How To Make A Sense-sational Home

One of my design philosophies is that it is more important how a house feels than how it looks. 

We can all make a room look lovely. We can copy a picture in a magazine, or buy everything out of a vignette in a store. 

However, to make a Home feel a certain way is , in my mind, Great Design. 

In my experience, how a house feels to those who enter, is what makes it a Home, not just a well decorated House.

One of the important things a Home should have in it are things that stimulate the senses: Sight, Smell, Touch, Hearing and Taste.

Below you will find a list of things that I like to have in my home for my guest to experience a peaceful and welcoming home.

SIGHT

I know this will be subjective, what is pleasing to one is not pleasing to everyone.  Generally speaking, a well appointed, tidy home is pleasing to most. This is where de-cluttering is key!

If it is night time, or the winter months a nice roaring fire is always an inviting sight. Candles will be pleasing to the eye, and to the nose if they have a delicate scent.

SMELL

Scents for the home will always be to the homeowner's taste.  Just make sure it is a pleasant scent and not over powering to your visitors.

 The scents above were found on a great blog  A Gift Wrapped Life. She is actually having a give away on these beautiful fragrances for the home by Charlotte Moss. 

I saw this darling idea on pinterest and this is something that anyone can do.....

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Small bowls filled with coffee beans and then you add the warmth of a vanilla scented candle to the mix and you have a home that smells like a welcoming, fresh brewed cup of vanilla coffee. 

Again, a very simple idea and easy to do. You could even do this last minute if you had to.

One of my favorite scents is Amber. I like to purchase it from Cote Bastide. It is a wonderfully warm scent for the colder months in Fall/Winter.

VIA

Fresh flowers that have lovely scents are pleasing to the eye, and the nose.  Paper whites, roses, lilacs just to name a few. Fresh flowers are always seen in my home, whether it is a single rose in a bud vase or a large bouquet on my table or counter in the kitchen. Flowers are just a requirement!

Keep in mind that a bowl of fresh lemons has the most refreshing scent or a wooden bowl full of fresh apples. It does not have to be fancy to be nice for the senses.

One big mistake a lot of homeowner do is to overly scent there home, make sure it is subtle.

Try to stay away from the large bags of potpourri that are artificial smelling and over powering.

TOUCH

Having soft and inviting textures in your home will only add to its appeal to all who enter. A nice fur pillow or throw is always a fun thing to wrap up in.

SOUND

The soft sound of a trickling fountain outside an open window is a wonderfully calming sound.

A very small bubbler can make a very soothing sound when the water hits the rocks. This little guy is on my back patio.

As you walk up to my front door you will be greeted by this happy dancing water. Not a big fountain, but it still is pleasing to the senses.

Soft music playing in the background can help make a home have a wonderful atmosphere. If you ever visit my home you will always hear soft music playing in the background.

TASTE

Offer your guest a simple cup of tea, coffee, or a cool glass of water with lemon.

It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just welcoming.

I would love if you would share some of the ways you  make your house a Sense-sational HOME

"Enjoy the Process" of: 

Filling your HOME with items that stimulate the Senses

   

 

 

Make Mine Pretty Please!!

 

  

12 Pretty Ideas for Halloween

Halloween can be scary, fun, and frightening, but this girl likes her Halloween to be pretty. 

I have never enjoyed the scary side of Halloween so I am always on the look out for the non-scary side of Halloween.

Also Halloween can be a bit over done!! If you are not doing the Haunted House for the neighborhood, may I suggest......

KEEP IT SIMPLE!!

Let me show you some of the ideas I found that are appealing to me…….

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Black and white lace covered candles, elegant, pretty and appropriate for a Halloween house.

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A trip to the thrift store might be in order to find some pretty black goblets for votive holders.

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Simple cans covered in Halloween paper covers become a pretty centerpiece when flowers are added.

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Black and white with  a little sparkle added always looks elegant in my book.

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I really need to take a trip to the Thrift store!

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Some matte black paint, and a black crow will make any book shelf ready for Halloween.

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Now this is what I call an inviting Halloween entrance! Two things I might eliminate..... 

the fleur-de- lis and the spanish moss around the base of the pumpkins. Spanish moss always looks dead and unappealing to me, but that is just me.

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There are so many free printables on line, I am sure this would be an easy one to do. How about this hanging on the door instead of a seasonal wreath?

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A little more black lace makes these white pumpkins, “Pretty Pumpkins!”

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Speaking of pretty pumpkins!

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Diamonds are Pumpkins best friend!

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Just add your address to personalize your elegant pumpkin!

For more Halloween ideas go to my Pinterest boards:

 HERE!

 HERE!

HERE!

Hopefully this post will give you a new and pretty perspective on Halloween….. 

The Pretty side of Halloween!!

 

 

A Touch Of Black and Chippendale Added To My Porch

 

October is the perfect month to do some Fall planting and updating in the yard. I usually start my seasonal changes out on my front porch and the flower beds leading up to my home.

Since I live in California we have a longer planting season than a lot of areas in the country. For Fall I like to use cyclamen , that will last through the winter and some pansies, just because they make me smile.

This year I am doing a purple and white color scheme. I usually choose my plantings that are annuals in a certain color scheme. 

Purple and white will work nicely with the colors I like for Fall since I am not a true autumnal color gal.

My home is a soft creamy yellow with white shutters and black trim the little dark centers in the pansies really work well.

I have white chairs on the porch with black cushions trimmed in white…..

Two of the best things I ever did after many years of waiting was to order custom cushions in sunbrella fabric and to get a black and white side drapery panel for my porch. I should have done that years ago.

This is under the living room bay window, I think when they fill in the carpet of white and purple is going to look so pretty. It makes me smile!!

We have a row of small violas, backed by the purple and green Kale then the rest of the flower bed is all purple pansies and white cyclamen.

Before you ask the big octopus plant is a Meyer fern. It is huge, much larger than it is suppose to get, evidently it loves it there.

This planter is at the very front of our walkway. Hopefully all the little flowers will be happy there and fill in the space.

Now for the update on the porch!!

 

Two of these babies are coming home to Mama……

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There will be one on each side of the door.

This picture was taken at Christmas, and I photo shopped the planters in place to see if one, or two would be best. 

Definitely two and they are actually black not charcoal like they look in the picture.

We purchased two teenie genie brush cherries that we will be pruning into a rounded dome to place in the new Chippendale black box planters…

These are a nice alternative to a boxwood. They have a smaller dark green leaf, and are easy to grow and manage if you keep them pruned.

I have three in my yard, two on each side of my garage door that are a double ball topiary, and one that I let grow into its natural form which is a large rounded dome shape. 

So there you have it, the latest going-on’s at my home!!!

Are you sprucing up your home for Fall?