2016 Top Blog Posts: French and DIY with One Runaway Hit

The start of this New Year at Maison Decor Blog  has me looking back at what my readers seemed to find most interesting.  Sometimes surprising, but this past year underscores that my DIY projects combined with a French flavor seem to bring the most views.  And I am happy about that, because those are two things that I consider a big part of who I am and what I love to do.  

Home and Garden projects that cultivate my love for the French style makes me a happy girl indeed.  

So lets take a look at the posts that everyone seemed to love, and that perhaps you may have missed.

A French Style Courtyard Comes to Life

This was a huge project and it was hands down my favorite!  Taking a dumpy unused space behind our home and making it a family favorite was really not that hard to do.  It took vision, more than anything, and some persuasion to get hubs to help me moving stones.  But stones aside,  I hope it gives you the idea to take a second look around your home's property to see what spot you could do a makeover on to gain a well loved and used space.

The before and after are quite startling, aren't they?  

Not taken from the same vantage point, but both showing the back facade of our home.

  Where the single window is, in the before shot, now stands the French doors.

 And the rest flowed from there.  The most important single element to creating this 

French style courtyard was using pea gravel as a base to create the French style outdoor space.

  Look for this courtyard to be featured in Matthew Mead's Spring issue of Upstyled Home, 

coming in March 2017.  I have seen the preview, and I have to say I was totally blown away

 by this feature and the other gardens Matthew has for this issue. 

 I CANNOT wait for you all to see this issue!!!

French Labels: An Easy DIY Transfer Method

This DIY post on how to make easy labels was another hit.  I love easy projects, and this one fits the bill.  Most of us have these battery operated pillar candles, and I personalized mine using a simple method that took a few minutes, using my printer and some packing tape.  After the candles, I did the lantern itself.  This method works great on glass or plain surfaces.  

Look how pretty it looked at Christmas! 
It would be awesome to make stamps personalized with names or monograms for weddings or showers or birthdays.....you get the idea.  I guess people like doing easy projects, just like I do. 

French Door For the Shed

This was another DIY garden project that I was very proud to finish.

The garden shed was created using a dilapidated structure, and then I shingled it with

the help of my son.  Never having done anything like this before, it was very fun

and although we may have not done it according to the "rules", it is a sturdy 

attractive feature to our back yard. 

I think the French door I found on Craiglist and added to the front gave it big time curb appeal.  
You can read more about the shed in the first post I am sharing above about the Courtyard.

Blue Fairy Tale Table

This painted daybed was part of an antique bed set that 

I had in my possession when I operated my shop.  

All pieces sold, except for the tea table which I kept for myself.  

Readers, like myself, seem to love beautiful French style antiques!

This charming painted table has made it's way into the

 current issue of Romantic Country magazine!

I had moved it from the living room up to my bedroom, where it is today. 

For a behind the magazine shoot story, here you go: 

Funny thing is, I sleep on the other side of the

bed, and that is where the table sits, under the window.  So for the shoot, Fifi O'Neill

moved the bed to hubby's side so it would make for a pretty picture.  And then she piled

up any pink and floral linens I had on the bed, and as they say, the rest is history!

(P.S. You can buy the Spring 2017 Romantic Country mag

where ever magazines are sold, so go get one!)

My living room is featured on the current cover, and inside you will see the 

rest of our home.  Some of these rooms have not been seen in the blog, so don't miss it!

And last, but not least, was this post that turned out to be a mega-hit as far as 

my statistics are concerned.  I was shocked at how many people read this post.

At least five times more than my most popular post, the biggest post of the year

was this tutorial I wrote on how to upholster a French chair.

How To Reupholster The Easy Way: My French Chair

My first attempt at reupholstering is captured step by step as I tried to 

show how you can do it the easy way.  Have I said I like things that are easy?

Yup, it was pretty easy, although nontraditional, I am pleased to say it is almost a year

since I have done it and the chair looks just as good the day I finished it.

So that is my 2016 round up for popular blog posts.

Just a mix of French with DIY and that is me, in a nutshell.

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Christmas Memory Making and a Swedish Bread Recipe

 Christmas 2016 was finally upon us, and this year I was more than ready.

Now I can devote my full attention to every detail, and its certainly something I enjoy.

Our family is growing and adding daugter-in-laws, which means sometimes switching things

up a bit, and so our Christmas Eve is now celebrated on the Eve of the Eve.  

The house and the trees were decorated and lit and it never looked prettier.
Adding daughter in laws?  My son, Brandon, is engaged to his long time love, Mimi!

