This entrance just makes me happy. Can you imagine welcoming your guests like this? Swoon! Find us on facebookand Twitter too!!
DIY-Clever and Easy Ways to Update a Room
Every season sparks our creativity and different moods. It is human nature to want warmth and cozy interiors in the fall and fresh bright colors in the spring. So what can you do when you decide to redecorate but fall flat on ideas? Here are a few clever ideas I found on the web that are sure to get your creative juices flowing, and decorating efforts going in the right direction!
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Paint your front door a fresh and fun new color. Excellent for welcoming guests, and gets the energy of your home revved up for good fortune. It also gets your guests excited to enter your home, and is a delight to their eyes. Don’t forget to add bright shiny hardware to give your door that extra bling!
Bright and floral chair
Front door fun
Reupholster one chair in the room you are decorating in a wildly fun print. It will completely change the look and feel in an instant. How amazing is this chair? Does it make you happy? Are the colors exciting? Yes and Yes! This would be a terrific addition to any room and will delight the eyes over and over making the room intoxicating and cheery.
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Update, organize and paint your bookshelves. This is something I will be talking about in my teleclass this week. Organizing alone will make a huge impact in your space, but add accessories and color and it changes the look instantly. It is also a great way to quickly change for the seasons.
Book pages
Book shelves
Add book pages to one or all of your walls in the room you are decorating for creating conversation and texture. Such a simple and easy way to decorate. Not to mention inexpensive. Find a book with noteworthy quotes, or scenes and recite during a dinner party…or perhaps the guests have to determine the author or book name. Make it fun and engaging!
Whether you redecorate the entire room or simply make a few adjustments those little things make a big difference in how the room looks and feels. And if all else fails:
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images: tiny white daisies, Dying of cute,House Beautiful, Denise McGaha, By wilma
Posted: May 21, 2012 by Amanda Gates |Filed Under: DIY | Feng Shui | accessorizing | bookshelves | choosing paint | decorating for the seasons | design basics | design tips | paint | 1 Comment
Front doors-How to welcome your guests
I remember when I was in design school, my friends and I visited a very high end residential neighbor hood, that was known for it’s state of the art architecture. If you had asked me that following week what I thought of the buildings, you’d be lucky if I blurted out ‘good.’ But had you asked me about the entrances, I could have gone on and on about the doors! Nothing says welcome like a stylish front door.
Contemporary
It doesn’t matter if your style is traditional, contemporary or extreme.
Wood and iron door
Putting thought into your front door shows your guests that you thought of them. Think about it. Rarely does a home owner use their own front door. They usually use a side door, or garage to enter their homes. So the front door is designed, planned and thought out for those special visits amongst friends, family and neighbors; and the occasional UPS visit too. But giving your guests the feeling of warm invitation, and “come again” hospitality leaves an imprint on how they feel when they enter and exit your home. Not to mention the “did you see that door!”
Contemporary front door
Awesome (above)
Front door
Art deco Industrial (above)
Orange front door
Simple (above)
Black and white door
And finally, an entrance that would make even the most disheveled housewife look good! Beautiful and interesting sidelights, paired with a sleek black door, this entrance will leave your guests feeling chic and elegant. Perfect for a Summer get together, or holiday sit-down!
What is your most favorite thing about an entrance?
Images: flickr, style-files, houzz, google, black and white, emily a clark
Posted: July 1, 2011 by Amanda Gates |Filed Under: Interiors | architecture | entries | high style | 4 Comments
Christina Strutt’s best tips for the holidays
AB HOME Interiors Holiday Photo shoot 2010
The holidays are meant to bring family and friends together. It is a time to share warm meals and good conversation, cozy blankets, soft flannels, and warm fires to snuggle up to. Bitter cold days filled with snow, and naked trees are an unmistakable sign to head indoors and secure your spot on the couch with a yummy cup of hot cocoa. Preparing for the holidays can be a hectic task but it doesn’t need to be a chore. Back in October I offered up the Holiday survival guide with my best tips and tricks to get in gear, and recently had the chance to talk with Christina Strutt, of Cabbages and Roses, to find out her best tips on holiday decorating and making your festivities homey.
Organics and the important role they play:
Personally I think there is nothing better than natural greenery from the woods and the garden. The most useful is ivy, which needs to be carefully removed from the ground or from growing trees, its long tendril-ey stem makes it very adaptable – best used in quantity! The other favourite is christmas tree branches, from all spruce type trees, a variety makes the decorations more interesting – also yew branches, and of course holly. Along with copious quantities of real greenery, I use seasonal clementines and pomegranites for colour, piled in dishes intersperced with ivy leaves.
Front doors and why she loves them:
Decorating the outside of the front door makes for a wonderful holiday welcome, expecially if you are lucky enough to have snow, which sticks to the leaves and branches so beautifully. Large savoy cabbages used in outside decoration (wired through their thick stem and bound to the christmas branches) are a dramatic addition, they are also a wonderful table decoration intersperced with small clementines.
Adding a little holiday cheer:
Simple things at the holidays make the biggest difference. Our Tartan 22″ Christmas pillow is the perfect accent to a family room and adds the comforts of home and tradition with ease.
Cabbages and Roses Tartan
Thanks for taking the time to share some of your tips Christina! For more info about her company,
visit Cabbages and Roses online.
Also see our recent post Festive Tablescapes: A how-to guide to smart Southern style to see their linens at work!
And don’t forget to congratulate Shari Miller on winning the Hatley linens from this photo shoot.
She recently sent us this email after she received them:
Amanda, I received my gorgeous linens today! They are even more beautiful than they were in the pictures, I LOVE them!
Cannot wait till my husband gets home so he can see them, we will enjoy many lovely meals courtesy of you! Thanks again!
Warm regards,
Shari
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The Dish
by Harley the cat
- Harley the awesome cat
Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments,
but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia so it is my responsibility to keep up with standards…
Think I am the greatest cat ever? Me too, find me on
facebook!
Posted: November 13, 2010 by Amanda Gates |Filed Under: Before and after | Christmas | Entertaining | Holiday Decorating | Interiors | Lifestyle | Thanksgiving | candles | color | decorating for the seasons | high style | home and garden | 10 Comments
