If you’ve been following us for a while now, you know how much I love playing with traditional seasonal and holiday colors, and that’s especially true for the fall! Instead of a traditional autumnal palette of oranges, browns, and burgundy I love mixing it up. Last year I created a fall tea party with pink, green and gold pumpkins and this year I wanted to design a table that was inspired by one of our favorite paintings “Pastel Me a Story” by Carolyn Joe!
I have a lot of chinoiserie in our home, so I definitely wanted to incorporate that in the tablescape, as well as some pinks and light greens to tie in with my painting. I collaborated with Cavendar of Dream Creator Designs who designed the most incredible upholstered and velvet pumpkins with this color palette. I cannot get over how perfectly they coordinate – they completely transformed the look of the table and brought my visions to life. Plus the quality is impeccable and the stems are actually real pumpkin stems!
I paired the velvet pumpkins with some chinoiserie vases and jars and, of course, some fall florals and the foundation of the table was complete! To bring the whole look together, I brought in some blush candlesticks, sage green napkins, gold flatware, and place settings which consisted of my favorite glass beaded chargers, a simple white dinner plate topped with a chinoiserie salad plate.
I love how bright and colorful this table is. It still screams fall thanks to the adorable pumpkins from Dream Creator Designs but it still coordinates with the style and design of my home! The perfect combination!
It’s no secret that I am a major fan of anything chinoiserie. We have incorporated chinoiserie ginger jars in numerous rooms in our house, have an entire guest room designed around blue chinoiserie ginger jars, and of course many, many tablescapes, including this 4th of July tablescape and this garden party tablescape. I literally can’t get enough! It’s so classy and sophisticated and, of course, adds that pop of color that I’m always looking for.
So when we started brainstorming ideas for our bathroom remodel in our new home, I knew I wanted a chinoiserie inspired navy bathroom. I put together this inspiration board to help with the planning of our reno. It embodies everything that I am looking for…a sophisticated, bold, and colorful southern vibe. I can’t wait to see how it turns out! Stay tuned!
(P.S. Like something in the inspiration board below? Just click on the product within the image you will be directed to the source!)
Designing a baby boy’s nursery is something I have dreamed about for yearsss and I’m so glad it’s finally coming to life!
Earlier this year, we shared our vision board for Crosby’s nursery and are now excited to share the final product! This is my favorite room in the house to spend time in – especially in the evening. I love playing with Crosby on the floor with the dim lighting while we wind down before books and bedtime. They are some of the sweetest and most memorable moments with our little guy!
If y’all have been following us for a while you know how much I love decorating Christmas trees! Especially for so many of you, our sweet Clients! This is my favorite time of year and the amount of time I spend designing trees in my head and dreaming of new ideas is unreal! We love working with each of you to design the perfect holiday scape that brings your Christmas visions to life and coordinates your home decor with your holiday style. We get so many questions about colors, styles, whats on trend vs. what’s not, but the number one question we get is whether to use real or faux trees.
I know the real vs. faux tree is a much debated topic and I totally understand the appeal of a real tree:
The Christmas Aromas – The smells of a freshly cut tree just screams Christmas and fills the entire home. For so many of us it brings back so many childhood holiday memories.
Tradition – There is a lot of nostalgia and pride that goes with selecting your own tree from a tree farm or a nearby forest. Plus you get to create new memories with your family while picking out your new tree each year.
Environment – This one could go both ways, but many believe real trees are better for the environment.
I always grew up with real trees. Many years we would pick out our main tree from a local tree farm and then cut down our own miniature trees for our room from the mountains; however, as we’ve gotten deeper into the design industry and started our own Christmas decorating business, I completely understand why so many people love faux trees. In fact, they have now become my preferred type of tree. And here’s why!
Easier to Decorate – In general the branches and needles are stronger and easier to manipulate. You can bend the branches in different ways to create a fuller look and hold your ornaments and decor in place. This is the main reason I prefer faux trees. Plus, if you get a higher quality tree, they really do look real!
