One Thing Leads to Another...

A short time ago, I purchased a long-coveted sofa from a friend of mine, and realized that with the new addition, a new scheme in the living and dining areas of the house would be necessary.

Fortunately, I had a “look” in mind, based on a vignette that I already had in the house and wanted to expand upon.
I love the crisp romance of the black and white photo and the serenity of the white busts and cherubs that occupy the top of the piano, and knew that I wanted more of this look.

In anticipation of the arrival of the sofa, I began to make a few minor changes, the most important of which was the hutch display. In keeping with my craving for white, I removed my pink flowered dishes and replaced them with the white ones that are trimmed in gold.

Unfortunately, the bright turquoise background of the hutch, which had offset the pink and white dishes so beautifully, clashed miserably with the white and gold ones.

I thought about a color for the background, and decided upon a smokey gray; Something understated, but not white, as I wanted the dishes to stand out. It turned out to be a good choice. Good enough, in fact, to become the basis of my new color scheme.

Since I painted my walls a lovely pale shade of robin's egg blue last year, I've decided to stay with it. In keeping with the new direction, however, I'm planning to change the trim color from pale pink to pale gray. The photo below some of the fabrics and accessories that I've been gathering for use in the room.

As you can see, I've chosen a palatte of robin's egg blue with some grays along with silver and gold. All of this with a very healthy dose of white. I've chosen some formal and informal fabrics as well as modern, traditional, and vintage ones. I think it's going to be a fun mix. Now to figure out the guest/sewing room.... Stay tuned to see how it all comes out!

Until next time,

All Around the House

Welcome back! My last post took you onto the porch and through the front door of my house at Christmas-time. I like to sprinkle Christmas all through the house, though, so this time

we'll do the "grand tour" of my little cottage.
While not always in keeping with the color scheme, I love to sprinkle vintage Christmas decorations such as the 1950's Santa cutout (above), throughout the house. I think the vintage touches take a bit of the edge off a themed decor and lend a warm, cozy feel to the place. Over the last couple of years I've started

collecting vintage reindeer. They remind me of a set that my family had during my childhood. These are displayed on the chest that I featured in the Chest of Drawers Redo post.

Another collection that I like to scatter around the house is mini Christmas trees.

I've tucked at least one in just about every vignette in the house including the one here on the sofa table, where I've concentrated my blue decorations. By the way, that's my darling

Lucy, all decked out in her holiday clothes perched up on the edge of the sofa.

As I mentioned earlier, my house has an open floor plan, so the sofa doubles as a room divider to the dining room, which is one of my favorite places to decorate for the holidays.

The hutch is home to many of my vintage treasures. This little Santa Claus is one of my favorites.

The photo above shows the antique cast iron stove doing server duty for the punch bowl at my Christmas open house.

While the hutch and stove are large focal point pieces, I think sometimes it's the small touches that tend to add the most charm. For instance, I like to use touches of greenery, whether real or artificial wherever I can find a good spot. My sconce is shown here with a

garland of artificial foliage accenting the candle base. The candle chandelier, which hangs over the dining room table is one of my trash to treasure pieces. I literally rescued this

outdated brass chandelier from a trash heap and revamped it with a coat of white paint and some crystals. For the holidays, it also gets a touch of greenery.

A couple more of my flea market "fixer-upers", this mirror and triple sconce seem to also lend themselves well to a bit of festive foliage. I used some fresh clippings from the woods here.

Moving on, you'll see that I've decorated the kitchen in a more whimsical style. This handmade Raggedy Ann is made from wood and buttons. She's right at home perched on a shelf along-side a little rocking horse and some primitive Christmas trees. An assortment of vintage red-work linens is displayed on the towel bars below.

Futher indulging the child within, this shelf is home to a collection of tattered but much-loved old Raggedy Ann dolls.

Here are a few more of my vintage dolls.

Finally, we arrive at the smallest room of the house, the bathroom.

I like to keep a bowl of fresh face cloths handy, and around Christmas, they're jazzed up a bit with the addition of a few glass ornaments and some silver napkin rings.

The vanity tray also receives a holiday makeover. The red bottle brush Christmas tree is one of my favorite decorations.
I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of my Christmas cottage. I'm already getting excited about Christmas 2010! Just a couple of weeks ago I picked up a 1960's aluminum Christmas tree at a yard sale, so you can be assured that next year's decor will be quite different! For me, putting it all together again in a new way is part of the fun of the holidays. I hope that perhaps you've gathered an idea or two that you can use in your own holiday decor. I'd love to see what you're doing, so, if you don't mind sharing, send me your photos and they just might wind up in a future blog post!

Until next time,

Refrigerator Art

I love it when I find something useful, pretty, practical, and inexpensive, and this little find certainly fits the bill. The other day I was at Ocean State Job Lots and found these great

little magnet sets. I believe they were designed for school lockers, but what great refrigerator magnets they make!

