Grey velvet curtains, gilded cornices and Piper

 Velvet draperies are so luxurious.  Hard to tell from this shot, but the velvet

warms up the room, making it nice and cozy for the cold weather months.

I found these 96" lined velvet pinch pleated panels at HomeGoods, in case

you are searching for some at a reasonable price.  Their drapery department has

been pretty impressive lately, as I also found Belgian linen panels earlier this year.

I have had white smocked curtain panels from Pottery Barn hanging in this room

for years now, underneath white metal cornices that I made from vintage cornices

I found at an antique shop in New Hampshire.  They were stamped brass metal, in an

old gold color.  Hmmmm, I kind of wish they were the brass finish now.  At any rate,

I didn't like the look of the grey velvet under the white cornices so I painted them with 

Paris Grey Chalk Paint by you know who.  

 After painting them, I outlined the top with some gilding wax in gold.  Its a quick project

that I was able to do in an hour.  Getting ready for the holidays around here now, so I am envisioning a very Versailles Christmas in my mind's eye.  That means gold and gilding and velvet and of

course that wonderful blue color that Marie Antoinette loved so much.  Its much the same as my wall color in the living room, Woodlawn Blue by Benjamin Moore.  Imagine a white christmas tree with blue and gold....maybe some velvet ribbon.  Yummy!  In the latest Horchow Collection catalogue they have a Versailles Christmas ornament and ribbon collection!  I almost fell out of my french chair.  The only thing I didn't care for was that they added red to the blue and gold collection, which will never happen on my tree.  And thats the awesome thing about Christmas decorating, or any kind of decorating....you get to put your own stamp of personal style and vision together.  And each year its always a bit different, and that makes it fun for me.

So forgive me if Christmas decorating starts making an early appearance on my blog, but I am more than excited this year to get my trees up!  I think Reeve will love seeing the twinkle and the sparkle and the wonder of it all.  I am hoping little Piper can keep her composure around the trees and not make a mess of it.

She's pretty curious about just about everything. 

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New: Cupola installation, Bohemian rug runner, and Cabana curtains

This post is all about DIY projects that have finally been completed. 

Way off in the distance, do you spy our new cupola? 

 It is incredibly darling, don't you agree?

I am overjoyed with how it enhances the shed, and our gardens. 

 The shed is almost hidden by the large arborvitaes that create the private area that holds a

small tomato garden and the garden shed.  So adding the cupola makes it more visible from

the lower levels of the yard and courtyard, and even from the street.  

A dog weathervane in Piper's likeness sits atop this small wooden cupola I found on a FB yardsale site after a quick search.  The family that never used it, sold it to me and coincidentally they had 5 golden retrievers themselves, one being an English Cream, like Piper. It was meant to be...

Mr. Maison Decor had a friend who crafted a spinner piece so the weathervane will move with the wind.  Originally it was made to be a decorative piece and attached in one permanent direction.

This was the moment he placed it on the top of the tiny shed, and my heart skipped a beat.  I have been in love with cupolas forever, and finally I have one to call my own.  Yippee!

The other thing that finally happened was installing black and white cabana curtains to frame the cellar entrance that leads to my son's apartment.  Our house sits sideways on the lot, and this side faces the front of the street so it was nice to enhance it a little bit.

The entry to our house is accessed by the old granite stairs at the far end.  The cabana curtains add a decorator flair to the house, where once there was none.

A porch swing my dad made decades ago hangs in the enclosed space.  

These are all part of the things I have been doing to get ready for the book shoot with Nora Murphy. The feeling I have is that if its going to be captured forever in the pages of a book, I would hate to not try my best to get projects completed that have been in the "to do list" in my head.  My wish list, as it were.  We all have them....and maybe they get put off, and ignored.  So the book shoot has made them come alive and give me sleepless nights.  Can I get this or that done before Nora??  Life is busy and full at our house, and so getting projects done is more daunting because of my other jobs at home.  So any that I do get finished gives me a sense of fulfillment, because I know how hard it was to pull it off.  Piper and Colby are fast friends, with Piper taking the lead in the house. No doubt about it, she is a confident dog, and its been fun to watch her play with Colby.  He is so gentle with her, and they have their routine down pat now, leaping from dog bed to dog bed, chasing toys and tug of war.  

Another thing on my to do wish list, was to have a carpet runner installed to the third floor.  For one reason, it helps the dogs to safely navigate the stairs, and since Piper is growing like a weed, we won't be carrying her up and down much longer.  I found this pretty bohemian patterned rug at Joss and Main (online store) and ordered two 12' runners.  We had them professionally installed and it really finished off the space.  A collection of vintage art work hangs on one side, and it makes for a pretty walk up to bed each night. 

So life in the country is simply grand around here....

and after the book shoot I think I will relax so I can enjoy the 

entire month of August  with the hubs and kids and 
with little or NO projects at all!

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No More Pink Curtains and a new video!

So its been awhile since I last posted, and that was all about the pink linen

curtain panels I made for the dining room. I apologize.
(Even my sister Ellen called me up and said,
"You need to blog because every time I go to look, all I see are pink curtains!!")
 Believe it or not, they only stayed up for 48 hours.
 I just couldn't stand how it looked.  The pink was 

way too pink... The light coming through the fabric made them even more

pink then they actually were.  And I never did buy a sample of the fabric to 

check to see if it was the right shade of pink.  I just kind of hoped it would

be similar to what it looked like on my computer monitor.  I should have known

better.  At any rate I now have 12 yards of pink linen which one day will be 

reincarnated into some divine project I am sure.  