More Consistent in Size – You always know exactly how tall your tree is and whether it will fit in your space. Plus they are generally more proportional.
More Cost Effective – If you plan to use your faux tree year after year and store it in a cool and dry place, you will generally save money over the life of your tree.
Ease of Maintenance – You don’t have to worry about watering it everyday to make sure it lasts the entire season. You can set it up and take it down any time you want without worrying about it dying and potentially even catching fire.
Real vs. faux trees is such a personal decision and no matter what, either will look absolutely beautiful in your home this holiday season. But for all the faux tree fans like me, I’ve rounded up all my favorites for you this holiday season (just click on the specific tree below to be linked to the site). These all have top ratings and I have either seen or decorated most of these in person! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about any of them specifically! Happy decorating!
From a casual tailgate party to a swanky New Year’s Eve soiree, we love putting our personal touch on any event! At the same time, no party discriminates – they can all lead to some serious stress!
And since we probably shouldn’t legally recommend always having a spare bottle of wine at the ready (but like, you should), we’re here with five entertaining and party planning tips and hacks that will make your hosting life easier! The key in my book: Prepare, prepare, prepare…
Let’s get to it!
1. A Few Weeks Out
You can never give yourself too much time to prepare for a party! I prefer to front load all of my preparation in the weeks leading up to the event so that I can enjoy the day of! No matter what, something will pop up day-of that you weren’t expecting (you ran out of ice or one of your ingredients went stale and you need to go back to the store) and the last thing you want to do is have to deal with that plus something else (like trying to select the best floral for your centerpiece) that could have been handled earlier in the preparation process.
The best types of parties are when the hosts are relaxing and enjoying time with their guests, so prepare in advance to help reduce any last-minute stresses!
2. Set up the Night Before
This is my number one party trick and key to success! I always set up as much as I can the night before as if it’s the actual party. So what does this exactly mean?
Set the table – If you’re hosting a sit down dinner, fully set the table as if someone will be arriving any minute (less the food and drinks, of course). I always have a vision in mind for the tablescape and then find ways to tweak it once I’m actually putting it together. Setting up the night before allows me some extra time to make these small little improvements as I see it coming together.
Set up Platters – Pull out your platters and serving pieces in advance and label them with Sticky Notes with what will be served on them. Then if you realize you need one more, this gives you more time to find one to borrow or buy. Also, this helps me to ensure that I don’t forget to serve anything on the day of the party! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had numerous appetizers to serve and then just forget one of them on the day-of. Having platters ready with labels helps to remedy this!
Prep the Meal – Most menu items can’t be made the night before, but they sure can be prepared in advance! For example, if I’m making a chili, I will cut all of the veggies in advance and store them in a plastic bag and refrigerate overnight. The same goes for any dry ingredients. Then all I need to do the next day is mix them together and cook! Gone are the times of hours of chopping on the day of a party!
On the day of the party, make sure you give yourself enough time to complete any final tasks, like doing a final house cleaning or last-minute food and drink preparation. In my opinion, I’d rather start earlier in the day and have an extra hour of free time to finish getting ready or enjoy a glass of wine in the quiet rather than working up until the minute your first guest arrives.
3. It’s all About the Details!
The devil is in the details… and by “the devil,” of course I mean wowing your guests when they walk through your front door or sit down for dinner!
Look, I love channeling my inner Gatsby at a lavish party as much as the next girl, but for one reason or another that kind of grandeur isn’t always realistic. I’ve found that you can make just as much of an impression on partygoers with a shrewd attention to detail as you can by writing a huge check for your event.
From colorful straws to personalized napkins, or coordinated centerpieces and place settings, there are myriad ways to show your attendees that you’ve poured love and care into your party. Some of my favorite detail hacks that go a long way:
Place cards – I love to incorporate personalization anywhere I possibly can and this usually starts with cute place cards for each guest.