You see, I enjoy using my refigerator as a canvas for whatever "art" strikes me at a given time, and currently, I'm into displaying black and white

photographs there. Unfortunately, the typical decorative kitchen magnets just don't cut it with B&W photography! But

these little goodies are just perfect with their graphic shapes and black and silver color, and while they're wonderful on their own, they're even better combined with other types of fasteners. I thought I'd show you some of my favorites today.
In the photo above, I've combined one of the black magnets with a magnet made from a vintage brooch from the flea market. I'm planning to make a couple more of these as soon as I come across the right junk jewelry to work with, but I think that will be enough, as they could really make the display busy in a hurry! But a little bling goes a long way and a few of them certainly a bit of punch to the arrangement.
For these photos, I'm using magnetic photo holders that I found at a camera shop several years back. They've also been one of my "best little bargains", as I've used them to display numerous photos through the years. The holders are sized for a standard 4 X 6 print, however my vintage black and white pictures are a bit smaller. To compensate, I simply backed the snapshots with a piece of black paper, and for a little something extra, I cut a phrase out of a magazine to use as a caption for one of them.
For this photo, I repurposed a magnetic mini-chip clip in a metallic silver tone.
For this one, I used a magnetic binder clip from the office supply.

It's fun to let your imagination run loose when it comes to magnets and fasteners for this type of display. For the only color image in the grouping, I used magnetic childrens' letters to attach a

magazine page with a great photo of some delectable looking cookies. Other good fasteners could be fashioned from clothes pins, checker board pieces, or Scrabble tiles. I'm sure once you think about it and browse your home with a discerning eye, you'll see lots of potential fasteners that will look 100% better than the designated refrigerator magnets you can buy in a store, so have some fun with it and create a display that is uniquely you!

Until next time,

STYLE FILE: The Origins of Style Part II

Most of us have a rather definite taste in furnishing our homes. Sometimes our preferences are quite clear cut, or perhaps we’re

attracted to a mix of various styles. In my last post, I began to look beyond the obvious sources such as decorating books, magazines, blogs, and television shows, at the elements of style that I am drawn to, and examine them in the context of my life to discover the reason for those preferences.

My reflections revealed that many of my preferences are rooted in visits to my grandmother in early childhood. From her, I gained an appreciation of

old linens and china. It is also from her that I developed a love of vintage clothing. My deep love of dogs also appears to be rooted in pleasant memories of visits to Grandma.

Through my contemplation, I also came to

realize that my attraction to architectural elements and the neo-classical style most likely stems from another childhood memory – the discovery of and subsequent fascination with Greek and Roman mythology.

But I also have an edgy, more Bohemian side. Where does this come from?

Further contemplation reveals that this element of my taste was developed during my teen years. As a school-age child I was rather large and awkward, and as a result, painfully unpopular. I wished in vain to be like the other kids. Then, finally, as if by magic, my body began to mature and the baby fat that had held me prisoner for so long disappeared! A rather attractive young woman emerged from that cocoon, and a new time of adventure and discovery was underway.

	At the age of seventeen, while attending a rock concert, a roadie spotted me and gave me a backstage pass. This random event resulted in meeting the concert promoters, which in turn lead to
Collage of some of my rock 'n' roll memories

several lasting friendships as well as a long succession of backstage passes. Among rock stars and others

in the music business, I'd finally found a place to fit in. For the first time in my life, I felt pretty and popular! And of course I happily embraced the style of the rockers

whom I adored. It's easy to see where my love of leather, lace, and animal prints is rooted.

Another strong influence from this time period was my friend, Barbara. She and I met backstage and immediately hit it off. I loved her colorful Bohemian style which incorporated
	Barbara and me camping it up before a concert in her Bohemian Style living room

elements of vintage finds and re-purposed junk with a rock ‘n’ roll flair!

Another defining moment for me was the discovery of dance! As a clumsy child, I admired the beauty and grace of the ballerina, and longed to learn to dance. I suppose they had their reasons, but my parents

never saw fit to enroll me in classes, so my visions of dance were only a far-away dream. The allure of dance, however remained strong, and as a teenager I slipped into a disco one night. A man asked me to dance, and though I had no idea how, I accepted and he introduced me to the Hustle.

To my great surprise and delight, I found myself following my partner and feeling somewhat graceful

for the first time. The feeling was intoxicating, and I had to go back for more. I carefully watched the dance floor, especially the “dance gods” and for better or worse, danced only with the more competent dancers. Finally one night one of the “dance

gods” asked me to dance, and as if by magic I was twirling and spinning as if in a dream! Imagine my ecstasy when he asked me to be his partner! I worked hard on my dancing and also in cultivating a look appropriate for a "disco diva".

When the disco era faded, I sought out other venues of partnership dancing which led to a career in ballroom dancing that spanned over 15 years. Add some chiffon, feathers, and a heavy dose of bling to my style mix! So, there you have it. I believe we’ve uncovered the origins of the various style elements that I’m drawn to.

This was an eye-opening contemplation for me. While I knew what I liked, but really didn't know why until I started looking at my tastes in relation to my life's experiences. How about you? You've read my story; I'd love to hear yours.

In future blog posts, we'll be looking how to tie together all the diverse elements of our tastes to develop a unique personal style. I'm getting ready to embark on several decorating projects and will be incorporating touches of all the styles that I've discussed in this post (and part one). I'll be chronicling my adventures and misadventures along the way, along with projects to try and thrifty-chic decor tips. Hopefully you'll be inspired to seek out the things that make you happiest and express them in your home.

Until next time,