Decorating for Christmas and a Facebook Contest

How's your Christmas decorating coming along?  Mine was off to a slow start this weekend.  The only help I could get seemed to have other ideas for the greenery. 

It finally made it to it's designated spot on the light fixture, along with some of my favorite decorations (note the dove that was purchased over 20 years ago from a shop on Joplin's Main Street)!  The glass icicles are from MLI, and of course you can purchase red and silver glass ornaments nearly everywhere.  

I did have one more potential helper, but she was tired from a tough day of playing, and chose to curl up on the sofa and watch TV:

I'll be keeping you posted on how to vote for "Juno" on Facebook.  I've actually entered her in Uttermost's current contest.  Watch for details in the sidebar of the blog coming very soon!  She could win a dog bed, or better yet, the shop could win an Ipad!

Small Business Saturday

After Black Friday, and before Cyber Monday, come in for a more personalized shopping experience.

The MSSU Alumni Center Project--the Entry and Dining Room

 Since I don't like to start with the before, here's an after shot of the MSSU Alumni Center entry.  It's actually the front door, but this building will be entered from the back.  The wood floors are just beautiful, and you might notice that the hardwoods are laid in a pattern I call a log cabin design.  That may not be correct, but my grandmother made quilts with that design.  Each room, closet, and hallway has the same layout.  Even the closet under the stairs!

 

OK, here's the pitiful before picture.  Note the orange indoor/outdoor carpet over those lovely floors.  Just looking at this picture makes me think I'm smelling mold---I'm sure there was plenty due to the water damage you can see.

 

Standing at the front door and looking back.  The lights you see are not original, but are placeholders until the money is donated to refurbish the originals.  They are quite unique, we have never seen anything like them.  

 You can see a couple of the original lights in this before picture.  We hope to show them in place again in future posts.

This before picture shows that the walls and trim were just about finished.  The windows in the mansion were all replaced by the time we saw it.

The same view with the finishing touches. The dining room chairs are from IDS Furniture.  They were kind enough to take the order but ship close to move-in time.  The area rug is from Surya, as were all the rugs we chose for the mansion.  

Looking to the right:  The two sideboards have a lot of storage for the University's glassware. 

 

 All those embroidered sheers were fabricated by Connie's Workroom.  The hardware is a mixture of Santangelo's drapery hardware and Helser Brothers.  The blue linen panels were fabricated by MLI in our private workroom (Amber's sewing room).  

Hope you enjoyed the partial tour through the Ralph Gray Alumni Center.  Remember, if you are in the area, guests are always welcomed.

 

Thank you for a successful open house

Many thanks to those of you who were able to make it to our Christmas Open House last weekend.  It was our best one to date!  Since almost all the wreaths sold, we thought we should order in just a few more to help keep the place looking dressed for the holidays.

If you missed it the first time, you've got one more chance!

We also heard a lot of people saying "gosh, it smells wonderful in here!"  They were smelling one of the Holiday scented Trapp Candles.  Several of those went out the door that day, but we do keep a good supply  of them, so you can still find all three scents available.

You'll want one of these burning while you get those Christmas decorations out!  It'll help set the mood.

Ali had a successful day upstairs, as well.  She had some special orders, and is returning this week to add to our regular supply of Babalu' fused glass.  We're already running low on the necklaces and nightlights!  Of course I had my eye on a piece of the fused art glass:

 The fused glass picture seems suspended within the black glass frame. 

 

It's just perfect in my dining room!  The west sun really shows it off, along with the need to wash some windows.

 

If  you missed us last Saturday, you can find us here Mon-Thurs 11:00 am til 5:30 pm and Saturdays 11:00 am til 4:00 until Christmas!

Tuscan Inspired Dining Room and "A Village"

 You know the saying:  It takes a village . . .that's how it felt on this project.  The design and fabric was chosen by Victoria, an interior designer, who was already heavily involved in the decorating of the beautiful Tuscan styled home.  We had a long conversation about the style and all the details that go into making a custom window treatment.  She provided a wonderful drawing with all the necessary measurements, and the job was put into action.  The first time we saw our latest client's home was as we pulled into the driveway to install these dining room draperies.  

Victoria took several fabric books with her after our first meeting, and returned with the choice above.  This beautiful fabric, from Kasmir, did  pose a new challenge, as it is nearly an upholstery weight fabric.  I wanted to check in with Connie (she would be fabricating this weighty treatment), to make sure our design would be doable.  We went over the plans and she said, yes, it would be just fine.  Now to decided on the hardware:

As soon as I showed the Helser Brothers catalog to Victoria, she knew they would be able to duplicate the look she wanted.  The Sofia finial was one of the larger finials available, and appropriate for the scale of the room and the fabric.  We also had the sofia made into holdbacks, and all were done with the "Canyon" finish.

 

Dining rooms can be difficult to photograph, and this picture just doesn't do justice to the room.  You can barely see the lovely tassel/beaded fringe, but in real life, it really adds a spark to the treatment.  Also note the details of the header, here's a closeup:

The pleats are a goblet style, although they don't appear to be as large as other goblet styles, the amount inside the pleat was enough to give a nice amount of fullness without obscuring the pattern in the fabric.  Another thing to note is the slouch between the pleats.  That was achieved by making the regular spaces nearly double in width and also leaving the top 2" of the pleats opened at the top.  This open pleat helps make a more graceful slouch rather than a pulled look which can sometimes happen to this style.  Another thing I really like is the fact that it causes the drapery panel to hang very close to the rod, and not leave a large gap between them.  Go back and look at the overall picture, and you'll notice what I'm talking about.  

So back to it takes a village: Thank you Victoria for trusting us with your design, to Connie for listening to every detail and doing your outstanding work (she surely got a workout with this one!),  to Helser Brothers for providing the quality hardware, and to our installer, Jason, for making sure it all actually hangs on the wall!

Whew!