Happy Holidays and a special thank you!

Good Morning friends! Please accept my apologies for the lack of posts this week to be honest I just have not been able to muster the energy for holiday cheer. We had some sad news with the passing of my Gram on Sunday and the sudden death of my best friends dad on Monday. With the wonderful support of friends and family we get through this Christmas time which I am calling the year of the "nonexistent Christmas".

 

Next Tuesday I will be back blogging with great images of cozy rooms and tips on "designing with what you have" in the new year. I hope you will join in on the conversation!

 

 

In the mean time I wanted to just send out a heartfelt thanks for the thousands of you who read CreateGirl on a weekly basis, I have enjoyed meeting many of you this year and always look forward to your comments!

 

Enjoy this holiday time with your loved ones and take an extra minute over the next few days to thank and hug someone you treasure!
See you next week,
Jul


(image from Country Living)

Harpers Bazaar + Su Blackwell = Genius!

Sitting at the hairdressers flipping through the December issue of Harpers Bazaar I was stunned by the gorgeous images which accompany the table of contents. Su Blackwell's paper images blew me away! Paired with Cartier, Bulgari and Tiffany jewels...well it would be the perfect room to move into!!

I can't even believe the gorgeousness of this paper house, the architectural details alone are stunning! Though I would be more than happy to yank the wheels right off that carriage and put them on my ears!

Who wouldn't want a diamond bracelet for a rug or earrings as a pair of sconces?!

If I were to open my armoire to that ring... I would just faint!

Congrats to Harpers Bazaar for stepping outside of the norm and give a major dose of bling to their table of contents! To see even clearer photos pop over to Su Blackwell's website it is stunning!

(images from Curbed and my not so great iphone camera!)

Let's Talk - Do you rearrange furniture to fit the Christmas Tree?

One of my favorite parts about decorating for the holidays is moving the furniture around to fit the Christmas tree! Not only does the house smell great from the fern but I walk into this room each day welcomed by that "new room" feel! So what about you, do you move the furniture around to fit the tree in or like the rooms below do you just nestle it into your current arrangement?

(images from Canadian House and Home)

Home Type Tuesday

With today's "Home Typography Tuesday", I thought I would give you all some ideas for home typography gifts. For me Type + Decor = Love, so any gift I get that is this combination is sure to get the giver a BIG HUG!

My new favorite online home store, One Sydney Home has an amazing array of Tea Towels. Perfect for wrapping gifts! If you love this store as much as me, pop over here for a 25% discount code, YAY!

Doing what you love, these cards are a perfect reminder from Letter Happy on Etsy!

I saw these Barbara Coupe pillows over at Decor8 and immediately fell in love! Not only because they remind me of my time in the UK but because I could see myself moving them from room to room!

To give a bit of Glam is perfect for almost everyone on my list! I love these monogrammed beverage tubs and think my magazines would love even more fabulous placed in here! Ballard Designs

 

This "Rise and Shine" print from One Sydney Road would be perfect in the bathroom, a great wake me up as I start the day!  Tip - frame it in a more ornate option to give it a little extra style!

Monday Morning Happy

Good Morning Friends, how was your weekend? Were you part of the country who received buckets of snow or were you the part who received buckets of rain? I was on the rain side and to tell you the truth it was A-OK with me, sometimes a good rain day is what the soul needs!

This morning I wanted to share the gorgeously decorated home of Amy from ABCD Design! Can you tell she lives in a NYC studio? She has done an amazing job of making this large space feel like it has separate rooms. I am always talking with clients about items that "stop your eye" and this tree in the middle of the living room and bedroom does this perfectly! I also just adore her collection of sweet snow globes!

See the poster bed in the background? This is the gorgeous wreath just above it, the peacock feathers are a fantastic touch! When I worked at Ethan Allen I dreamed of a black poster bed just so I could decorate it for the holidays! Now Amy has reinvigorated that desire! Pop on over to Fifth Joy to see the interview Abby did with Amy and to see even more images of her beautiful home!

