Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Candy Cane Inspired




sources


Friends! Have you signed up for the chic gift wrapping party next week?! Well be sure to sign up because it'll be more fun than it will be work.

So wee are in the throws of party planning for our next few bashes here and I'm currently loving this sweet candy cane twist color scheme of a table scape. Chic yet played down with a pretty linen table cloth. And what about that cake?! The umbrellas are just an cute and unexpected fashion accessory for a wintery mix of a sleet + rain.

What are you up to these next few weeks?

Happy December!

xx
sharon

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Chic Gift Wrapping Party

Hello my lovely readers. I hope you all had yourselves a nice thanksgiving holiday. I sure did. Without further adieu...it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We're so excited for our next in-house event!! Be sure to read to the bottom to see who our very special guest will be.

Need some fun ideas for wrapping your presents this Christmas? Grab a gift and a friend and come to Pickwick House on December 7th for a Chic Gift Wrapping Party.  Arrive at 6 p.m. for cocktails and conversation and stay till 7:30, leaving with a perfectly wrapped gift to place under your tree.  Cost is $15.  Wrapping paper, ribbons, sequins, and glitter will be provided!!
Seating is limited so RSVP today!
Special Guest Elsie Larson from Red Velvet Shop and A Beautiful Mess will be in attendance to help with inspirations!!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Guest Blog: Marissa with Thanksgiving Interiors


Hi Everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!  Marissa, my wonderful p.r. intern, is popping in today with some of her own inspirations for this holiday on a special blog post.  I really loved the pumpkin idea she posts below!  I'll be doing the table scaping at my mother in laws today...in preparation for thanksgiving day tomorrow.  Using gold pumpkins, antlers and some bits of nature.  I'll be sure and share some pics from our family dinner with you...meanwhile, here's Marissa!

Keeping with the fall theme, I (Marissa) will be showing you how I would design my home for Thanksgiving. There is a way to make your house feel that giving sprit without being tacky. I will show you a few of my favorite home decorations.

Lets start with your door decorations. A wreath on your front door is a good way to being your guests experience into your home. I think all your decorations should say something about self. Make sure to choose a wreath that goes with the overall theme of your home.
Small fall decorations around your house can be very simple. The decorations shown below can go in your kitchen, on your dinner table or your living room table. You can completely transform your typical pumpkin by just painting it and applying some scrapbooking letters.
I really like this next Thanksgiving themed decoration. You can use the same picture frames around your house and insert an image like below. Having interchangeable pictures can really change the whole theme of your house.



Thanks Marissa!  Love the last idea of interchanging pictures out for the holidays!

To all of you out there who read my blog and listen to my boring stories....thank you!  I really do love you and always love hearing from you.

xxxx
sharon

Friday, November 18, 2011

LOST December

"Guard well your spare moments.  They are like uncut diamonds.  Discard them and their value will never be known.  Improve them and they will become the brightest moments in a useful life." ---Ralph Waldo Emerson

source via Teddy Truc

I was looking at the NY times best seller list the other day and saw the title, "LOST December" and the title alone really struck me.   It made me realize that I don't want to wake up in January and go... "What just happened?" 

My 17 year old daughter was pausing the other day and making a verbal account of her year this year, and it made me so happy to hear her say that "THIS HAS BEEN A REALLY GOOD YEar!"  Her statement made me ask myself about my year too.  Whew, has it been a crazy one for me and my family! All in all it's been one of the very best years ever...even with the new storefront, learning how to balance time with customers/clients, family schedules, carving time with Will, teen issues, soccer, soccer, and soccer.  A van  on the fritz.  A new baby.  A 3 year old. A baby at work with me.   We've settled into a really good groove though and have come a long way.  I attribute it to the new cliff builder protein bars. They have made a huge impact.  HA! They have 20 grams of protein and it's amazing what they'll produce energy-wise.  They also curb low blood sugar meltdowns considerably!   

What about you? What has your year been like?  For all you moms out there, I'm sure your year has been googly-eyed too, no doubt.  I see a lot of moms in the same boat... on the same squirel-like-treadmill...even when they have only one child.  When you're a mom, wife, working mom inside or outside the home..pockets of time are few and far between. 

