Animals Are Here to Stay!

If you are one of those people waiting for animal prints to go out of style, you have a long wait coming! The general consensus in the design industry is that they have become classic. That means they will always be around. There is nothing that will add more fun ( and every room needs a little fun!) to a room than to throw in some animal print!!! A pillow, a throw, a chair or a rug!!! Here is a sampling of some fabrics that are available in animal prints. There are MANY of them. Not only do they come in traditional animal colors but in others such as the red one shown here in a shiny bold animal print. Can't you see some throw pillows for a playroom in this great red animal fabric??!!Or the stripe with a subtle animal print in the stripe? There are even pastel (pinks, greens, yellows) animal prints. Let me know if you would like a sample and pricing for any of these fabrics shown!!! Have a great week. ele

(ps. there is a new favorite item!)

Nursery Update

Nursery drapes are installed!! Pastels are hard to photo but if you look close you can see the appliqued birds at the bottom of the valance. McCallan's ( my grand baby dues in Feb) room is coming along nicely! Now I still have to do a painting I promised for over the dresser. I will post a pic when I get it done. Sorry you haven't heard from me for several days but we got a chance to go to Florida with some of our friends for a few days!! I will try to post some good stuff in the next dew days. You will find this pale green paint color in my favorites down the page!! ele

THINK BIG - design tip

One of the most common mistakes I run into in my clients' homes is way too many little things.  We have all been guilty of buying small decorative items (because it's under $25 right! ) .  Then the result is clutter, not design impact.  Think larger art, larger mirrors, larger lamps, larger candles.........you get the idea.  Make a deal with yourself to refrain from that next small impulse purchase.  Do this a few times and you have the money to buy that one BIG decorative item that is going to just make that room!!!!  Now go out there and make a BIG statement!!!!!
 Have fun!!!!  ele

Classic Blue and White!

Anyone who had been around me very much knows that I LOVE all things  blue and white!  I collect Flo Blue dishes and any other blue and white dishes.  What I love about b & w is that it never goes out of style.  It is classic and timeless, 2 good design essentials.  Blue and white can be used with almost any color.  In my home I have these plates hanging on 3 different colored walls; red, apple green ( my favorite) and ice blue. 

Blue and white are also terrific on yellow. (Benjamin Moore # 200 from the old deck is a good one).

 Whether it is a seaside condo, a restful bedroom or a pristine white kitchen, classic blue and white can be fabulous!  I'm not snobby about my blue and white either.  I love the inexpensive things from Pier One as well as the antique Flo Blue dishes.  Don't be afraid to mix old and new.  CAUTION: Blue walls can be really hard to pull off.  It usually needs to be a VERY pale blue or a very deep velvety color.  Most shades in between just come off garish. Better yet, let your blue and white fabrics, dishes and accessories pop off of other colors.  Hope you have a fabulous Wednesday!  ele

I Don't Do Beige!!

Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy a lovely monochromatic tone on tone room as well as the next person but I'm not your girl if you want to do beige.  I am such a color person that doing beige is like doing nothing at all to me.  YES, I do neutrals, but that does not have to mean beige.  One of my favorite new colors is a soft shade of green ( Yes Green!!) that works beautifully as a neutral backdrop for almost any room.  I added a new feature to my blog today, the is "Favorite Paint Colors".( look at the bottom of the blog) I will add names to these regularly and that might help you with a starting point.  The green I am talking about is "BABY TURTLE" by Benjamin Moore. ( btw you can now get Ben Moore at Ace Hardware).  I hear you saying, "You can use green as a neutral?"  YES!!!!  Think about it.  God picked green as His neutral in all of nature.  Every other color is set against green in nature.  After all HE is the master designer.  Try it!  You just might like it.

Have a great Monday!!  ele

Sneak Peak at Nursery!

In case you hadn't heard, I am getting my first granddaughter in February.  My son Grant and Daughter - in- love Cara, who live in Nashville are blessing our family with McCallan Hope Ellis!  Needless to say we are so excited.  So what is a designing grandmother to do but design the nursery!  Sooo much fun!!!  A designer never gets to do too many fun children's rooms. In this case I decided to do 95% of all the sewing myself, which reminds me of why I use a professional workroom for my design business. I'm not very patient with the sewing details.  (understatement)  .  I will give you a couple of pics to see a preview.  The curtains and other bedding is all finished but must be installed in Nashville.  The theme of the nursery is little birds.

Cara wanted an airy light feel to the room which was already painted celery green, so we used a lot of white, tiny green print, pink seersucker, and pink on white dotted fabric.  You know how I love a bargain and this room started with a remnant of seersucker at Hancocks  on the clearance table.  This  eventually led me to  several other locations to find enough to do the job!  (I create my own chaos)  This seems kind of silly as I have a couple of hundred fabric books in my office but I love a good bargain hunt!!! I will have more pics when the whole room is put together!  The colors are very soft and unfortunately don't photo very well but you can get the idea.                   Have a great Lord's day tomorrow!!!   ele

Popcorn Ball Recipe!

I told you I would be putting odd and ends on here, so here is one of my favorite winter snack recipes!
Enjoy!!!   ele

Molasses popcorn ball recipe, Enjoy!

1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup mollasses, 1/3 cup water, 1/4 cup butter, 3/4 teaspoon salt.
Boil all these together til soft crackle ball stage. Take pan off heat and add 3/4 teaspoon vanilla. Pour over 3 quarts popped corn in a large bowl. While it cools a little, butter your hands. Carefully grab handsfull and squeeze to make balls. and put on waxed paper.  Sometimes it does not hang together too well so if not just enjoy caramel corn!!

Here I come!! Ready or not!!!!

Sooooo scarey!!!  I am taking the plunge into the blogging world!  No, I don't know what I am doing so please be patient with me til I get the hang of this!!! My goal is to share design pointers, helpful hints ( about all kinds of things), and to encourage you to venture out and experiment with new things in your life. 

TODAYS DESIGN TIP:  Do at least one update every year.  If you put everything off you will be too overwhelmed with how much needs to be don to update and you will never get started.  So many times I go to a clients home and everything in every room is out of date, When this is the case it is very hard to decide where to start and there is never enough money or time to do it all!!  Whether it is paint a room, replace bathroom tile, recover that old sofa, JUST DO IT!!!!!  You should be updateing as you go along.  Getting started is the hardest part!!   have fun!!!   ele

Phillipians 4:13  I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.