Enjoy the new week
jul

(images via ABCDdesign and Fifth Joy)

Verdigris Vie is decorating for me!!

The lovely Vitania of Verdigris Vie and I decided to sneak into each other's house and decorate for the holidays! I absolutely love what she came up with, it is perfectly my style! The only thing better than decorating for each other is if we could actually do it in person! Thanks Vie!

 If Julieann would give me the chance to surprise her and decorate her place for the Holidays this is the theme I would choose for her.  Julieann's style is classic and paired down with all the right touches of interest  that include fabulous fabrics, quality furnishings and a beautiful balance of colour.  So for her space, I would choose this sparkly but subtle mix of silver and gold.  Nothing complicated or elaborate.  An ornament wreath, glass bowls filled with glittered baubles, a lush green tree with soft sparkly trim, and of course rich and warm gold tones to warm up to on cold nights.

Happy Holidays - Hope you are enjoying every minute of the festive Season

Vitania

Pop on over to Verdigris Vie to see what I chose for her holiday decor!

(images from Style At Home)

Loving This - Turquoise Ornaments

Recently I stopped over to Room Service Home and fell in love with these turquoise and lime ornaments! It is a unique and unexpected color palette for the holidays and one I love. The peacock would add such a sophisticated flair to any tree! I might even just nestle it on a bookshelf with a puff of sparkling tissue paper as a nest, this would be a nice way to highlight them!

 

Another great piece I am loving are these unique hurricanes. The silver sparkle reed would be perfect to use for the holidays and could easily be incorporated throughout the year!

(images from Room Service Home)

Color Time - Benjamin Moore Jade Garden

Good Morning! If you are new reader to CreateGirl, welcome! Color Time is a weekly post not only about picking the perfect paint color but actually seeing that color in a room. Each room image included is the actual paint color not just a recommendation of a similar color! I collect these rooms because at times my clients need a little visual image to get the idea of how a color it will look in their own space!

I hope today's Color Time helped you visualize Jade Garden in your own home! Looking for more inspiration click here for past colors!

**Note: As you can see above, the paint chip sample online looks different than what is in the actual room photo. When choosing paint for your own home never go by what you see online, the color will always be a tad different. I suggest picking up a small paint sample at the store and paint a color swatch in the actual room, than you will never be disappointed! 


(image from House Beautiful)

Home Typography Tuesday

For those of you who are just joining me today, every Tuesday I combine my ridiculous love of typography and decor in a post named "Home Type Tuesday"! I scour my favorite shelter mags and blogs for images that combine my two loves. Today's image continues the theme of yesterday's post in "Design With What You Have'! We all have our favorite magazine covers and you know you have a stack of saved Dominos just collecting dust in the corner so why not show off those puppies with a little creative display? This is a good example of going all out for a big impact. The magazine covers and book spines are what take center stage here not any other little collectibles . So go ahead use the typography you have in your own house to create an interesting corner without spending a dime! Plus its a good looking storage solution! A double win in my book!

 

I hope to see you back next Tuesday for another Home Type Tuesday post! In the meantime jump over to Casa Sugar and vote RUE as your favorite online shelter magazine after all they are the fabulous people who supplied the above image! Thanks RUE girls for the inspiration!

Design With What You Have - Holiday Decorating

When you are starting out in a new house you might not have too many decorations for the holidays. Instead of going out and buying everything in sight why not start with what you already own? At Jace Interiors we call it  "Design With What You Have" or "shop your home"!

As I wrote in today's Monday Morning Happy, I was over at Vog's house and decided to do a quick mantelscape with a few pieces around the house. This is what it looked like before the "designer" took hold of it!! Here is what I found:

I knew we he had these sparkly ornaments in 2 sizes large and small (you can get them at Target right now for $1 a pack!!) so all I needed was to find something to display them in. The key was to find a piece that was tall enough but still narrow enough to fit on the mantel. This tall hurricane worked perfectly!