They live in Los Angeles but this photo was taken at our house a few years ago.
I couldn't be more excited!  (Trying to lure them back to the East Coast as well.)

So while Mimi and Brandon couldn't join us this year, we hope that will change.

 Colby was content to lie in front of the fire or in front of the tree when

he got too hot.  Visions of sugar plums danced in his head!  

I always loved that verse, although I never quite knew what a sugar plum

was, it sounded magical to me.

 Following our Christmas eve tradition, the table was set with English Crackers for all.  A new addition to my table were the large monogramed French napkins I bought from one of my favorite French dealers.  These linen napkins are as big as dish towels, and they feel wonderful!

 The crackers have crowns in shiny gold and festive red paper and this set had musical horns and a set of sheet music with each of us blowing a different note at our conductors command, played by my son Justin.  It brought many laughs and we as an orchestra got better with each tune.  Then we sang songs from the caroling books I made, and it made for a jolly time around the dinner table.

After dinner we ate pastries while this charming film was played in the

green room.  Have you seen it?  Made in 1982, it was one of my children's favorite

holiday movies, and I highly recommend it.  Its so wonderful!

I purchased it from our cable tv for less than ten dollars, and it made

for a sweet way to finish out the evening.

 The morning brought Christmas Eve day, and a bit of a mess to cleanup.

I love looking at a dinner table after a party....

it tells a story, and this one was all good.

 Then Christmas morning came and it was nice and mellow, with Colby and I the first by the tree.

My new book is a winner!! If you love French interiors, 

this  beautiful picture book by Veranda  has some beauties.

The day followed with presents and a trip to New Hampshire to my 

brother-in-law's home for a big family gathering on my husbands side,
and another engagement announced for his son, Matthew and gf Sarah! 
Nothing more romantic than a Christmas Eve proposal under the stars!!

 One special gift from Santa to me, was this Oyster bread maker. 

I always thought bread makers were pricey appliances, but this one had

great reviews and cost $60.  Well worth it, in my opinion. 

(no, I am not sponsored in this post.)

 I have always wanted to make Swedish coffee bread for my husband and his mother. 

 They have enjoyed it for their entire lives as it has been a recipe made by

 previous generations and finally I gave it a go!  Swedish coffee bread, 

or Cardamom bread as some call it is a bread that is often enjoyed

 with coffee and its just delicious!

 The dough is mixed up in the bread maker, and after it goes through

 two rising cycles you put the dough out onto a floured board and 

divide into sections so you can braid into a pair of loaves.

 My first loaves were a GIGANTIC success!! hahha! I did it!  

I made Swedish Coffee Bread, and my mother in law said it was perfect, 

so it doesn't get better than that. 

Here is our old family recipe, from cousin Bob Johnson.

If you have a bread maker and want to give it a whirl, you

will be delighted at the outcome.  Merry Christmas to you all,

my blog friends and readers!  

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Make a Christmas Carol Songbook

A Christmas tradition for many is caroling, or at least it used to be.

 Have you ever had the fun of going out caroling at Christmas time?

When I was in my early teens a group of neighbors did that and it was such

fun and really put you in the holiday spirit. Its such an old fashioned thing to 

do and has such tradition, two things that seem to make it a good thing this time of year.

We all had tiny songbooks to follow along to make sure we knew the words to 

each Christmas carol.  If you want to create a songbook, you can do what I 

did last night.  Martha Stewart (of course!) has an easy to make songbook

for Christmas Carols on her website.  The link to the Songbook will be at 

the end of this brief post, if you are interested in creating one for yourself.

The reason I came to search for "how to make a caroling songbook" was because of

 my mother in law, Claire.  She loves music!  

Above you can see us all dressed up to enjoy the 

Boston Holiday Pops orchestra, with their wonderful Christmas program.  

Music is such a nice part of Christmas. 

 The Boston Pops at Symphony Hall

Boston Symphony Hall, decked out for their Holiday Pops show.

Just yesterday, Claire asked if we could sing some carols at our Christmas party.  

I know that her own traditions of celebrating had her aunts and uncles and parents 

and children all gathered around a piano on Christmas eve and there they sang 

Christmas Carols. Its easy to picture that scene, isn't it?  

Claire herself played the violin and the cello, 

and her father was a piano tuner, so musical ability ran deep in this family. 

 While I can't play more than chopsticks on the piano, I can belt out a carol or two.  

Martha Stewart's instructions on making a Christmas Songbook here.  

