Holiday Chandelier

The holidays are certainly upon us. In fact I think they are rather like a locomotive plowing full steam ahead! I can't believe that Thanksgiving has already exited and we are ushering in Christmas. With no time to spare I got to work on my Christmas decor. I started with my dining room chandelier. The picture above is actually taken as a reflection in the dining room mirror. I love how the light just radiates warmth.

I decided upon a gold and frosted fruit theme for my dining room this year. I felt that the gold silk on the inside of the chandelier shades was screaming for something subtle. The shades are a black silk but in these pictures the light seems to be making them come across navy.


Here is a shot during the day with the lights off. As you can see I took the greenery, ribbon and frosted fruit down from the ceiling.





This picture was taken right after my wallpaper was put up. No drapery panels or anything yet. I wanted to give you a peak at the chandelier without anything on it and this was the only picture I could find!

I really piled on the ribbon and greenery to make it lush and full.

I love this fruit frosted with gold. I used gold dusted faux magnolia garland.

The colors in the fruit look beautiful at night with the light hitting them and they compliment my plaid silk panels.

A lot of layering went on to make this one happen!

I picked up two rolls of this pretty scrolled gold ribbon on sale at Michael's. I love how the light plays off of the glitter in the ribbon.

I twisted the ribbon down from the ceiling as well and left loops at the top to cascade down.

What are you doing to your chandeliers this season? Don't forget to check out more creations and inspiration at Susan's Metamorphosis Mondays at Between Naps on the Porch by clicking here. Have a terrific week!

Revisit The Kiddie Table

Today I thought I would share our "kiddy" table from last year to get the Christmas season rolling. Chocolate Santa's stand at attention near each child's place.
Matellasse place mats in green serve as bases for some whimsical place settings. A terrarium filled with glass ornaments is an easy centerpiece and keeps breakables behind glass so little hands can't reach them. A snowman hands candy filled with salt and pepper.

I found some great gingerbread cookie ornaments shaped in frosted letters. Since I knew the names of the kids who would be in attendance I picked up one for each child with their initial and they got to take them home at the end of the night.

The polka dot salad plates made for a fun whimsical addition. I picked them up a few years back at Pottery Barn.

An easy table for five fun kids.

The variety of initials all with different "frosting" kept each place setting a bit different and fun.

I love to decorate chandeliers and my kitchen one is no exception. This one was done in green ribbons and red berries.

I wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving. I pray your home is warm and full of love and laughter. Please visit Susan for more wonderful tables.

Tree Tops

I spent the past weekend in Asheville where I toured once again the stunning Biltmore Estate. We did a bit of shopping too, of course! I was very taken with the lovely Christmas trees in all of the stores. Especially the way they had decorated the tops of the trees. Luckily I had my camera handy and took a few shots.

This tree was done in all gold and green. Very pretty and soothing.

An abundance of greenery was used around the top of the tree.

This whimsical delight was a fun sight indeed! Look at the Santa belt around the middle of it. Everything was over sized and fun. I loved the over sized Christmas lights stuffed into the top of this tree. Fun!

This one was all golds and reds and very elegant. The top almost looked like a show girls head dress! Isn't it stunning though?

All of the trees had some of the most beautiful ornaments on them.

Frosted glass in lovely colors.

I loved these tall deer. These were in gold but they had them in red, green and silver as well.

Red crystal drops.

A candy cane tree.

Wrapped with a Christmas ribbon.

This tree top held a wooden toy soldier. In fact the tree held many toy soldiers.

Golds and whites. So pretty!

White feathers and reds.

Some more of the pretty ornaments.

A more rustic tree with berries.

Berries and ribbons fill the top of this tree.

When will you put up your tree this season? If you are like me I try to get it done the weekend after Thanksgiving. I am happy to have viewed all these trees. I always struggle with my tree top. This has given me some great ideas! I hope it has given you some ideas as well!

ThanksGiving Table 2008

For this Tablescape Thursday I am re-visiting my Thanksgiving table from last year. As I was organizing some photos today I came across my Thanksgiving table from last year. All set and awaiting its guests. Since I was not blogging at this time last year these pictures were never shared so I decided I would share them now.


Coming from a large family I always tend to use a more casual dish for gatherings. The main reason for this is I simply don't want to hand wash my formal china!

I made a quick arrangement using white spider mums apples and some greenery.

I found these blue and white transferware turkey plates some years ago at a HomeGoods. I am pretty sure they carry the same ones every year. I ended up making the napkin rings out of some tassels and trim I picked up at the fabric store. I just could not find any I wanted at the time and so resorted to creating my own.

