Merry Christmas from our Home to yours!

Here are a few pictures of what's going on around our home for Christmas...

First, is our Traditional Christmas dessert, Praline Chocolate Cake. Soooo yummy!

Milk and cookies for Santa. Carrots for the Reindeer and a special note for God. These special notes will go in my daughters treasure chest of memories...

The Ballerina and Soldier to remind us of the "Nutcracker Ballet" which my daughter

and I go to see each year...

An ornament from our trip last year on a Disney Cruise. We had an amazing time and hope to go again before our kids outgrow the Disney Characters (if that is even possible?)

The Polar Express around the Christmas tree...

The Christmas tree after Santa came to town. Not tons, but exactly what they put on their wish list and nothing more...

"Smores" waiting for her new owner to wake up...

All my son asked for this year from Santa was Lego's and more Lego's... He has an amazing ability to assemble thousands of teeny tiny pieces with such ease by simply looking at the pictures...

"Smores" made her way up from the basement for our Traditional Christmas Breakfast, French Toast.

Instead of milk I use cinnamon creamer whipped with the eggs, tons of cinnamon, and Texas toast of course - YUMMY!

Cheers to you all!

Warmly,

T

Hope all is Merry and Bright!...

Still learning the camera and I believe it's a little to bright with the flash and I am not taking very good pictures this evening of some of my decorating in the house. Oh well, I will try again during the day this week (between shopping and making 6 dozen cookies for a cookie exchange)

Enjoy a few pictures of some of my indoor decorating I did manage to upload for you to see.

I hope you can manage to stay 'Merry and Bright" and enjoy the Holiday Season even though it is a very busy time for all.

One thing I am doing this year is simple cutting back on everything, including gifts. (ok, not the cookies ;) The Holiday Season should be a time of joy and being with family and friends, not a time of stress.

Warmly,

T

What will you do with the burlap?....

Can you believe the "clerk" at Michael's craft store asked me 'what will you do with that burlap?
As I continued placing my purchases on the counter she proceeded to say "I have never seen anyone use burlap for Christmas" No, I didn't say "get a clue" lady. Ti's the season to be nice you know ;). I very politely told her that I would be using it for my garland. Both the outside and the inside greenery will be wrapped with burlap.

Oh! she said (still looking crossed eyed like it wouldn't look good)

What do you think?

I just wrapped the burlap garland around the cedar garland and added twinkling snowflake lights and viola! I love it...

I'll share more pictures soon of my holiday decorating which will surely include some more "burlap" ;0

Cheers,

T

Addition to previous post...

Oops! the previous post I talked about the chandelier but forgot to show you a picture of it. Here are some additional "after" pictures for you to look at as well. Enjoy.

Before bathroom window treatment...

After bathroom window treatment and gorgeous chandelier. We were able to put the chandelier in the budget because I saved money on the cabinets by glazing them instead of replacing them. I love the way the cabinets turned out.

A larger after picture...

On a different note, the picture I have on the front page with my kids and the dogs was from last year. It will be an entirely different picture this year...we had to put Briggs to sleep (Briggs is w/my son). It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. He was fourteen years old. There was a number of things wrong with him due to his age. We just couldn't see him suffer any longer due to the lack of courage on our part to put him down. He is in dogie heaven and running faster than ever now...

Don't forget to check back next week for Christmas decorations.

Warmly,

T

Trying to catch up...

This is my "assistance" client (sorry read below for the intro)

This client had nothing except for tons and tons of books and art work when he moved into his new town home. We are at the beginning stages but things are coming along nicely. This client wanted his family room to be the "library" he is a single guy, so why not. I used his art work for the mantle for now and most of all, it fits his personality. He loves to have friends over to play his guitar.

It looks a little sparse right now, but color and larger art work will come in time. I just love the way his window treatments turned out. The rods are made of steel and the drapes are dupioni silk, a very nice touch to the room.

(Again, sorry, read the intro below)

This project was one of my latest "redesigns"

My client saw a similar room on HGTV Rate my space "Hacienda Room" and wanted to duplicate it with modifications. The window treatments were hung yesterday just in time for her arrival home for the Holidays. She lives somewhere warm for the winter and returns in the Spring. She will come home to her new bedroom. I'll keep you posted on her reaction. I hope she is as pleased as I am with the outcome!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the beach with my sister and her family. It was warm enough to take the kids to the beach to run around and play in the sand. The boardwalk was full of people walking their dogs and riding bikes. We were all trying to walk off the pumpkin pie I guess ;) It would have been really really nice if I would have remembered my camera - yes folks, I left it at home - ugh!