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A Charming Gift Wrap Station

 We have all seen the fancy craft rooms that some lucky people have,

and in those rooms the wrapping papers hang from rolls and there are

loads of ribbons to choose from.  If you are like me, and don't have a 

craft room, you can create a dedicated spot for your gift wrapping, as

well as your card writing.  This small vintage desk that I recently 

bought is turning out to be a very handy piece of furniture!

 It is in a corner of our dining room, and it has become the place for mail

to land.  But along came the holidays and overnight it seemed to turn into

a gift wrap station!   Wrapping paper and ribbon look so pretty, and to have

them displayed openly in a room feels very festive!  The small drawers hold

tape and notecards and stamps for Christmas cards I have yet to send.

Maybe a console table or sidetable could be repurposed into a gift wrap station

at your home.  Use pretty containers to hold pens and pencils and notecards.

An old waste basket holds rolls of gift wrapping on the floor next

to the desk.  Its so convenient!  I have been wrapping as I go, so it won't

pile up on my at the eleventh hour.  When I was about 12 years old, my dad

set up a folding card table in my bedroom and anointed me as his personal gift wrapper.

He said I did such a nice job, as I loved wrapping gifts using matching 

colored ribbons and making tags.  So I guess Dad was ahead of his time, creating 

a gift wrap station.  Anyway, I love having this spot.  I don't have to pull 

everything out of closets and drawers to find what I need, then put it all back.

 Its been quite a joy actually.  

I love that something so simple can be so useful and joyful.

 I still rely on my old methods of making tags by clipping 

a square of wrapping paper and then just writing "to and from" inside

 and taping it to the package.

  Sometimes I buy the fancy tags, but mostly I do it the way I did as a kid.  

 And where do my wrapped gifts go?  Well since everyone knows 

Santa is coming, I no longer have to hide them.  

So now I use them to decorate spaces in the house.

 Loaded up and layered on top of this old green bench,

I put a few of the gifts in green and red papers.

 They are very cheery in the kitchen!

 The pastel pretty packages are under our living room tree.  

Speaking of which, Colby has been so good about ignoring 

the wrapped gifts under the tree.

But last night I wondered why he wasn't hanging out 

with me and hubs in the tv room.  

Well he was busy "opening" his first gift. 

 Hahhah!  It was a small package that had an ornament inside. 

 I have no idea why he found that particular package interesting.  

Except other than  the wrapping I had used was recycled paper 

from a gift I received from Matthew Mead.  

Maybe Colby smelled little Oscar all over the wrapping?  

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Blue Angels and Pink Santas

My favorite things...

 Tis the time of year when I transform our home with the magic of Christmas 

decorations and delights.  I tend to decorate over time, adding bits more

after the initial decorating burst.  Back into the eaves I went to look for 

some of the sentimental things that make the season more meaningful.

So that meant hunting down my blue Angel. 

Believe it or not, once upon a time, blue was not a color I liked,

so that meant I never had anything blue in my home!  One year my 

dad surprised me with a big box prettily wrapped from a little shop.

Inside was this large blue angel figure, in a billowy periwinkle and grey

dress, with blue pearly wings.  I wondered where I would put this

angel in blue in my pink and yellow house?

Over the years I would place it on a bookshelf or a tabletop, nestled in evergreens.   

 Fast forward many years and now this angel in blue has turned

out to be one of my favorite Christmas decorations!

 Mostly because my dad saw it and thought of me and I appreciate that the older I get, 

and also because it looks so pretty in my living room.

It's definitely one of those special pieces that I cherish.

Another special but newer addition, is the Pink Santa stocking that my mom knit for me.

It has angora wool on Santa's beard and fur trimmed suit, with a sparkly

belt buckle on a pearl grey background, my name spelled out in pink.

Its one of many my mom has knit for all of my children, my husband and my daughter in law,

all in different Christmas designs, like snowmen and wreaths and snowflakes.

I can't think of a more meaningful "decoration" at Christmas, than a personalized

stocking made with such care and love.  Packages wrapped in heavy embossed foil, also in 

pink are under the tree, and the effect is quite magical!  I found this luscious pink paper at Marshalls

and I wish I bought ten rolls of it!! A few pink balls, new and vintage, mix in the tree

with the blue,  silver and gold ornaments.  I am in love with our tree this year!  I think

part of the fun of a tree is how it comes out a little bit different than the year before.

Not having a shop to run has let me really enjoy the decorating part of the season.

Just a reminder, my home is in a ten page feature in the current issue of

Romantic Country magazine, on newsstands now.  

