I started my career as an interior designer when we finished remodeling our home that was built in the 1890s. I loved the space planning, choosing finishes and decorating every little inch. It was trial and error, and we made mistakes, but I learned a lot along the way. Along with being a learning process, working on our home was also a hands-on project. We did everything ourselves (actually, my husband Tom did all the building and heavy work, I did the fun stuff!). I’ve had the decorating bug ever since I was a little girl, but I wanted to know everything about design, so, as a result I returned to college (Mount Mary) for a second degree in Interior Design.
I’ve been collecting antiques and vintage furnishings forever. My favorite shopping places are flea markets, antique stores and of course, Goodwill. I love DIY projects and saving money by taking an object and re-purposing it into something beautiful and useful. I’m also an amateur photographer, love to travel and study French (J’adore tous ce qui est franҫais)!
Although I love to entertain, I’m not much of a cook. My party philosophy is "if the table looks fantastic, it doesn’t matter what you serve."
My weekly column for Amazing Goodwill and my design blog, Design Coach, are about all things design, living a stylish life and entertaining (like setting a great table). I share DIY projects, decorating and design tips, as well as ideas and secrets.
If you have a specific question for Merri, feel free to email her at askmerri@goodwillsew.com.
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Watch Merri on Windy City Live! ... See more videos featuring Merri (and more) on our AmazingGoodwill YouTube channel!
Thanksgiving, my favorite meal of the year. Seriously, I could eat turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy every week–if someone would make if for me! Since that’s not going to happen, I have to be content with the fourth Thursday in November. In the meantime, I spend my time coming up with a new table setting ideas.
Since you’re decorating your home with scary and spooky DIY Halloween projects, your wine glasses and napkins should follow suit.
Nothing is creepier than a severed hand. Except maybe one hidden in a dish! For this spooky Halloween decoration you need a plastic hand and a silver serving dish with a lid ($3.99 at Goodwill). Don’t bother polishing it up. Old and tarnished is much better.
Back to school means class photos. The kids get a new haircut, new shirt, maybe a pretty ribbon or barrette. Then they bring home dozens of headshots in various sizes. Each grandma and the aunties get one, but what do you do with them at home? If you have more than one child, 13 years of pictures add up to a lot of frames and wall space. You can get the frames with collage mats, but then you have blank cutouts staring at you for years. Boring!
The best (and hardest) part of planning a wedding is deciding on the theme and a color scheme. The big trend in weddings is to coordinate everything: the wedding party wardrobe, flowers, the ceremony and reception décor. How an engaged couple arrives at that decision is a personal thing, but paying attention to every detail doesn’t have to cost a fortune if you plan and shop wisely!
Take your holiday sweater from ho-hum to ho-ho-ho! Goodwill and WISN Channel 12 have teamed up to find the craziest holiday sweater in Southeastern Wisconsin! Simply head to Goodwill to purchase your sweater and then grab your glue gun, bangles and beads and take your sweater from basic to bedazzled. To enter, upload a photo of your creation to ulocal on WISN.com between November 11th and December 8th. We will invite everyone to vote for a winner beginning December 10th. The winning entry will be announced on WISN Channel 12’s morning show on December 20th. Four finalists will receive a $250 Visa gift card and one winner will receive a $500 travel voucher, $250 Visa gift card and tickets to Live with Kelly & Michael in New York City!
Is Thanksgiving the holiday you invite your family over for dinner? It’s my favorite meal (my second favorite is leftovers the next day)!
Is your house all decorated for Halloween? I’ve given you lots of ideas during the past several weeks. The last step to planning your party is setting the table.
Decorated trees aren’t just for Christmas anymore! Add one to your Halloween décor and reuse it every year.
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