{Home} Faux greenery indoors, or real houseplants?

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by Karen B. in Decorating, Flowers, House and Home, Maintenance, Uncategorized

Tags

Age is a funny thing. If you’re lucky it teaches you tolerance and acceptance. For example I used to think I would NEVER have faux houseplants. I figured if I couldn’t have real I didn’t want to bother.

The twisted juniper on the mantle below are preserved evergreen.

{Kelly Harmon Designs}

A few years ago I discovered that there are now some very real-looking houseplants available, and some are actually “preserved” plants that were once real.

I’ll be honest, I’m certain that working full time has tempered my sentences that used to start with the words, “I’ll never…”. Actually, I’m happy about this because I did find that faux plants, when mixed with live indoor plants, can look very real and make life a whole lot easier for those of us with minimal hours to tend to them. I still love English ivy and topiary of all kinds.

Tone on Tone shared the vast array of their houseplants, including these lovelies below…

{Tone on Tone}

Another option for indoor houseplants can be found in some “outdoor” plant sections, like this creeping fig (below)…

{Tone on Tone}

My favorite fake plant right now is the preserved boxwoods. I really like the topiary in various sizes, the wreath and the globe shapes they come in.

{tumblr}

{Amazon}

I also feel that if you need a “plant” for a certain space, using something like willow-like branches can be effective.

{Ralph Lauren}

My go-to fresh plant of choice is English ivy. I’ve had pretty good luck with the ivy plants I’ve purchased and as long as I water them by soaking them in a bath of 2″ of fresh water when they get thirsty, they will last for 6 months to a year, or longer. Ivy seems to like to absorb the water rather than be watered from the top.

Alison over at The Polohouse recently posted about her Kitchen Hutch…the array of houseplants made for a lovely vignette. I believe she has preserved boxwood, real English ivy and a moss ball in the display below…

{The Polohouse}

Trader Joe’s has a beautiful selection of blooming house plants that are so inexpensive that I’ll often buy them and once they begin to look sad I’ll move them to a sheltered space outdoors and see if they come back and re-bloom. They also carry great orchids in a variety of sizes. Their blooms sometimes stay intact up to 3 months. I don’t have luck making them re-bloom but my daughter-in-law in Austin does!

{Ashley Goforth Designs}

{Haus Design}

There are other faux options such as dried hydrangea (which you can do yourself) and reindeer moss, which provides you with the green while not requiring any water

{Simple Everyday Glamour}

{Haus Design}

There’s another option that I’ve used for table settings…live annual plants. They won’t last forever indoors, but they are so pretty!

So I say, if you have a tough spot, maybe not enough light gets to the place you’d like to have a plant, search for something that mirrors a live plant, if you love it, no one will every know.

Do you have strong feelings one way or another where live vs. real houseplants are concerned? I love your comments.

I’m linking to: Savvy Southern Style::Wow us Wednesdays

and Stone Gable: Tutorials Tips…

{Home} Your library book is due

17 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Karen B. in Antiques, Collections & Accessories, Decorating, House and Home, Uncategorized

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

books, library

{Art at Home}

{our home library}

I’ve never been able to put my finger on it but there’s something magical about books for me. I find book stores and libraries to be very relaxing and can loose track of time when I visit. Does this happen to you?

{Content in a Cottage}

{Cote De Texas}

The odd thing is, I have never been a voracious reader. I do love to read and I thoroughly enjoy my design and cook books (no surprise there) but overall I’m not one to read more than a book a month.

{Pure Style}

{Connoisseur}

{Haus Design}

Still, there is something very pleasing about a vintage or antique book. The look can always add something to a vignette in my home. I’ve purchased a few leather bound books that I found at various antique stores and they are my favorites for accents on a table or tray. I love an old cloth bound book as well.

In fact, I recently went to our Friends of the Library (an in-library used book store), and found a book from 1902 named, “Bonnie Prince Charlie” and inside the cover was the name Emma Albrecht…Albrecht was my maiden name. I had to have it!

I’ve always thought I would like a room with ceiling to floor books and room enough for 2 large wing-back chairs and an ottoman with a nice table between. A cozy throw on the back of the chair to fend off a draft and since I’m dreaming, a wonderful fireplace.

{tumblr – WASPing through the Countryside}

{tumblr – Dying of Cute}

{Belgian Pearls}

I have friends whose homes are free of books on display, some of them avid readers and learned people, so I understand it’s a preference (to be surrounded by books, or not).