Printables – Printables are an adorable and very budget-friendly way to add some customization to your party. Whether it’s a cute print for your cocktail bar or labels for each buffet item that corresponds with your party theme, these are the perfect way to add an extra tailored touch to your party.
Straws and Napkins – These may seem like a small detail, but when your paper straw or napkins perfectly correspond with your party theme, people notice.
4. The Menu
Since he’s probably reading this, I’ll go ahead and say my husband is a GREAT bartender and budding mixologist 😉 But I don’t want him to miss the mixing and mingling at our parties and then blame it on the a, a-a-a, a-al-cohol – even if Jamie Foxx says it’s OK.
So, I like to simplify the drink menu. I always recommend serving beer, wine, and then a signature cocktail that correlates with the party theme. Be sure to choose some crowd-pleasers, especially if you’re getting adventurous with your cocktail – but a signature drink is a great way to make a statement and also allow you (and your husband) to interact with your party guests!
Unless you’re having the party catered, I like to have as many menu items as fresh and homemade as possible; however, a multi-course meal can be difficult to plan and coordinate. Therefore, I like to have a signature and gourmet dish, a couple sides that are delicious but not too time-consuming, and then I’ll add a few pre-made options that I have tweaked to look homemade. For example, I’ll serve a cedar plank salmon with goat cheese mashed potatoes and a caesar salad. All will look homemade, but in reality, I’ll use a bagged caesar salad and then make homemade parmesan crisps to add to the top to make it look like I worked on this salad all day long!
5. Clean Up
Make sure your dishwasher is empty before people arrive. That will make the clean up and end-of-night tear down way easier on you and much fewer dishes will be staring at you from the sink in the morning. Also, try to avoid cleaning while guests are there! Sit back and enjoy and take in every minute with your friends and family. There will be no guest guilt associated with not helping and they will be able to fully enjoy as well!
When I’m all snug in my bed, visions of glam-y tablescapes dance in my head. And, literally, that’s not a joke! Most of my tablescape ideas come to me while I’m sleeping 🤦🏼♀️and this year’s Christmas tablescape is no exception!
What better way to host family and dear friends over the holiday than around a statement tablescape filled with special pieces for all to enjoy!
I designed this glittery and glam tablescape to coordinate with our Christmas tree and mantle that we shared here. I love to put a spin on the traditional holiday colors by incorporating the palette used throughout our house during the rest of the year and pairing it with traditional holiday themes like reindeer and nutcracker sculptures to bring a magical and festive feel to our home during the holidays. So that means gold everything with touches of silver, champagne, white, seafoam and as much glitter as I can get my hands on! (Roomba has her hands full for the next 6 months – ha!
On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and GLITZENNN! This table would not be complete with out the cutest glitter reindeer, which helped bring the entire look together! Enjoy and happy tablesetting!
Happy Holidays, y’all! We are so excited to share our holiday home tour this year! Having our own house for the first time has given the holidays a whole new meaning for us. Its given us the opportunity to open our home to so many friends, family, neighbors and colleagues over the past few weeks that my heart could just burst! So many shared meals, memories and laughs has constantly reminded us why we are so thankful.
Of course, with all the holiday celebrations and dinner parties, a decorated and festive home was very important to me. If you’ve seen our previous home posts or design inspo, you know we went for a sophisticated glam look with vintage and traditional touches and a color palette consisting of gray, seafoam, white, gold and dark brown accents.
I wanted our holiday decor to coordinate well with the style of our home, so we brought these same colors into our Christmas tree, mantle and garlands. I found the perfect velvet d.Stevens ribbon (I highly recommend working with high quality ribbon like d.Stevens in your holiday decor) at Holiday Warehouse (my absolute FAVORITE holiday decor store in Plano, Texas) that brought in our signature seafoam color with platinum and gold accents that just screamed me. So, of course, I designed our entire holiday look around this ribbon and I could not be more thrilled with how it turned out! We invite you in and hope you enjoy this tour of our home this season!
Please pardon these terribly unprofessional photos. This was a last minute project that we did and thanks to all your sweet requests, we decided to share!