It is funny to look at all the changes I have completed in my dining room since last year. In these photos I notice the room has no window treatments........ WOW did it look plain!

I had thrown this center mat together out of a scrap of Waverly fabric I found at the fabric store for $5. I liked the colors in it and the way the blue roosters picked up on the blue turkey plates. I trimmed it out in red brush fringe I got on sale. I think the entire project cost me around $15.

Oh look my lamp shades had not even been monogrammed yet!!! So many of you have had your shades monogrammed since I posted that project. Now you can see what mine looked like before they were done! They look so plain don't they? Hope you had fun re-visiting my table from last year with me. You can find more inspirational tables by visiting Susan at Between Naps On The Porch

Tween Bedroom Makeover ~In A Weekend

A few years ago when we were still in California and I had my Decorating business, I was contacted by a client who wanted to do a weekend makeover for her daughters twelfth birthday. This type of re-do is made to look quite easy on the shows on HGTV, but trust me it is not! I felt I was up for the challenge though and took a drive out to her home to see what I was "up against". She had almost all the furniture relatively new. That was staying.

She expressed some definite storage issues around the desk area that needed to be addressed.

The room also had its own bath that she wanted done.

The french doors and window treatments were a definite must do.

The biggest challenge was that she wanted to keep the existing bedding. One less thing to do yes, but very hard to match other fabrics "off the shelf" to an existing set.

After seeing if all my seamstresses. painters and carpenters were on board and able to do a 48 hour turn around I agreed to take on the project. After all how excited would you have been at the age of 12 to go away for a weekend and then come home to this big surprise! So I was off and running (literally) to come up with a plan. I found a great plaid fabric that worked with the existing bedding. There was just enough to make some panels and a bed skirt as well as a bolster pillow for the bed top. That left the existing bed skirt up for grabs and just what I needed to use for fabric to incorporate the pattern into the window treatment. I designed a valance lined in sage green and cream check.

Here is an after shot. I chose a soft blush pink paint for the walls. My work room made soft pink organza sheers to attach to the canopy bed at the corners. I found a great pink on pink patterned fabric to make some roman shades with beaded fringe on the edge.

Here is a look at the finished window treatments. They really made the room.

Some rearranging of the furniture was necessary for a better layout and function in the space. Some new lamps and art work and a lot of accessories helped to pull the space together.

I had my carpenter build in some open shelving above the desk to store all that tween stuff.

I brought in a cream Napoleon chair and added a lovely pink taffeta cushion with sage green and cream tufted buttons on it. Sadly I did not get detailed shots of the room. Mainly because we literally finished 20 minutes before the tween arrived home. Talk about reality makeover!

A restful tailored space was the end result.

The end result was one happy twelve year old! Visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for more wonderful transformations.

Stanley Showroom High Point Market

One of my favorite tours at the market this year was at Stanley. They have put a lot of effort into one of their newer , Coastal Living. I love the bright colors and distressed finishes you find on very traditionally styled pieces. These pieces could be used anywhere and add a lot of interest to a room. They would be a dream in a beach home. I couldn't help but get a bit camera happy on our tour! Enjoy! Just look at all the wonderfully worn colors they offer on every piece. Yummy!


Sea glass table. These colors made me want to change my entire home!

A shaker style side board comes to life in a wash of sea foam green.

This chair is actually a turquoise gingham check.

I love the slip covered chairs. Can't you just envision yourself having lobster at the beach at this table?

Apple green is so fresh!

The inside of their secretary had an outlet for computer mounted right on the front of the inside organizer. How clever!

I love how you can mix every color of case goods in this line and they flow seamlessly with each other.

Blues in the mix!

Pinks and sea foams.

Look at the butter yellow chair near the pink. Completely unexpected but works wonderfully.

A perfect example of multiple colors used. Apple green, sea glass, periwinkle and cream and wood.

The blacks and blues and reds work just as well!

Aren't these stools fun?

This chair is so versatile and so comfortable too (of course I had to try a few pieces out?) and we saw it used in many different settings with many different fabrics. One of my favorite pieces from the collection. Hope you enjoyed your tour!

Market At High Point

This week was the design market in High Point. I was lucky enough to be able to spend a long day there. I took so many pictures but only about 1/4 of them showed up on my camera. I don't know why? I am going to start out by sharing one of my very favorite new finds/ This company is called Forever Green Art. click this link to learn more .forevergreenart . They do the most incredible arrangements out of dried and preserved product. I was drooling. Can you even handle this rooster arrangement? I was practically screaming on the floor but wanted to keep my cool.......
Look at this hydrangea and white rose arrangement. Drooling some more.......

