At Home & In the Garden with Julia

02/02/2021

An empty room is a story waiting to happen, and you are the author.

~Charlotte Moss~

02/02/2021

“Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved and where we can love.” —Elder Marvin J. Ashton, “A Yearning for Home”

02/02/2021

In order to help balance family and work life, I have made the choice to temporarily return my real estate license to the Virginia DPOR office. While my real estate license is inactive I am unable to practice real estate.

In the meanwhile, I plan to use this page to become a resource of ideas, thoughts, and links about beautifying, fortifying, and utilizing your home space in ways that you can personalize it and make it your homeplace.

I welcome your thoughts and comments. Please know that I value kindness and politeness. Comments that do not meet this standard will be deleted.

05/14/2019

Do you have yellow or red walls in your house? (I'm guilty. Kids' bathroom is a lovely pale yellow.) If you are planning to sell your house soon, the Property Brothers would recommend that you should over those colors.

(https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/property-brothers-reveal-2-colors-to-never-paint-your-walls/)

On the latest episode of "Property Brothers: Buying and Selling," Jonathan and Drew Scott see two wall colors they need to remove, pronto.

12/05/2018

What color is your door?

A simple coat of paint—in the right shade, of course—can increase the value of your home by thousands.

09/27/2018

Days are getting shorter, and we are spending more time indoors. Check out these "7 Hot Home Trends That Make Your Home Work for You"

Home improvement trends embrace energy efficiency, low maintenance exteriors, and double-duty space.

09/13/2018

I wanted to share about an amazing organization in the Herndon/Reston area, called Food for Neighbors. If you are looking for a local charity to support, this is a great one to check out. They can use both volunteers and donations for their Red Bag events. The next Red Bag day is October 27, 2018.

Here is what happened at the Red Bag event last Saturday:
- 32 Drivers collected over 6,500 pounds of food in Red Bags from over 600 households.
- Over 80 volunteers on-site sorted the incoming food.
- More than 250 bins full of food were packed and distributed to 12 schools.

Our community's contributions are now feeding over 800 students weekly! This food is offering these students much needed stability. It is helping them to focus at school and encouraging them to regularly visit and trust in their school social workers or parent liaisons.

I have helped assemble similar snack-packs and have seen first-hand the care and detail that this and other organizations put into creating and providing food for our schools' students in need. I have also learned from a counselor at my children's school about the measurable difference providing weekend snack-packs to students in need has made in their ability to be prepared to mentally and physically when they return to school on Monday mornings. I am grateful that the small part each of us plays in caring for our local students can make such a huge impact in their success.

Visit the Food for Neighbors website to learn more about this organization and to volunteer to help or to request a red bag for donating food. https://www.foodforneighbors.org/

Non Profit organization providing food for students who struggle with hunger.