as soon as we saw liane tyrrel’s beautiful pillows in her etsy shop, enabiten, we knew we had to see inside her home. it’s a three story barn in new hampshire, with the oldest part built in the mid 1800s that liane describes as a humble home architecturally and big and rambling with 13 rooms. nine years later, most of the home has been furnished with things given, vintage and thifted. as for  style as liane and friends use “modern folk” or “rustic minimalism” which i think both do justice to the beautiful space. click here for additional, full-sized images, and don’t miss liane’s shop here. {thanks, liane!} -anne

[above: This is the view from the front hallway of the cape into the living room. The yellow painted tole lamp was a yard sale find. The small 1950s Formica table by the sofa was purchased off etsy. The wooden bench against the far wall is an antique buggy seat. The big bag of sticks by the door is kindling collected in the yard for the woodstove in my studio!]

I found this great old shelf in our barn. I pried it off the wall, scrubbed it down and hung it in my living room. It holds a rotating collection of my thrift and antique shop finds and I sometimes use it for shop images of my pillows. This pillow is part of a new line where I’m exploring early American stenciling. I’ve been buying up all the books on folk art and itinerant stencil work I can find in used book shops. You know when you discover you love something and looking at images of that thing makes your head explode with pleasure. D*S readers, I know you know what I mean!

Here’s a part of our dining room which is in the ell part of the house. This section of the home dates to about 1930s-1940s. This corner holds several great old finds and good deals. The typewriter table was a $1 yard sale find (it was rusty but I did a quick sanding and bought a can of metallic spray paint and it turned out perfect), the typewriter itself was a total steal at an antiques shop at $45 (it’s in perfect condition), and the plates on the wall were found at my town’s transfer station swap shop! Do you have one of those? It’s one of my favorite places to shop for free!

CLICK HERE for the rest of Liane’s sneak peek after the jump!

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question: i wish i could find a cute, convenient way to store my purses. here is a photo of my closet- did i mention a cheap solution would be great, too? -cassandra

answer: hi cassandra! depending on your collection and how prominently you’d like to display it, here are my suggestions:

• over the door purse rack: these $10 racks aren’t the prettiest things around, but they’re really practical for storing a large amount of purses in a small space.
• canvas hanging shelves: at $19+ a piece, this is a slightly more attractive solution that gives you room for both purses and shoes/accessories.
• clothes hanger holder: this $4.99 rack is similar to the ones you see on cheesy infomercials. hang your purses out on the rod, then collapse it down so they take up less space.
• pot rack + S hooks: i saw this idea on flickr and thought it could be a clever solution if kept neat and tidy. install a flat pot rack/rod from ikea and then use S hooks to attach purses. it will keep things nice and flush to the wall
• decorative wall arrangement: this isn’t for everyone, but if you have cute purses and aren’t afraid of open storage you can use a mix of just about anything (vintage hooks, old door knobs, etc) to create a pattern on the wall. then just hang your purses and display them as art or accessories, rather than something to be hidden in a closet

CLICK HERE for matt’s office door privacy problem and solution after the jump!

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the lovely elisabeth dunker of fine little day recently launched a series of artwork called “fine”. the first in the series is this beautiful print called “rebuild square”. each of the prints will be focusing on a mix between old embroidery, ornamental folk art and modern pixelated graphics. in december elisabeth will be adding cutting boards and mats with the same theme, but until then you can pick up elisabeth’s first print right here for $35. thanks, elisabeth! [click here to see elisabeth's beautiful home]

ps: i’m so thrilled to welcome brooke of inchmark to the d*s guest blog! click here to check out her first post. welcome, brooke!

good morning! i wanted to kick things off this morning with some beautiful designs from egg collection. egg is a group of designers (crystal ellis, julie scheu, hillary petrie, and stephanie beamer) who met in architectural school and have been working together on furniture designs ever since. i simply can’t get enough of their “stumped” lamps made from fallen sycamores and working light bulbs. gorgeous. there’s plenty more to see at their site, so click here for more information on egg collective’s work. [thanks, peter!]

i’m in the home stretch of my d*s book manuscript writing so i’m going to head back to work now- but i wanted to leave you with another little peek into its pages. this detail shot belongs to one of our editor’s amazing homes. when you see the full shot of this room you’re going to flip- it is the most gorgeous peach color ever. along with this home, all of the other d*s editor homes will be featured in the book, so stay tuned- it’s shaping up so nicely! until monday, i hope you all have a wonderful weekend. below is a summary of this week’s highlights.

[photo above by johnny miller, who has been a dream photographer to work with over the past few weeks]

• must-read post of the week: new free d*s desktop wallpaper for november by camilla engman!
• new city guide: palm springs, california
• new biz ladies 09: trademark 101 for designers
• new sneak peeks: trina dalziel, ally of ‘from the right bank to the left coast’adam and cynthia
• new diy projects: kate’s pipe cleaner garland, lindsay’s wine bottle vases, margie’s crocheted lights
• before & afters: andrea’s bathroom + kim’s mantle, erin’s sink + tanya’s room + allison’s crib, lauren’s kitchen + kevin’s room + j.c.’s home reno
• new we like it wild: hanging hardens of bernal heights (crocheted flower basket how-to)
• small measures with ashley: domestic liquor
• in the kitchen with: a delicious cookie cream sandwich recipe from ‘our kitchen’
• cookbook reviews with kristina: focusing on books with great food photography
• behind the bar: plum and green tea martini recipe!
• new dear d*s q&a: print hanging and floral centerpiece ideas
• misc.: coulson macleod love prints, modern genealogy charts, new wallpaper from isak, nautical prints from brainstorm, leaf prints by jeff friesen, beverly hsu’s letterpress calendar, remedy quarterly food mag

Alissa and I have both been under the weather for the past week and with HORNE, our friend’s wedding and day-to-day life, we haven’t had an abundance of time to take care of ourselves. The one thing we did do, which really helped, was drink a lot of green tea with honey. So, when our sister, Jillian, told us she recently had an amazing drink that prominently featured green tea and honey we thought sharing the recipe with everyone would be the perfect way to pay homage to the multitudes of people suffering through cold and flu season.

[photo by Jonathan Levitt for the Boston Globe]

This martini hails from the lovely city of Portland, ME and can be found at the bar of the wonderful restaurant Evangeline. Evangeline is a French inspired restaurant with a seasonally driven, daily changing menu. Stephen, the general manager, created this drink when he was inspired to use Italian Plums he found at a local market. As with all of his creations, he wanted this drink to be fun, creative and approachable. Most importantly it had to go well with the French cuisine while still standing on its own as a cocktail.

CLICK HERE for the full drink recipe after the jump!

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