I loved them all.......

Don't you just want this one for your fall centerpiece.......

Fruit was in almost every arrangement even if discreet.........

There were so many different varieties.......

Pheasant feathers...........oh I love it! They will custom make any arrangement. You can send them fabric etc and they will come up with their brilliance based on pictures, fabric etc. They had some fabulous Christmas arrangements but I am saving those pictures for some future holiday posts.

Barclay Buttera need I say more. Everything on his floor was fabulous. I think this was one of the most crowded areas. I did take more pictures of his things but those were among the missing shots.

There were a lot of hammered metals. Among them these stunning barrel shade beauties from Barbara Cosgrove.

How about this turquoise chandelier. Made out of all natural turquoise this beauty wholesaled for around seven thousand.

I loved this whimsical bunny lamp. Again from Barbara Cosgrove. Did you know they will custom match your shade to any Benjamin Moore color for a $40 fee?

Who would have known. Walt Disney has a line of lighting. Whom ever is designing for this is a talented team. Look at this chandelier!

This was one of the best crystal lamps I saw the whole show. Stunning.

There was a lot of furniture with fun finishes. One was this black chest with crystal knobs.

Look closer and you see this black on black finish.

Animal prints were still everywhere. Even on furniture!

Accessories. Always my weakness!

These were all at the Imax showroom.

I was able to take a tour of the Stanley showroom. Some of my favorites were definitely based on some Ralph Lauren designs.

Stunning side board.

A fun vignette.

This family room/den setting from Stanley was one of my favorite from the show. I have always been a fan of this look.

This sofa was incredible and I want it very badly LOL! I can just picture it in my study! I love the navy velvet tufted ottoman as well.

Mohair cushions with velvet mens suiting pillows, Scottish plaids and paisleys. Doesn't get much better than this.....

Oh wait it does! Leather sides yes I am still drooling!

These white lacquered cabinets were stunning!

This table had a wonderful detail in the bottom and legs.

I am eyeing this bench as well.

This wall unit had such a stunning curve to it. Look that ottoman was shown again in leather. Nice!

Come back tomorrow. I am going to take you on a tour of Stanley's new showroom for their Coastal living line. Hope enjoyed browsing High Point with me!

Fall Mantel

For this weeks Met Monday I decided to share a closer look at my fall mantel. Above is my every day mantel. Just by pulling some of my regular items down and adding some fall fare in the form of pilgrims, pumpkins and fall foliage I instantly changed the feel of the mantel.

Tying some fall ribbon around the candle sticks was an easy way to dress them up for fall.

I think this tole tray evokes fall with its warm colors. A friend from the HGTV message boards sent this lovely tray to me. She is a talented lady, this was hand painted by her.

I have had these pilgrims for 19 years. My mother in law brought them from New Hampshire for me on a trip she took there.

Hope you have enjoyed my mantel makeover. For more wonderful transformations visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch I hope everyone has a blessed and warm week!

A Cold Day, A Warm Hearth, Party For One.......

There is nothing like a cold rainy day to elicit staying inside. I did just that today. I put on my fleece, warm sox, grabbed my current novel, made myself some tea and sat in my favorite chair in front of the fire. Ahhhhh bliss! I love large mugs. I also love hot tea with honey. I treated myself to a tray using some of my favorite golds, greens and russets what evokes fall better?

Sadly my butter cookies didn't make it into the picture......lounging all day makes one rather hungry so by the time I decided to pull the camera out for a few shots.....well the cookies were just gone. I decided to use one of my favorite green plates as a saucer instead, I am sure you don't mind!

A little candle light makes it even more cozy.

The love the raised detail on the rim of these plates and they really are the perfect green! Aren't they fun on my autumn leaved napkin?

There is another seat by the fire, are you sure you don't want to join me and sit a spell? I will warn you , I do tend to get rather caught up in my reading once started.

Maybe you would like to pick a book or two out to enjoy yourself?

This wormed and antique tray is one of my favorites and I use it on my ottomans in place of a coffee table. It is perfect for serving up a place setting for one.

Hope you enjoyed spending a cozy moment with me by the fire. Now head on over to Susan's at Between Naps On The Porch to view more wonderfully inspiring tables (or trays) whichever the case may be.

Farmers Market Iron & Antiques

At our Farmers market, or at least right next door there is a great place that carries Iron works and antiques. Here are some of the great things I spied there on my visit...............