{Atlanta Homes}

{Art at Home}

{Rose Tarlow via Architectural Digest}

Books in a room catch my attention every time.

{Mark D. Sikes via Architectural Digest}

{Slim Paley}

{tumblr – Looking for Rainbows in the Moonlight}

So how about it? Do you like books around you, in your home?

{GHP} How to pare down, weed out and discover more storage space.

15 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Karen B. in Collections & Accessories, DIY (do it yourself), House and Home, Misc

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

organize

The new year and the onset of spring are two of the most motivating times of the year for me. I seem to have a burst of new energy and a strong desire to pare down. This urge has gained strength as I’ve matured (a word I prefer over “aged”). Having a smallish house, short on storage, helps force this task on me.

I long to cull out unneeded decor items along with the other odds and ends that build up. Tone on Tone posted some amazing images of his camellias in October last year, but this image, which was part of that post, resonated with how I’d like my desk area to look. I kept it as additional motivation of a goal not yet fully accomplished.

{Tone on Tone}

This year was no different, so I thought I’d throw out (no pun intended) a few of my favorite ways to accomplish this task. Oh, and by the way, I have to capitalize on this action (paring down) when the mood strikes, otherwise I tend to think, as I take out one more unused item, “maybe I’ll need this next year, or one of the kids will need it”. Trust me, as the mother of two married sons, both with lovely wives, THEY WILL NOT WANT MOST OF YOUR STUFF!

{Pinterest}

1. Identify the target. I zero in on a closet or two to tackle. [Divide and conquer is best or it will overwhelm me] This can also be the storage cabinets in the garage, which is where I find most of the stuff that I no longer use gets sent. Once it’s hit the garage shelves I find I rarely go out and get it even if there’s a remote chance I’d use it. Still, I try to make sure I’m not going to need the item anytime within the next year. That seems to be the common time frame for ~~dumping~~ disposing of possessions.

{Pinterest} This looks like a great way to store things in the garage without taking floor or cupboard space.

{Arianna Belle}

2. Once you know of a particular space that is troubling you with it’s over-crowding, set aside a time when you can remove all items from the closet, cupboard or drawer. The last thing you want to do is get started right before you have an appointment or dinner guests arriving.

{Better Homes and Gardens}

{Arianna Belle}

3. Start by making 4 piles…things you can’t possibly live without, things you’d like to donate, things you might like to sell via eBay, Craigslist or a garage sale, and things you need to deposit in the trash. Do not allow yourself to believe you’ll need everything unless you have more storage space than you need, and have the luxury of saving stuff forever, in other words, don’t hoard. Remind yourself that donating is a good thing and that someone may end up with your item and it will make them very happy.

{Pinterest}

4. Once you’ve divided the items, act decisively. Take “trash” items to the trash can and the donation items to the car, right now, do not delay. I say this because if you loose momentum on this task you will end up putting it all back and you’ll have wasted your time and the problem will rear its ugly head again next season.

5. Reassign the remaining, must have items, to a location in the cupboard, drawer or closet where it can be easily accessible. If you have useful things but can’t get to them, you won’t use them and they will gather dust and you’ll wonder why you have the thing in the first place.

Note: The above steps apply to decorative accessories as well as other under-used household items. I do have a bit of a problem paring down decorative accessories but I’ve gotten better about doing it and it feels good to have only what I love, even if its a seasonal decoration. Keeping less clutter frees me to know what I have, where it is, and comfortable in the knowledge that I absolutely love it!

{House Beautiful}

The ultimate goal is to have things where you can find them and achieving some semblance of order in and around the house. The images I’ve selected for this post calm me by their simplicity and lack of clutter.

{Peters and Mbiango Interiors}

{Photo: Vickey Weiss}

{Martha Stewart}

{Pinterest}

The other thing I try to do while going through items is re-purpose things in unexpected ways. Jermaine at French Kissed is a constant source of inspiration for this, as demonstrated in her “Pantry Post” sometime back…

{French Kissed}

…and this from Roses and Rust, a clever use for a silver set no longer used for formal tea…

{Roses and Rust}

For additional tips on clutter-busting, visit Real Simple for some great ideas on making this job easier.

Are you organized, do you stay that way or is it something you have to do twice a year?

Join me at Savvy Southern Style for Wow us Wednesday #101

{Home} …and the trophy goes to

10 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by Karen B. in Antiques, Collections & Accessories, Decorating, House and Home

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

vintage trophy

As the Academy Awards committee has declared its nominations for this year’s “best of” I thought it would be fun to take a look at trophies as a decorative accessory…this isn’t too much of a stretch, is it?

