Tabletop - Christmas to New Years Eve

Christmas tabletop with bright red accents and greenery!



Generic burlap always gives such a nice textural base for a table top.

 

New napkins, tossing the crispy greenery, ready for New Year's Eve!

 

Happy New Year!!

Wishing you all the best for 2012!

Carla

Last Minute Installations



This has been the typical load in my car the last 2-3 weeks, trying to get everyone's projects in and installed for Christmas.  Lots of window treatments, lighting, miscellaneous furniture items, and mirrors.  I'm finally there.... everything that's finished is in and I'm ready for a break!

Here's a peek at some of the items that were recently installed in a variety of projects.

Great window seat and pillows in these gorgeous Schumacher fabrics.

Custom traversing draperies in a master bedroom.



Statement light fixtures from Troy Ltg. for a master bath.

Another pretty Schumacher fabric with a Hunter Douglas vignette shade.

Pillows, pillows,

and more pillows.

Custom barstools in a Crypton fabric from Robert Allen that can withstand any stain imaginable.

Breakfast room chairs from Kravet that made it in time for Christmas!

Beautiful chairs from Kravet installed with a client's existing dining table.  Just in time for Christmas dinner!

Colorful ottoman in a Robert Allen fabric that was delivered today!

Coolest light fixture ever in a back stair.  LOVE!  From Currey and Co.

Funny package!  My electrician broke down and packaged up all 13 boxes that the lighting came out of and got it in this one big box, but he had no where in his truck to put it!  He made it work.  (If you're in The Woodlands, TX and need an electrician, you should use Bales Electric.  They are great!....You're welcome.)

Someone package me up.  I'm done!



Fresh Greens Mixed With Fake

I love fresh greens at Christmas, but the fact is they dry out so quickly inside your home.  At least with a tree, you can keep it in water, but fresh garlands just get downright crispy way before Christmas day.  Combining fresh and fake can get you close to the look and scent of a fresh garland.  Just keep the main structure with it's decor intact and change out the fresh as often as you like. 

Before - all fake

After with fresh clippings placed randomly in the garland - it's not so tight or controlled looking either.

One package grocery store greens - you could clip from your own garden or pick up at the neighborhood Christmas tree lot.

Fresh greens brighten up just about everything at Christmas.

They smell so good too!

It's almost here!  Are you ready?

A Holiday Tabletop



I spent some time at my mother-in-law's today working with her to set our table for a holiday dinner we will have at her house. We pooled our resources to create a really different look this year, using her favorite color, turquoise, with antique brass accents.

She has a beautiful antique table and chairs which make a great base for any table setting.  It's nice and wide, so you can really do some nice centerpieces without crowding things too much.   I didn't want to use a full tablecloth so we could see that beautful table, so she pulled one of her scarves in her favorite color to use as a runner. We combined all of our brass candlesticks to fill the table and she has this fabulous, heavy, round vase she picked up in her travels that I filled with creamy white flowers.  Her partridge figurines fit the color scheme beautifully.   

She has these great brass chargers we used under my creamware plates.  Then she pulled out a beautiful service of brass flatware with the best looking soup spoons!  We will be having a fabulous soup on this evening, so how nice to have these lovely spoons. Lastly, we clipped some magnolia leaves from her tree, included a few silk magnolia blooms, and folded the creamy linen napkins. 

This tabletop really reflects the style and personality of my mother-in-law, from the scarf from her closet to the magnolia leaves from her tree.  She loves the decor and can't wait to host this family gathering!

Using Mirrors Effectively

Sig Bergamin - Elle Decor

I think all designers love using mirrors to get extra depth out of a room and to create some deception in a space.  Careful placement of a mirror can bring much needed light into a dark space, can double the size of the room, or make a hallway seem like it goes on forever. I'm always on the look out for mirrors used in creative and unusual ways that achieve a purpose other than the obvious.  Here are some great examples.

Jonathan Berger - House Beautiful

Traditional Home

Michael S. Smith - Architectural Digest

Kit and Tim Kemp - Elle Decor

Jean-Louis Denoit - Elle Decor

Faye Cone - House Beautiful

Shari Markbreiter - Traditional Home

Steven Gambrel - Elle Decor

Roger Higgins - Traditional Home

Elle Decor

 

Courtney Coleman, Bill Brockschmidt - House Beautiful

 

Stephanie Stokes - House Beautiful

 

When used effectively, mirrors are a great trick to get extra visual square footage, open up a window in a space, and of course, direct focus on the inhabitant.  Who doesn't pause to glance at themselves in a well-placed mirror! 

What A Difference Paint Can Make

Before

A sure fire way to get a quick fix for a room is paint.  Well, it's not that quick. A proper paint job takes time and money, but it's less trouble and less money than gutting and starting over.  Look at the difference this paint job made on these cabinets, walls, and trim on one of my projects.  New hardware and stained wood tops helped too!

After

Before

After

Painting everything all one color in this instance, helped accentuate the new wood countertops and beautiful wood floors.  It also makes for an updated, cleaner, less cluttered look.

I love fresh paint!

I'm currently booking projects to start up in January.  Contact me today to discuss your interior design project!

Bookcases As Architectural Features

Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller - Elle Decor

Don't you love this wall of texture and interest that the bookcase and it's filler provide in this room above?  The simple details let you focus on the color and pattern the books create.

What with e-readers becoming so popular and everyone reading on their computers, I do wonder what will happen to bookcases as architectural features. Maybe not in the next 10 years, but in 20, 25?  When the younger generation that is growing up with less paper and even more electronics become adults?  I love bookcases as part of a home.  I think their stock provides such insight into the homeowner's interests and life.  They also make visual design statements in a room. 

 Ralph Lauren - Elle Decor

Great horizontal lines in this space.  The book stacks reinforce those lines and almost create a striped effect.

David Kaihoi - House Beautiful

I'm definitely partial to real books that people have read, not books bought just for show.  Love the magazines here in the lower left.  (I have a bookcase full of just magazines!)  Great rolling ladder, uses every inch of space.

Courtnay Daniels Haden - Elle Decor

Love the gray inside the bookcase in this interior.  Divided as they are with the books stacked so, they accentuate the high ceiling and verticality of the tiny space.

Philip Gorrivan - Elle Decor

 These framed cases could be framed pieces of art.  Such nice texture and color.  Great sconces.  I'm sure at night the cases are illuminated beautifully.

home of Ellen Degeneres - Architectural Digest

Love the contrasting color of the cases.  It gives them a strong presence.  Of course, the shape is magnificent and in this modern home, a nod to the past.

Jean Paul Beaujard - Architectural Digest

What a fabulous, furniture style bookcase with beautiful glass doors.

Jeffrey Bilhuber

Interesting backdrop for a bed.

Mark Sikes - House Beautiful

What a charming reading nook.  Just makes you want to cozy up.

Robert Brown

I love the drama that the black creates here.  The book spines bring such warmth to this room and relate to the desk in color and texture.

Antonio Martins - Traditional Home

Love this sofa niche built in to the cases.  Great bookcase lighting and lovely architectural details. 

Wouldn't you miss these if they were gone?    Or worse.....empty?