Waiting with bells on

There’s something in the air today, you can almost feel it, pinch it even. The anticipation of the New Year, a New Start, a New Beginning. The idea of January 1st makes me feel like the slate gets swept away clean and I get to start all over again from scratch. There is nothing as refreshing as the feeling of renewal.

So I was feeling the need to get into the decorative spirit of the New Year, when I popped over to my friend Lulu’s blog at DustyLu Interiors. Lulu is relatively new to the blogging scene, but she’s a pro interior designer, and her designs simply blow me away. Here’s a few shots of her New Years Eve table..

       

I love her use of paper whites as the centerpiece, and the star garland on the hutch makes me swoon…

  

 

And her use of different metals and textures give the feeling of timeless romance and elegance..

 

Better yet, I recently had the pleasure of photographing the home of one of Lulu’s interior design clients in Westlake Village. She set up their home for the Christmas holiday, and from the moment I pulled up to the house, I was immediately enchanted… 

   

 

The wreaths and pearl branches dressing the windows give this dining room a uniform and elegant look..

 

 

Lulu’s tablescapes are nothing short of fabulous..

 

 

The live garland, faux snow and candles rest beautifully upon this white mantle..

 

 

I can’t begin to count the number of shots I took with this darling pup posing for each one..

 

 

And the rustic pair of cement urns look so gorgeous on this sideboard..

 

 

Here’s Lulu with her husband Paul and their son Dustin..

 

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And now here’s some exciting news from The Lettered Cottage - Our little Cottage8 made Layla’s “Favorites of 2009: Room Re-do’s” list. Thank you Layla! For those of you visiting here from her blog, thanks so much for stopping by. My inbox has been quickly filling up with tons of questions about our kitchen and our remodel since she posted about it on her blog this morning. If you click the Cottage8 link up at the top, you’ll find tons of pics, room-by-room features and answers to all your burning questions!

 

Cottage8: Our Home for the Holidays

I’ve always heard that if you ever need a big push to get all your projects completed and your whole house in order, throw a great big party. And that’s just what we did. After 3 detail-filled weeks of planning and preparing, shopping and decorating, and two full days of cooking and baking, we celebrated on a joyous winters night with our closest friends and family. Of course I completely forgot to snap photos of the party, but I thought you’d enjoy seeing our holiday decor…

 

My friend Rosemary made this burlap garland wreath for us. For those that are new to my blog, the  number 8 signifies the story of our house:  We had bid on 7 previous homes and were outbid on every single one, and then we found this house. It was the 8th house we bid on and finally got, giving this house its name, Cottage8. 

 

The living room has seen a recent number of changes, some of which I will touch on in a later post. As you may have noticed, I switched my loveseats around, per the suggestions of two of my very talented decorator friends, Lu and Laurie. I gave in and took their advice, and girls you were so right. I recently sold my loveseat, as some of you may know, but I’m working with the buyer on a layaway plan, so I get to enjoy it in my home for just a couple months more.

 

 

My friend Lu gave me the inspiration to hang the live garland, which she personally delivered to my door three weeks before Christmas. I love how the green looks against my faux wood mirror.

 

 

My friend Laurie lent me her gorgeous mantle for my holiday party, which I decorated with ironstone butter pats and candles, old books and vintage bottle brush trees…

 

 

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care…

 

 

Aren’t these stockings gorgeous? Laurie made these for me. They’re made from upholstery burlap and white linen…

 

 

The pinecones were gathered during one of our nature walks. Don’t you just love how the black library table looks on this side of the room, with the reflection behind it?

 

 

I love the vibrancy of color these red cranberries give off on the silver tray and faux snow. The tray actually belongs to my friend Rosemary, and she was kind enough to lend it to me for this display.

 

 

We decided to do a faux tree this year. All seven massive feet of it…

 

 

It took me about 4 hours just to connect and shape each branch to the center pole…

 

 

But the decorating is by far the best part. The burlap garland was easily tied in bows…

 

 

My friend Diane gave me this gorgeous silver icicle ornament..

 

 

Along with this sweet little eiffel tower ornament..

