Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Joyous

Well I took liberties with today's photo challenge.  I haven't seen any children's joyous faces yet for the holidays but, I just happened to find this website from a tip on a tweet.  This is Joyus where they take the power of online video to help you find and buy the products you love.  I have to say I probably spent over an hour there last night!  They have mastered the powerful art of video selling!  After just a few views I was ready to purchase quite a bit.  So be forewarned it is easy to put things in your shopping cart here!  They have prices at all price points, some leaning a little higher than I need.  What were the best finds I saw in an hour?  The runaway best seller will be the iPad case that turns your iPad into a laptop, complete with full keyboard and syncing one touch keys; only $149, but, if I had an iPad I would so want one!:) 
Sherry
 December Photo-a-day challenge at A Content Housewife

Monday, December 3, 2012

Red

More of the photo-a-day challenge.  Today's challenge was red.  I saw this great red door this weekend while antiquing.  I love red doors. 

Sherry
 December Photo-a-day challenge at A Content Housewife

Doors

We are almost there with our house renovation (downstairs at least ;)  and one of the last things that needs to happen before we can move downstairs into our bedroom is adding doors.  They are set to arrive today (eeeeek!!)
 
 
I don't have anything as cool as the barn doors (above) going in but I loved the picture. 
 
I have a thing for black & white mixed with warm wood tones & then a little bit of color (in accents- especially green!! ;) ;) sprinkled about, so I've settled on doing black doors for our house.  We have mostly ivory walls & wood floors & seagrass throughout the house, so I thought doing the doors in black would give me that palette I love.  The doors are arriving unpainted & I need to decide on the paint finish today. 
 
I am leaning towards a low or no sheen look & so I loooove the flat look of the barn doors in the pic above..
 
Here are some really beautiful high-gloss blue doors that are so dark they look black (the reverse of Superman's hair ;):
 
 
{Nate Berkus}
 
I love the stark contrast of the black doors (below) against the white and of course in combination with the warm wood floors:
 
 



 

{The books add more of the warmth & age that I love & the purple & green from the lilac arrangement is just the right amount of color for me personally.}
 
The sheen on these doors below is really pretty:
 
 
It's probably a semi-gloss.
 
And again, it's the wood on that clock that does it for me.
 
The dutch doors (below) from one of Thomas O'Brien's homes are sooooooo amazing.. 


{I loooooove this kitchen!!!  So simple & spare & fresh!! I love the modern-vintage-farmhouseish feel.}
 
I've decided on 3 panel doors like this one:
 
 
I wanted something that feels both old & modern at the same time.  I was looking for some interest, but nothing with any frills or curves.
 
I think they'll look really similar to this door (below) except I think trim is a bit simpler on mine...
 
 
{House Beautiful}
 
The home above is perfection to me.  I've posted this photo multiple times on the blog & I just loooove the mood of this room.  It's got that neutral yet warm palette I love and that overall relaxed natural feeling.  This feels like the type of house I'd love coming home to...  All of those warm woods and the ivory walls with the hit of black...  The branch in the Ball jar make it for me!!  I hope our home feels something like this (although it's a contemporary house, so the style will be really different.) as far as mood goes.



If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Farmhouse Christmas

Here is a look at the dining room for Christmas.  Ever since we remodeled this space this summer it is my favorite place to decorate.   It is filled with pieces of furniture handed down from my family and it means a lot to me every time I come out and enjoy the space.

That garland from Lowes went down the length of the table and across the top of both the pie safe and the hutch.    It was really an easy way to decorate and it smells great too! 
I love the votives with the mercury glass finish.  They are just the perfect twinkle for Christmas.

Sherry
Table Top Tuesday  at A Stroll Thru Life
A Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life
Farmstyle Cristmas Decor at Old Time Farmhouse
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
2012 Virtual Holiday Housewalk Party at Jennifer Rizzo
Vignettes Holiday Home Link Party at Southern Hospitality
Christmas Linky Parade at The Inspired Room 
Holiday Home Tour at Faded Charm

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Christmas Mantel '12

Here is my Christmas mantel for 2012.  This shows it with the lights on and you can see the lights on the tree reflected in the print.  That may be all you see of the tree this year.  I have decorated and redecorated that tree twice and the lights keep blowing out.  I am afraid I have thrown in the towel on it.  The guys in the house haven't even noticed...and couldn't care.:)

Here with the lights off you can see what I have done better.  I took a 6 foot lighted, decorated garland, and centered it over the mantel.  Then I took each hanging part on each side and wrapped it up on the mantel with a little twist on the center of the garland.  This keeps all the decorations up high on the mantel.   I babysit through the week so, I had to come up with decorations that would be toddler proof.   Then I just took some tin snips and cut my hydrangeas into separate flowers and tucked them in the garland.  That's it!

The garland on top of then print is real from Lowes.  It was really long and has gone a long way to decorate the house.   I took a five foot section of this, cut it in half,  and arranged it  so the garland would drape properly on the frame.  I just wired it back together with pipe cleaners and placed it on the frame. 
Have you been busy decking the halls?
Sherry
I will join:
Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House
Mod Mix Monday  at Mod Vintage Life
Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper
Sunny Simple Sundays  at Sunny Simple Life
Share Your Cup Thursday  at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Mantel Party at The Lettered Cottage 
Vignettes and Mantels at Savvy Southern Style
Natural Decor at Fishtail Cottage

Favorite Holiday Movie

Can you name this movie?   If I logged the hours we have watched this movie in our house like frequent flyer miles, we could fly to Tahiti!
And, yes, I shot this on manual!  I still have a long way to go! Ha!
Sherry
 December Photo-a-day challenge at A Content Housewife

Saturday, December 1, 2012

My View Today

I have wanted to do the Photo A Day Challenges for a while now.  I have started to do them and then backed out.  What will I post?  It will look so boring.  Well, I may not post everyday 
in December but, I am trying this challenge once and for all.   I mean it is Christmas right?  Who couldn't come up with something to photograph!  
My secret goal...to get off auto and go to manual.   There I said it.  I shoot all my photos on no flash!  I never set anything.  I need to branch out.  Maybe I can accomplish this.  December is busy!  We'll see.
Anyway, I hear the white chocolate bag rustling again, my 7 year-old is going to eat all of this chocolate if I don't go make some peppermint bark!  
 
Sherry

 
 December Photo-a-day challenge at A Content Housewife