Springtime means "Gift time"

It seems like spring has a lot of things going on that requires a gift. If you received our latest postcard, we listed most of the events that require not only your presence, but a gift.

While our main emphasis is home decor, we do love to stock the store with the smaller gift items. We think the latest shipment of Michel Design Works is so pretty it surely qualifies as "decor".

Here's a sampling of our newest arrivals:
Umm, you'll love the French Vanilla. There are several different fragrances availablein this particular set, and we were able to purchase them at a special price. We are passing that along to you!

We also have the room spray, liquid soap and lotion available if you want to add to your collection!


The same is true for the Honey Almond scent, which is one we already carried in the shop. You'll also find more Pomegranate and China Blue. Another new scent for the store is Water Lillies. It reminds us of a "fresh as a spring rain" type of scent.

Come by and smell for yourself. The display is in the front of the store---you can't miss it.

Curtains aren't just for windows

Some hints for one of our latest projects:

A few yards of fabric,

A nice little potting bench.

Add to that some 1/2" brass rods and rings.

Not much else to tell you! We'll post the finished results in a few more weeks.

Shopping Locally

"Shop locally" is something we've all heard, even before these more difficult economic times. Becoming a shop owner will definitely make one think about the phrase---on a daily basis. As Joplin begins to improve their downtown, more small business will come in. Whether or not we can all stay depends on many things.

This post is nothing more than just a reminder to stop in some of the locally owned businesses in town. I think we all are happy to hear any suggestions, needs and ideas you might want to offer.
We can't promise we can act on them all, but it's always food for thought.

The information on the 3/50 Project was recently mentioned in a business email we received. The information is from the US Department of Labor, and is something we should all be aware of. The formatting for their flyer isn't working on blogspot, so click on the link---it's really a quick read!

Thanks for "listening", and we'll soon return to our regularly scheduled blog full of new finds and beautiful interiors!

Decorating a breakfast room: What would you do?

OK, so you wanna play decorator, huh? Well, now's the time to chime in with your comments. Here's a little background on the room above: Privacy isn't much of a concern in this room since it faces the woods. The concern we had was sun control. Sometimes the transom style windows are great for letting in light, or they can let in too much sunlight and fade everything in sight. The home is still new and we suggested dressing these windows after the client has lived there for a month or so.

OK, below is the first idea. These are roman shades mounted all the way into the transom. They could be raised and lowered for controlling sun. The sheer cafe curtains on the iron rods are there to break-up the space, add a new texture, and are semi-private.
These renderings were done pretty quickly, so be forgiving of the roman shade that is on the ceiling, or the window missing the cafe curtain---you get the idea.

After a couple of weeks, a lamp was placed on the built-in sideboard along the wall with a shade very similar to the new fabric we chose for the other renderings. Client likes the light from the transom so the roman shade is started below the break in the windows. The bottom is left open.


The next idea was to forget the roman shades and have full view with only cafe curtains on the bottom third of the window. The thought behind this was that the chairs are counter height anyway, so the view over the top of the curtains would be unobstructed. Of course this rendering and the others could be made with any fabrics, sheer or not. Much of that decision also depends on the colors we use next door in the living room.

The renderings are all done with Minutes Matter Studio. We will soon be getting the newest upgrade which will make our jobs even easier and your potential rooms even more realistic. We could go on and on about the software, and tell you how great all the people are associated with the program, but that's information for a "post" by itself.