Living Beauty Full in the Burbs
Living Beauty Full in the Burbs
Tips, tricks, ideas, and projects
I hate cords. But I like electricity. I’ve waged war on cords since I was old enough to see how lamps made light. I’ve covered them with fabric, I’ve hidden them with faux ivy (um….don’t judge) I’ve even painted them to match the walls. Good grief!
Getting power to the seemingly endless parade of electronics, can’t-live-without-gadgets and lights in my home is a tricky business what with the, “Can’t you hide those wires???” question to any new gadget Mr B installs for our modern day comfort and convenience. Geez, how did our ancestors live without internet???? (Blithely and without stupid lamp cords and cables and power strips, that’s how.)
I was staring at my table top recently and giving the brown lamp cord the stink eye. I was twitchy. Cords have this effect on me. Why can’t lamp makers do something to make cords look better???? THEN….. a thought entered my mind, I don’t need no stinking lamp maker! I have Mr B!!! In an effort to make peace with my lamp cords, and give Mr B something to do, I asked him to rewire them with clear cord. He was SO grateful to have something to help make his life a little less boring and keep him away from the golf course! He jumped at the chance. I’m pretty sure he was singing my praises as he took the lamps into the garage…..and left, sans golf clubs….. for yet another trip to Lowes, this time for a wiring kit……make that several kits. He loves going to Lowes 3 or 4 times a day. Truly.
I gotta say this was a GENIUS idea. I may not exactly love my lamps cords now but at least they don’t make me twitchy anymore. Switching to clear cords on the lamps on the white furniture is now the plan. I’ll leave the standard brown cords on the lamps for the dark bedroom furniture, but everything else is going clear. Most home improvement stores carry lamps kits with clear wire, and it’s a pretty easy task. Or maybe it’s just that Mr B makes it look easy. Whatever! If cords make you twitchy feel free to steal this idea. You’re welcome. ( if you noticed I painted a couple of the lamps, you win the bonus round for most observant.) This isn’t a big project by any means, but it’s often the smallest of details that have the most impact.
Create the home you see in your heart. Create your Sanctuary no matter where you live.
Hey y’all! Or all y’all if there are more peeps than my Granddaughter reading this. I haven’t posted for a while due to a lingering case of “the Januarys,” apparently this is a common ailment in the blogging community, who knew?? I just thought I was tired and didn’t have “the feels” for anything other than snuggling with Mr B and the puppies and watching endless hours of meaningless TV.
Turns out “the Januarys” is something that goes around after the holiday hoopla which leaves designers, decorators and bloggers without inspiration or energy. Hmmm….isn’t that the same as “I ain’t got no feels?” Where did the term “Feels” come from anyway? Oh, yes, that’s right, young people. They have a knack for simplifying terms and boiling them down to the essential. I actually like it. Why waste words describing how you feel about something if you can just say “Feels?” or “No Feels?” In this world of instant gratification, big words aren’t necessary, no one really cares if you find something astoundingly interesting, or if viewing a masterpiece leaves one with a racing pulse, breathless, or overcome by unnamed emotions…..does it give ya the feels? Or not? Communication by short words. Bleh.
As usual I got off track. I don’t even remember what this post is about. I must take a look at the title to be sure. So. Winter. Let’s talk about winter here in the sanctuary. It’s tough doing a post on winter when Florida winters are usually sunny and 75°. Except this year. This year we got winter!!! Yay. Or sort of Yay. Or even, “oh big deal” if you live in Alaska. But it hasn’t been this cold in my part of Florida since 2010! My birdbaths were frozen solid. SOLID. The heat has been on in the sanctuary for a couple of weeks, and we’ve used the fireplace almost every night during that same time span. I love it.
Before you laugh at the 20° weather here, let me remind you that nine months out of the year it’s 90+ here with high humidity. We get used to the heat. Our bodies are acclimated to that heat. So when the temps drop 40 degrees overnight, it feels COLD here. Any where you live that experiences a rapid 40 degree drop in temperature is going to feel cold. So yes, we are cold. What does this have to do with decorating you might ask? Nothing.
Doing winter here is like dressing up for Halloween. Everyone knows who’s under that costume. Winter here is a bit like that. It’s still Florida underneath that throw. I long for a change in seasons, so I bring it inside, even when it’s 75 outside. It’s why I use fake snow for Christmas. If the calendar says December, the fake snow comes out and I’m bringing out my throws. The fake snow is gone now, but the throws? Oh yeah, they are still out.