Since we purchased our house in March, I’ve been heads down focused on home decor, curtain selection, and how the heck to organize my study, and I completely lost track of the seasons. So when I finally looked at my calendar last week and realized we have over 7 different dinner parties at our house over the next month, all fabric stalking had to pause and I majorly needed to add some fall festivity to our home and spruce up our front porch to welcome all our upcoming guests!
If you’ve been following the blog for a while now, you know how I love to add a touch of glam to everything – and that includes our fall decor. I’ve had my eye set on these gorg Hot Skwash pumpkins from my inspo board, but, of course, time got away from me before I ordered them and I needed a festive and budget friendly porch display ASAP. So I went the DIY route with these metallic spray painted pumpkins and I’m SO glad we did.
This project cost less than $60 and I’ve been receiving so many sweet compliments on them from you all and our neighbors! So as promised, here is my quick and easy DIY tutorial for a festive and glam pumpkin display.
Confession. I’ve been watching a LOT of Grey’s Anatomy lately. For those who haven’t, I highly recommend. I can’t stop watching (I’m on my second time through), A) Because the show is so dang good and B) Because I am in love with the new custom chairs in my living room and can’t stop sitting in them!
As most of you know, Landon and I bought our first home this year and have been balancing the budget vs. splurge spends while furnishing our home. When designing our living room, Landon and I knew we wanted a show-stopping set of custom chairs – something that perfectly complemented our décor and style but was also unique and one of a kind. Only problem is, a custom designed chair from some of my favorite retail stores can be upwards of $2k, and when starting from scratch in furnishing this home, that was a little out of our budget.
Luckily, Landon and I discovered Debra at One of a Kind Transformations and were able to add a pair of dream-come-true chairs to our new home with her help! Coming from a small apartment with just one couch, we spent so much time pondering how to fill the added seating space that came with a house. What color would they be? What type of fabric? How could we pull it off without breaking the bank?
The fabulous mother daughter duo at One of a Kind Transformations allowed us to turn a bargain buy into a statement piece and bring our visions to life! We tracked down two vintage wingback chairs on an online resale site and used one of our older chairs that has followed me from apartment to apartment for years with the intention of getting them recovered.
Huge thank you to Sherwin-Williams for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.
Repainting your home or even a single room in your house can feel like a daunting task, but with these simple steps, this overwhelming process easily melts away and quickly becomes a rewarding and extremely exciting process!
Step 1 – Select Your Paint Brand
Between all the different home improvement stores and specialty brands, there are quite a few different paint options you can use to refinish your home. At the start of the home design process, Landon and I did more than our fair share of research and are so glad we decided to use Sherwin-Williams paint and products to give our home a fresh look. The paint itself is a ultra-high quality, which allows for richer colors, as well as better bonding and coverage. And, whether you’re dealing with the folks at the store or the online ColorSnap Visualizer, deciding on a paint is a hands-on, informative process.
Seriously, I could talk about this for hours. I never thought it was possible to know so much about paint!
Step 2 – Select your Paint Color
If you’re painting your house, you probably have an idea in mind for what color you want (or at least what color family) but this part of the process can be a bit more overwhelming than you may expect. Sherwin-Williams has dozens and dozens of shades of each color and each one will have a different impact on your home and its ambiance – especially in different lighting. Hop on over to our post about how to select the perfect paint color to help make this tricky decision a bit easier!
If you’ve been following us for a while now, you know how much I love playing with traditional seasonal and holiday colors, and that’s especially true for the fall! Instead of a traditional autumnal palette of oranges, browns, and burgundy I love mixing it up. Last year I created a fall tea party with pink, green and gold pumpkins and this year I wanted to design a table that was inspired by one of our favorite paintings “Pastel Me a Story” by Carolyn Joe!
Shop the Post!
From colorful straws to personalized napkins, or coordinated centerpieces and place settings, there are myriad ways to show your attendees that you’ve poured love and care into your party. Some of my favorite detail hacks that go a long way:
