Christmas Greetings

Thanks to Heather at "Lark & Lola" for the use of the postcard. She has some great "how to's" on her blog. You'll want to bookmark this one!

Merry Christmas to all our blog followers!

Norwalk Furniture: Welcome to Joplin!

We were so excited to find out we could carry Norwalk Furniture. Obviously we have limited floor space and can't keep a truckload of furniture on the floor, but we do have room for some carefully chosen pieces. Our Norwalk rep gave us the thumbs up and we wrote an order. Well, our rep might say we wrote an order after about 2 hours of pouring over their fabric! It was such a tough decision to choose a couple of fabrics out of their collections. There is no shortage of fabric choices, and then there's the decisions of nail head trim, contrast welt, and stain colors.

Here's an interesting article about the Norwalk Furniture company. They had actually closed and were saved by 12 local Ohio families. We are proud to add this American made furniture line to our shop!!
They must be off to a good start to get Candice Olson on board. Norwalk has included a line of furniture designed by Candice--take a look at it for yourself. We even jumped in with one of her chairs, the Marlo:

Marlo Chair

Ours is upholstered in a creamy, textured fabric with a darker, antique nail head trim down the arms and across the bottom. The chair is taller than many, which emphasizes the graceful curve of the arms.

Tanner Chair

We also have a chair and matching ottoman. They are upholstered in something you might describe as a "men's suiting fabric", or a "window pane fabric". We had shiny nickel nail head trim added to this one, which gives this more traditional style chair a bit of a contemporary edge. It is really a comfy chair, as well, and is a top seller for Norwalk.


If you don't make it in to see our new furniture line next week, remember we'll be back on January 11, 2010. In the meantime, visit Norwalk's website and see your furniture with your fabric choices before you purchase. They have a great "Design and Create" studio on-line.

To Market to market, to buy . . . .

You Nursery Rhyme people know that one, don't you? We won't be coming back with a "fat pig", but we are mapping out our strategy so we can come back with fresh ideas and new home decor. The Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market overlaps the International Rug Market, and we intend to take a look at all of it!!!

We're cashing in those Capital One points, and flying out in January. If you want us to scout out something special for your home, let us know what you are interested in and we'll report back to you from the Mart, or when we return. We can color check that special rug you may need, or get some close-up photographs of the latest lamps!

We'll be taking in the seminars and any other "continuing education" we can find. It's a hard job, but hey, someone's got to do it!

Our customers: take note of our store hours for December and January: We will be closing early on Christmas Eve and not opening again until January 11. If you need to leave a phone message, that's fine, we'll be checking in regularly. Most of you know how to get a hold of us otherwise, if you need to.

P.S. We are having a big sale on all Christmas items* beginning Saturday! We'll only be opened one more weekend before the big day, so don't wait.

*Excludes Trapp Candles and Jolly Folk.

Curtain and Drapery Hardware: the what, where and why

Who knew there would be so much involved in choosing hardware for window treatments. Well, we did, that's why we're here!

If you've been in the store you've probably noticed the drapery panel hanging by the counter. It changes with the seasons and the store inventory. If you haven't looked closely, you're missing this swing arm iron hardware from Helser Brothers. We've mentioned them several times, and their great service is just one of the reasons. A swing arm rod would work well in a doorway as a room divider!



Another great rod they make is this twist style. We've used it for a cafe curtain and as an inside mounted rod. Notice the socket brackets that we used for this deep set window. Not everyone has windows with this much depth, so we can use a brackets that is even smaller, but still allows the rod to be mounted inside the frame. Many homes still require an outside mount for cafe curtains, and we just request that the brackets be made with a shallow return (keeps the rod closer to the window).
. You can barely see the white rod and finial for this breakfast room, but that was the point. We only wanted to blend in with the white trim and leave the fabrics on these valances as the highlight of the room. They actually had a lot of detail not visible in the pictures: pleated blue ribbon trim on the bottom, yellow cording across the top, and yellow covered buttons at each pleat.

And yet another sample rod in the store, also made by Helser Brothers. This is from their new line, Artefice. Notice the square rings and rod. We had this made especially for the shop so we could mount it like the swing-arm rod: pointing away from the wall. Typically, this rod is mounted between two brackets, like most others. This is an example of the custom work we are able to request from our hardware vendors.

This close-up shows the glass knobs used to hang these over 100" panels. Actually, they are hanging from the posts that were "tooled" to support these drapery panels. It was necessary that they had a 5.5" return (space from the wall to the front of the panels). These were to go on each side of a large window that was already dressed with outside mounted Silhouettes. They were hung outside the trim due to the framing of the windows. A Silhouette has a 3.5" projection itself, so the panels had to hang free of the shades. A very sturdy post was made and powder-coated to match the bronze colors on the hardware already in the bedroom. Very heavy duty wall anchors had to be used because we mounted these above the header! Not visible to you are the soffits on either side of the window! Do you think we had enough hoops to jump through on this job!?



Hooray for the installs that don't require custom work ahead of time, but we're ready when we get to the home. This otherwise simple window treatment did require that the brackets were placed so that enough rod space was available on each end to support the tabbed jabots that was part of this valance. The stained wood rod/finials/brackets was chosen to coordinate with the desk she purchased from us for use in this home office. The client had also purchased a chair from the Justice furniture line, and we were able to order extra yardage for the window treatment.

Let Madison Lane Interiors tell you the "what, where and why" on your next window challenge.

Holiday Decorating

No, we aren't selling clothes, but we are selling jewelry. Our "model" is decked out in her winter finest (actually her only winter outfit). If you look closely, you'll see the glass and soldered pendants we have in the shop. All are handmade in the USA, along with the other jewelry shown below on the mirror. We received a new shipment of Vintage Earth and Gardella jewelry just a few days ago. These unique bracelets, earrings and necklaces will look great with casual wear and as well as your newest holiday sweater! Doesn't jewelry qualify as "Holiday Decorating"? We think so.





If you still need something special for your dining room table checkout these beautiful red glass candle holders. They could be setting with your greenery, or they looking great by themselves.


Or these square glass candle holders---they would be great for a less formal area. Maybe a coffee table or the mantle in the family room. The Trapp candles will fit down inside of the squares (we tried it)!


If your walls are still bare, try a simple boxwood wreath. These are actual preserved boxwood greens, and they need a spritz of water about once a week. We have just a few of the three sizes left. You can hang them together or each one by itself.




We really liked the Casafina white plates as a background for the smallest wreaths.


And we can't sing enough praises of Trapp's Christmas scents! We just received another 4 cases, but they won't last long, either. If you smell something wonderful when you open the front door---you're smelling a Trapp candle!


Here's another set of candles holders. Sometimes "three" just works better than "two" when it comes to decorating. This set of candle holders is perfect for using year 'round. Just change the little candle ring, or don't use one at all. They're even better if you use our battery operated candles.

We'll help you find just the right thing to finish off your Holiday decorating. Just don't wait 'til the last minute---you should be enjoying it NOW!