Multitasking Holiday Decorating Thoughts

 

You all know my byline for my blog is..

“Enjoy The Process!” 

Trust me when I say I strive to do just that. As soon as Halloween is over it feels like the Holiday season is officially open to me.  

I know most of the stores over lap Christmas and Halloween and poor Thanksgiving gets a small window of opportunity.

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It seems to be the way of the world, but I try not to succumb to the rush and, “get ‘er done!” attitude. I want to enjoy it ALL.

When I start looking for inspiration for my Thanksgiving table my  travels will almost always take me into Christmas as well so I go back, and forth with both Holidays in mind, and thoroughly enjoy looking and don’t feel guilty one bit.

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Personally I don’t think it needs to be a race, or the different camps formed. One camp refusing to venture into the wonderland of Christmas thoughts until a designated date, vs. the lets get Christmas done early so we can enjoy it for the whole season.

Let’s just set our own personal time lines and Enjoy the Process, all of it!!!

Today I am going to show you some Thanksgiving AND Christmas inspiration all in one post! YES! you heard that right.

Lately I have been looking at the simpler side of things and enjoying the look very much, so that is what I will show you all today. 

I hope you get as excited and inspired as I do just by looking at pretty images!!!

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The idea of one unadorned tree is very appealing to me this year. I have the basket, I have the corner, this just might appear in my home this year!!

Of course the family, "memory tree," will have it's important center stage place in the great room. You can read about our, "memory tree" HERE!

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How simple is this!? Easy to do as well.

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Everything you see here can be purchased at the grocery store or a tree lot.

Of course the vase and urns would have to be something you already have. 

Just look at how elegant and simple this is. By keeping the elements limited, to greenery, bosc pears and white roses, it is elegant. 

It also helps to keep the color scheme tight. By using only green and white it gives a sense of calm and peace. 

Also please notice the nice loosely tied ribbon on the wreath. I am a big fan of beautiful ribbons and loosely tied large loopy bows, if you have to have a bow at all, sometimes just a knot is sufficient when using lovely ribbons. 

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You can not get any more simple than this. You can purchase wheat stacks already formed a the craft store. 

Get some beautiful double faced satin ribbon in a soft hue and you are set. 

You will notice another simple, tight color scheme. The colors chosen here are muted, grayed and neutral, making it elegant and sophisticated. Martha Stewart always does amazing table settings.

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Pinecones, moss and a few sparkly stones make this an easy Christmas arrangement.

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If you have 3-5 glass hurricanes down the center of your table and add the candle and a leaf from outside, you have a Thanksgiving arrangement, simple, classic and elegant. Easy-Peasy!!

Decorating tips:

1. Keep your decorating to three or less elements.

2. Use a tight color scheme, two to three colors max.

3. Using natural elements always feels more simple
    and elegant.

4. Repeat elements throughout your home, or on the 
    tablesetting.

5. Keep it simple and uncluttered

6. Above all relax and “Enjoy the Process!”

These are just a few of the multitude idea and inspiration that can be found. Keep an open mind and explore bot Holidays if that is what you like to do and don’t worry about what order you think of first, second, or third, just …….

“Enjoy The Process!”

BTW: Go HERE to see the simple side of Christmas for some inspiration!

 

 

NEW HOME UPDATE: Adding Some Jewelry To My Rooms!

 

Artwork and lighting are like the jewelry in a room and since my new home had absolutely NO jewelry except for a few lights we decided to hang a few pictures.

I have a theory about walls and artwork…….

“If you want someone to stop and look at the wall and what is on it, then hang something there, but if you just want them to walk by, don’t put anything on the wall!”

Over the thirty some odd years of consulting with clients I found so many would have pictures on a little slice of wall that had no meaning to the whole context of the room or the home. 

Many homeowners feel compelled to have something on every wall in their house. 

The results can give you a scattered look, and make the home feel busy, and disconnected. I know none of us are trying to achieve that look for our homes.

In our new home I have a few focal walls, these are walls that your eye will naturally go to even without something being hung on them.

Design tip: When hanging art start with your main focal points in each room.

This is where I start with hanging my artwork. The very first area is our entry hall the place that I will greet my family and guest…..

“Your entry introduces your

guest to what they are about

to see, feel, and experience in your home!”

My theory on entrances to homes……..

