today i’m back in virginia and ready to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. for the last post of the year we decided to shoot a holiday video at my house with the winterns, des and sam. as we all head home for the winter break, i thought it would be fun to share some great last minute cooking and crafting ideas so i hope you’ll enjoy the finger knitting project (crochet chains for your tree) with des and the chocolate bark recipe. it’s one of my favorite winter treats to make. thanks to des, sam and jimmy for their video help!
i’m signing off until the new year and will be back with regular posts on monday, january 5th. i’m gearing up for some exciting new d*s projects in 2009 so i’m going to use next week to prepare and get all of my ducks in a row. so until then, best wishes for a happy holiday and a wonderful new year! i’ll see you in 2009…
i first fell in love with night owl paper goods when i came across their eco-chic cards printed on wood, and now i always love seeing what new things they’ve cooked up. so today it’s a real treat to have a peek into partner alan henderson’s birmingham, alabama home. we were expecting something with a bit more of a “modern yet folksy” look (that’s night owl’s tagline, afterall), but we totally fell in love with the natural palette sprinkled with botanicals and clean spaces with lots of natural light. click here for more images (i can’t wait to see what they end up doing with visions of their dream garden), and here for more from night owl paper goods. and don’t forget, you can find for all our – nearly 200! – sneak peeks here! safe travels to all as you make it to your homes for the holidays! [thanks, alan!] -anne
[above: The front porch opens right into the living room, no entry hall in the house. The sofa was our first major furniture splurge, the Harrington by Todd Hase in a cream mohair that we'll keep forever. Lindsay had the curtains made with $3/yard tattersall fabric from a shop in Mississippi.]
Our living room opens to a porch that extends across the entire front of the house. The desk overlooks the garden.
One of a pair of bookshelves in the living room that Lindsay has had since college. We’re obsessed with amber glass.
You might have seen our kitchen in Cottage Living. We simplified the space by swapping out busy granite counters for Alabama white marble. This is why we bought the house–for this room and all its windows.
The botanical photographs are by our friend Melissa Springer. The map is actually pieced together from cheap prints that Montgomery artist David Braly aged and put together for us. Phoebe Howard really upgraded this space with wallpaper and good wool curtains–it’s our first grown-up dining room.
The chair fabric is Ikat from Hickory Chair. Unfortunately, it’s discontinued.
The bedroom isn’t done–the chaise came from Phoebe Howard in Atlanta and needs to be recovered, we loved the shape of it.
This is our office, I found the desk in the early 90s at a department store in Lexington, KY that was going out of business, and Lindsay had my amber glass bottles turned into lamps. The office upstairs, showing the original coal-burning fireplace. The banding on the walls is an homage to David Hicks.
Lindsay’s drawings from architecture school hang in our office. The computer desk came from Plexicraft in NY.
This is a classic four-square parterre, and it’s always changing–Lindsay and I had over 100 basil plants last summer, and heirloom tomatoes. This year we had whiteflies and hungry caterpillars. Next year it will be all about herbs and zinnias. Lindsay has someone building architectural tuteurs in the center of each square.
our first fabulous sneak peek comes from d*s reader and freelance writer leah hennen, of the blog more ways to waste time. she, her husband nick, and their two children have been in their circa-1939 oakland, ca home for nearly three years. she cracked me up with her comment that they worked on it from the top down (mainly cosmetic changes), and “are just about ready to start all over again (like painting the golden gate bridge).” but for now we’ll have to enjoy it in its present glory. there are so many great spaces in her home, so be sure to click here for more fantastic images! stay tuned for one more sneak peek coming up at 1pm! [thanks, leah!] -anne
[above: My husband and I hemmed and hawed over the paint color in our bedroom for about a year. Finally, he made an executive decision and choose Benjamin Moore’s Chocolate Sundae. I think he was right — the color is deep and luscious, but warm. I chose a satin finish for the paint, because I wanted the walls to literally glow at night. (We have 70-year-old lath and plaster, so the walls are definitely imperfect — a fact that the shinier paint does highlight, but I don’t mind the flaws.) Although the room faces north, it gets tons of light from a big corner window and a French door, so I wasn’t worried about it being too dark. Crisp white trim, bedding, and a large bookshelf, plus mirrored accents around the room help offset the deep color.
We got this Asian-style open bookshelf from Pier 1 awhile back, on sale for something like $200. The stuffed corgi was a present from my kids. The magazine collection represents only the last few months’ worth of shelter titles that I still need to tackle. It’s a sickness, I know.
