Sunday, November 30, 2014

Sellers' Remorse

Hey, if there's buyers' remorse why can't there be sellers'?
All you sellers out there, have you sold something and regretted it?  It happens to me all the time.
 Sometimes I get over it and sometimes I don't.  

This past sale at The Design House there were several items that I put up for sale even though I wanted them for myself.  I had such a hard time peeling them from my greedy hoarder's fingers.
 I let them go and of course they sold.  But, there was one item that I really couldn't stop thinking about.
Do you know what I did? Before the store opened for the sale,  I marked it sold.
It was this stylized horse that I couldn't part with.


Stylized Horse at The Design House


I happily carried him home and placed him on my dining room table.


To give him some height and to add some interest, I used a mirror as a riser.
Have you ever used a mirror on a flat surface?  I do it all the time.
  I thought this oval mirror with the belted strap worked well.
 On either side of it I placed my antler candleholders.
 Their silver tones picked up the silver in the mirror frame and the belt had an equestrian look.


I sometimes decide to share my jewelry as part of a vignette.  That horse needed some sparkle.


As the weather cools, I use my animal hides as table covers.  Their color and texture work for me.
The large solid hide covers the table while the small spotted one adds contrast and color.


What have you decided to keep instead of sell?
The funny thing is that once I keep a purchase and enjoy it for a while,  I'm okay with parting with it.
You'll probably see this horse for sale some time in the future.
How do you part with favorite finds?

Kathy


FYI, my decision not to sell was totally validated when I saw what was in Kelly Wearstler's kitchen.
Check out the horse in the lower left corner.  Yes!!!!!




I'll be participating in a Holiday Blog Hop.







Sunday, November 23, 2014

Fall Vignettes

It's my last gasp of Fall before the December craziness descends upon us.

The colors in my sun room make it very easy to pull together my Fall decor.  
 The dark browns, the corals, and the tans mimic the colors I associate with the season.
I thought the late afternoon sun streaming across the room and 
the almost bare tree branches in the background said Fall to me.  

Late  Fall Afternoon in My Sun Room

I have this large silver tray on my leather ottoman/coffee table.  
I update it for the season.
Antlers, feathers, a worn leather book, some gold tassels,
 and a brown orb on a pedestal add the touch of Fall.


We enter this room from the adjoining dining room.   
When the weather cools,  I add these pillows to my caned back arm chairs.  
The pillows are made from velvet and a section from a vintage rug.  They repeat the browns, golds, 
and corals of Fall. The upholstered chair seats are also velvet with nail head trim.


Coral candleholders are on a small table in the dining room. 
 The draperies and the side chair wear a coral geometric pattern.  
I covered the dining room table with cow hides, antler candlesticks, 
and a stylized horse,  all in brown tones.


The small side table is covered in a leopard print.  


Striped leather books and a weathered ceramic pine cone complete the vignette.


Fall seems to have come and almost gone so quickly.
 I'm already moving on to Christmas, but not quite ready to give up on this short season.



Kathy


Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.




Thursday, November 20, 2014

Our Japanese Maple

Last Spring we thought we'd lost our much loved Japanese Maple.
 We guessed that the damage was the result of a winter ice storm,
 but never figured out the cause or how the maple recovered.  But, it did recover!
  It was a beauty this summer and looked spectacular in the Fall when the leaves darkened to a deep red.


Japanese Maple Encased in Ice This Past Winter

We thought it was a gonner.   But, it made quite a recovery.


It really added color to the summer garden.

Japanese Maple This Summer

But nothing can compare to the deep red of its leaves this Fall.


Deep Red Leaves for Fall







I think this may be my favorite shrub.
Do you have a fav?


Kathy


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Holiday Decor and Vintage Finds at Sweet Clover

Yes, we're having two sales this month and yes I'm jumping back and forth from Fall to Christmas.
But, that's ok. 

Hope that those who can't come get some decor ideas.
































Hope to see you there.  We're also having a giveaway.  
It's a $100 gift certificate to Sweet Clover plus each vendor is donating an item.
Many chances to win.   Every customer who makes a purchase is eligible to enter this weekend.


Kathy


Sweet Clover
4052 Stanford Court
Frederick, MD
Nov. 21-23
10-5

Friday, November 14, 2014

My Fall Mantel

If you've been following you know that I'm part of a blog hop and that the last four participants are sharing their Thanksgiving Vignettes today.  I'm in this last group and I'd say mine is more Fall decor than Thanksgiving.
 But hey, Thanksgiving is in the Fall.
 Sherry from No Minimalist Here is hosting the hop.
Kudos and a big thank you to Sherry for organizing it all and making it work.


If you missed Blog Hop Part 1 go here.
To see links to Blog Hop Part 2 go here.

I decided to share my Fall mantel for the "Hop".
This Fall my mantel is very sparse.  The layers upon layers are missing; but I don't miss them.

Family Fall Mantel
The golden ibex directed the mantel design.



On the left side of the mantel is a resin turtle shell on a pedestal.  I lightly rubbed it with some gold gilding wax to add some interest and depth to the textured shell mold and to repeat the gold tones.
The matted and framed print is of French decorative painting from the 16-18th centuries.




There are more gold tone repeats in the sunburst mirror.  Below the mirror is an Hermes box.


On the edge of the mantel is a glass jar, belted equestrian style. 
 The framed Versace poster touches the mantel edge and drops above a Draper dresser.


I filled the belted jar with feathers, seed pods, and zebra grass.


I love the curling seed pods and the way the zebra grass sprinkles some color into the arrangement
 and stretches across and reflects into the mirror.


I've already shared the poster, the Hermes scarf boxes, and the bejeweled demijohn.
They really complete that side of the room so they made it into the blog for a repeat performance


If you haven't noticed, I'm really into spikey spheres.



What have you done for Fall decor?

Kathy

Make sure to visit my fellow Friday participants.
Follow these links to see their Thanksgiving vignettes.

 Miss Kopy Kat


Miss Kopy Kat

21 Rosemary Lane
A Thankful Tradition at 21 Rosemary Lane

and 
A Stroll Thru Life 
Dining and Living Room at A Stroll Thru Life







Thursday, November 13, 2014

It's A Blog Hop Part Two

Sherry, who writes the blog No Minimalist Here is hosting a blog hop and I'm one of the twelve participants.  Yesterday I shared the vignettes of the first four bloggers. 
 If you missed the post, go here.



Today I'm going to share some images from the next four.
 Just click on the link to see the full post.

Debra from Common Ground only moved two weeks ago but she was able to pull a beautiful Thanksgiving vignette together.  You know that lately I've been obsessed with plaid so I absolutely loved her pumpkin.  That was just a teaser.  Don't miss the whole post.


Plaid Pumpkin from Common Ground
What could be better than Thanksgiving, pumpkins, and ironstone?
Hop over to see Shirley at Housepitality Designs.

Ironstone and Pumpkins from Housepitality Designs
I spy more unique pumpkins from Kelly at The Essence of Home.  Love the feathers and scale too.

Pumpkins and Feathers from The Essence of Home
If you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year you need to check out the rustic tablescape from Martina from Northern Nesting.

Rustic Tablescape from Northern Nesting

Come back tomorrow to see my Fall mantel.

Kathy

My Friday fellow blog hop participants are: