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