• Home
  • Shop
  • Illustration Portfolio
  • My Books
  • About

Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

An inviting home…

September 10, 2012

Lately I’ve been eyeing the fiddle-leaf fig trees on all the design and style blogs that I obsessively read. I have a serious black thumb and can rarely keep even succulents alive for long…however, I think a giant house plant could change all that.

Creating an inviting home is challenging. I spent countless hours rearranging furniture and painted many rooms this summer, but I still feel like our house is missing that “aahhh, so cozy” factor.

I have friends over often, but I usually end up wondering if I could have done something differently to make the guests feel more welcome and comfortable. I used to scoff at this whole notion of “entertaining,” but I’m realizing that it’s actually quite a valuable skill. I’d like to work on making sure that people feel at ease and nurtured when they come to my house. It doesn’t require anything special, I know this. I think it has to start with loving your home and wanting to share it with others in a relaxed way. Something for me to chew on.

In addition to scoring a fiddle-leaf fig tree, I have some goals for this fall to make our home look better and cozier, and I’m feeling pretty ambitious:

1. Paint the living room
2. Paint the kitchen
3. Add more art to the walls
4. Add pretty textiles
5. Buy fresh flowers often
6. Get the fugly window treatment situation under control (seriously, none of the rooms have any decent window coverings and it drives me batty)

I’m off to hunt down easy tutorials for DIY roman shades!

Filed in: gouache, illustration • by sanae • Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address below to get blog posts delivered to your in-box. I'll occasionally include fun digital goodies!

Order My New Book of Illustrated Essays!

Order My Newest Kids’ Book!!

Order My Latest Sewing Book!!

Archives

Categories

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your loved ones! Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your loved ones! I’m spending time with family in the Midwest and there is much to be grateful for, not the least of which is the slower pace this week. Sending big hugs to you! 🧡🧡🧡🧡 Incidentally, this ikebana floral arrangement is one of the illustrations that didn’t make it into my book SHIBUI — I painted a lot of extra illos!

#watercolorfun
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2025 · Theme by Blog Pixie

© 2025 Sanae Ishida