At Home with Kim Vallee

DINING, TABLEWARE | September 8, 2009

Garçon, one red Francis Francis X7 please

I am French Canadian, not Italian. I used to make a bowl of latte every morning topped with cinnamon. Then, my old espresso machine broke. That was a few years ago and I never sent my espresso machine to the repair shop. The main reason was that it was white, which did not work well [...]

ENTERTAINING, PARTY ideas | July 2, 2009

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Awesome DIY Sparkler Cards, Matchbook Covers and Straw Tags for Fourth of July

The super talented Kathleen of Twig & Thistle has designed the cutest party celebration kit for the Fourth of July. Her design is modern, festive and elegant. Build your party around these elements. You could print a second batch of sparkler cards to glue on handmade paper cones. Use the cones to serve cashews, popcorn [...]

ENTERTAINING, PICNIC | June 18, 2009

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Picnicware for Father’s Day and the 4th of July

Whenever possible, I reuse and recycle tableware and decorations for designing my parties. By interchanging some table accessories and the menu, your party will look and feel different. Here changing the table cloth plus a few decorative allows you to create a look for Father’s Day and another for the Fourth of July. This theme plays [...]

DINING, TABLEWARE | May 28, 2009

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Invite these Egg-Cup Buckets to your Summer Brunch

The red metal egg-cup buckets come handy because it let your guests eat their eggs the way they like. As a bonus, the written time simplifies the food service. They are sold in a set of 6 with 2 egg cups per cooking time. They shout fun in a good way. They could be the starting [...]

HOME + GARDEN, KIDS rooms, ORGANIZING | January 31, 2009

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Clever Home Storage with a Café au Lait | Quick Links 2009.01.31

I was due for a quick links post. + If you are tired to see the plastic toy boxes, the Toy Store will look better in the living room or the playroom. The three-level to box stand designed by Oeuf has removable bin dividers for easy storage of toys in any sizes. $496 in [...]

DINING, HOSTESS gifts, TABLEWARE | December 21, 2008

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Winter Appetizer Set by Heath Ceramics

The Winter Appetizer Set includes a 12×12 plaza platter in matte red and one each 4×4 plaza trays in matte red, burgundy, plum and chestnut. Bowls are sold separately. This is a 2008 Limited Edition by Heath Ceramics. If you live in Sausalito or Los Angeles, you can stop by the Heath Ceramics stores [...]

HOME + GARDEN, HOME office | November 20, 2008

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Shopping at IKEA for the new office

With the walls in two tones of blues and the doors painted red, I selected red to be my accent color. Our furniture is beech veneer with a few black pieces. I went to IKEA tonight to purchase the new IKEA 365+ BRASA pendant lamp in red. I like the shape. I checked the inventory online [...]

ENTERTAINING, HOLIDAY entertaining | July 4, 2008

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Happy 4th of July!

To host a casual chic patriotic party, you need to think outside the box. You want to stay away from an overload of flag images. Be inspired by the color palette and the spirit of the celebrations. I gather wonderful yet simple décor ideas to celebrate Independence Day. They are the best of what I saw [...]