The dogs enjoy the throws even if Mr B raises an eyebrow and continues to run around in shorts. I, on the other hand, insist on wearing jeans and boots and sweaters as soon as it hits 60.
I layered the chairs with throws (Geez, how many times can I use the word “throws” in this post?) and my new “winter pillows,” purchased from H&M Home. I used them at Christmas as well and bought them specifically so that I could transition from the holidays to winter without changing everything out. I’m happy that winter decor can last for a few months. I shared my winter mantel in a recent post, but here’s a photo in case you missed it.
My winter decor staples are the a fore mentioned wool and knitted throws, pine cones, silver leaf deer antlers, succulents and a few left over sprigs of cedar and juniper. Easy. This year I left out my vintage brass deer as well. Deer always make me think of fall and winter. Ditto pine cones. I also crave a simpler look once Christmas is over.
I’m not using any faux fur even though it’s trendy right now. I enjoy looking at it in other homes but somehow seeing the pool from the windows and palm trees waving in the breeze don’t mix with fur in my mind. The argument could be made that neither do pine cones, wool throws and deer but I draw the line at fur. It’s a personal choice! I mean no disrespect to furry pillow lovers! If I lived farther north, with snow and ice I would be doing fur. So decorate your home with whatever says winter to you, and what suits where you live. Or your state of mind!
Create your sanctuary, no matter where you live or what season you’re in. Create the home you see in your heart.
It’s winter. Even here in Florida where we’ve enjoyed a week of freezing temps. That’s COLD for my part of the world! I’ve seen the photos of snow piled high throughout the country and I know I’m lucky we didn’t have that. It’s beautiful to look at but I don’t want to drive in it or go to work while it’s sub-zero and blowing with hurricane force winds. My heart goes out to anyone who suffered through the blizzard conditions without benefit of a warm home. I’m a wimp after all these years living in a sub tropical state. But it was cold for Tampa Bay and we actually turned the heat on, enjoyed the fireplace and drank hot cocoa loaded with marshmallows. I did anyway, Mr B still enjoyed his nightly glass of wine, albeit by the fireplace.
I spent most of the time bundled up in sweats and actually got to wear jeans and boots and a comfy sweater for New Year’s Eve. Woot. Those boots hadn’t seen the light of day in a couple of years!
Hanging out on Instagram means I get to see some really pretty homes and follow the “grammers” who inspire me the most. Most are showing off winter decor, so today I thought I’d share my simple winter mantel. I’m all about the simple this year as I try to pare down collections and be intentional with my decor. Mr B….I hear your eyes rolling……I think you may need to lubricate them, what with the work out they’ve been getting lately. They sound all dry and rusty and make a weird clanking noise. Like a Vegas slot machine gone bad……without the benefit of bells and flashing lights.
If you’ve followed me for a while y’all know I was born missing the simple gene but got a double dose of the collector’s gene. I do enjoy my stuff. Trying to teach myself to enjoy the whole “less is more” concept is like a trial by fire for me. Baby steps have been taken however!
Christmas was different this year as I struggled to get in the mood without a big tree. I never quite made it and the decorations started coming down the day after. I always enjoy decorating for winter though, so left out a few pine cones and cedar and my beloved reindeer. But my decor is a far cry from winters of the past.
Today it’s all about the mantel. A cotton boll branch, some cedar and a bleached pine cone are all I needed to give it a winter feel. It brings a hint of the season without the need to pack away my normal decor. I’ve grown to loathe moving things into temporary storage to go over board for seasons and most holidays. Even Christmas this year meant I only moved one lamp to make room for my little tree. Much easier, if not the holiday extravaganzas of the past. Elsewhere in the room are throws and pillows to add texture and candles to give that ambience that only real candle flames can bring.
Oscar’s photo, printed on canvas is still center stage, I have no plans to move it any time soon, but ya never know around here. I get the change bug frequently and vignettes sometimes only last a day. I also kept my vintage glass bottles out, I still like those.
And that’s it. A simple winter mantel that cost nothing. Use what you have to decorate for the seasons. You don’t have to go out and buy new decor every year. I spent zero on the mantel and love the way it looks.
Create your Sanctuary, no matter where you live. Use what you have in new ways to create the home you see in your heart.