I kind of hate the couch, chairs, and ottoman. Once I figure out what to replace them with — and if we ever save enough to actually buy those replacements — they’re going straight up on craigslist. My husband and I are both pretty tall (6′2&” and 5′10″), so the couch is more comfortable for us without the back cushions. The throw draped over the back is from Designers Guild, and the linen pillows are from Anna Joyce (a splurge from Portland’s Olio United), Sharon Spain, and Paper Cloud (both bought on super-duper clearance at Oakland’s Atomic Garden, the floor lamp is from IKEA. . . We really needed an entry table, but I didn’t want something solid that would block light from the glass bricks that flank our front door. This clear acrylic console table from CB2 was the perfect solution. The vintage metal locker baskets below hold shoes, kids’ backpacks, and other clutter that tends to pile up inside the front door.
I used the Orla Kiely wallpaper left over from my dining room hutch project to back the bookshelves. The ceramic horse head and turquoise dish are from eBay. The white bowl is from Perch!
This is an earlier iteration of the living and dining rooms.
The family room. We opted for daybeds instead of a couch, since this doubles as a guest room. The paneling is knotty pine. We painted it all white to help lighten up this dark basement room.
Except for the mirror and the books, everything in this picture was found on eBay; the metal “sculpture” is actually a vintage industrial cake beater. The latest evidence of my incurable lamp addiction always seems to end up on this cabinet.
The white Parsons table is from West Elm. The paint color is Benjamin Moore’s Soft Fern.
My 13-year-old’s lair. Let’s not go in here … I have a little problem when it comes to buying vintage kitchen items.
We tucked a small workspace and sewing- and crafting station into a corner of the dining room. I can set up here with the laptop, or my daughter can sew while I keep an eye on her. The desk is West Elm’s white Parsons. I found the vintage tulip-style chair (most likely by Burke) on eBay.
The credenza, Buddha head lamp, metal H, vintage letterpress letters, and ceramic bird figurines are yet more eBay finds; the black-and-white photo was a flea market score; the tiny print is one of Chris Crites’ paper bag mugshots; and the ceramic pear is from Heather Knight’s Etsy shop.
last week when the winterns and i were in the city looking at holiday windows we ended up spending quite a bit of time in the hable construction shop on perry street. i was totally smitten with these beautiful felt ornaments by llubav choy duerr. i posted her wedding ring pillows a while back but i’m so thrilled to share these gorgeous handmade ornaments she made for the holiday season (her husband chris names each piece!). in addition to the cute little garments, she also made the beautiful felt garland. it’s hanging in llubav’s son’s nursery and is perfect for children and adults alike. you can order through hable if you’re interested- or if you’re shopping in nyc be sure to stop by and check them out at the store, their full cuteness is best expressed in person. that little cape at the top? so adorable.
kristina is away on vacation right now but i wanted to get one last holiday recipe up before we all take off work for a few. this delicious recipe comes from event and wedding designer wanwisa posner, whose beautiful macaron tower was a hit last month. she’s sharing a seriously tasty recipe for doughnut holes that would make for a perfect holiday treat. just click here for the full recipe or click “read more” below to get cooking. one important safety note from kristina and wanwisa before you get started: hot oil can be very dangerous so don’t take your eyes off of it! when disposing of oil (if you don’t plan to reuse it) let it cool completely and pour into an old can or container (that can be sealed). i usually freeze mine a bit to help it solidify. then you can dispose of it safely in the trash- just be sure to never dump oil down your drain!
today’s second (and last) diy project comes from two of my favorite designing dudes- conn and john. we got to see their hawaiian home this past june and today they’re sharing a fun aloha state-inspired holiday wreath. i’m a sucker for a fun wreath so i’m excited to share their project here. just click here or click “read more” below for conn and john’s full instructions. thanks conn and john!
today ac and i are packing up and heading off to VA for the holidays but today and tomorrow i’ll be posting as always. i have a few great holiday diy projects left in my inbox so today and tomorrow i’ll be posting some of them in hopes that you might have some get crafty when you’re home with family. today’s first project belongs to alice of peapods- she created this easy, last-minute label project using something we all have laying around the house- catalogs. as many times as i unsubscribe from various catalogs they always show up in the mail- so this project is a great way to make the best out of them- using only a gift tag punch or a pair of scissors. click here for the full project. thanks, alice!
