Holiday Decorations: Encased Lights

Another cool thing I saw on the holiday house tour was the mini-light strands wrapped in fabric. This picture doesn't do it justice:

It was best showcased with some greenery wrapping up a spiral staircase:

Again, this was done by Casa Da Mar.

My next house. ..

Will have to have an island in the kitchen. And, I want it to look just like this:

This counter top glows via lights underneath. So amazing!!! It makes the space interesting without having an overwhelming feature present all the time. More on this kitchen can be found here.

House & Blog Anniversary!

Well, we have owned the house for a whole year now. Feels like 3-4 months to me (Dear Father Time, please stop moving at a rapid pace). It is pretty hard to believe a whole year has passed. I have definitely learned a lot, become more tired, and maybe a little crankier. Lazier, for sure. Though the shiny-newness of the house has worn off, I am still excited to finish the rest of my projects.

Holiday Decorating

I think the time has come that people are in full gear for Holiday decorations in their house. While I am lagging behind, what with the pumpkin still on the front steps and all, I certainly have seen many ideas to share. I recently went on a holiday home tour and found some great and inexpensive ideas to share. The first, which I saw last year in Martha Stewart Living, was to hang ornaments in your windows. Here is Martha's rendition:

The interior designer I saw had them hung on ribbons and draped over the window lever - so they hung on the lower half of the window. This was a great idea because you can use a smaller ornament, cause no damage to your window casing, and hang it and remove it with ease. Well done! The information on the designer (whose decorating ideas were to die for) can be found at casadamar.net.

Teepee

Over at thisyounghouse.com they have a great bathroom remodel featured. I love the sink. I also love. . .the toilet paper holder.

I guess I am pretty into bathroom accessories lately. Perhaps it's because I can't begin my bathroom remodel just yet. The planning stage is the best part anyway. My tryst to Waterworks yesterday really got the wheels in my head turning. Now, I just have to find some ice blue crackle ceramic tile that is not 35 bucks a square foot.

Anyway, this TP holder rocks! It would also solve two fight in my house. The first is that someone NEVER refills the TP. This same person (I will not name names here) also likes to leave copies of the New Yorker littered around the floor or shelf. I found a similar piece at Potterybarn (it may be the actual one from the photo - who knows!):

Anyway, I'll add this to the longer-than-life list of things to get.

Waterworks

Have you been to Waterworks? If you haven't, you need to go.

This afternoon I sauntered in myself. I was there to check out their amazing products and get some ideas. Now, can I afford a 2k faucet? No. Can I steal their ideas and buy one that looks like it? Yes. Yes, I can. The showroom in Georgetown is magnificent and the amazing line of tile upstairs was heavenly. I have to say, the staff was pretty nice and helpful. The bad thing was the snob factor was pretty high on the snotty scale. But, once I told them I was actually remodeling and not just leaving greasy fingerprints in their studio - they seems a little more helpful.

The specialty tile they have is insane. When you get down to it, ordering a few pieces of amazing craftsmanship can add a huge impact to your overall look. A border of hand glazed tile it what I have in mind. Until then, I'll just have to ponder over the tile samples she gave me and hope the economy gets better.

Fall. . .

Nope. I didn't take a digger (though, it is quite likely knowing my affinity for accidents). Fall, the season, seems to be ending. Tonight I'll try and take my dead mums and rotting pumpkin off the front steps. Doesn't that sound inviting?

I'm not going nuts with holiday decorations this year. No tree, at least. My folks will have a tree and I will bask in it's soft glow. No need to have one at DC Rowhouse too. This year, I'm a little sensitive about cutting down a 20 year old tree for decoration. So, just one for my family seems OK.

Did this post cheer you up? Yeah...me too.