Day 898: chests from Wisteria

I love a cute little chest. They're pretty and practical. Wisteria has some great ones at the moment.


My favorite is still the French Directoire Dresser.


The Demilune Console would be lovely in an entry.


I would put the Green Four-Drawer Chest in a bedroom.


The Directoire Chest will be pretty anywhere, but especially between a pair of chairs in a living room.

Day 895's pretty

This is the next-to-last weekend before Christmas -- can you believe it?! I can't. I'll be spending it getting the last of my shopping done (I hope) and getting the house ready for some fun visitors next week. How about you?

Happy Weekend!

Day 894's old favorite from Cottage

This Birmingham house is one of my old favorites from Cottage Living. I have a copy in my stash (I think ...), but it recently appeared on SouthernLiving.com in a story on holiday decorating and thought you might like it too.

The dining room is sooooo great. The owner -- a jewelry designer -- taped and painted the walls herself. I also love the sideboard (and its contents), the shutters, the raffia-backed leather chairs, the chandelier and the wonderful ceiling! Most designers advise using a matte finish on the ceiling, but how fabulous is this?


The mantel swag is so clever it kills me. But I can only imagine how much fun my cat and dog would have destroying this one ...


I spy a lone antler! Guess my affection for them goes back further than I thought. It's hard to see here, but this arrangement is four club chairs around a coffee table -- so cozy and unexpected.



Love the dark kitchen cabinets and the backsplash behind the range.

And a good banquette always gets my vote. Beautiful brass hardware on doors, too. If I recall correctly, her daughters' rooms were just darling. Might have to dig out that issue ...

Day 893's holiday decorations

Christmas really brings out the traditionalist in me. All I can picture when I think of decorating is lots and lots of evergreen, so to Lowe's I went (twice) to collect the trimmings from their Christmas trees.

And, of course, we had to have a real Frasier Fir tree. There is always a moment during the process of getting it up (and straight) and of winding what seems like a thousand lights around it that I see the value of a pre-lit tree, but after it's up, it's totally worth it. The tree is decorated with all glass ornaments -- my small collection of Christopher Radko ornaments, and the random assortment that we've collected in the last few years. This year we added a blown-glass garland from Restoration Hardware (bought at 80 percent off at the outlet!). I love it and wish I had bought a couple more strands! I put the bells I bought after the holidays last year to use as the topper.

I have a weird obsession with hanging wreaths over mirrors, so I made a simple Fir wreath for the one in the dining room. I've got some paperwhites that I hope will bloom the week of Christmas, and I put greenery on nearly every other surface I could think of -- can't get enough!


I reused the moss wreath I made last year, and added some juniper and Magnolia leaves to the garland for more texture. Last year I used a red ribbon, but I swapped it for green since it faces the one in the dining room.


Outside, a lit garland of Fir and juniper hangs over the door and the big wreath. I originally wanted to put the bells on this wreath, but just couldn't get it to look quite right.


At Wes' suggestion, I used some of the leftover greenery to decorate the mailbox. It's kind of wild-looking (Wes calls it the Christmas peacock) but think it's festive! Are you all decorated yet? What's your philosophy?

I'm going to try something new and link to a few holiday decorating parties. If you are here for the first time, thank you so much for visiting, and I'd love to "meet" you in the comments. Check out these ladies for a ton more holiday inspiration: Southern Hospitality, Hooked on Houses, The Inspired Room, The Nesting Place.

Day 891's surprise

We woke up to a fun little surprise on Saturday morning: a dusting of snow!


You people with real winters and real snow will probably scoff at this, but hey, this is the Deep South. We get excited about snow, in any amount.


Luckily, this one came without much warning, so there was none of the usual snow-hysteria and the grocery store shelves we not depleted of milk, eggs, and bread.


Of course, the sun was out by 10am, and it was pretty much gone by 11. I was glad I headed out a seven to at least snap a few pictures of what could very well be the only snow we see all season. (I love this tree. Too bad the power lines are in the way!)


