Ready or Not?

Yes it is hard to believe we are entering the eighth month of 2011 on Monday. Soon the children will be back to school and we will fall into our regular routines, whatever they may be. I'm just giving you all a heads up that the holidays will be upon us sooner than you think. Just look how fast the year has gone to date already? So with that in mind I want you to make sure you have all that you will need to do some holiday entertaining and decorating. If you are thinking of re-doing some Thanksgiving/Christmas decorations, the selection is at it's best right now at the wholesale level. So give me a call to discuss any holiday decorating changes you think you might like to make. We make a date and head to the Design Center for a day of fun and excitment!
Okay now back to fall.... let's start to build a beautiful tablescape for autumn. We will start off with linens. There is an endless amount of ways to go but I like the feel of wine country as the autumn is the most beautiful time to be in places like Napa Valley and Sonoma as the crush is going on. We lived in California and were in wine country several times a month for several years and every month has it's own beauty but the way the vines look, the smell of grapes and the color makes autumn the best time for me. So look at some of the linen photo's and let's start there. Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Macy's have their fall merchandise in so go while the pickins are good and you can get the quantities you need.

Slipcovered Furniture

Originally slipcovers were designed to protect heirloom furniture and expensive upholstery fabrics from everyday wear and tear. Today they can be found in stores from IKEA, Ethan Allen, Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, Thomasville and well basically all furniture lines have slipcovers. They offer a custom look, make cleaning easy, can redesign your room in a day, practical, versatile and that is why we are seeing slipcovers everywhere. The photo's of the sofa's show the same sofa with different slipcovers and how each look is very different from each other. These sofas and fabrics are avaliable from www.ballarddesign.com.
I have girlfriends who change their slipcovers with the seasons to give a different feel and look to their room. Velvets, chenile for winter and cotton prints and light weight fabrics for the summer.
Many clients ask if they should choose slipcoved furniture and what are the advantages of doing so...if you like to change up your look this is the perfect solution and even if you don't slipcovers offer a great look.

Preppy Lilly Pulitzer Home Collection is Here!

The Lilly Pulitzer Home collections of furniture is full of cheerful pieces of terrific furniture. There are over 200 pieces to this collection with all the Palm Beach style anyone could ask for. Lilly Pulitzer is famous for her preppy fun prints and bright colors in her dresses, accessories, sheets and shoes for years and now these prints are being used for upholstery and setting a fresh and vibrant room. The collection is available through Neiman Marcus and Horchow.
Also go to www.lillypulitzer.com to see all the great designs!

Making a Great First Impression!

The front door to your home should have curb appeal, be energy-efficient, withstand the elements and complement your home! The most common doors are wood, fiberlass composite and steel. You can get some fabulous antique doors through your local salvage company or have a door custom made for you. I have a friend who has a wooden door that has an old Irish welcome carved into the whole door....very cool. So many other decisions to be made when thinking of changing your entrance. Are you going to have double doors, windows in the door, side panel windows, transom, deciding on hardware...all these decisions make your front door custom and special to your home.
I do like a strong and bold color for a door if it is all wood like the red door in the photograph, this has a strong yet welcoming statement.
Changing the color of your door, if that is possible is a quick way to make a dramatic change to the way your home looks. Give it a try and always remember ...it's a can a paint...if you don't like it try another color. I do color consultations all the time and find that picking a color for a room or exterior is a difficult decision for most homeowners. Having thousands of colors to choose from makes picking color even more of daunting experience than if you had fewer choices, but there is the perfect color out there for you!

Lobster Fest!!

Okay now that we have the Fourth of July behind us for our next entertaining idea why not try a Lobster Fest! It is simple yet spectacular and makes for a perfect casual outdoor summer party. If you don't have an outdoor steamer, use a large stock pot on the stove and bring the lobster outside when it is ready. Steam lobster for 8 minutes for each 1 pound lobster plus 3 minutes per each additional pound. Lobsters are done when the shells are bright red. Have bowls with drawn butter (keep it warm), condiments and crackers to break open the shells. Lobsters are easy to crack, first pull off the claws and knuckles, then detach the tail and legs. Tap the claw shells with a mallet and extract the meat. Cut down the middle and spread the shell open and enjoy this delicacy! Yes it is messy but worth the efforts. Make sure you have lobster bibs for your guests and you can use newsprint as your table cloth. It is important to have all the proper tools like picks and crackers in order to get to all the delicious meat. Left over lobster is wonderful and delicious so make a great salad or newberg.
This is another fun and different way to celebrate summer and keep the mess outside!
For dessert do a ice cream sundae table with sprinkles, brownies, nuts, chocolate chips, broken chocolate bars and different syrups. YUM!

Tremendous Turquoise!

There are many variations of the color blue and turquoise is one of my favorite of the blue hues. Coming from a place in nature from the azure sky to the ocean blue to the mining of the many variations of natural turquoise, this is a color that is never out of style. It is popping up in all areas of design from jewelery, furniture, wallcoverings, tableware, fabrics and the list goes on. Turquoise has been a treasure since the Egyptian pharaohs and Persian Kings wore it back in 10,000 B.C. It is said to have healing properties and Native Americans adopted it as a cultural touchstone.
I find it a relaxing, and happy color which makes things pop whether you are wearing it as jewelery or accessorizing your home with it. Turquoise is a trend that really never seems to disappear like other colors and designs. We see it in tiles, chandeliers and rugs. Every room could use a little of it.