I suffer from horrible MCPD, and each year it’s gotten a bit worse. I fear it will become a permanent condition. You see, I have Multiple Personality Christmas Disorder. It’s real! and the struggle is on-going people! I try every holiday season to give my home a cohesive look. I’ve managed to do that over the years by repeating the same decor items in different amounts throughout my home. Pine cones, candy canes, stars and snowflakes. If it sounds like it was a bit chaotic, it really wasn’t. OK, do NOT ask Mr B for his opinion. Mine is the only one that counts anyway, so let’s just let him sit and watch golf in peace, Kay?
Using those few elements throughout the house helped join disparate ornaments, Santas of all kinds and all manner of Christmas. BUT, and this is where the problem lies…..I want to go simple and a bit rustic. I need to simplify. I crave Christmas simplicity. Except…… I also LOOOVE faux Mercury glass. I adore it the way some little girls adore pink.
I must have.it.everywhere. So there goes simple and natural. Nowhere in nature does mercury glass grow.
I’m fond of saying that Christmas style should be whatever strikes your fancy, there really isn’t a right or a wrong way to do Christmas. I truly believe that. But I also want a cohesive look to my home. How am I going to merge these two opposite styles? I want my home to feel cozy and warm and smell delightful. Should be simple, right? But it’s a struggle to find the balance between simple and bling. I’m all about that mercury glass bling at the moment.
It started with the purchase of two small battery operated glass trees several years ago. When I went full on neutral I wanted neutral Christmas as well, so I retired all the red, green and blue ornies, gave away lots more when I downsized the tree and started buying silver and gold ornies. (ornaments for those who hate slang). I even made my own faux vintage silver ornaments by removing the scratched finishes. Read about that here.
I became addicted to the faux mercury baubles showing up at Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware and I stalked the aisle of my local Home Goods and Marshalls and snapped up the shiny orbs after Christmas…before mercury glass ornaments became a big thing. Fast forward to 2017. Otherwise known as the The year of the shiny little tree. Those faux mercury glass trees started exploding on Instagram and I decided I wanted HAD.TO.HAVE.MORE. So I bought 6 more. Plus a big shiny orb that lights up. WHYYYYYY??? What is wrong with me??
I want rustic, natural and simple. I want to sprinkle my heartfelt displays throughout my home. Why does this shiny stuff call to me? GAH!!! There is nothing natural or rustic about glass trees with various silver linings. Nothing authentic either. How am I going to merge these two styles? I like putting things with totally different finishes in a room. It gives texture and movement and each piece stands out, yet plays nice with the other. The Beekman 1802 guys do this well. Opposites attract and all that. It’s one of the principles of good design. So adding a little mercury glass bling to a rustic centerpiece is good, but not when it just looks like a neurotic person designed it and the room can’t make up its mind what it wants to be when it grows up!
The dining room table is close to achieving the perfect marriage. I used my rustic piece of wood down the center as the base of my centerpiece again this year. Then I layered a cedar garland, my mercury glass hurricanes and the 2 original trees. A couple of pine cones and it’s looking good. But then…. I added two lucite reindeer, and some little ornaments. Um….getting a bit off track but the rustic wood and the cedar tie it together. And the window dressed in its annual garland and lucite snowflakes relate, so I’m good. Right? um, noooo. Because the rest of the room is pretty rustic. An old stained serving bowl with pine cones and silver leaf antlers. And then the woodland Santa on the sideboard. Now it looks like someone with MPCD came in and threw Christmas everywhere and nothing matches!!! BECAUSE I DID….I’M THE ONE WITH MPCD!!!
I need an intervention or a stylist. The world’s tiniest living room isn’t too bad. It has some of the glass trees and the little table top tree is groaning under the weight of 5,ooo faux mercury ornaments. (This may be a tiny exaggeration.) The entry portion of this space is more rustic but it doesn’t feel chaotic like the dining room.
On to the master bedroom where a few glass trees are grouped on the dresser along with some greenery and the a fore mentioned orb that lights up. Another glass tree and my Grandmother’s silver rimmed bowl full of special ornies on my nightstand complete the look. Not too bad, right? Except the feel of this room has recently made a return to a more rustic, country vibe and the glass trees look out of place. Or dooo they??? ugh. I’m all over the place.
