5 tips for Holiday Bright

What kind of holiday decorator are you?

Walking through stores this time of year certainly sends the message that there are many people who love  a holiday  glam look with glitter, shine, and layers of finery.   If you've read this blog for awhile you know this won't be that kind of post.  I like my seasonal decor as simple as possible.  When visitors come to my home I  want them to feel in the mood for the season without being burdened by sensory overload.

In honour of the upcoming  holiday season I created a style board to illustrate some of my top tips for for decorating without going over the top.  I started with this stunning chair from Chairish, a US based online marketplace for vintage furniture.  There are so many beautiful accent chairs to choose from, in addition to other great finds for your home.

Mid century accent chair 

I would love to own this chair! It references warm and cosy, but still has a quiet elegance.  It can be yours for a great price.  Check out the link above.

Now for a little creative play, let's give it a new home using 5 simple decorating moves.

Tip #1

Add a fur throw to furniture for instant warmth 

But if  a purchase isn't in the cards for you, don't fret.  You can satisfy  your urge by creating the same look using a faux fur throw or  natural sheepskin.   While you can use fur on any chair,  a framed chair in  black can't be beaten when it comes to impact.  Remember the power of spray paint!  Of course this one with its gold tips is extra special.  Hint, hint,  tape off and spray  the tips  of your stand -in piece gold.

Tip #2

Reference nature 

A quick look around this style board shows nature repeated throughout the space with birds, trees, deer, as well as twigs and berries. They are all easily added and removed for another creative use next year.  What I like about this more minimal approach is it's longevity.  Many of the additions can be left up all winter so you don't have that bare look after the holiday season is over.

Tip #3

Integrate seasonal objects among every day arrangements 

Take down a piece of art and hang a wreath in its place, add seasonal objects to your window ledge and bookcase or tabletop.  Berries can often be added to simple arrangements. 

Tip #4 

Add candles 

Such a simple addition and so much ambiance when lit.  If you are concerned about safety,  purchase a set of battery operated candles.  They are so realistic now with some even having a subtle scent and flickering light.  I especially like  the  remote control function on the ones I have. One flick and instant mood is created. 

Tip # 5

Use pillows for pattern and comfort

Not everyone likes to have a pile of extra pillows around; I get that!  I admit pillows are my weakness and  I have a shelf full so I can make changes through the year.  I think they are a small price for a refreshed  look.   One budget idea for seasonal pillows is to find ones that work well on one side with your every day decor and flip them for seasonal decoration. 

How does this  advice play out in my own home?  

Here's my dining room from last year.  Candles, real twigs and fake berries, white  reindeer, sprayed pinecones, an evergreen and birds. It will all be used somewhere again this year but it won't look the same. 

For something different this season, I've separated my two buffets and changed the art.

artist Mike Gough, The Island 2014

 I've been looking for the perfect place for my new piece of art by local artist Mike Gough.  It seems to be comfortable in the dining room. This painting has a  fall feel that made me think of my moose antler at my summer place.  Let's see if it can be integrated into a more sophisticated environment.  My candles are in place and ....   It needs more than that.  I'm thinking a conversation will happen between what's on the buffets and the table.  Stay tuned.

Going Coastal

As our lives become busier and more frantic there seems to be more interest in decor styles that are calm and comfortable.  As a result coastal influences are popping up everywhere.  Perhaps coastal decor is for you.

 Check out this ideabook I just developed on Houzz. 

To see the ideabook in its entirety click on the title.  

Going coastal

Revisiting antlers in decor

 In 2014 I wrote a post about the popularity of antlers in home design:  I had reservations about their overuse.  Whenever anything becomes too popular I am automatically reticent about employing the trend in my own home or  the homes of clients.  I decided there was a middle ground when it  comes to using antlers in an interesting way  as described in my initial post.

My antler gift finally moved indoors this summer once I decided it was suitably bleached.  The other one  was left in the flower bed.   Once moved inside it took up a  nomadic existence as you can see from the photos below.  You never knew where it would turn up.

 

On the trunk in the living room for an evening of company when you want some ambiance.  The antler served as a place holder for the remote start candles.  I love this invention;  they flicker like real candles, smell like real candles and you don't have to worry about fire.  Thanks Costco!

Or on the dining table if you want to use the the trunk for food or drinks.

or

as part of a console table vignette.

Our summer place was featured  in a local design magazine called Home and Cabin.  I needed an organic shape to add dimension to  a  vignette I created for the shoot.  My antler was perfect in scale and form.  It almost looks like writing and relates well to the other collected items on the tabletop. 

And when not in use, it resides on the floor in the corner  ready and willing to leap into service when called upon. 

I saw this  Fall application today on Pinterest and it gave me a new idea for Christmas.  Guess I'll be dragging antlers to my city home next month! This works so well because everything is bleached even the table top.  Did I mention I love bleached wood? 

Perhaps you have an antler in your life and have ideas for  its use.  I would love to hear from you. 

