Merry Christmas

Painting by Constant Montald

Merry Christmas and thank you for your good wishes.

 

~ D ~

I'm Getting Married!

 I'm usually reserved and don't share much about myself here, but I wanted to share the happy news that Jon and I are getting married.   This is the happiest time in my life and I feel so fortunate to be marrying such a wonderful man.  I never thought during many years (actually many, many, many years) of being single that I would meet a man that is as good, kind and thoughtful as Jon is. 

 

We've been dating for six years, became engaged over Thanksgiving and have decided to marry this New Year's Eve.  The response from everyone has been "this New Year's Eve?", but we are eager and excited to start our life together and what better way to end the year and start the new one than with a wedding.  We are not having a wedding per se, but instead a small private ceremony.  As much as I enjoy weddings, the thought of planning one right now is daunting. 

Jon is selling his condominium and we will live in my small house until we figure out our next move.  This will mean blending his furniture with mine, choosing new furnishings together and making the most of the limited closet space in my house.  We're converting an unused room into a home office and I already have a dramatic paint color in mind for the room.  We have a few other home improvements we're planning  and it will be fun to share these on the blog. 

 

We've both been cleaning out clutter from our homes to get ready for the move so although the Christmas tree is decorated, I've not done much holiday decorating.  I've been inspired by great ideas from other blogs, however, so hopefully I'll find time to do more Christmas decorating. 

 

I wish you all the best for the holiday season.  Thank you for reading my blog throughout the year-- I greatly appreciate the time you take from your busy life to read, follow along and leave such kind comments.  It means so much to me.

 

All the best to you and your families,

Deborah

 

UPDATE: New Source For Paper Lanterns!

As a follow-up to my last post, if you are interested in buying the paper lanterns by Architectural Watercolors,  I found them online at Sue Fisher King in three styles (link attached). 

Enjoy!

Table Lanterns For The Holidays

Gregory Van Boven Interiors - Traditional Home Magazine (here)

 

Aren't these paper lanterns charming?  I remember seeing them in Traditional Home magazine a few years ago and wondering where I could buy them.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find them anywhere.  I was thrilled this week to read about the lanterns at "Noted", the blog by the artists of Architectural Watercolors (see blog roll) and the creator of the lantern images.  Noted posted that the lanterns are being produced again through Libretto Group.  Thank you, AW.  You've made my day.

 

I searched Google and found the paper lanterns (pictured above) at Careful Peach Boutique.  However, I ordered two of the "Mr. Jefferson's Folly" lamp (below) and can't for for them to arrive. I plan to buy a few battery operated tea lights to pop inside a lantern and let it glow, let it glow, let it glow (sorry, I couldn't resist).

 UPDATE: The lanterns may no longer be available at Careful Peach boutique.  I'm trying to find another source and if I do, I'll post it here.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Warm and Cool

Country Home Magazine, February 2006.  Photo source here.
 

I have been culling my collection of magazines and found an old issue of Country Home, which was my favorite magazine along with Cottage Living.  It's a shame that both magazines are no longer published (along with a few other casualties of the 2008 economic downturn).

 

Anyway, this photo is not from the sole Country Home magazine in my collection, but I remember the feature well.  The contrast between the toast colored furniture and cool blue-green walls (painted Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage--remember that paint color?) made quite an impression on me.  The black accents work well too along with the shine from the mercury glass lamp.  Why isn't someone reproducing lamps like this today?  They are impossible to find.

 

I have the itch to buy this paint and get busy, but the open floor plan of my house means that the entire downstairs would have to be painted this color, which probably wouldn't work well long-term.  At least I can admire it from afar.

 

 

 

Pretty Powder Room

 

Traditional Bathroom by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Beach Glass Interior Designs

 

A room that includes both antique and contemporary pieces always gets my attention.  Add neutral colors, texture and a bit of sparkle and I'm sold. 

 

Wishing you a beautiful fall day