Trophies were few and far between in my youth. I was on my high school swim team but at my public school awards consisted of paper certificates or ribbons over an actual trophy. I don’t remember any of my friends having lots of trophies so I’m surmising that in my region of Southern California they were not readily handed out.

{and George}

The trophy on the left (above) was the first trophy I purchased. A close up…

It wasn’t until I was married that, while antique shopping, a vintage trophy caught my eye. I believe it was planted with blooming paper whites, which is undoubtedly what attracted me. I brought it home and didn’t buy another trophy until I found a little pewter dog show award on eBay (below).

Above and below is the pewter dog-award cup I found on eBay.

Today I have a few trophies that I’ve collected along the way and continue to admire some of the displays I’ve found on the internet. I lean toward the vintage silver toned beauties, but it’s the odd “Gala Award” or the small silver tray-award I bought while visiting Cambridge given by “RMAS Athletics Team” that steal my heart.

{Pinterest}

{Source}

{Pinterest}

{Lori Miller Vintage Design via Pinterest)

The above trophy is my latest find, the little plaque on the base says,”The Old Bucket of Blood, Virginia City, 1876″

{source}

{Pinterest}

{Miss Mustard Seed}

{The Polohouse}

{Paris Hotel Boutique via Acquired Objects}

{A Beautiful Mess}

{Pinterest}

{Haus Design}

{Antique Farmhouse}

First, do you have any vintage/antique trophies? Second, which movie gets your vote as “Best Picture”?

{Home} Above it all

08 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Karen B. in Architectural elements, House and Home

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

Staircase

{via}

It seems odd to me that I’ve only lived in one two-story house in my married life, two in my entire life. I always visualize my dream house (from the curb anyway) as a two story house. There is something so appealing about the architectural lines of a two story house.

{the 2 images above via Design Chic}

That said, I’ve been told by several friends in my age group that I am so lucky to be living in a single story house. They always say they wish they were in a single story. I guess the thought that I might not be able to make it up a flight of stairs in my old age makes sense. But I also believe that we often do what we have to do, so it might keep me younger to be forced to exercise by walking up a flight, right?

Is there a point anywhere in this post, Karen? Why yes. As I do with things I admire, in this case stair cases, I’ve got a file of them and I thought I’d share some pretty images with you…

This (above) is a 2 for 1, the front door is a show-stopper, the stairs look great too.

{Jill Brinson}

{Mark D. Sikes above & below via Architectural Digest}

{Southern Accents}

{Steve Giannetti via Velvet & Linen}

{image source}

I love this nautical take on a stair rail.

{image source}

Then there’s this…a hotel in London.

{image source}

{Content in a Cottage}

Tell me, do you live in a two-story house? Do you love it?

I’ve linked to Savvy Southern Style for Kim’s Wow Us Wednesday.

{GHP} Holiday preparation around the house

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by Karen B. in Christmas, Collections & Accessories, Decorating, Entertaining, Holidays, House and Home

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Christmas

Oh my word, is it December 4th already? Time has evaporated for me but I’m excited for the upcoming season, just give me a minute, I’ll be ready, I promise.

{tumblr ~ That Inspirational Girl}

I would have thought that by cutting my posting by half I would have hours of free time. Well, somehow the clocks started decreasing the amount of hours in a day and I got behind…Thanksgiving, wedding…those events will do that to a person, no matter how organized they normally are, right?

Meanwhile, Christmas has been on my mind and these images from various sources prove it…

The nutcrackers are out, work is still in progress on our mantle and fresh greens are ordered.

{GHP}

I’ve got some help in the kitchen with my chef nutcracker…I don’t think he’s interested in cracking any nuts but he doesn’t question any of my cooking decisions, so he stays.{GHP}

Charles Faudree inspired me to wrap garlands in unexpected places. I love this porch in his country home, with the garland-wrapped French poster. {Charles Faudree ~ Pinterest}

{Southern Accents}

I’ve seen several tiered displays online this year, I like the idea, I wonder where I could put one?

{BHG}

The simplicity of this dining table is stunning, I might try it for New Year’s Eve. {would I have to serve white food?}

{Party Resources}

I didn’t manage to get paper whites started, oh well, there’s always next year. I do love this display from And George.

{And George}

So, cue Bambi, let the caroling begin, make a batch of egg nog, Christmas is on the way.

{tumblr ~ That Inspirational Girl}

Am I alone, are all of you already decorated, wrapped and ready? I need a challenge, let me know, it will help me get my act in gear.