“You are about to enter the place we love, and call home, as you enter I hope you know your are welcomed here. We hope we have made you just a bit curious about how the rest of our home will look by our choices in colors, wall treatments, and the other elements we chose to greet you.  We love beautiful things, but nothing is too precious in our home that it will ever be more important than YOU.  We hope your feel at peace, and relaxed while you visit here.”

Our entrance hall is a small area. You will notice that the front door will swing into the wall on the right of the table so that area had to stay open. 

There are a couple of things that I would like you to notice. I left the area on the left of the table open instead of pushing the table closer to the wall that divides the rest of the hallway that opens up into the kitchen.

This is called giving it some visual air space. When you do that it can make the area look just a wee bit larger. 

If I had pushed the table further to the left, it would have looked crammed, making the person viewing it, think. “ Oh she barely had enough room for that table! This is a really small entry!” Not the thought process I want to take place.

I have a few options of tables that could have worked in this space, however I chose the mirrored table for it’s reflective qualities, also creating a bit more visual space. 

The other reason is I wanted to reflect more light. Even though we have a window in the door, (still so happy about that one!) the entry appears darker than I like. I love light and lots of it!!

So what should we hang over this mirrored table? A mirror? That would give more light reflection, but with the glass in the door, and the mirrored table I felt we had enough reflective surface. 

I wanted something  that was happy, something that introduced a little color. I had the perfect piece. It was large so it would fill in the area nicely, it has a portrait light which will add more light to the area.

We tried it and it worked beautifully. It is an original oil painted by artist Dorothy Spangler. 

It was a gift from a very dear friend, so when I look at it, I smile for two reasons, one because of HER and the other because of the subject matter. One of my other favorite things in life, FLOWERS!!

Ideally the table could be about  4in. longer on each side, but for now this is working out just fine! Isn’t she a cheerful greeting?

In the future I will probably be getting a runner, or a rug. Nothing has spoken to me yet so I will wait until I find the perfect rug for there. I also have some really great plans for the walls and the ceiling, but that will have to wait for later.

I am not sure you can see it or not, but I have the little tiny LED lights in the plant, more sparkle, more reflection = more visual space!!

As you walk down my entry hall it opens up into the kitchen/great room, and to your left is a big wall.

I have plans for a, “someday piece of artwork,” for this wall, but until then I have a really nice piece to use there.

This piece was chosen for two reasons. It can be seen from the entry piece, and it introduces some of the same color found in the floral as well as it introduces the color scheme  that is in the great room.

I purchased this vintage sailboat blue print and had it professionally framed with a very simple white frame. 

The print is bordered by a thin black mat, and then a white mat. Simple, just how I like it. 

I love the way the buffalo check fabric ties in with the blue print. 

The print itself is fairly large, however I visualize a huge colorful art piece, eventually. I will be on the hunt until I find the perfect piece that speaks to me.

Once I get that print I also visualize a long bench upholstered in cobalt fabric with Lucite legs so it will have a see-through quality, and not visually take up too much space.

Something like this….

I can just see a huge piece of art with this on that wall. This wall is actually straight across from my kitchen counter…..

So when I look for another piece of art I will keep in mind the scale for the large wall, and also a good combination of colors for our home, and most importantly the subject matter that speaks to me. Art should speak to you, draw you in.

As you walk forward you enter into our great room……

As you can see two of the walls are all window, but the wall to your left is the focal point of the room and that houses our TV and fireplace.

I have some big plans for this wall in our future and I wrote about it HERE, if you would like to read about my plans. However for now we have to put something up above the fireplace.

We found that nothing but a mirror would work behind the antique black clock and a mirror would be a bit redundant with the TV because of its shape and refective quality, like the screen of the TV.

The clock was moved to a better spot, and we hung an oil painting of the ocean, and sail boats. Again it looks a bit small for the wall, but once we do the molding treatment on this wall it will be the perfect size flanked by sconces!

When sitting in this room this piece takes me away to my favorite place, the ocean. It makes me feel peaceful and at home.

We have quite a few more pieces, but as I have been with these, I will be strategic in where I hang them I will take you all on for the ride in my new home and in my thought processes!!! I am a teacher at heart!

 
I hope you,"enjoy the process," of following along with our journey in our new home, and come back as we continue to make it our HOME!!  

