From my home to yours…
I hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with great food, family, friends and tons of cheer!
Happy Holidays!
Yesterday, I posted some gorgeous photos of Stephen Shubel’s home in the Loire Valley. This morning, I lit some candles and cleared away the usual clutter to take some quick snap shots of my own home. You can see Stephen’s influence — the tangerines, votives and cuttings — all such simple and great ideas for the holidays!
For the past four years I’ve relinquished the tree decorating to my girls. In the first several years all the ornaments were located around the bottom of the tree, but I can see this year (with the help of a step stool) they’re starting to spread out a bit more.
Of course, stacks of chocolate chip and ginger snap cookies are always nice to have around
Only 6 more days!!
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Posted in Decor, Holiday | Tagged Christmas, Decor, Holidays | 2 Comments »
I took this article out of Veranda many years ago (’05), and it has become my go-to for decorating ideas every holiday season. I just love the way designer Stephen Shubel decorated his home in the Loire Valley.
Tomorrow — photos from around my own home (a little daring of me after this post).
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Posted in Decor, Holiday | Tagged Christmas, Decor, France, Holidays, Stephen Shubel | Leave a Comment »
With the holidays fast approaching, I have gathered my favorite holiday photos from Pinterest to give those of us (who need it) that extra push to bring it all together.
I love the way they used the ribbon here
A great use of all those extra envelopes we have stashed away
You can never have enough votives around the home this time of year
Very elegant and simple
pretty
I have yet to finish decorating in my own home, and my girls remind me daily (not enough blown-up creatures in the front yard). When I do finish (hopefully this weekend), I’ll post a couple of photos.
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Posted in Decor, Holiday, Home | Tagged Christmas, Decor, Home, Wreaths | Leave a Comment »
Boston Ivy
If you are wanting to add a bit of charm or elegance to your home, try planting a beautiful climber, such as a Rose, Hydrangea, or Clematis. Or, to cover a wall entirely, plant an ivy like Boston, Fig or Jasmine. It’s amazing what $35 dollars and a couple of years could do for the look and feel of your home.
- Fig Ivy and a Climbing Rose
Boston Ivy
Fig Ivy
Climbing Rose
Happy Friday!
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Posted in Home | Tagged Boston Ivy, Clematis, Climbing Hydrangea, Climbing Rose, Exteriors, Fig Ivy, Garden | Leave a Comment »
In the past I’ve been quite adamant about only using real flowers in a home. However, faux flowers have changed, and let’s face it some of us are just too busy to keep up with it all. A trip to your local farmer’s market or grocery store for fresh flowers before company arrives might not be realistic — the solution just might be some fake ones, why not?
British Interior Designer/author, Rita Konig’s, home above with faux dahlias. 
Love the bowl of photos guests can sift through
A grouping from Abigail Ahern’s website
Abigail Ahern, also an interior designer, stocks lovely fake flowers in her London shop.
Most local floral/craft stores carry faux flowers, as well as Ikea. The trick to using fake flowers is to use what would typically be in season at the time (more believable). The brilliant thing about faux flowers is that they add a beautiful burst of color with little effort. Enjoy!
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Posted in Decor, Interior Design, Shop | Tagged Abigail Ahern, Fake Flowers, Faux Flowers, Flowers, Home Decor, Home Goods, Ikea, Rita Konig | Leave a Comment »
Creating a garden in an urban setting might seem tricky, but actually it can be quite easy. Recently, I was asked about some ideas for a very small urban garden, so I put together 4 simple steps that could help anyone interested in planning a garden in the city.
Step 1: Figure Out Your Needs
Decide what you would enjoy most in your small urban space. Would you want an area to lounge around in, or would you rather it be more for entertaining? Would you like a sit down eating area? Do you need a place for a grill or maybe a water feature? Some of you may be able to include a couple of different areas, but for those with limited space, you may have to narrow it down to your 2 most important needs.
Step 2: Figure out the Arrangement
Once you figure out your needs for your urban garden, the next thing to consider is your layout. At this point, you should have some idea as to what furniture/items you will be using in your garden space. Begin with an overhead sketch of your space and arrange your areas including any furniture/items you are wanting to purchase. By planning ahead and figuring out your arrangement, you might end up eliminating something that isn’t absolutely necessary, as well as avoid returning any items.
Step 3: Choose plants that fit your Lifestyle and Environment
If you have a busy lifestyle choose several large amazing plants/containers that make a statement and that are low maintenance — like proven shrubs, succulents and cacti.
Step 4: Set up your areas
This is usually everyone’s favorite part, seeing it all come together!
The picture above, of a very small courtyard, is a great example of using a small space wisely. The fig ivy on the wall for a bit of green, candles for ambiance, a love seat and chair for a conversational area, and a small table to place a book or beverage on. Perfect!
Other quick tips are:
lattice to help with any privacy issues,
fountains to drown out city noise,
& a mirror to make your space feel a lot bigger!
The Ultimate Urban Jungle. A bit unruly but amazing at the same time. I can imagine parties out here would be quite wonderful.
If you would like more urban garden ideas, check out my board,”the urban garden”, on Pinterest!
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Recently, I have been inspired by all sorts of photos on Pinterest. These photos happen to have one thing in common — a house plant. Which reminded me how using house plants in decor is a great visual tool. Plants (living objects) help to break up all the hard objects and knick-knacks we tend to collect. These days you can use almost anything. I’ve seen cactus, succulents, herbs, small trees and so on. Perched on books or placed in the entry, plants add texture, color and life to our homes. You can place a tall palm in that corner you don’t know what to do with, put a funky succulent on your bar or a cactus on your bookshelf. And, you can pick up a fun/funky plant (1 to 5 gallon) for under $15.00, which is usually cheaper than a dozen roses and last a lot longer.
I love this look — a Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree in a large basket.
Cactus in large Mexican pottery
Another Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree in a small pot
A simple elephant ear
A Clivia placed on an entry table
I am actually off to buy a plant for that corner I don’t know what to do with — I’ll post pictures later.
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If there is an exterior wall, or even a retaining wall, somewhere in your garden — think about adding a built-in bench to it
The fabulous thing about using a built-in bench is that you can customize it to fit your space and style
Add a thick base cushion, throw pillows, and plush blankets for total comfort
Can you just picture yourself lounging here for hours? I can!
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Posted in Decor | Tagged built-in bench, Garden, Garden Design, garden wall, Patio | 1 Comment »
The Long Table 