Blogger App

Yes, there is an App for Blogger and here I am trying it out.  In the past I've wanted to compose posts on my I Pad when I was travelling and couldn't.  Last week I saw an ad and decided to give it a try.  This is an in process review.

So far so good. The interface is simple , but so are the text options. 

 Can't do much that is fancy with just Bold and Italics and underline.  Also clumsy when you have to select and apply these options.  Not to mention how I hate one finger pecking to compose!

Let's try adding a photo from my camera roll.  You  have some options for photos with screen shots, actual photos taken with I Pad or downloaded  from camera.

When you read the reviews they are less than stellar with a long list of complaints.  My take: Can't include video or links, can't add photo captions or photo properties.  Nowhere to add label tags. So much for basic SEO.  

So..... Good for a short, simple post with photos while you are on the fly.  I am wondering if I can go back in on my computer and add captions, tags etc. after the fact.  Now to post this....   The only thing I see is Done.  Here goes.  New comment....  You can add labels and go back to the text. Let's try again.

Addendum.
Published easily and you can go back and edit online after the fact to change things a bit e.g. Size of photo, add captions and properties. 

Thrifty decor: Bring on the green

Do you like a little nature inside your home?

Do you love to find something that looks good and costs little or nothing?

Do you like quick  pops of texture and colour ?

Barnacle vessel by Anita Singh

Then think ferns.  Wild ones, the ones you see growing in the woods or other damp places.  They are  a constant in my summer decor mostly because I don't have ready access to cultivated options and also because I love to create interest and a homey, nature inspired look without spending money.


Living on the edge of the ocean, in a meadow with thick woods behind me is the perfect spot for foraging for bargain accents.   I often combine sea related objects, some found and others hand crafted.

Another trick I use is to continually move around objects I have to create new looks.  My summer place is small and there isn't a lot of storage for "accessories".  The candle replaced the sculptured vessel in the photo  above.   

.   

 Then an old oil lamp replaced the candle.  So three objects different heights, different textures and different shapes is a simple formula for display.  Another trick is to mimic the shape of the table in one or more of the objects.  The circle is repeated a number of times in this vignette.

As the ferns started to wilt,  I removed them and cut some grasses and alder leaves to flesh out the display and moved it to another spot.  Leading the viewer's eye is another great trick to use for simple displays.  Your eye pops from the rope ball, to the bouy and then through to the ferns and lamp.  Again I have different textures, heights and shapes.  The added texture of the lamp base and the table creates a very inviting vignette.  

If you don't have a meadow or woods near you buying several ferns at the florist has the same effect.

Do you have a favourite go to wild plant to use in your  arrangements?

Are you a seasonal decorator?

 All those pictures on Pinterest  over the last several weeks make me wonder to what degree the "average" person goes to celebrate changing seasons, holidays, etc.  I feel like I am letting my profession as an interior decorator down when it comes to special events decorating in my own home!

I  make some effort to decorate, but notice I said "some".  It will never wear me out or cost more than $20.00.   I usually choose several very simple changes to  give a gentle nod to any special event.  I am also a firm believer in using what you have in your house and garden.  If I can't figure out  something to do with what I have supported by a trip to  Dollarama, nothing happens.

 When I was younger I admit putting more effort and money  into seasonal decorating, but it all seems so over the top now, and surely I can find better things to do with the money I would have spent!  Simplifying has been my mantra for the last ten years. That goes for decorating too.

My current effort in the family room....

One gray tray; three gourds from  the supermarket; a ceramic paper bag vase purchased three years ago at Homesense for $ 9.99; a mercury stylized bird that is really a little too big, but I love it and it gets used everywhere; and daisies from the dollar store.  Sometimes I buy fresh, sometimes I use artificial. And best of all is the sun patterns on this glorious day.

It's colourful and simple. Here's more inspiration from Pinterest all with trays.

  One tiered tray; gourds; hydrangea, pinecones... so simple but would work well on a dining table because of  the height

 This one has a collection of objects from around the house (books and jars), pinecones and three clear jars with sedum.  The art work behind the vignette adds the autumn colour.

I can't say no to sunflowers and this vase just gives us more of that glorious yellow. Baskets of pinecone add texture and help play up the colour of the flowers.  Love the old woven basket.

Love the ceramic pumpkin on a cake tray surrounded by fall berries. Variety in heights and textures make this work well.  If you can have just one tray, a silver one shows up best on dark furniture.

This is as simple as you can get with candles in plain glasses, a distressed tray and some autumn foilage.



 And finally, good-bye from the table of my summer place.  No tray but lots of plants and shrubs from my garden.  White ceramic anything is a good purchase.  I love the shape of pears.

And I finish by asking again... are you a seasonal decorator?

5 Ways to add interest to a dining room

When someone says dining room, what picture appears in your mind?  Try  it.  List the elements.

For many of us these words conjure up a dining room set with everything matching, a chandelier and some sort of hutch or maybe buffet.  Probably a picture of some sort will be included.  I bet matching is the most obvious characteristic.