What am I gonna do about it?
I'm going to make a real, "Holiday-spot-lighted-effort" to not fill it with useless junk this December. I guess you could say I'm starting a new years resolution a month early....

Here are my December GOALS:
Be less plugged-in to social media. Turn off the phone and thoughts of the business at 5 oclock. Make time to read with my kids every day.  Carve out time to read to myself.  Take better care of the van that gets my family where it needs to be.  Stay positive, and cheerful, and give praise where needed.  LOVE my family. Give to others who are in need.   Make life simpler by saying yes to less outside stuff. Visit my father in law, and my youngest brother.  Send "love" to everyone around me.  

That should be easy, right?  Shees-ish...Thanks for listening to me ramble upon my personal quests.  
What about you? How are you going to use your December? I'd love to hear from you and see some of you this season!  

May you have a December that won't be lost OR forgotten.  {Oh, and last week and a half of November thrown in too}

With Much Love, and Some Cheers!
xx
sharon 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

8 Things to Cozy Up Your Home

It's officially cold.  With these temps, we are busy cozying up.  It's not too hard to do in our little house, considering four of us sleep in one bed. {he, he}  Five kiddos and two adults in one house sometimes makes for a good way to heat the house with just our own breath alone.  Lol.  But no, really, with winter coming on and knowing we'll spend SO much more time in the home...I REALLY find it important to like spending time in it...do you?  Here' my list for making the home cozy with a few simple changes.

1.  Fur Throws.  I really love the faux ones.  We love the sheepskin pelts too.  We have about three or four of the faux throws and we still sometimes fight over them at our house.  They are great to curl up in when we sit on the porch, or when we sit on the leather couches in front of the t.v.

source via Nicole Stormer

{I would love for our kingsize to look like this}

2.   Change out the pillows.  Bring in some warmer textures like velvet, fur, wool, tweeds. Deeper colors too.  I love the look of this....Layer.  Layer. Layer.



3.  Books.  Aren't these pictured above pretty?  I have a friend who collects old leather bound books and these are hers.  *want* I especially love the warmth they give off.  I imagine each of them to be as great as the likes of Charles Dickens. Read candlelight or by the fire.

Will was lovingly rearranging our book shelf just last night.  It gets dis-sheveled looking pretty quick in our house.  Before I met him, I only had books out that looked pretty.  No significant meaning or use to me.  But Will quickly changed that and made our house look smarter in more ways than one...Using both...Books for show.  Books to read. I LOVE that.  :) 


4.  Branches.  More Bushy ones really create an impact.  Like this one above that I did for a client.  I always love magnolias.  And even though they dry out pretty fast inside the house, they still look really pretty all dried out.  Last year,  I drove around town looking for a tree, because I think I'd depleted my sisters in years past.  ha.  So, I finally found a huge magnolia tree,  knocked on the door of that personal property and when the lady came to the door,  I offered to pay her for a bundle of branches and asked if I could help myself.  She was so nice and declined taking the money, and said to instead donate the money to my favorite charity.  How nice is that?  I find that if you just ask, people are more than happy to help.


Sara Pratt via Pinterest

5.  Healthy, Seasonal Snacks setting out.  Pears, Oranges, Pomms, Nuts.



Ana Mineiro via Pinterest

6.  Activity Stations.  You gotta have this!  Growing up, that's what my mom had for all of us nine kids.  The dining room table was always the hub for everything.  Art, Puzzles, Dinner, games...  Even if there are no kids in your house though, it's still a good idea. Another one of Will's ideas was to put a pad of paper and pencils in each room.  For jotting ideas on, making lists, and writing notes.  I LOVE this idea and have found that I get more creative with these incentives laying around.


7. Baking Materials for the Kitchen.  Not from a box.I guess this is an extension of the activity station, but it's a whole other area that feeds all of your loved ones in your life.  Here are my two girls above.  Eleanor is the baker at our house.  She also bakes all the goodies at Tea Bar and Bites.  She's SO good at it. I love how she makes our house smell good and that she takes little Syl under her wing.  So much can be said for getting in the kitchen.  And, as you can see, our kitchen is by no means fancy.  Just a place to get messy and dream.

