Glancing Back On 2016

Glancing back on last year's posts, I wanted to corral some posts for you.  It's been a busy year and I hope you enjoyed the ride with me.

Love Shack was a fun post.




Sweetheart Mantel that was never published.  Maybe a different version this year.



Before The Rain



We experienced the Ellis House here.


“From a young person’s point of view the house was especially grand. The front yard was lined with enormous magnolia trees and between two of the trees started an elegant curved drive up to a covered side entrance to the house. The house was on a corner on a bit of a hill and if you were driving south on Extension Street it was like a beautiful woman preening and showing off her grandness. There were rumors it contained gold furniture. And when it became apparent I was a well-behaved teenager the two ladies allowed me entry. We had meals there and as memory serves, there were indeed two chairs that seemed to have gold plating.”





Visiting Louise Townsend's home I think was enjoyed by all my readers, seen here.




In Delightfully Overdone, I shared my love of color indoors seen here.




We visited Jessika Goranson Lewand's beautiful home, here.




Gallery Wall Reflection here.



Drying Sunflowers and Hydrangeas






Fifty Shades of Pretty seen here.




Autumn Mantel seen here.




Cook Your Fall Vignette








Displaying with Trays seen here.




Fall Buffet




Colors For The Holidays









Jan

One Easy Way To Have A Fall Table

One easy way to have a Fall table is to use roses.  Roses are always pretty and this table is wearing them in assorted colors.   Deep reds, peach, pink and scarlet begins to describe all the colors seen in the roses.  The faux Fall grasses are mixed in to be sure and make you aware of the season.  I ran across this fabric recently and loved the softness of it.  As you can see it has large roses in the print.









The white pitcher doesn't compete but lets everything else come forward and the flowers rule.  Pink goblets and vintage dinner plates echo the colors of the roses.










Small pumpkins in many hues help further the Autumn look.












Jan

Fabrics First!

Hi!  I am glad you came by today.  There's a beautiful home waiting for you to admire.  This home belongs to owners, architect Alex Kaali-Nagy and interior designer Karen Kaali-Nagy.  Alex hails from Europe and it's influence is apparent. He believes that rooms should not be intimidating and all rooms should have the same decorating feel.

In New England Home, "Karen feels the home's sense of peacefulness comes from the symmetry used throughout the home."  “I always work backward,” she laughs, “fabrics first, then wall color, furnishings and carpet."  I decorate exactly the same way!  We think alike!








The circular entry hall with it's spiral staircase.




The entrance hall with hand-painted wallpaper.




The dining room.




My heart stopped when I saw this room.  The large portrait with the floral drapes and the red sofa took me over the edge!  You can see the fabric that is used in the dining room on the chairs has the same hue of red in the living room making the spaces flow to one another.




Then I was surprised when I came across this view of the room.  The red sofa is the only red used in the room.  I am surprised it wasn't continued in the room in some way,  a few pillows with red would certainly help make it appear more balanced.  It almost looks like two separate rooms.




Later, I came across this photo with the furniture now placed in a definitely different room.




This is such a handsome room that is also cozy.



Karen does the cooking in the family.  She has two dishwasher and two refrigerators.   “We used Calacatta marble for the countertops, but topped the island with butternut. It’s a good balance,” Karen explains. "A butler’s pantry in  Brunschwig et Fils paper links kitchen and dining room for ease of entertaining."








They have two sons and this is one of their bedrooms.




The master bedroom is described as “Enveloping,” by Karen.



For more information go here. to European Union/New England Home.  You can see more of this home at the owner's site, The Kaali-Nagy Company here.





Jan

Howard's Way

Hello!  Thanks for stopping by!  Straight from New York city is the kitchen of designer Howard Slatkin.  New York Social Diary pages are full of photos of his entire apartment.  To save time we will see the kitchen today.










From New York Social Diary, "Looking into the kitchen from the gallery. The wood floor, the tiles on the walls and ceiling, and even the armoire were all newly made for this room."  Howard says, “Not for me the conventional antiseptic kitchen with white cabinets, white marble countertops, white subway tile.”  I have to say it is a warm kitchen.






"The cabinets are painted forest green and stenciled several shades of gold and black by Stuart-Creal Studio."




"When planning the kitchen Howard decided that the two-step-triangle layout works best: the sink, range, and refrigerator should be no more than two steps from one another."




“One can never have enough bookshelves in a room and that includes the kitchen,” says Howard.  "Painted Delft-style tiles by Sasha Solodukho covered not only the walls and ceiling but are inset into the door casings and even the grills in front of the air conditioning and heating units."






"A dedicated flower room is off the main kitchen. The counters are teak and the stainless-steel sink is twenty-six inches deep to accommodate flower vases and big tin buckets for conditioning the flowers that Howard brings in from his garden in the country."




"Everything has its place."




"For quick reference, kitchen closet doors are filled with photographs of table settings and flower arrangements from dinner parties and celebrations over the years."  What a great idea!  I know from putting tables and vignettes together it's great to look back for inspiration.







"Assorted table linens are organized in glass-fronted drawers where they can be easily seen and selected for table settings."  For more on Howard Slatkin's home please go here.




Jan