Deal Alert!

In honor of Cyber Monday, I thought it might be fun to offer a bit of a deal from House & Life. Jee Jofa's Magazine Street Weave in Onyx has showed up in some fantastic rooms such as Fran Keenan and Phillip Gorrivan's little girls rooms. It normally retails for a whopping $200.00 a yard, but we'll bring it to you for $119.00 for the whole month of December. It's a 100% cotton, French, and totally stunning. Perhaps a pillow, big bolster on a little one's bed, or some fun roman shades as seen in our last post! Email as at houseandlife@gmail.com for how much yardage you need (I can help you out in that department) and we'll send you a Paypal invoice with shipping. Once we have receipt of payment, we'll ship it right out! Let me know what your projects are!

Kitchen Romans

If you can remember this is my kitchen after our renovation was completed. It started as this. I loved just about everything. Except my windows seen above. If I had a gorgeous garden view and five thousand more dollars in the renovation budget, I totally would have these windows below:








But here in the Historic Hill Section of Scranton, houses are practically right next to you and I really didn't want that view. So we went for a very basic window without a lot of charm. I thought as an affordable solution I would fake a better window one day with a high mounted shade. As a decorator I get to do fabulous roman shades that operate and really dress up windows for clients. But for myself, I knew I would never move them and didn't want the added expense to make them operational. I was inspired by Fly Through Our Window blogger Darby's fixed roman shade project for her house. She basically did it WITHOUT sewing and glue (which is pretty amazing), but I turned over mine to my talented sewer Tiffany to get the job done. I picked up some basic cotton duck in a very chic grey and some white twill tape to inset the trim. And voila! A larger looking, dressed window that makes the kitchen look that much better. Hooray!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all of you have a wonderful day with family and friends. I am thankful to all my readers who continually tune in and inspire me to return again and again to this blog. I've met so many wonderful people and had tremendous experiences from it that I can't imagine life without House & Life. Thank you!
Isn't Eddie Ross's holiday table so pretty in his new country home in Millbrook NY? Did you catch his new line of candles as displayed on the table? I love the super tall ones, especially in black!!

Tis the Season to Be?

Are you all in the mood yet to decorate for the Holidays? I went on a local house tour yesterday and Christmas has certainly arrived! Last year I remember having virtually no furniture in the house to speak of which contributed to a lack of visual warmth. So I proceeded to go out and buy the biggest Christmas tree I could find. It was ridiculous. But I'm never really one to go all out. I think in the works this year are real wreaths once again on the windows hung from a greek key or striped ribbon, boxwood topiaries flanking the front door, and a sparkling tree. I love my friend David Jimenez's idea of putting a pretty wreath in front of each mirror tied from a satin ribbon inside the house. Simple and tres chic. If it was up to my mother (she knows she's guilty) the house would look like it threw up Christmas, but I just can't pull it off. So here's some of my favorite images this year.

Images from Elle Decor featuring Miles Redd, Canadian House and Home, and Martha Stewart

Hello

Anybody out there? I've been missing my blissful blogging half an hour with one compliant 3 year old. Not so much with the 6 month old addition. But I'll get there!
Love this striped bath curtain and bust from Mrs. Blandlings lovely blog and taken from the new Style and Substance:The Best of Elle Decor

Kid Stuff

Did you catch this new chalkboard paint in the most amazing hues by Hudson Paint in the new House Beautiful? Can you imagine a boys room wall in that Hazard orange with navy blue accents? So fun.