THANK HEAVEN, IT'S 2011!

Well, well, well it's nice to have you back! Sorry for the delay but, quite honestly, for the first time in my life I haven't known what to talk about. In short, 2010 was totally exhausting, depressing and all around c.r.a.p.p.y! But, like many shitty things in life, it is over and the clean slate of 2011 sits before us like a lovely blank canvas with a pot of fresh brushes sitting next to it, waiting for us to grab on and forge ahead. During my brief hiatus I thought many times about ending my sweet little blog because at the end of the day, who really cares? Then I remembered why I started this three years ago...because someone told me no one cared and I set out to prove her wrong. Thanks to online tracking systems like Stat counter and Google Analytics, I can see many of you did care enough last year to check in fairly regularly to see what on earth I was talking about. In fact, over 2,000 original visitors were tracked last year hitting this little tip site more than 15,000 times. Wow. Who are you? What do YOU want me to talk about? The perfect toilet seat? Rip-roaring hard boiled eggs (that sounds awful, but I've perfected the art of hard boiling...put eggs in cold water, bring to a boil, empty water, shake eggs in pan to crack then drop in a bowl of ice water. Shells literally peel out and yolks flop right out..yum!). Maybe you want me to share secrets this year about finding the best price on carpet or where to hunt for cool wood remnants to use as bars, counter tops or deck pieces. One idea I had was to take you on a journey with me as I redesign a dream house (not mine, sadly, but a clients). Every Friday, I thought, I'd bring you into the trials and tribulations of renovating an entire house. In February, for example, we're starting in the dreaded Kitchen. So, I'll show you progress photos, tell you where I'm buying what, etc. Follow my progress and, hopefully, get some great ideas along the way. But what I'd really like to do is continue answering YOUR design questions. Just the other day JoAnne from South Carolina left a voicemail on my cellphone (how she got it, I still haven't a clue). I called her back the next day and realized THAT is what I love doing most..connecting with people who wouldn't normally pay for design services, listening to what they need and hopefully sending them on their way with confidence and a few new ideas. Take, for example, a few weeks ago. Sinking into a sad river of depression, I popped on to statcounter.com and noticed I had more than 500 hits that particular morning. Then I was able to zero in on a person in Brooklyn, New York who spent more than two hours reading my entire blog. I was blown away. If you're out there and still reading, please email me and ask me anything you'd like. I'd love to point you in the right direction. In my part of New York it's snowing once again today, so I'm sitting by the fire running through my list of things I've done in the last month I could share with you...painting ugly Terra cotta floors black, turning a dull basement into a cool family cave for less than $1,000, lighting the perfect fire, tracking down awesome hostess gifts...well, all interesting to me, but PLEASE, email me your questions so I can jump into a new year helping YOU instead of talking about what I've done! Here's to 2011 and the hope that we all can make our lives and homes a little slice of heaven!
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: What task? EMAIL me at paul@paulhechtdesigns.com and I'll answer your design dilema
COST: It's FREE to email me so do it now
STRESS LEVEL: I don't bite. Don't worry....