 

 

My friend in New York sent me this eye catching chandelier…

 

 

I filled in the bare spots with white-tipped pinecones…

 

 

And sparkly gold dipped ones too…

 

 

A couple weeks back, I bought a lot of old european candy molds and almost immediately a lightbulb went off in my head…

 

 

I took some jute twine and my trusty old hot glue gun, and turned the candy molds into tree ornaments…

 

 

 

 

Since Adam and I consider our house our “big present” to each other, we weren’t doing gifts this year. So I simply used brown paper wrap and wrapped up empty packaging boxes and adorned them with vintage ribbon and Christmas themed flash cards..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to resist the delightful scent of fresh cuttings, as well as the temptation to use more of my burlap garland…

 

 

My friend Lu suggested the shiny ornaments on the curly willow. I later added the burlap skirt to run the entire length of the 11 foot side table that Adam and I built…

 

 

Another favorite…the burlap and velvet table runner Laurie made for me. It makes the perfect setting for the rustic garland on our dining table.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my little holiday home tour of our Cottage8! I’ll be back again soon with more details on all the projects we’ve been working on the past month.

Happy Holidays to you!

Last minute gifts for under the tree

I’ve learned to pretty much steer clear of all shopping malls, shopping centers, and stores in general around this time of year. Parking lots especially are the worst. There’s always that one open spot that three cars are simultaneously trying to score at once, each person thinking they’re entitled to that spot, and it becomes one big honk fest. Or there’s the “third time’s a charm” maneuver – circling around and around the parking lot, knowing that at any second a car is going to pull out. Only to find that the car that is going out is one isle over, so you do the mad dash and hit the pedal to the metal, taking no prisoners – only to have chosen the slowest moving person on the planet. They fumble in their purse for their keys. Then they begin loading their bags, rummaging through them, because I don’t know – you were just in the store 5 minutes ago and already forgot what you purchased? They finally get in and sit down, and just when you’re ready to go full force on the accelerator, out comes the cell phone and/or lipstick. Hello! So you put your blinker on, thinking this may encourage them to shake a leg, and that only seems to make time stand still. Finally, you give up and begin looking for the next open spot, and as you pull away and look in your rear view mirror, that person just backed out, and before you can even put it in reverse, out of nowhere, another car casually drives right into your spot. Ah, the irony of life.

 

So this got me thinking..I’d like to do a little something special for you guys, because #1, if you’re reading this, you’re taking time out of your busy day to visit my blog, which I really appreciate. And #2, I adore my readers and you guys are just awesome. I would like to offer a special to my blog readers only, kind of like a secret sale. And best of all, it does not involve parking lots: Today and tomorrow only (the 19th and the 20th) go to my website and use the code BLOGGERSROCK when checking out to receive 10% off your entire order. Plus, it’s always Free Shipping on my website!

If you place your order by December 20th, I can get your items to you before Christmas, just in time for under the tree! *As long as items are in stock.

Here are a few great gift items for that special someone you love:

 

Authentic, Vintage Flocked Bottle Brush Trees…

Set of 4 Hand Cranked Holiday Music Boxes:

Heart Shaped Hot Water Bottle:

Personalized Oval Locket (add your own letters & charms):

Happy Holidays to you!

Guess who’s in the Houzz!

Our little Cottage8, that’s who!

When Adi from Houzz approached me for an interview, I couldn’t hit the “reply” button on my email fast enough. What an honor, to be given the opportunity to rub elbows among some incredibly talented decorators, architects and true professionals. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Houzz, it’s a wonderful site dedicated to beautiful homes and stunning interiors, where you can browse over 20,000 home design photos and save the photos you like to your own “ideabook”.

Best of all, if you go to Houzz and leave a comment on my interview (on Houzz’s site), one lucky reader will win a $50 Pottery Barn giveaway Gift Card. You can view the feature Here, and I wish you all lots of luck!

 

 

In other news, I’ve been working my tail off the past couple weeks, preparing our house for the holidays. We decided to have a holiday party this year, so I’m busy decking the halls, the walls and every little place in between. I’m decorating with live garland for the first time in my life, and is it just me, or is it normal to keep finding little green twig pieces in the strangest of places, like in my sock, in my favorite glass mug, or inside my fridgerator? This stuff gets everywhere!