8.  GOOD movies.   And while we're on the topic of baking, I'll bring one movie up that I'm sure everyone has seen.  Julie & Julia.  It was a good one, huh?  I'm sort of a.d.d. My family makes fun of me because I usually either fall asleep or lose interest in most movies before the movie is over.  Because to me, unless it's a REALLy good movie, I can't hang on to watching it.  SO, this brings me to my question for you.  Share some of your favorite movies.  I would love to add them to my wishlist on Netflix.

What are you doing in your homes to cozy up?  

I hope you have a happy Thursday.  

xx

sharon

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Learn a SIMPLE plate setting

                                                                                source
Last year, I donated a table scape package to a wonderful cause.  The doula foundation.  The winner of the package asked me to put together a special table scape for a dear friend's birthday party.  The client was beyond happy when they saw the final result, but in addition to his complements, I heard the sweetest complement thru a friend of a friend about the work I did for this special party.  That warms my heart to hear that I can somehow be helpful in making a party memorable.  Have I told you, I LOVE my job?

What are the things you love to do to make a holiday memorable?  To me, it doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive.  

For this fallish-toned table scape pictured above, I wanted to do a simple place card setting and take-away.  Here's what I did...

1.  Since the dinner was Italian, I decided to use something used in a lot of Italian cooking.  Garlic.  Fresh garlic.  Inexpensive.  I took a knife and put a slight cut in it to hold a cardstock name card.

2.  For the custom take away, I made a bookmark using some leather strips I found at a local leather shop. I think they were $1 each.  Then, I took thin, copper tubing and fed it thru the top of the leather strip to make a fancy curly-cue topper.  The strip then became a fancy, looking book mark that looked like an expensive thoughtful gift.  To me, the bookmark was the perfect-little-useful-something to use going into the winter months.  A good gift made simple.  Cheers!

xx
sharon

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Warm Inspirations



What are your inspirations for Thanksgiving table scaping?  This outfit is mine.  I love her whole outfit.  I've never seen high-heeled duck shoes.  Have you?  I wouldn't be able to walk in them.  So, yes, I'd be a waddle-duck for sure in them.  But, I do think they're pretty cute.  Plus, I'm loving the combination of blues + mustard gold.  I think I might just have to table scape with these colors.

Have you checked out our online bazaar?  Pickwick House Online Bazaar.  I'm proud of it.  I'm launching the next series around black friday time.  What do you do for black friday?

What if, instead of shopping at Target, Pier One, or all the other superstores on black friday weekend... you took a little visit to my store?  I'd love it if you would.

Thanks for your support.   I love it.  AND, I LOVE YOU!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Project Progress: Bone + Ice

Happy Friday!

I have the most lovely client.  She's a cool woman in her fifties who is young-spirited, artsy, well traveled, and kind.  She has a hip, steel grey hair cut, loves all shades of grey from charcoal to marbled rock, to shiny metallics.  Her wardrobe reflects the same.  I'm most envious of her amazing collection of geodes, crystals, and rock conglomerates!  I tell you, she's cool and I'm lucky.  Here's progress at her new condo.  It's a photo taken from my i-phone, so I hope you can see past the fuzziness.



Yesterday, I added the lonie mae pillows to the the u-shaped vintage sofa.  The bone colored pillows are warming up the icy effect of the the crystals, sequins.  We're getting ready to warm the walls up with some large prints with some similar tones.

Notice the cabinet in the background?  That's a vintage 60's hutch that was originally an orange-ish brownie color...we painted it in the same Martha Stewart metallic that I used on the sunburst mirror in her foyer.



Love this bone + ice print.  It could easily fit into my client's house.

Loving nature...
I'm feeling a bit distracted this friday with all the fall beauty around.  I may drive down to Arkansas and take a gander at things and nature with my little-fam.  I hope you can find some pretty fall distractions this weekend!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Recent Work from Pickwick House

 
                                                                          source

                                                                  Happy Thursday!

                   Here's a bedroom that I recently did for a client that Nathalie Bearden photographed.

