Vibrant Summer Dresses, Front Door Refresh And More!

Today I’m sharing some vibrant summer dresses on sale, an indoor tree that can live with low-light, new front door hardware and paint and making cheese and charcuterie trays “pretty”.

It’s Sunday Summer Faves time with Annie and Cindy.

Farm Rio Vibrant Summer Dresses Inspired By Brazil — On Sale Limited Time

“We’re FARM Rio, a group of creatives from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, who believe in the existence of happiness. We embody the liveliness of a nature-infused and culturally rich lifestyle, coloring the world one print at a time”.

I like Farm Rio for their exuberant color, patterns and details (like beading, trim work, covered buttons, etc).

And right now they are having a 50% off sale. With the code Extra50 and all sales are final. Sizes are starting to sell out.

Green cotton with beaded belt (I bought this) • red lace • red and white (nice for a wedding) • blue and white caftan coverup (elegant for vacation)

Ten years ago, I went with Howard on a business trip to Rio de Janiero, Brazil and everything/one was awash in color. We also went to Buenos Aires, Argentina which was a bit more European influenced but still colorful.

Red Poplin Skirt New Look

I showed this red skirt with the matching top here. Here’s how I wore the skirt differently with a white tee shirt. Cindy mentioned that the red looks more rust online but here’s how it looks in natural light.

I’m wearing the super comfortable Fitflops that Cindy had on her blog. These are the Lulu leather in Summer Bronze. They give you a little height but are cushy. Have you tried them?

Front Door Refresh With High-end Paint And New Hardware

Living so close to the ocean, the moisture and salt air is rough on metal. It was time to replace our front door hardware. And since the new hardware didn’t cover the old perfectly, the door had to be repainted.

I took this opportunity of needing a new door knob to upgrade to something more “modern coastal cottage” and befitting to the new door.

Emtek Baden Sectional Single Cylinder Keyed Entry Handleset with Round Interior Knob

Aura High-end Exterior Paint in Onyx With A Low-Luster Finish On The Door

Our painter loves the Aura high-end paint by Benjamin Moore.

Natural Woven Rectangular Braided Outdoor Rug Heathered Cream – Threshold 7 x 10′

I’m not crazy about all the color in the slate tile on the front porch so we are using an indoor/outdoor rug from Target.

Eventually, I want to re-do the flooring or at least seal the peeling slate and paint it with cement paint.

Indoor Tree For Low Light — Dracaena

For the last 25 years I’ve had great luck with fiddle leaf fig trees as we had lots of natural light. Below is the tree from our SF apartment that we gave to our daughter… and here it is in Los Angeles.

There isn’t enough sunlight in our current living room for a fiddle leaf fig to be happy. My daughter suggested putting one we have in the Ladies’ Loft and it’s there now.

There was a botanist at our local Ace Hardware who recommended a Dracaena plant.

We bought a Dracaena and a new taller pot (and placed a smaller upside down pot inside to raise the plant). I trimmed a lot of the bottom leaves and it’s looking healthy so far. It adds some fresh greenery and will help clean the air.

Pretty But Simple Cheese Boards

Our daughter’s sister-in-law co-owns the Sorella Collective, a company that makes gorgeous cheese boards for lucky hosts in Los Angeles. She’s inspired me to step it up a bit.

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Let’s see what my friends have discovered this week:

Cindy Hattersley Design

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