Next I asked for a pair of cutters and took hold of the fern tree in the front yard. Snip Snip Snip and there I had some greens for the mantel top and to add to the hurricane.

First I wanted to create a little nest with the greens as a bed for the first ornament to sit in. This meant my pieces needed to be small and bendable.

Next I layered in one ornament at a time than a layer of greens, a few smaller ornaments, a green one to add unexpected color (working with what we had..) than I continued with the greens. Towards the top I placed a few smaller bulbs which went in the opposite direction! The layering created some depth and textured. If I just threw in the ornaments, it would have looked to sparse for me.

Once I placed it on the mantel and stepped back I realized I needed to fill it in a bit more and add some sprigs coming from the top for a more natural feel. Than I placed the remaining greens around the mantel and nestled in the extra ornaments. I also added a little fire station I found on a bookshelf by propping it up with a few natural colored coasters to give it height. Just make sure to camouflage the "lift" with your extra ferns!!

This is the other side of the mantel. I am going to sift through my own stash of holiday decorations and fill in the empty spots but this is a good start, especially since we started with a blank slate!!

Do you shop your own house for the holidays?

(images from Jace Interiors)

Monday Morning Happy!

Good Morning Friends! Have you ever had a weekend that seems to go on forever but all in a very good way? That was my weekend, Vog (my boyfriend, I call him this as he is not too keen on being in the blog spotlight!!) and I didn't have any concrete plans so we just did whatever we wanted. It included some shopping, cooking, watching football, reading magazines and of course sitting by the fireplace for me! I also started decorating his house for the holidays which I will elaborate on later today as when you have been a bachelor for the last few years there is not much to work with! Though it was fun for me to stretch my creativity and use what he had!

 

 I am loving the warm palette of this room, the purple, orange and citron is just perfect to brighten up any chilly day! The fireplace helps too!

Tell me, how was your weekend? Were you planned up to your ears or was it a more carefree two days?

(image from Desire to Inspire/Eric Piasecki)

Avedon Love at the MFA

Remember a few weeks ago when Vog and I had a date night at the new wing of the Museum of Fine Arts? The story continues today with this post. I have always been a big fan of fashion photographer Richard Avedon's work so when I saw there was a rather large exhibit at the MFA I knew it would be a must see! My favorite images from Avedon are the ones where the subject is so relaxed and almost oblivious to the fact he is even taking their photo. His work with Diana Vreeland at Harper's Bazaar transformed the art of fashion photography and showed models in a much more creative albeit simplified setting! Below are just a few images from the show.

This is the image which greets you as you enter the exhibit, it is literally larger than life!

a model having a quiet moment

This by far is one of my favorite images. The look on the models face of complete confidence and over the top luxury is just so gorgeous! It's as if she is convincing us that "yes, she really is the best"! Imagine creating a powder room or dressing room around this photo? Fabulous!

This was intriguing as it is not something we see often in today's magazine's. A single image without any text. If I walked by this cover in a store it would definitely beg me to stop and pick it up! Oh and did you notice the price? 60 cents!!!

Another interesting image. This one caught my attention because of the layout, so simple but still so effective. 

This weekend why not take time out from the holiday shopping and feed your creative soul! Is there a museum you have been wanting to visit or a beautiful coffee table book you have been meaning to flip through? Take time out to enjoy yourself!

And you table number is.....

In a previous life I was a hostess at a very busy restaurant and let me just tell you having numbers clearly displayed on the table top would have helped a TON! Not to mention it is super cute idea.

 

This of course only encourages my imagination. What if you were to imprint a special date across your family dinner table? Every time I sat down the memories of this special day would come flooding back. It's just a little thought. In the mean time I applaud the designers of Tartinery on their creative approach and hope to pop in the next time I am in NYC!

(image from The Pied a Terre)