                                                                           xxxx
                                                                         Sharon

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Guest Blogger: Pickwick House Intern


HAppy Wednesday!  The workshop is a week from today.  To find out more about it, go here.
It's basically just an excuse to get out, have a seasonal cocktail and get your creative juices flowing before your fam arrives for the holidays!

With all of our preparations for our next workshop here at Pickwick House, I've asked my interns to share some inspirational ideas for the Holidays.


Here is Marisa.  She has been updating my website, and readying all of my work to be launched soon for the Pickwick House website.

Take it away, Marissa!

Hi! I’m Marissa, an intern with Ms. Taylor. I am currently pursuing my career in public relations. I’ve come to show you some of my fun party ideas for this coming Thanksgiving Holiday.

First the invitation. Everyone loves a personalized invitation these days with all e-invites everyone gets. This invitations from Brittany Kinzie classy and simple.
Second the table scape. You can have an elegant dinner and still be able to tie in the thanksgiving theme. This table setting from Krystin Vidal brings in the vibrant reds and oranges that we all love during the fall.
Third the Pumpkin Spice Martini. To help bring the holiday cheer and give your guests a martini.

Thanks Marissa!  

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Bedroom Inspiration


Have you signed up for the "Sprucing Up For The Holidays"?   It's next week and my team has been busy helping me prepare some really fun ideas/things.  We are REALLY excited about it.  It's been fun hearing about each of my team members own holiday traditions.  What brightens your spirits during the holidays?

Things are also clicking along with my projects.  Here's a bedroom inspiration board for my client's bedroom.  Check out my online links below. But, remember Pickwick House  has things to show ya too.  It's the little white building to go for interior design/event design and event planning.  *Wink. Wink.*

Capel Rugs:  Emerald Arabesque by Genevieve Gorder  ${waiting price request}
I.O. Metro:  Fiona Lamp $199
Arhaus: Seville Chair  $999
Zinc Door:  Trina Turk Pillow  $52

Hope you're having a not-too-gloomy day.

Cheers!

xx
sharon

Bedroom Inspiration


Have you signed up for the "Sprucing Up For The Holidays"?   It's next week and my team has been busy helping me prepare some really fun ideas/things.  We are REALLY excited about it.  It's been fun hearing about each of my team members own holiday traditions.  What brightens your spirits during the holidays?

Things are also clicking along with my projects.  Here's a bedroom inspiration board for my client's bedroom.  Check out my online links below. But, remember Pickwick House  has things to show ya too.  It's the little white building to go for interior design/event design and event planning.  *Wink. Wink.*

Capel Rugs:  Emerald Arabesque by Genevieve Gorder  ${waiting price request}
I.O. Metro:  Fiona Lamp $199
Arhaus: Seville Chair  $999
Zinc Door:  Trina Turk Pillow  $52

Hope you're having a not-too-gloomy day.

Cheers!

xx
sharon

Monday, November 7, 2011

An Invitation to "Spruce Up"

It's time to get your sprucing on!  With the cold weather and the holidays fast approaching, I've come up with a wonderful excuse to host an evening of "Sprucing Up for the Holidays". I'm so excited and there is no better time than now to get in the mood for it!  It's gonna be a night filled with some real goodies.  It will be part seminar, part nibbling, part-PARTY, part funny.  

When:  Wednesday, November 16th at 6:30pm

I hope you can join me and a few other special guests!

xx
sharon  

Friday, November 4, 2011

Guest Blogger: Pickwick House Intern

Happy Friday all!  I'm excited for you to hear from my interns, here at Pickwick House.  Starting off, I'd like to introduce you to Morgan Franke.  She is a hospitality, event planning major at MSU.  She's involved mostly with my store layout, store layout for parties, workshops, and stylish ideas for upcoming events.  Today, she talks about trends she's loving in interiors.

Take it away, Morgan...

Alright! Now it’s time to talk about design trends and stuff we love at the Pickwick House. Personally my favorite! So lately I’ve been noticing wood and rustic tones offset by modern twists. Overall it gives a neutral tone but also serves as a pop piece in most rooms. And when offset by patterns and different genres, the room becomes a team where every piece works with one another.