Happy December!

{Home} How to make pomanders for the holidays

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by Karen B. in Christmas, DIY (do it yourself), Holidays, House and Home

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

how-to, pomanders

3 days and counting until the wedding of our youngest son. As a result, I’m re-posting a two-year old post on how to make pomanders for Christmas. I think I may prepare some of these for our home this year. I hope you will excuse me for taking an easy way out but I know you’ll understand.

Originally published November 26, 2010 :: I know this must seem like I’m a little over-eager for Christmas and I am! This is a post on how to make pomanders and they are best made a couple of weeks before you are using them. Besides, it’s great to get the jump on the Christmas rush, right?

Holiday decorations around our home took a major detour once we no longer had young children racing around. I was free to hang only the ornaments I wanted to hang on the tree (glass blown and a collection of commemorative (metal) White House ornaments). Years ago a December issue of Southern Accents featured a tree with nothing but glass bulbs and I was SOLD!

This isn’t the exact tree that inspired me but it’s pretty close.

Now that we will be grandparents, any day now, I know that there will come a day when my tree and home will reflect Christmas for children once again, complete with the train that circles the tree, and I look forward to it. But meanwhile, most of our decorations are what I consider to be natural items, paper whites, amaryllis, white and red cyclamen, bowls of pine cones and greens, evergreen wreaths, garlands AND pomanders (clove studded fruit).

image via Country Living

I learned how to make this simple decoration shortly after I was first married and a friend brought me a clove-studded pear that I was able to use for many years. I use citrus (oranges, lemons or tangerines) as the base for my Pomanders due to the naturally fresh scent, and when studded with cloves and rolled in a mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg they provide one more Christmas fragrance for our home.

image via Country Living

I thought I’d give you the steps to this simple seasonal decoration. You will need the following:

Citrus fruit of your choice, unblemished
1 bamboo skewer (for poking holes in the fruit where you want to plant the clove.
Whole cloves
1 tablespoon each: cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
Sandalwood oil (optional, see note*)
Ribbon and straight pins if you choose to hang the fruit

I use a citrus zester tool to remove small strips of the upper most layer of skin from the fruit, usually in a pattern of sorts. (It may be symmetrical lines down the sides or random swirls).

Once I have a pattern figured out, I poke holes with the bamboo skewer (about 5 at a time) and insert the clove in each hole.

You can cover as much of the fruit as you like—the pear I was given so many years ago was completely covered.

Once the piece of fruit is finished roll it in the spices. I usually store these on a rack in the garage until I decorate for Christmas, the weekend following Thanksgiving.

image via Country Living

Pomanders are as pleasing to the eye as it is to the nose.

*NOTE: Sandalwood oil is a natural preservative that can be mixed with the spices (4 drops per 2 tbsp of spices). I haven’t used it in years and find the fruit holds just fine for the season. I haven’t been saving the fruit from year to year because of where we store our decorations. I’m concerned that the excess summer heat would rot the fruit no matter what.

Have you ever made pomanders?

I’m over at Savvy Southern Style at her Wow Us Wednesdays, stop by for some great holiday inspiration.

{Home} Wall gallery ideas

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by Karen B. in Collections & Accessories, Decorating, House and Home

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

wall gallery

I’ve written about wall galleries before, but as with all decorating (in my humble view) it bears a revisit…which is code for :: my wall gallery image file is bulging and I want to share with you, in case you’ve missed some of these beauties in your daily rounds of wonderful blog sites you enjoy visiting.

Here are some really wonderful wall galleries. The thing that’s always made this form of wall art a favorite of mine is the ability to create something that, as a whole, not only fills a space but adds interest and beauty to a room. The separate components of the gallery can be personal bits of art that you’ve collected or a great display of vintage botanics torn from an old book and framed in identical frames.

{Charlotte Moss, Lonny, October 2012}

I’d love the opportunity to have a look at the wonderful gallery of items in the Charlotte Moss office (above).

{Cote de Texas}

I love the symmetry above. It would appear the art may be botanical images but I’m not sure, either way, it creates such a serene setting for slumber, don’t you think?

{Haus Design}

The wall gallery above gives this black and white dining space such a punch…I really like the tailored look for the chairs and the fabric, very sophisticated.

{Haus Design}

The subject of the gallery above is ideal for the card file piece it accents.

{House Beautiful}

{heirloom philosophy}

This family gallery is wonderful, all black and white photographs and identical frames. I like how they used every inch of space, right down to the base at the foot of the stairs.

