DIY - Fresh Paperwhite Blooms for the Holidays!

Yesterday I wrote a post about easy centerpieces for the holidays, and was inspired to create one...for Christmas.  So off to the local nursery I went for Paperwhite bulbs and wonderful birch planters.  Hopefully mother nature will cooperate and I'll have fresh Paperwhite blooms in time for the holidays!

It is really quite easy!  I choose to plant my bulbs in river stones, which require a waterproof container.

Here is my lovely Birch planter with clear waterproof, plastic insert - can't you just picture it with a festive red bow?

 

The River Stones:

Fill your water-tight planters with the River Stones:

Look at these fabulous bulbs!!

Arrange the bulbs one by one in the stones, being careful to push them in just a bit.  Be sure to leave at least 1/4 of your bulbs visible above the stones.

Water your bulbs - fill your pot with enough water so it just barely touches the bottom of the bulbs.  Do not submerge your bulbs or they will rot.

Place pots in a bright yet cool location and keep the water a consistent level.  Wait and hope for this!

I'll post updates as to how my Paperwhites are doing!

Good Luck!
Becky

Create Your Own Centerpiece

With the holidays upon us and the requisite parties, dinners and festive gatherings, why not create a festive centerpiece ripe for the occasion?

Here is an easy DIY project recently featured in Rue Magazine, "Create your Own Centerpieces".  I love their mantra: "Flowers should make life simpler, not more complicated."  Enough said.

You can read the article here, but the jist is to pick three coordinating, yet slightly different vases.  Then select three different types of flowers yet in the same colorway.   Either put a small handful of each flower in each vase OR put a single type of flower in each vase and group the three vases together.  Always remember to give your cut flowers a new "cut" and water daily.

Martha Stewart has her version of "Simple and Striking" centerpieces:

Here they used a galvanized waterproof container and cut the flowers just a little taller than the depth of the container.  Then they put a tape grid to hold the flowers in place.  Genius.

Or if you can't make another stop at the florist grab some fresh fruit at the grocery store and try this fun Citrus Centerpiece in a glass bowl and topped with ribbons:

Or try a combination of both fruit and flowers!

Martha Stewart also has a beautiful autumnal centerpiece - how amazing is this?  And how striking would this be with boxwood, or evergreen branches with holly and a lovely holiday bow?

If all else fails, grab some great candles and cluster in the center of the table... what could be easier?

Cheers!
Becky

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eddie Ross in Lonny Magazine

Dancing and Decorating with Windsor Smith

You may well have seen the second issue of Rue Magazine by now (and if you haven't, click here to see all 200 plus pages of its edgy fashion and interiors eye candy).  I had a total "aha" moment when reading the feature about Windsor Smith, the successful interior designer responsible for lush rooms like the one you see below:  

Turns out that Windsor Smith was a dancer (like yours truly) before turning to decorating and design as a career.  While I've always felt on some visceral level that studying and working in the performing arts prepared and inspired me for decorating,  Ms. Smith articulated her sense of the connection so beautifully, and it really resonated with me.

me :)

Smith says, "when I look back I had the perfect education for it without even knowing it.  I was a dancer, so I see in lines and forms.  I innately understand balance and proportion from years of ballet classes and learning choreography...You develop an acute sense of balance, and can identify what is not in line by watching your reverse image in the mirror. You really develop your visual skills to a hyper degree."

And the best line.... Smith's advice to "hungry and injured dancers" (I was both, for quite some time) - to become decorators!

Enjoy the bold interiors she created for a large West Coast family - both timeless and funky, elegant yet fun...

Click here to view the pieces available for sale from Smith's Home Collection, including this swoon-worthy round entryway settee:

Safe travels, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Deb

Annechovie Christmas Stamp

Looking to add some punch to your holiday cards this season?  How elegant is Anne Harwell's holiday stamp, available in her etsy shop?  I just want to cuddle up with that chevron pillow in front of the fire...

I also love this fairly new addition to her etsy shop:

I thought of it instantly when I saw this stunner in the window of the Brunschwig & Fils showroom at the Boston Design Center the other day...

Anne has a great selection of Christmas cards in addition to her iconic chair prints:

Anne is offering 25% off the entire inventory of her etsy store now through Friday.  Click here to visit, and use the code Black25 at checkout for your discount!  

Thibaut's Shangri-La

Have you seen Thibaut's recently released collection of wallpaper and fabric dubbed "Shangri-La"?  When I picked it up, I fell in love with the variety of linens and textured wallpapers taking their inspiration from around the world.

Remember my entryway vestibule, which I was planning to do in Jonathan Adler's customizable Greek key wallpaper?

I switched gears to Thibaut's Kawazu, from the Shangri-La collection...

What do you think?  Here it is in another colorway...

And some other images featuring papers and fabric from the collection...

The Stockings Were Hung...

How stunning are these Christmas stockings, crafted by Etsy seller Plum Cushion?  I love seeing some of my favorite Schumacher, Lee Jofa and David Hicks patterns used in an unexpected way.  

And if you're local, don't forget to purchase your Holiday House Tour tickets (by clicking here) to see my home, and those of my neighbors, dressed up for Christmas!

Calgon Take me Away!

I am probably dating myself, but if you watched TV in the 80's you might remember a very frazzled Mom relaxing in a tub filled with water softened by "Calgon" at the end of the day.  (Oh the power of advertising that I remember it to this day!) Fast forward twenty or so years and I have never identified more with that "Mom".  When I saw this circular tub that's what popped into my mind!

What an escape this would be!

House Beautiful featured this "Hers & His" bath, designed by Michael Richman as their November "Bath of the Month".  (All images courtesy of House Beautiful)

Her vanity and sink:

His vanity and sink:

 

The view from "his" bath is Michigan Avenue in Chicago:

And get this - the owner designed these baths to create a "WOW" bachelor pad...he now has found the "right" girl and she is thrilled with her new bath!   Lucky!