Another trend I’m excited to talk about is the pop of color. This is usually mixed in with large neutral pieces and one or several small pops of color. It brings your attention and your eye all over the room and you don’t miss a detail.

Here they’ve paired a neutral couch with a neutral flooring and the neutral table with the zebra rug and bold pillow patterns.

The last thing I want to talk about is a trend I’m just beginning to notice is large, elaborate, ornate headboards! They can be subtle and blend with your room, or they can serve as the main focal point in which the room is designed around. Since the patterns and possibilities are endless, there’s always room for extremely unique one-of-a-kind pieces!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Foyer Progress


Here's a little more progress on my client's foyer.  Picture is a little fuzzy and dark, but what do you think?

The overhead light is a pottery barn capriz pendant... it's a readymade portable{with chain and plug-in}.  We had it cut and mounted to a ceiling cap to make it a permanent fixture.  It's similar in shape to the large-scale commissioned globular pendant that's in the dining room.  We're building upon a theme of spheres, which was the client's initial idea to start with.  Hence my idea for the door, the sunburst, and circular looking sofa that I'll share soon as well.

I stopped in her place last night to check on the art installation. The carpenter mounted a beautiful marble-veined vase on top of a rustic wood column.

The gold sunburst mirror I posted yesterday needed to brought down a notch, so we used a Martha Stewart glaze from Home Depot, called anchor grey.  We used it on several other pieces in her place too.

More from this project to come...


Happy Thursday!  And don't forget that we're getting ready for a Holiday Open House this weekend!

xx
sharon

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Foyer Blazh


Greetings to you, my friends and Happy November!  Various projects are taking shape.  


I'll share with you the before's of a project that is beginning to take shape this week.  The homeowner tidied things up by tearing out gross carpet and laying hardwoods before we took this picture.  

It's a good start.  I chose the paint color, Rare Grey, for all of the interior walls from Benjamin Moore.  I love it and so does the homeowner.  

I really dislike small, skinny floorboard trim, but this homeowner's keeping it.  I feel like painting the skinny trim a glossy white would only be accentuating something that should not be accentuated.  So, the question is... How do you NOT accentuate it?  My solution is that you just paint it the same color as the walls.  The cheaper quality trim then disappears and blends in with the walls.  Suddenly the walls seem taller too!



The first thing you see when walking into this condo, is the ugly louvered laundry room door.  It adds a blank feeling to my life that makes me want to slam doors and shout at all the things I really don't care for, like flourescent lights, crooked lamp shades, and faux tuscan decor in the Ozarks. Well, I didn't even come close to yelling at the door.  I just said, "See ya door."  And, then said, HELLO to "fun" door from Lowes.  It's the second time I've used this door for a project.  I love it.  


So, what do you think?  Do you think the hallway needs a long console table for the right hand side?  I say, yes.  A long rug, and a few cool, trendy fabric-cubes tucked underneath. I hear the foyer needs to wet the appetit.  First impression is SO important. It needs to be major-statement-hor-dourves.  I think I learned that from Nate.  My main goal is to make this foyer go from blazh, to ding-ding-ding!   I'll know it when I see it, hopefully.  

Well, look what I found.  A funked-out, grooved-out table with pink/red granite.  It was a deal of the day.  Super cheap.  Like $55.50.  I told the dealer to keep the granite.  I shoulda sold it on ebay, but then again, some things aren't worth dealing with.  Then I had my carpenter take a look into what it would take to oxidize some mirrored panels to adhere on all sides underneath and atop.

         Someone actually built and welded this thing really, really well.  I love the knobby legs.  So different. Unexpected and beautiful.

My friend told me about this sunburst mirror.  It was huge.  Pretty cool.  Almost a tad bit, new-age, 80s-ish-icky gold.  Not something a little paint won't tone down. Just the thing to go in the entry way.  Hanging over the console table.

Well, that's it for this post.  Be sure to check back in to see more progress this week!  I have lots to share.  My interns will be posting about some upcoming events we're working on, but I ALWAYS like taking suggestions on what you'd like to hear, read, see, eat, etc...!  Please share.

xx
sharon