Holiday Decor Preview

We finally got the downstairs painted, just in time to decorate for Christmas. Since the walls are now beautifully neutral, I decided this year's holiday decor would be too. I'm just so over red and green. I took a rustic glam approach with silvers, golds, and plenty of natural elements. I still have a few projects left before the Christmas decorations will be complete, including our stockings. Since I now have a pretty awesome camera on my iphone 4s and a photo app that I am in love with, I have been playing around with different effects. I will post more in depth about my dining room tablescape, pillows, etc. But for now, here are some shots from around the house.

tree trimmed with burlap ribbon and a rattan star

living room (now painted Bennington Gray)

new cowhide rug

lanterns filled with cotton, moss, and mini ornaments

The mini bar with a few festive touches

curly willow with silver mini ornaments

The unfinished mantle...stockings coming soon

I have a slight obsession with mercury glass

Kitchen buffet and hutch

Rattan Star (the larger version of my tree topper)

My fancy reindeer (about 4 feet tall)

still haven't added the mistletoe (trying to figure out how to get it out of a really tall tree)

rustic glam dining room tablescape

cotton place cards

jingle bells

Kitchen dish towel

Lately I have been making sets of wedding dish towels that you can see HERE and HERE. I enjoy making them and coming up with different color and trim combinations, but I was looking to do something a little different. It was my boyfriend's mom's birthday a couple of weeks ago (by the way, she is AMAZING), so I decided that it was the perfect occasion to try my hand at a new kitchen dish towel. I found the silverware image at The Graphics Fairy and printed it on to a section of a flour sac dish towel. Next I sewed (ok, my mom sewed) that piece to a full flour sack dish towel. I finished it off with a strip of burlap topped with a burlap bow. I really liked how it turned out. It was clean and simple with a country vintage appeal.

Another set of wedding dish towels

A couple of weeks ago I posted about these Anthropologie inspired wedding dish towels that I made for a friend's bridal shower. I decided to list a set on Etsy and offer the choice to customize the trim colors. I liked the random assortment that I chose but I thought someone might like to coordinate the towels with the bride's wedding colors or kitchen colors. Plus, it is more fun to change things up a bit the second time. 

I was so excited when I discovered that someone had placed an order and had their own color scheme in mind. She requested a funky and fun combination of mango, light blue, dark brown, and citrine. I bought every roll of cute trim that I found in these colors and played with the different combinations until they were exactly what I had in mind. 

I may like these even more than the original towels. I just shipped them on Saturday so I hope the buyer is just as happy with the results as I was. 

Kitchen Make-over: Buffet and Hutch

A couple of years ago the kitchen got some major updates such as new stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. We also traded the horrible white vinyl flooring for large, neutral-colored ceramic tiles. All of these improvements changed the look of the room drastically, but they didn't help the decorating. The kitchen decor consisted of wrought iron wall art, beaded fruit, and other other knick-knacks in outdated colors. I completely cleared out every detail of decoration so that I could start from scratch. 

We already had an antique espresso colored hutch, but above it was a huge empty wall. I decided that the buffet needed some sort of hutch. I finally found what I was looking for a furniture consignment store. It was of a white/gray shabby chic variety and really didn't match the buffet. I planned to paint the hutch and the buffet so that they would match, and I probably will do that eventually. But when we got the hutch home and set it on top of the buffet, I actually liked the contrast and decided it could stay like it is for a while until I figure out the right color. 

I filled the shelves with white china and other white dishes/items to create a clean, chic look. Right now the walls are a mustard color, but they are about to be painted a color I call "paprika". Since the walls are going to be a bold color, I wanted to keep everything else colorless and I just love the look of a white dish assortment. I added a few other pieces of decor including a chalkboard that I made, a basket of green apples, and some gray stone pots. The flowers and bunnies set out to capture the essence of Spring. Lastly, I added storage baskets under the buffet via Pottery Barn inspiration. These currently house tons and tons of dog toys. Overall, I really like the look of this wall, but I'm sure I will make some more changes as time goes on.