down and replaced, we took the opportunity to make substantial changes to our house. We expanded our kitchen, master bed- room, master bath and the stairwell to my office, and removed the fireplace.
We moved back on February 13th and boy are we glad to be home! We now use the entire house and it feels brighter and fits how we live. Please come visit and view the changes at our 10th Annual Art Sale and Open House on Saturday, Nov. 13 from 1 to 5 pm. You are invited to visit our rebuilt home and garden and browse the work of local artists. Location: 1539 Granger Way, Redwood City.
7. Classes
Staging Your Home for Sale: How to Maximize Your Profits
Wed. May 5, 2004, 7:00 to 9:00 pm, Foothill College
Thinking of selling your home in the next few months or years? Find out how to invest your time, money and energy so your home sells quickly at the highest possible price. You'll learn what potential buyers are looking for in a new home, which improvements and updates give you the most bang for the buck, how to give your home "curb appeal" and how to stage each room of your house.
Cost: $35, plus $5 materials fee.
To register, and for class location, call
(408) 864-8817.
"Transform Your Home in a Day---For Free!"
Wednesday, May 19, 7:00-9:00 pm.
Would you like a more comfortable, functional and beautiful home? Learn how to redecorate your house by creatively rearranging the furniture and artwork you already own. You'll discover how to define your personal style, how to create new furniture arrangements, and how to balance a room with color. Quick, easy accessorizing techniques for bookcases, artwork and displaying collections will also be shared. To be held at Foothill College ($45. Includes materials). To register, and for class location, call (408) 864-8817.
Backyard Decorating: How to Create an Enchanting Garden
Wed., June 2, 2004, 7:00 9:00 pm. Cost: $45 (includes materials)).
Do you love to putter in your garden? Are you looking for ways to improve and tweak it? Would you like your garden to look and feel more creative? Come learn how to add humor, mystery and spirit to your garden. You'll learn:
• How to use unusual objects to decorate your garden
• How to give your home even more curb appeal
• How to create and enhance zones for outdoor living,
• How to create vignettes or scenes viewable from inside your home
• How to make mosaic/pique assiette orbs and stepping stones.
You'll be inspired to create a garden that truly expresses who you are!
Foothill College, Los Altos Hills. Call (408) 864-8817 for room location and to register.
8. Time Management Tips
• Keep an overall to do list—a spiral notebook or pad of paper or whatever! Add to it when you think of things you need to do. Select 3 to 7 items from it to do each day. Write them on a post-it and take it with you. (I put mine on my car's rear view mirror!)
• Can't get to the mail very day? Schedule in a once or twice a week "mail date" to open, sort and deal with it.
• Keep and use only one credit card. You'll only get one statement and only have to write one check a month. It's much easier to keep track of what you've spent, too!
• Return telephone calls and emails at the beginning and end of each day. Use a headset so you can multitask on the phone.