But it sure was nice to have our French toast and (not very photogenic) breakfast casserole while feeling like it was actually winter.

Day 891: The Kitchen In My Dreams

I'm quite sure I've said this at least a dozen times before, but this kitchen is completely perfect in my eyes. Joni posted it -- along with the rest of the beautiful house -- on Cote de Texas last week, but I couldn't help but share. The recently remodeled home has a decidedly European feeling, and the kitchen is no different (in fact, it reminds me of my favorite English cupboard-makers, Plain English).


Next to the range, utensils are scattered in ironstone pitchers. Bread boards and antique copper contribute to the European feeling.



Most of the counters are Belgium bluestone, but the island -- an antique cabinet from Watkins Culver in Houston -- is topped with marble.

The kitchen is without upper cabinets, but clearly storage is no problem.

On the other side of the island, the breakfast table is surround by bistro-style chairs.

And beyond that is a sitting area. If I lived here I would call it a "keeping room," just for fun.

Even the pantry is outfitted with a cute antique lantern.

Notice the hardware on the doors, Joni points out that it was all special ordered unfinished brass and given a special tarnish to look old. So beautiful! Thank you for sharing this wonderful house, Joni!

Day 888's pretty

This has long been one of my favorite images, as I can remember desperately wanting a window seat when I was a child and scheming a way to put one in my bedroom. This little nook would be a lovely spot to sip a cup of coffee and watch a quiet snowfall. The vintage silver on the wreath is the perfect touch.

Happy Weekend!

Photo by Tim Street-Porter for Cottage Living.

Day 886's celebration

Today, Michelle of My Notting Hill is hosting a virtual baby shower in honor of sweet Lauren of Pure Style Home. I knew instantly that I wanted to "give" Lauren the Prague Market Sling by Serena & Lily.


I know Lauren would love the beautiful embroidery, and I chose green -- her favorite, as seen in her beautiful living room. I can just picture Lauren chasing 2-year-old Christian around the room with baby-number-2 sleeping soundly in the sling. Congratulations, Lauren! And prayers and best wishes for safe delivery.

Day 886: Santa came early

I decided a few months ago that I was going to ask for dining chairs for Christmas. I mean, you know you're getting old when ... right? I knew I wanted upholstered slipcovered chairs, and it didn't take long to decide on the Henriksdal chair from Ikea. Really, you can't beat the price, and so far we're quite pleased with them.


I'm also so pleased with the way the former living room rug looks in the dining room -- it's a perfect fit! And so much warmer and more finished-looking than without it, yes? Don't worry, the living room floor isn't bare, it's covered in my $19.99 Salvation Army rug.


It was too much of a deal to pass up, though I got it home to discover that it was most definitely almost completely covered in mildew (lovely!). Luckily, a quick Google search came up with simple instructions that worked immediately. I mixed one part bleach with 6 parts water* and applied it with a spray bottle. I used a toothbrush to work it in on the most soiled parts, and it dried mildew-free. Above on the left is the cleaned side, and on the right you can see the mildew. I think it may have darkened the rug very slightly (or perhaps it wasn't completely dry), but since I bleached the whole thing, you can't tell a bit. And yes, I will making more frequent visits to that Salvation Army.

*Just FYI, you should not bleach sisal or jute.

Day 885's Christmas decorating inspiration

We haven't started decorating for Christmas yet (I know -- gasp!). There were a couple of things around the house that needed to be done first, and then, well, Monday came. I did pull a couple of boxes out last night, but other than ornaments, we don't have much stored away. Most of what I did last year was in the form of wreaths and garlands I made. With that in mind, I decided to go through my inspiration photos to get a few ideas of what I can do this year, and voila! A Christmas inspiration board was born (even though I claim to never make them).

Clockwise from top left: Bells as a tree topper from Cottage Living, holly wreath by Martha, non-theme tree from Country Living, boxwood garland in Heather Chadduck's kitchen from Cottage Living, simple entry from Real Simple, tablecloth-turned-stockings from Martha, pretty mantle from Southern Accents, and wreath chandelier from Martha.