Sunday, November 27, 2011

Christmas Fillers

HoPe you had a WonDerFul Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  As always, mine was a blessing and a precious time with family - Lots of food, CARDS and games, napping, a little vino, and plenty of laughs!

And now onto the Christmas Season!!  I started my decorating last week (there is never enough time) and I truly love the process of decorating my home for the holidays and I take my time doing it.  I consider my approach to Christmas decorating to be "layering".  I add a little more over a few days until I get the look I love. 

I wanted to share some fun ideas for a particular decorating idea, using glass vessels, apothecary lidded jars, large glass cylinders and similar glass pieces to decorate.  I love to fill these with everything from candy to candles.  You can have a singular arrangement or put in groups of three or more.  They look great on entry tables, as centerpieces, counters and mantles.  Here are some ideas from Pinterest. 

Christmas beads and glitter branches

Candy canes, bows and small candy cane painted balls

Christmas balls

Candles

 Fruit and fresh greenery

You can find inexpensive glass containers like these at places like Target, TJMaxx, Marshall's, Walmart and even dollar stores...you may already have some of your own.   You can fill them with just about anything - I love the look of fresh cranberries in water with a glass candle in the middle.  Try using m&m's, red hot candies, marshmallows, fake snow, miniature pine cones, reindeer moss to surround a candle as well.   What about bringing the outdoors in -  fill a glass cylinder with glitter-spray-painted pine cones or branches.  You can weave some small Christmas lights through the branches for a festive look.  Pottery Barn has several packaged fillers like acorns, small sparkly pears, Christmas stars, and more.   The options are endless!

Whatever you decide to use as fillers - it's a beautiful and easy decorating idea for Christmas.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from embellished home.  Hope you all have a wonderful time with family and friends!  Enjoy all the food, fellowship and the opportunity to make lasting memories of joy that you can keep with you the whole year through.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Easy Powder Room Makeover

Easy Powder Room Makeover

Check out this Easy Powder Room Makeover that you can do in a weekend.  Being budget conscious, most of the items can be found at Lowe's with a few accessories from ZGallerie, Target and Pottery Barn.  Get your powder room ready for the holidays and all your guests!
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Inspiration

Whew..it's busy around here...how bout you?  Getting ready for the holidays, client projects, working on my on-line store {stay tuned}, and multiple projects around my own house has kept me pretty busy. 

Speaking of... I have started working on the upstairs den, a long overdue makeover has been in the making for a long time now...I just needed some inspiration.  It is a tough room...it's a catch-all really.  It serves many purposes...it's the guest room {fold out bed}, computer room, kids sleep over room, xbox/Wii home base and a great place to take a nap on a Sunday afternoon :)  I haven't done much with it so I felt this neglected room needed some style and warmth. 

I took the first step for this room by identifying my inspiration piece.  What's a good inspiration piece you ask?  Maybe it's a fabric, a piece of art, a photograph, an accessory or a design picture from a magazine.  Start with something that inspires you - it will help guide the rest of the room for color (including color tone - saturated, muted or vibrancy of a color), style and pattern. 

My inspiration for this room is a vintage travel poster that used to be in my son's room.  I love the colors and I spent a hondo {technical term for A LOT} amount of money getting it custom framed so I thought it might serve well in the den.  This re-do is on a budget so I am looking to use as much as I can that I already have or that I can re-purpose.  It is a large piece and will help to anchor the room.



I thought it might be helpful to share with you this re-do and show how an inspiration piece can guide a room.  My framed poster has a muted sky blue, some reds, creams and a dark brown frame all of which will serve as inspiration for my color palette.  The vintage poster provides some style direction too - I can pull in vintage and rustic details through accessories.  I want the room to be fun (pops of red and vintage details) and warm (blue tones and dark browns). The bones of the room are already in there, light brown chenille couch, dark desk, dark bookcase, dark entertainment shelf with rustic baskets for storage.   The walls are painted a cool grey that works great as a neutral background.  The accessories and styling will help to pull the room together.
These are some items that are already in room - ottoman with nailhead trim (serves as a coffee table combo footrest) and some baskets for game/movie storage and guest linens.




Original artwork and picture of Darren's family farm in Iowa.



Here's the vintage inspired Popcorn machine I am thinking about - the kids would love this!


Here are some fabrics - love this ikat print for some pillows.  I am taking some tone-on-tone cream curtains that used to be in the kitchen and cutting them down to fit the windows.  I am also trying something interesting with plumbing pipe for my windows - stay tuned in for that.



Here's the window seat cushion I am making with cording - don't be impressed yet, it is not done. Here's a picture of the cutest dog in the world, Bella.  She is "helping" me make the cushion by laying on the foam.



Lastly, here's an inspiration design from one of my favorites Sarah 101. 


It will be a work in progress.  What have you used for inspiration to decorate a room?
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Sunny Rustic - Idea Board

Sunny Rustic - embellished home

A new idea board from embellished home for a rustic and sunny sitting room!  I am now offering idea board services both locally and across the US to help folks achieve affordable and beautiful design solutions.  Can't decide on a style direction for a room or need some help sourcing a few furnishings, fabrics and/or paint color?  This is a budget-friendly approach to getting the room you and your family will love and enjoy.

You provide pictures electronically or we meet locally.  I need a little of your time to discuss your needs and wants - we do this via email, phone or in person.  I provide an idea board with options with accompanying sources and pricing and some helpful decorating advice along the way.   


Pricing for this service is based on the scope of work for your particular project.  You may only need help in making a decision on a drapery fabric or paint color, to a whole room refresh or a whole house re-do.  If you are interested in finding out more, contact me at klarson@embellished-home.com.

Here is the sourcing and pricing information for the Sunny Rustic - Idea Board above.
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Ta-Da!

Remember this chair?


Here's the chair as an EH reinvention.  It took way longer than expected.  I had to wait on more trim to come in ~ but it was worth the wait.  See more about how she looked before. 

And this is how she looks now.


I went with a brown suede-like fabric that I had leftover from a previous project and a peacock colored trim.  Love this trim - such a great color.  Also, I used square decorative nails in the corners for a little extra detail and to secure my corners.  OK ...on a side note, I need a much better camera.

And on the back...surprise!!  I tried something different and added a small leopard print on the back for contrast.  This was another fabric I had leftover from my mom's upholstered chaise. 


I love how it turned out! What do you think?
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Saturday, November 5, 2011

Thanksgiving Dinner!

Are you hosting the family's BIG Thanksgiving dinner this year?  Here are a few ideas of how to set a beautiful table and host your guests in style!


Here are 3 ideas for Folding Napkins from Martha Stewart



Natural centerpiece from Martha Stewart.



Mini pumpkins atop candle holders and rustic elements with white china.

(Source: HGTV)


Pumpkin place cards to put at each place setting.  Use hang tags (I found these tags at the office supply store, you can print directly on them from your computer) or use paint pens to label the pumpkins.  Attach to pumpkin with twine or raffia ribbon.

(Source: HGTV)


Elegant Thanksgiving Table Setting

(Source: Traditional Home)

Close up of individual place setting from table above.

(Source: Traditional Home)


A more non-traditional look.  I love the tablecloth, green lights, and gold accents.

(Source: House Beautiful; Design Herring)


Kids table with stuff to keep them busy!



Leftovers for your guests!!  What a thoughtful idea.



Unique and gorgeous table setting - various heights and contrasting colors.

(Source: House Beautiful; Design Trovato)

 
Happy Turkey Day everyone ...a little early!

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