{Veranda, House of Windsor}

{source unknown}

The above is a wonderful example of how interesting a wall gallery can be, it can be anything you collect or have interest in.

{Haus Design}

{Ralph Lauren}

{Splendid Sass}

{Suzanne Kassler via Cote de Texas}

{Things that Inspire}

I hope you were able to glean some inspiration from these wall galleries, I sure have.

On a separate topic, I plan to drop posting to once a week through the end of the year. As some of you know, we have a wedding December 1st and then my favorite time of year, Christmas, will be looming. This will serve more than just time constraints for me as I’ve been struggling with creative topics. If you write a blog, I’m sure you understand. It’s been a bit of a dry patch for me lately. I do enjoy my blog and know I’ll recharge my batteries and come up with some fun ideas after a rest. I thoroughly enjoy you, my blog friends!

Note: Mr. B. will walk by when I’m reading a comment on the computer and he has noted that I have a grin on my face…it’s always a reflection of the pleasure meeting and chatting with so many of you in blog land provides me. It’s funny how you may have never met someone in person but you can feel a kindred spirit with blog friends and feel certain that you would be close friends if you lived in the same city. ♥

Have a delicious and relaxing Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and gratitude!

{GHP} Things that delight the senses

15 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by Karen B. in Entertaining, Fall Entertaining and Decorations, Holidays, House and Home, Thanksgiving

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

Thanksgiving

Each season seems to have its own list of treasures from which we derive great pleasure. That list can vary but there are common truths about a season that most are in agreement on. I’m sure that’s why certain seasons appeal to some and not to others.

{This is my first picture collage, the large image on the left is from Greet, Belgian Pearls – this is an exceptional post and if you’ve never visited Belgian Pearls, I think you’ll be hooked. I apologize about the other 2. I was so excited to create the collage I failed to write down the source, but I believe they were from tumblr, Debby at Inspired Design has the best tumblr site [That Inspirational Girl] and I probably captured the pictures from there.}

My perspective is slightly different than say those who experience extreme cold in winter or loss of an otherwise lush landscape in fall because (and trust me, I’m not bragging here) I live in Southern California where a change in season is subtle, to the point of being nearly non-existent.

We locals take the changes where we can find them, cool nights, warm days during the month of October, the drop of leaves on certain trees i.e. liquid amber, sycamore and birch, in November and a medley of other thing’s that delight my senses and confirm fall’s arrival for me.

{Courtenay Hartford}

{Party Resources}

{Better Homes and Gardens}

{source unknown}

…my apologies to Julie at eab designs, I believe I obtained this image from another site other than Julie’s. Visit her site for some lovely ideas.

{eab designs}

Wishing you the best this season has to offer. Hope you are in the midst of turkey day planning.

♥ Karen

{Home} What style are you?

25 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by Karen B. in Decorating, Designer, House and Home, Misc, Personal Information

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

decorating styles

Are your tastes and preferences, where design is concerned, clearly defined? If asked, how would you describe your style? Do you look at a shelter magazine or book and know right off the bat that the room/home featured mirror your style; the room is how you would furnish and accessorize ~OR~ do you sometimes get drawn to a style that is completely different from what you currently have?

{Barclay Butera}

{Beaufort House}

{House Beautiful}

{Carol Glasser via Cote de Texas}

There are so many blended styles that appeal to me, so I believe I would have a hard time telling anyone that my style is strictly traditional, classic or country. I believe there’s a little bit of several styles in most homes, especially if you’ve been adding and layering over the years.

{Haus Design}

{Heather Bullard}

{Kathleen Rivers, Southern Accents}

I confess, I have to put the brakes on sometimes, I can become so enthralled with a certain new-to-me ‘style’ that I lose site of what I believe to be my design focus or style. Does this ever happen to you or am I the only fence-rider of style?

{Linda Floyd Interiors}

{nest egg 1.27.11}

{Robert A.M. Stern Architects}

{Rose Uniacke}

That doesn’t mean I decorate a room and it never changes, far from that. I find I get tired of colors and maybe even some furnishings every 10-15 years. Fortunately, it usually means I need to paint and maybe rearrange the furniture or trade out a lamp with another, in a different part of the house, change the wall adornments, move pictures, change pillows and throws, you know what I mean. But I do have to remind myself sometimes what ‘it’ is I love, what I always come back to, what makes my house my HOME.

Does this ever happen to you? If it doesn’t, you are the person I admire and would love to have the confidence to say, this is IT, this is my style and I’m never swayed to the fickle tastes of design world changes and trends.