 

 

My Biggest Design Dilemma Solved Itself!!

 

For  those of you who have been following along with me on my blog you know I am a gal that likes order, neatness, symmetry, and an uncluttered atmosphere in my home.

When we chose the floor plan for our new home there was one element that gave me angst, and I mean big time angst. 

I won’t even admit to you how many hours I spent thinking about, planning, and sourcing ways to deal with this one problem.

THE PROBLEM CHILD!

In my great room we have one wall that is the focal wall of the room. On this wall is a slight niche for the TV and a fireplace, side by side.

In my world the fireplace should be in the center of the room flanked by two bookcases, and one will hold the TV. 

Since I was not the architect on the job, nor did they ask me to be, this is what we have to work with. You can see for a gal that loves symmetry this can be a big problem.

Well, this week we moved into our new home. I already had a nice console table that would work under the TV that I thought would look nice, and it does. 

I might want a larger piece down the road since we also plan on getting a larger TV, but luckily I don’t feel the need to make a change right out of the gate.

Once my hubby placed the TV on the console table I immediately noticed how it pulled the room together because it was black, and black & white are at the base of my home. 

It also balanced the fireplace opening. Now I don’t have a problem admitting when I am wrong and boy was I wrong about the TV wall.

The TV has been installed on the brackets on the wall and it works great there.

We are both very happy with the results and for the fact that we don’t have to address this wall immediately like I had originally thought. In fact I made my hubby promise me that would be the first project he would do for me right after we signed the papers.( I am a planner)

I do have plans for molding to make the entire wall look and feel like one large composition. 

It is going to take a lot of planning, measuring and blue tape to get it right, and when the time comes we will be up for the challenge.

LESSONS I LEARNED:
Sometimes, even in design, things have a way of working themselves out so relax, and don’t over think it until you see how it turns out.

Two black boxes side by side will add balance to a room, who knew?

The TV is my friend, not my enemy.

FUTURE PLANS:

The TV/Fireplace wall will have a paneled molding treatment on the entire wall, floor to ceiling.

Here are a few images that I have pinned for inspiration…….

This first image is the closest to what I have envisioned for my wall. On the left you will have  to visualize a console table with the TV on the wall and panels behind it. 

The over mantel treatment is almost exactly what I want except for how low the sconces are hung.

I see sconces hung this low all the time so I am sure there is a reason for it, however for me they just look too low. 

How do you feel about the height of the sconces? Maybe I should do a blog post on this subject? HMMMMM?

Very similar to the other one. It has clean lines with just a touch of elegance and that is the look I am going for in our new home.



This treatment does not go all the way to the ceiling like I want, but what I do like is the treatment behind the TV.

None of the above images are exactly what I want, however by pulling an element from one image and then the others, I can come up with what will work best in my environment.

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED:

1. When looking for ideas for your home always think of the images you are looking at as inspiration only.  Gather lots of images. ( I pin mine to a pinboard on Pinterest)

2. Try not to take the details literally, or you will overlook some good inspiration, and feel paralyzed.

3. Choose rooms that make you feel good, and then analyze what it is about the room that you can apply to your own.

4. When looking at your images for inspiration try to save some that you don’t like as well, and keep those separated from your likes. It is just as important that you are very firm on what you don’t like.

5. Often times likes and dislikes can look very similar, but there will be one detail that will make you, personally not like it. 

6. You need to be very aware of what you dislike so you don’t fall into the pitfall of adding it unconsciously to your room. That is why it is so important to examine images and all the details, big and small.

Using myself as an example:

For instance in my looking I discovered I do not like large entertainment walls with shelving and doors. I prefer a simple console type piece. 

I also discovered I do not like sconces place low on the wall above fireplaces.

7. Start applying your idea to your area on paper first, and start with the area that is the most important to you, or at least the area that will dictate the outcome of the design. 

In my case it will be the over mantel first, because it will set the lines that will go over to the TV area. 

I am starting with the fireplace because I have a much smaller area to work with than I do on the TV wall.

The measurements and lines I create above the fireplace will flow over to the TV wall where I can actually add more if need be. There needs to be a consistent flow of lines so it will not start looking like a puzzle.

I love design! I am always on the learning curve and it is inspiring and a challenge all at the same time!!

Moving and making plans for the future sure is fun and we intend to.........