It doesn't have to be that way unless that's what you like.

 Here are 5 ways you can  make your dining space stand out a little.

Mix and match your chairs and table

The days of dining sets have moved behind us.  In many magazines you will see all sorts of mixing of styles, materials and colours. I love the look of upholstered chairs with a wood table. They soften the hard edges and provide some relief in the "wood" department. Some adventurous types will go for two different styles of chairs.

 Adore magazine

 Another option if you aren't too adventurous is to upholster each of your wooden chairs with a different, but co-ordinated fabric.  Note how this room sports more traditional chairs with a very simple table.

In the case of my own dining space, I painted my matching chairs charcoal  and upholstered them with a much lighter fabric to make them the centre of interest in  my sea of golden tones. I am trying to get up enough nerve to paint the solid ash buffets the same colour.   I'm not there yet.  It's difficult when your furniture is all hand made with love.

Look for a harmonious  buffet 

Forget about having a matching buffet (I wish I could!).  Look for one with the same undertone as your table  or chairs and similar lines if you like, or go for something painted or a different style entirely.  Some element of it should relate it to the room as a whole: wood tone, style, or colour of other objects in room.

Here are two I would choose for my space to work with my chairs.

They certainly harmonize with the darkness of the chairs, the style is mid centuryish like the table and I like the fact they are both raised off the floor.  This openness will give the illusion of space, always an added plus in a small room. 

Have at least one hand made/original item

 We live in a mass produced economy where the answer  to everything is in a big box store.  Not so.  Save your pennies, visit an antique shop, a fine craft store or gallery.  Look for something you love, made by the hand of an artist, and place it with pride knowing it's unique.  It doesn't have to be large.

This month I have a lovely pot on my buffet created by an artist friend, Anita Singh.  I love her work 

because it always relates to the natural world.  Barnacle is always a conversation piece.  It is also the perfect example of my next point.

Use a variety of textures

Textures make the most interesting addition to spaces, and it is the element that I see under-utilized  in homes. In my space I have silk drapes, lots of wood grain, a highly textured plant container made from ceramic, a white wavy vase, metal candlesticks with mother of pearl, and two plants.  I love texture!

Choose one unexpected element

Right now the pot my ferns are in is my an unexpected item.  It is so rough and worn looking and I have it paired with silk drapes. Other options could be your light fixture, a painting, something on your tabletop or a small piece of furniture in a corner.  Some would say it should have bling, but I'll leave that up to you.

What's your "interesting " score?

 This is a very arbitrary checklist, based on what is "current"  in my  decor reading and viewing.   Hardly scientific!

No my dining room isn't perfect but hopefully it is interesting.
Just because I write about design doesn't mean my space is perfect (whatever that means) or that it even lives up to what I know about the elements and principles of design.  There's the small matter of competing priorities including: budget, interest and energy, connections to objects and furniture, beliefs about your role consuming and junking, and the desire for good old predictability in your environment etc.

Go green for spring

And continuing with thoughts of spring decorating....

When you enter my house the dining table is in full view from the entry.   In a desperation move while babysitting my 3 granddaughters, I  stuck some fake lavender in a glass jar and thought that I could get away with it.

 I was called out on that move by a family member who was a little horrified I had fake flowers.  I admit they were not good fakes.  I defensively pointed out I had beautiful fresh, pink tulips on my kitchen table, but I was caught.  Time to make amends.

Something green 

Nothing denotes spring like new growth, green and/or plants.

Lately I've been seeing live plants in lanterns.  I like the look and feel, but my place is not a lantern kind of home.  I already tried the plainest one I could find, and moved it all over the downstairs rooms to no avail.  It went back to Pier 1.

I love repetition as a design statement so it's little wonder I'm attracted to these ferns. Lanterns just won't do, but repetition is possible. 

Keeping it simple

So I decided to keep my dining table decor simple  by choosing three green things massed together in a small trough planter.  I'm talking ferns, real ones.

I'

Three small  Boston ferns, and one trough planter that is very wabi sabi (lots of cracks and rough textures to play with the ferns).  I tried them in the planter before coming home with the lot.  The candles and silver leaf bird were leftovers from Christmas.  

 Tried the green candles, a no go for me.  I wish the bird was a little smaller, but that's what I have!

Still playing with the arrangement.  This will go on for weeks every time I pass the table.  Some day soon I'm sure the lot will end up  corralled in a gray or white tray. Things always do on this table.

Remember this pic from a my friend Gail's house I featured in this post?   I envy her the copper bird planter.  A planter and a bird all in one - my idea of perfect.

Lots of options 

Now I just have to keep these greedy, moisture seeking things alive with constant watering and misting.  I can see me carting them off to my summer house  for babysitting.  I'm  sure they will see lots of moves in the coming year- ledge in bathroom, kitchen table, window ledge in kitchen, laundry room counter or shelf.  The possibilities are endless.  That's a lot of decorating punch for less than $40. 00 and they improve my air quality! 

Are plants part of your decor plan?