Maybe I’m making too much of this. I expect that over the next couple of years I’ll scale back on Christmas even more. I may forego a tree altogether. It’s in the back of my mind. If you read my Christmas Tree post, you’ll understand my angst. If you didn’t, you can read that post here. I do know I’ll be doing something different with all those mercury glass ornaments.
I may even rearrange some things before Christmas. Since.I.can.never.leave.well.enough.alone. And apparently I’m bored since I just finished everything.
Siigggh. Is there a 12 step program for those of us with mercury glass addictions?? Or medication for MPCD to keep me from arranging, then rearranging every stinking room until it’s time to pack it up? Somebody help me.
UPDATE:
So, of course I couldn’t leave well enough alone and to make this post even longer, here’s what I did today. I removed one of the lucite deer from the dining table and added it to the coffee table arrangement. Lucite for the win! I removed the brass deer from Santa’s side and put him on the grain box in the entry. OKAAAY. Then I added mercury glass to the Santa arrangement…….and still hate it. Oh noooo. Santa’s time on the sideboard may be coming to an end. But I’m tired. This MPCD is exhausting. Think I’ll take a long winter’s nap. Wake me when Christmas is over.
While I nap, go ahead and create your Christmas sanctuary. Get as crazy as you like. You’ll be in good company.
I like using things that have meaning to me in my holiday displays. A heartfelt display can be anything that speaks to your heart. It doesn’t have to be valuable in the monetary sense, but rather invaluable in the personal/emotional sense. Things passed down over the years from family, a gift from someone special, even photographs. Anything that evokes emotion in you. Anything that can hold greenery or ornaments can be used as part of your Christmas decor.
I don’t like hitting Big Box stores to shop for Christmas as much anymore. Since I made the move to simplify my Christmas, I like shopping my house to see what I can incorporate into my holiday decor. I do enjoy going to friends’ homes to see what personal things they use. I won’t lie…. I LOVE Christmas, even the over the top “Big Box” bought extravaganzas. So whatever your holiday style, rock it like a Boss. But add some personal too, tell your history through heartfelt displays and vignettes.
A photo of my son with Santa, a card he “sent” his grandparents combine to make a sweet sentimental display on my vintage toy box that my son also used when he was a boy.
Some of my things are on display all year, others, like my Mom’s Christmas bell, is only out for Christmas, and my Grandmother’s Christmas cross stitched hand towel.
Mr B’s baby shoes get greenery and candy canes at Christmas, (is there anything that doesn’t look like Christmas with candy canes??) while my Grandmother’s Santa Elves hold some of Mr B’s golf balls from special courses he’s played. Those Elves look like they were made to hold those. Right?
Mr B’s baby shoes get all dressed up for the holidays
The snowman from my childhood days adorns the kitchen counter now. And my Grams’ little “elf on a pillow” and a box of ornament hooks I found in her cedar chest many years after she passed away. These are the Christmas things that are most precious to me. The things that have memories attached.
Many of the things I hold dear are my Grandmother’s. I miss her every day but most of all at Christmas. I use her dish with the sterling silver rim to hold ornaments, one of them being my son’s memorial ornament honoring his big heart. It’s precious to me and so is that bowl. That old bowl held everything from “Three Bean Salad” or potato salad in summer to mashed potatoes for Christmas dinner, and I remember it well. She always served whatever dish she’d labored over with a big sterling silver spoon. I don’t remember where she got it, but I can’t remember a holiday without it. It will probably never hold Three Bean Salad again, (and trust me, this is a good thing), but it does hold memories now as well as the seasonal decor I use. A bird’s nest and faux eggs for spring, shells in summer, pine cones in the fall and winter and of course, ornies at Christmas. You don’t have to use something “that’s just Christmas” to get the look and feel Of Christmas. So drag out those old bowls, the shoes and boots, family photos from holidays long ago, old Christmas post cards or greeting cards, or use last year’s. It doesn’t matter, just add heart to your Christmas and not so much “Big Box.”
In the kitchen is a vintage spoon holder that is now home to the teaspoons my sweet sister in law gifted to me. It gets treated to candy canes and greenery at Christmas. The vintage pretzel jar my son and I found while junking in Sisters, Oregon holds pine cones. I just noticed I forgot to remove the orphan ornament hooks before photographing. Ha, extra holiday cheer!
Look around your home. Find those things that tell a story of you and your life. Add them to your Christmas displays.
There is nothing better than your heart at Christmas.
Create your sanctuary one display at a time. Create the home you see in your heart.
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