Here is a cute story:

My dad went to his local Publix supermarket in Florida to look for it

 and came up empty handed.  So he asked to speak to the manager 

who ordered a bunch of them and then called to tell him the shipment was in.

How cool is my dad for asking and how nice of the Publix manager to order them.

I can just imagine him telling her proudly that his daughter's home was on the cover!

My friends around the country have seen them in Barnes and Noble, Walgreens, 

CVS and places like that.  If you don't see it, just ask.

Hoping you have time to hang up a few baubles around your home,

and get in the festive spirit! 

 Its amazing what a few white lights and Shiny Brites can do to a room.

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A fabulous addition to our foyer

Its that time of year when you try to make your house really sparkle!

Maybe you do projects in time for the holidays too?

Finally!  I have done something in this space that I have been wanting to do 

since the day we moved in! Can you guess what it is?

(Hint:  Look at the staircase.)

Our entryway is a space I have talked about in less than glowing

terms, because it opens right into the stairway and our living room.

  The staircase is very prominent, and it needed some appeal.

A new runner softened the space and gave it a finished look.

But where did I find this runner?  You may be surprised...

The Perfect Rug company is an online rug shopping place that has 

a zillion rug types and colors and weaves.  Honestly it was so easy to use

this site, and their customer service was great. Originally I was going to 

get an area rug for the dining room, but the more I thought about it, I 

knew I wanted a runner, and because they are custom sizes, The Perfect Rug

was the best solution.  I also love that they have cost estimates as you shop

online for the various types and sizes of carpets, so you can be mindful of your budget.

Being on the stairs, I wanted a rug that would stand up to traffic,

as well as a color that would hide paw prints and work boots.

My carpet style was a natural grass carpet, called Sisal.  It got a 4

on a scale of 1-5 in The Perfect Rug's rating scale for wear and tear.

It also got a 5 out of 5 for its Green Ratings! LOVE! 

That scale was very helpful in choosing the correct type of carpet.

Each carpet choice on their website has a "details" link to click on

to see the various ratings, so you can make a good choice.

 Since it is custom, you also select what binding style you want for your

rug, but they do include their recommendations for each carpet, which is great.

  I went with a bound edge in a color that blended with the rug.

It looks so polished now! 

 I love how the runner looks with the recent wallpaper we added in blue and grey.

What a difference these upgrades made to our entry area!

Here is how the process began~I shopped online at The Perfect Rug for samples.

When I got my samples, I narrowed it down to three choices in shades of neutrals.

Getting to see the samples in person in your home makes your decision foolproof.

My choice?

 Island Colors Boucle in Medium Grey 

with a Serged Border in Light Slate Grey.

 Sisal is not soft underfoot, but the wear and tear factor was the 

deciding factor for our home.  It couldn't look more perfect!

Also I want to point out, our stairs are open to the railing

for the first five steps, and then it narrows down between the walls

as you head up the staircase.  I based my width of the runner on something that 

would look appropriate between both treads, which was a 27" wide runner.

We did use an independent installer. 

(Initially I thought I would try it but I wanted it to look perfect!)

He said that this was an exceptionally high quality carpet

and in fact he had yet to ever see, or install, a runner made out of sisal.

That made me a very happy girl!

Our home has a lot of natural grass style carpets which are great for

active homes with pets and kids.  The living room has a tan colored

jute rug.  I could have opted for a tan runner, but I went with the grey

like you see in our wing chair.  I love mixing grey and tans together.

 So if you are thinking about refreshing your carpets or getting a rug

for a space that needs a special shape or size, you will find just want you 

need at The Perfect Rug.  I am simply thrilled with this company!

And get this: Bob, a company representative, called me almost instantly

 after he got my order online to discuss the particulars about installing runners. 

 He was so thorough, making sure I would get the right amount of carpet 

and not come up short.  That says a lot about a business, 

knowing that they want their customers to be happy with what they have ordered. 

 High marks from me on that!

Add in a two week turn around time, and it doesn't get any better.

My tiny entryway looks so much prettier than it did just a month ago.

My wall mora clock is decked out for Christmas with a mix of

grey and tan with a bit of gold ribbon, echoing the carpet colors.

I am truly looking forward to greeting my guests for the holidays,

and I won't be feeling badly anymore when I open my front door,

thanks to The Perfect Rug.  That's for sure!

Note: This post is sponsored by The Perfect Rug, however all thoughts and opinions are my own. I couldn't be happier to work with and recommend this company to my readers. 

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