I just wanted to share a few pictures of what I have been up to lately with a redesign and an "assistance" with a client who had nothing when he moved into his new town home. I use the word "assistance" because my client worked with me on all the decision making. Honestly, I don't mind. I prefer it that way. Although it does require giving up some control, however, my philosophy is - it's the "clients" home -not mine. I will definitely step in and say "absolutely not" when needed. The ultimate goal is to make the home comfortable for the client. He or she are the ones living in the space not me. If they love it, then let them have it (with limitations of course if my name is going to be associated with the outcome ;)

I am trying to catch up on my holiday decorating and other things around the house. The last two weekends we have been away at the beach so I am a little behind. I hope to have most of the Christmas decorating done this weekend and I will share pictures when I am finished...are we ever finished with anything? ;)

Cheers and thanks for stopping by... make sure you check back next week for some christmas decorating ideas and I will share some blog posts that will have Holiday Tours you can enjoy just sitting at your desk with a cup of coffee or cocktail - which ever you prefer.

Warmly,

T

Happy Thanksgiving!.....

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

I am off again today to go back to the beach to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Last weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving early with my husbands side of the family at his parents new home, also at the beach. I know, we are really lucky...

Wherever you are this Thanksgiving , I hope it is filled with wonderful memories and plenty of good food. Oh, and good wine is a must!

Warmly,

T

New Inspiration Added....

I don't know how these ladies do it, but they seem to be able to keep up with their inspirational ideas everyday or every other day. As you can tell by now, I don't seem to be able to keep up with my blogging daily or weekly for that matter ;) Please enjoy the newly added blogs.
- tardevil
- thriftydecorchick
- restyledhome

Now that I am working out of the house a lot more, I need to work on my time management skills. My big goal now is to update the blog and website and keep the decorating inspiration coming.

The picture on the front page is from the horse stable where my daughter takes horseback riding lessons. Less than ten minutes from our house it looks like horse country one way and ten minutes the other direction you have your typical suburban neighborhood. It really is nice to have both options...



Talk to you soon,

T

New Camera At Last....

Well, here it is...my new camera. It's a Canon Digital Rebel XTi and of course I haven't a clue how to use it yet.

My homework this weekend is to learn how to use it ;o along with two staging jobs to finish...two soccer games...hem my daughters costume...go to a Halloween party, "hmph" I better get busy!

Have a great weekend,

T

Mr. Potato Head Pumpkins and more..

I have been pretty busy the past few weeks and I wanted to share a few pictures of the progress of some of my projects.

First, a few new additions to our fall decorating around the Cox household. The kids had a blast finding their perfect pumpkin at the pumpkin patch yesterday. How do you like the Mr. and Mrs. Potato head pumpkins? Not so traditional, but definitely a lot easier to put together than cutting out the pumpkin. The pumpkins usually rot before Halloween anyway. And of course, the oh so perfect white pumpkin for the inside entry way.

Some new pillows that I found for Fall at the big "T" (Target). If I haven't told you already, my son has really turned me on to the color orange. Orange believe it or not, is a very neutral color. Looks great in any room or decor.

Here is a comparison of the pillows. What a difference just by changing out the colors. Now the couch looks more like Fall.

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This is a bedroom and bathroom that I am working on for a client. We are saying goodbye to the mauve walls and making a nice transition over to a sophisticated and updated space. The wall color for the bedroom is Benjamin Moore "Stuart Gold" . In the bathroom, I used half of the color concentration of the "Stuart Gold" The client wanted the same color in both rooms, but I talked her into a lighter version of the Stuart Gold. When doing this, just ask the paint company to put 1/2 the color into the mix for a lighter version of the original color.

This project is for a client who wanted a clean modern/transitional look for the entire house. My client moved into a new townhouse and needed everything from window treatments to furniture for the main living areas of the house.

This window treatment for the bedroom really turned out cool. These are panels, four on each side. The panels overlap one another when opening and closing. A really nice modern look. The adjacent windows I used the same fabric but installed flat roman shades to continue the sleek feel we are going for in the room.

This is the same clients living room before and after. I need to get a close up of the hardware next time (hopefully with my new camera - hubby is working on that for me) The hardware is steel and they really look cool. We used grommets with a matching finish. The fabric is dupioni silk. This adds a lot of warmth to the room but still keeping a modern-transitional feel in the space.

Well, this is what has been keeping me busy. I will share pictures of the finished projects as soon as they are complete.

Happy Decorating,

T

Halloween Decorating in Progress...

I managed to get a few decorations up yesterday for Halloween. Honestly, the Halloween decor is for the kids. I would much rather just decorate with a Harvest theme. But, that wouldn't go over very well them. So, I decorate with a few spooky items for Halloween. When Halloween is over, I'll just replace the crows and other spooky items with Harvest decorations. I'll add some gourds, pumpkins and wheat etc.

The first little decorating project was pretty easy and very inexpensive to make. The branches of course are free. We picked them up when we were out on a nature walk on Sunday. (NOTE: Make sure the branches have already broken off the tree naturally. Don't break the branches off the trees or else you will end up with some unwanted little creatures in the house.) I was going to spray paint the branches, but the branches were a really nice gray color so I just kept them bare. You could spray paint them black or any other color of your choice. Then I just added Spanish moss to the bottom of the urn and sparingly on the branches. I add a few crows and the entire little project was less than $10. The best part is it fits in with my decor :) and the kids love it!

I'll share more as I progress with my Halloween decorating.

Cheers,

T