Creating Holiday Window Boxes

I love the outdoor decorations during the holiday season but some of my favorites are the window boxes. Whether you live on a big country estate or in small city apartment, everyone can find room to add a little holiday decor with a window box. Here are few examples:

My Life

This arrangement is wonderful. It is so fresh and colorful. It reminds me of my sister and her shaker style house. I love the small apples, berries and pine cones. I also love evergreen and leaf mix.

Frontgate

Here is one that takes the natural look just one step further with tiny white lights. I bet this looks lovely in the evening.

Frontgate

Sugared fruit, pine boughs and white lights- simple and elegant. Both the window box and the floral decorations are available from the Frontgate catalog.

Flickr

I love the variety of greens in this box. It has so many wonderful textures and of course, the blue and red berries are a great addition.

BHG
Here is another natural arrangement. Perhaps the owners were able to gather everything they needed right from their own gardens.

Cottage Living

This box is filled with homemade snowballs and a string of white lights. I love this!! The snow balls are actually different sized styrofoam balls covered in fake snow. Here is the link for directions to make this yourself! So very clever.
http://www.cottageliving.com/cottage/gardens/article/0,21135,1683527,00.html

Garden Fairies
Here is a very sweet little "window box". I included this to remind you that anything, even an old mitten, can be made into a holder of evergreens and berries. Be creative! It is so easy to add a special sparkle to your holiday decor.

Great Kitchen Design

Here is a great design idea I just had to post - this is such a wonderful, ingenious design. I am anxious to use it in my next project. The first view is entering the kitchen. Notice the raised island area where the the stools are placed.

Hutker Architects

Here is the view from the other side. It is the perfect space for storing dishes, bowls and mugs. Isn't that so very clever?

Hutker Architects

I think this design idea would work especially well in a vacation home. Guests getting up in the morning at all different times and they can simply find everything they need without feeling uncomfortable rummaging through the cabinets. What do you think? Like it or love it?

Playing in Tents!

With summer in full swing, I am reminded by my children the fun of spending the night in a tent. The billowy canvas sides create a secret retreat. Let's look at some more luxurious ways to spend the evening and ways to create this atmosphere in your own home. Hunter Hotels
This is a tented suite from Marataba Safari, part of the Hunter Hotel Group, in the magnificent Marakele National Park, north of Johannesburg in South Africa. This exotic tented suite is a beautiful mix of canvas and stone, furnished and decorated in an African style. I love the way the tent fabric billows above the bed, so luxurious. Notice the en-suite stone bathroom with copper tub. Each of the 12 suites each have their own private deck overlooking the sweeping plains.

Let's look at another opulent resort for inspiration.

Aman Resorts

Here are the lovely tented suites of Aman Resorts in Rajasthan, India. The 10 air-conditioned tents, have soaring six-metre canopies above draped cotton partitions.

They are designed and decorated in a clean modern style. The subtle hues of creamy canvas, swathes of airy-white cotton, khaki cushions on toffee coloured leathers contrast the soft elegance of the tented exteriors.

Here is another "bedroom" in the tented suites. Notice the dressing table, comfortable chairs and animal hide footstool. What luxury in a tent!

Amanresorts
Lovely at night and so romantic at sunrise.

The tented suites are enchanting and exotic ways to spend an evening, but lets look at some ways to bring this feeling into our everyday homes.

Marie Claire Maison
The simplest way of course, is to drape mosquito netting over the bed. Here it is done very romantically with the addition of the crystal chandelier above and crisp white linens on the bed .
Marie Claire Maison

Another bed is simply dressed with a gray silk - It becomes more dramatic by lowering the bed almost to the floor and adding romantic sconces.Marie Claire Maison

This room is draped in a simple airy-white cotton, but what makes this room so interesting is the draped, gathered fabric ceiling over the bed. A very traditional bed and side tables, but with the addition of the fabric overhead it becomes a more exotic retreat.

Marie Claire Maison
Here a beautiful canopy is built over the bed and draped with a lovely embroidered sari. I love the purple velvet duvet and the dressmakers' mannequin wrapped in a pretty shawl. The walls, painted cream above and gray below wraps the room in an interesting way.

Marie Claire Maison
White linen creatively hung above low to the floor twin beds. Bright linens cover the beds and a dark accent wall lends a more mysterious feel.

Marie Claire Maison
Here is a more middle eastern feeling room done in bright silks. I love the hanging lantern inside the canopy. Notice the silk screen used behind the bed as a headboard. Deep magenta walls and darker trim add to the luxurious atmosphere.

Marie Claire Maison
Here is a much more modern take on the canopy. I love the crisp, nautical feeling of this bed. The canopy is tied like a sail, bed linens are a soft sun-faded blue. This room is restful and fun at the same time.

Marie Claire Maison

This room also has a nautical feel. A simple way to include a canopy without a custom bed or structure is hang it above the bed with wire and a small rod. I love the bold, blue striped fabric canopy and matching headboard. I also love the bench at the end of the bed. The green stripe on the bench adds freshness

Marie Claire Maison

This attic room uses the angles of the room's windows and fabric to create a tented feeling. Soft quilts and comfy chair add to the cozy cottage feeling. Lying in this bed at night you could easily spend hours wishing on stars.

Marie Claire Maison

We end with a serene outdoor room. Crisp white linen bedding and pillows, airy-white cotton billowing on a deck that overlooks the ocean. Now this is an exciting tented retreat anyone, young or old, would enjoy!

Velvet and Linen

Please check out my new favorite blog - Velvet and Linen. It is written by Interior Designer, Brooke Giannetti. Brooke has some wonderful photos of her work and the work of other designers. She showcases some very inspirational rooms. Below are two photos from her recent posts. It's no surprise to me that Velvet and Linen was just selected as a "Must Click Blog" by the Washington Post!

To check out Velvet and Linen click on the link below under My Favorite Blogs!

Transitional Spaces

I have been crazy busy with my home renovations, so unfortunately my posts have been less frequent. Here are two wonderful transitional spaces from Banks Design Architecture. They are my inspiration to remind me of the light at the end of the tunnel.

In a few weeks time I will post some of my personal before and afters! Until then I'll be waiting for the dust to settle and the paint fumes to clear!!!

Gray/Grey Dining Rooms

I have a new obsession with gray dining rooms, I love the elegant look - Gray is such a wonderful color. If done correctly it can be warm and elegant. Very often I see cream woodwork and one or two simple black accents; both help make the color pop. Here are a few of my favorites: Jane Showers & Associates

This dining room was designed by one of my favorite designers, Jane Showers and Associates. I love the how the ebony table anchors the space while all the other pieces in the room are light and airy. The huge mirror, which reflects the buffet across the room adds a layer of drama. The chandelier looks like it could be from Julie Neill Designs and the ceiling has a pearlized look. Lovely!

MLS Photo

This gray dining room is actually an illusion. It has black and white printed walls which gives an overall feeling of gray. Very chic. The striped chairs and traditional style table go beautifully with the more traditional style of the room. The art work adds the black accents. Hard to tell exactly, but perhaps antique architectural prints, framed in ebony. A crystal chandelier adds sparkle.

MLS PHOTO

Here is a country inn - this gray reads a bit more blue to me. The cherry wood is good compliment. I also find the pinkish-creamy ceiling pretty but I do not like chandelier. It seems too informal and too small for the space.

MLS PHOTO

This room really speaks to me. Here is a wonderful example of gray in a more austere room. The windows open to a spectacular view. Often the wrong color can compete with view. This gray is a perfect compliment to the outdoors - it actually enhances the view. The lighting adds the perfect accent of black with out overpowering the space. Add in the texture of the sisal rug, the simple lines of the furniture, the soft color palette of the upholstery, and viola! Perfect!

Attic Transformation!

What to do with that unused attic space? Here is a space that Lyman Perry Architects have transformed into an owners retreat. In the third floor attic space, they have created a den that resembles a yacht's cabin. Above is the staircase entering to the new retreat- it gives you at hint at what might be above. I love the rope handrail and varnished nautical woodwork.Built into one dormer is a day bed with chart storage space below. What a great use of under bed storage space. Notice the teak floors resembling a boat hull.

An instrumentation panel hangs near the helmsman's desk, whose bookshelves utilize the nautical details preventing falling books as the boat tosses at sea. The final touch of a light hatch in the ceiling completes the scene, creating the experience of spying views of the port from the sea.

All photos Lyman Perry Architects

A wonderfully creative use of an attic! And, all the small details really add the the authentic feel. Lyman Perry Architects - Artists at work!