And the grey curtains with the pom poms are back up!  

Bye bye pink.

A valiant try, but not for me.  My husband was agreeable,

which is kind of funny~he said they really brightened the room. 

(insert smily face)

My youngest son Colin detested them. And so did I.

In other news, we did have the baby shower for Justin and Madison

and I was able to use the courtyard for the first time entertaining a crowd!

When I renovated the backyard to create the courtyard, I had only a french

daybed and some chairs for seating.  This spring I ordered an all weather wicker

set of chairs, ottomans and loveseat from the Home Decorators Catalogue, which

is a Home Depot company.  The set was by Martha Stewart ( I love her as you know)

and after reading the many reviews, I ordered it sight unseen.  I was banking on 

the reviews of it being comfortable and well made, and I am happy to report it is both!

The set is called the Lake 

The Adela Lake Collection set by Martha Stewart. 

 It comes in a few finishes, and I chose the weathered grey color with the 

sand colored cushions, seen above.  It looks right at home in the rustic

courtyard.  We moved the set into position where the day bed, 

and the daybed was moved opposite the wicker set, so we can seat quite a few people now.

We still are working on setting everything up, like the bird house vent cover, 

which is not installed yet because we are still using the fireplace indoors on cool mornings.

Colby loves the courtyard too, and we attach him to a long green lead that

we anchor in various spots, controlling where he can hang around.  

We will be spending a lot of time outdoors in this space, and it was worth the expense.

When I ordered it online, one reviewer mentioned it sells out early in the season,

so I got my order in promptly.  A few weeks later it went on sale for 20% off,

and the HD people gave me a credit for the sale price, which was awesome.

It also comes in a pretty spa blue color, but I stayed neutral 

choosing to add accents with throw pillows in Sunbrella.  

Check out the video about the courtyard, featuring an introduction

to the space with Matthew Mead on photo shoot day for his magazine,

UPSTYLED HOME OUTDOORS. 

(tip: click on the right hand corner icon to 

enlarge for watching full screen)

(It's on news stands now, as a gentle

reminder, published by Country Sampler. )

After the intro, you will be treated to the nitty gritty makings of this space

showing you small video clips that I took while hubs and sons were helping me,

and which I never intended to go public with...but they worked out well in this 

montage video.  After all, I had no idea Matthew Mead would love this space so

much that he wanted to shoot it, nor did I think it would ever grace a magazine cover!

You will see the disgusting plywood "shed" (that was literally falling apart) as it

is hoisted through the air from my mother-in-laws back yard to ours (we are neighbors).

You get to see sweaty me, shingling the shed, my son wearing a farmers sun hat to avoid the

scorching temps,  the general average ugliness of the space and how it came to be so 

fabulous.  Its inspiring, even to me, and I did the dang thing!!

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Pink Linen Curtains for my French Dining Room

 Perhaps I have been swayed by the popularity of blush pink in interiors this year.

It is a color that is everywhere these days....

Pink is a color I have always been attracted to, and yet it can be a bit much

in "regular" rooms, often relegated to babies rooms or young girls.  Maybe since 

I have a grand daughter on the way, this desire for more pink in my own house

was too much to ignore.

 Whatever the reason, I ordered a bolt of pink Irish linen to create

a pair of panels for the dining room windows.  I rolled out 3 yard increments

on the dining room table for each of the four panels.  These would not be lined,

yet simply hung with a straight stitched rod pocket and hemline.

 A french console with a pink marble top that used to be in my shop's foyer was installed between the pair of windows, underneath the venetian mirror.  Its a nice narrow display space for flowers, dishes, candles or whatever I want to highlight.  The pink looks pretty with the purple transferware collection.  Harkens back to my seventh grade bedroom, which as done in pink and purple with French provincial canopy bed.  The set was a little girl's dream,

 and I was lucky enough to have one at the age of 12.  

 We eat dinner in this room every night as a family, and most often we dine on placemats instead of a table cloth, as placemats are easier to launder.  I made a set of pink toile placemats about twelve years ago and they have stood up so well over time and repeated washings.  Sewing can really come in handy when you want specific styles in draperies, pillows, placemats, napkins and the like.  Sewing gives me the ability to showoff my personal style, and I won't see it anywhere else.

 A pair of antique gilded candlesticks from my blogging friend Cindy at Edith + Evelyn Vintage's etsy shop grace the French console.  She has many french accessories in her online shop.

I traded the candlesticks for some of my purple transferware with Cindy, which was really fun.

I am looking forward to seeing my old plates gracing her beautiful French home on her blog.

 My centerpiece is an antique garden trug that Matthew Mead gifted me.

I placed a pink gardening shovel in the trug that I found on our trip to Long Island.  

The shovel was about the only pink thing for sale at the White Flower Farmhouse shop.

This room's redecoration is a nod to spring and summer, 

and the lightheartedness these months bring to our daily living.  

Looking forward to the French doors opening to the courtyard, white wine and soft

summer breezes.  Centerpieces will be made up with cuttings from the garden pink roses.  

The pink draperies will get changed back to the grey after Labor Day, 

but until then, we will be in full spring and summer mode, here at Maison Decor.

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