When I saw autumnal leaves fluttering and falling to earth at a nearby park, I knew that some of them must be brought back with me for a home decor project. I decided to hang them from my chandelier and recapture their fluttering fall -- it's natural, glamourous, and so easy to do!
Read MoreContinue on my haunted house tour, and you'll see the brave souls who dared to enter...
Read MoreJoin me for a tour of my haunted house before the guests arrive...
Read MoreEveryday household items can become gloriously spooky with a little Halloween imagination. A fireplace screen can turn into a haunted gate using swags of Spanish Moss.
Old books, glass vases, and a decanter can transform into a delightful potion project vignette. A black crock pot becomes a witch's cauldron! Hauntify your house, and you'll haunt your guests for sure!
Read MoreHalloween is drawing near, and what's Halloween without a few skeletons? You can find beautiful paper mache skeletons in arts and crafts markets, clay skeleton heads glowing from a candle within, or even create your own! Arrange them to sit on your mantle, glow on a foyer table, or wait on the front porch to greet trick-or-treaters -- they'll be happily spooked for sure.
Read MoreCreating your own paper bats for Halloween isn't only a fun craft project; it's a personal touch to your home that can be used for many Halloweens to come. I love all sorts of bats...the bold, the beautiful, the crazy, and the silly. So adults and children alike, make some bats for your home and let your Halloween spirit fly!
Read MoreFall doesn’t feel like fall until the pumpkins arrive! From a trip to the pumpkin patch to pumpkin decor, pumpkins bring fun and beauty to any home this time of year. I love velvet pumpkins, pumpkins with long, curly stems, and pumpkins with unusual colors. Find your favorites, create pumpkin vignettes for your home, and celebrate the autumn season!
Read MoreA floral arrangement can freshen any room and brighten anyone’s day, but the uniqueness of its vessel can turn an ordinary arrangement into an extraordinary one. A unique vase can do it all: display a lovely bouquet of roses, present a bleached manzanita branch in a dramatic fashion, or stand alone as a piece of artwork on a mantle or foyer table. When it comes to vases, choose the special vessel.
Read MoreMirrors are magic for home decor: they brighten, enlarge, and beautify spaces in the home. Country Garden Antiques, in Dallas, Texas, is one of my favorite antique stores I’ve ever found. Gina and Alan Galichia, the owners, have the most beautiful mirrors for sale, from Venetian, to French Gilt, to etched and beveled antique. Here are some favorites from my last visit and some treasures I couldn’t leave behind.
Read MoreSummer may be waning, but enjoying the outdoors isn’t over yet. To make the most of these final summer afternoons, bring a pitcher of your favorite cool beverage outside and serve in pretty clear glasses. Pair with a refreshing watermelon salad sprinkled with feta cheese, mint, olive oil and vinegar. Stay until the sun sets. Come wintertime, you’ll be glad you did.
Read MoreWho doesn’t love a friendly frog in their garden? Tucked away in greenery, vintage frogs bring humor and magic into the garden in an unexpected way. Their muted greens, grays, blues, and browns are a perfect camouflage for their surroundings, keeping ornamentation in the garden subtle but enchanting. If you happen to spot one, your day will be lucky for sure.
Read MoreNature photography is a lovely way to let the outdoors in to your home — without the dirt or bugs! Although I like to keep neutral color photographs in my home for most of the year, I know that different seasons and holidays will bring changes in whims and moods. That’s when I bring in the bold colored nature photography. By temporarily replacing the neutral, every day photos with vibrant yellows in the summer, soft pinks in the spring, bold blues in the winter, or glowy oranges in the fall, I can keep my nest feeling fresh, seasonal, and beautiful.
Read MoreBecause of my passion for nature and bringing the outdoors indoors, I love to photograph a variety of natural items to display throughout the home. Photographing and enlarging images of small objects, such as leaves, shells, flowers, and nests, can give a modern, sophisticated edge to your decor. Using neutral colors, such as black & white, sepia, and earth tones, these photographs are perfect for every day, all year round.
Read MoreWhat’s not to love about succulents? They range in color from dusty blue to glossy black, have an unearthly aesthetic, and are impossibly easy to care for. Not only are they lovely outdoors, but bring them inside and you have a natural, structural element to admire in your home.
Read MoreLast year, my husband and I purchased and began renovating our house. There was so much we loved when we first saw the house: it sat atop a hill, had beautiful views, was shaded by an enormous pine tree, and had a traditional interior layout. Because it was built in 1938, we assumed it must have changed hands several times before we purchased it, hence the mish-mash of design and aesthetic choices. But these were mostly surface design choices that we could tailor to our own aesthetic, and so we did.
Read MoreFinding natural elements to decorate your home is one of the most rewarding ways to make your home beautiful. Some natural elements are easily found in a park, on a nature hike, or even in your own backyard. Others are a little more exotic, and you might find them on your travels, nature stores, or florist shops. If I find a natural item with a beautiful color or sculptural design, I take it with me. If I find many of these items, I take home a bag full! There is always something lovely you can create with them. Pictured above, pinecones that dropped from a magnolia tree last fall are nestled in a glamorous, antique bowl.
Read MoreTo me, a vignette is a grouping of items that create a beautiful composition together. A single room could have several vignettes: on the walls, in corners, on tables, on mantles, on trays…really anywhere. It usually comprises of an odd number of items — I like to create vignettes in threes. You could also do fives, sevens, etc. I also try to make each of the items at different heights so as to create a visual triangle.
Read MoreWhen designing a mantle, I think of it as a small stage. A mantle sits up high, displays a collection of beloved items, and demands your attention. It is the focal point of any living room. Because my aesthetic leans towards simplicity and neutrality, I usually don’t have too many items displayed, but rather, a few items with dramatic beauty.
Read MoreSince I can remember, I have loved all things home decor and design. When I was a young girl growing up in Texas, I would steal my mother's home decor catalogs and stay up all night circling the items that I longed to collect for my future home. In 2012, I purchased and began renovating my first home in Los Angeles with my husband, so my dreams are coming true.
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