Now that Thanksgiving has passed and it is full force into the holiday season we are thinking about presents, family and holiday parties. And if your thoughts are on that last one because the parties are going to be at your home you are probably also wondering what to do to spruce up your home quick. Well there are a few things that you can do right away.

The first thing you can do is declutter. When you get rid of all that extra clutter and nick nacks you will make your home feel much larger. Design is about being able to show off the space and it’s function. When you have lots of little things all over the place you hide the great furnishings and your wonderful floor plan. Don’t know what to do with all the stuff you don’t want to get rid of but are taking down while decluttering? Try storage ottomans, baskets and furniture pieces with drawers.

A second thing you can do to give a refreshing to your home before the holiday is new paint. Pick a room like the guest or powder bath and refresh it with new paint. Usually these are small enough that you can do something special like a faux paint or wallpaper that will give you real wow without a big chunk out of your pocket-book. And when your guests are there they will think you redid the whole bathroom not just the paint.

With the holiday season coming I have been thinking more and more about what we expect to see. Well one of the things that for years has always been on TV at this time of year is Oprah’s favorite things. You know the show where she gives away to the audience all of her favorite things for that year. Well I thought that I would take a page from that and talk about my favorite things that apply to interior design. And if I am starting from the ground up lets take about floor coverings first.

So when it comes to the very first thing, the floor, I have to say my favorite floors that we put into homes this year has been the hand scrapped wood flooring. These floors are beautiful and have such great character. I love them whether the home is traditional, craftsman, transitional or even modern. They change the feeling of the space and allow you to go in whatever design style you want.

These are a handful of the beautiful offerings that are out there now. They can be a green product that is a fully reclaimed wood floor or a new wood scraped and beaten up to give it that texture and style.

My next favorite thing that we did this year are woven rugs. Don’t get me wrong I will always love a fantastic hand-knotted rug, but these woven rugs are just fun. They give you the ability to add a touch of playfulness without a major expense. So they can be changed in a few years and not be a major pinch to the pocket book. We did them in solids and in stripes and they really gave a great feeling to all of the rooms.

For furnishings I found some great new companies this year and also leaned heavily on some companies we already had established. For a new company I am in love with Wesley Hall. Every piece sits amazing, the people are fantastic, and it is made here in the USA. For dining I am still completely in love with Canadel. You customize it, they build it and every piece is delivered perfect. All from hardwood solids. For fabrics I am still and probably will always be a Stroheim girl. The fabrics are great quality and the designs are new and fresh. But I do have to say that RM Coco and Duralee have been giving them a run for the money here at our design firm. RM Coco had been coming out with great patterns and colors at affordable prices. And Duralee has those bright fun electric fabrics that are just designed to be the WOW factor.

For windows it has been all about the woven wood shade. We have done them in home after home. The great feature to this product is the top down bottom up. Yes you guessed it you can have either the top down letting in light from the top and keeping privacy or the bottom up allowing as much of the outdoors in as you would like. They are available in so many different colors and textures it is perfect for the space that wants to add function and style at the same time.

For the walls I have been all about texture this year. That means grass-cloths, faux paint and innovative wallpapers. This is such a great place to add another dimension to your space. So this year has been the year of no more white walls with standard orange peal texture. Make it new and different!

And lastly my favorite things in lighting has to be the wood chandeliers. Yes I love the glass and crystal and they will always be fantastic but where we have gone with wood lighting is off the charts. Here are some of my favorites.

So this has been a little bit more inside this designers mind about what I think is just to die for this year.

Here are some new fabrics we got in from Clarke & Clarke this week. The velvet pieces are part of their new collection, Pulse & Rythm.

As an interior designer I am constantly working to try to read people’s minds to know what they want. To get to know how they live so that I can create a home or workspace based on them. And one of the questions that I am constantly asked is what is my style. I usually answer in a playful dodge that my style really doesn’t matter since I am not living/working in their space. But as the question gets asked over and over again I have begun to think about it. And here is the conclusion that I have come to – I love all styles. Impossible you say you must have a favorite. But the reality is that I so appreciate the craftmanship and work that goes into the different pieces that I simply cannot say I am contemporary or traditional or eclectic. I am all of it and I think that it is what allows me to work so well with all different clients and styles.

I love to see the work that goes into a hand-knotted rug. And where is can be a beautiful traditional antique one that makes me scream with joy at the fantastic find. It can be 30 minutes later and a fabulous woven fluffy fabric shag rug is making me melt.

Handknotted Area Rugs

Shag rug made from left over fabrics

Both of these rugs are fabulous to me. They both have the right place for them. And yet there are many times that I love to push the envelope. I love to put an antique area rug into a more modern feeling space so that you see the unexpected. Also these beautiful rugs have been around through all different trends and they still have lasted sometimes they are the perfect reality check. And then to change things up in a traditional home it is great to add these more contemporary touches like the fabric shag rug for that twist. It creates a WOW because it is so unexpected. In a traditional home I would do this in the family or game room to give the space that homey feel. One of my true loves (besides everything design oriented) is furniture. I love the way that it is constructed, and thought about. I love that by changing a finish or fabric you change the feel completely. I love a deep-seated low back tufted squared armed sectional just as much as I love a high-backed wing chair with hand carved turned legs. Each piece is a design from an artisan that thought about how people would use it, sit in it, put their feet on it, or eat at it. It is functional art!

As I am sure that you have noticed the weather has changed and the holiday season is upon us. We see it in the stores that are sending us the gift catalogs and sales ads, along with all of the new displays trying to entice us to buy, buy, buy. But if you are anything like me when this season rolls around you want your home to feel warm and inviting with a bit of the season rolled in. I like to start the charges now with little accents that I can add to as the season changes from Thanksgiving to Christmas. One of my favorite ways to bring the feeling of the holidays into the home is with unique tablescapes that use the natural elements from the environment.

Here are three starting points for your holiday decorating. Great candles and natural elements. All of these objects are the basis for any great tablescapes. They give you height, texture and color to work with. As the season goes on these basic starters can change into elegant or casual tablescapes for holiday dining. Another way to change the starter elements is to place the candles inside glass vases. You can fill these glass vases with many different objects. It can be as simple as dried corn and berries to as elaborate as crystals and beads. Another great place to make sure that you do not forget to decorate during the holiday season is the mantel (if you have one). This is a perfect place to display more than just stockings. You can run everything from pine branches and pine cones to candles and ornaments along your mantel. And even better as the season goes from oranges and browns to reds and greens you can just add additional elements. So if you started with candles and pine cones you can add holly and pine branches and change the candles from oranges and browns to reds, whites and golds.

And the last thing to keep in mind when decorating for the holiday is what you smell when you walk in the door. One of the things that I love to create are simmer pots. You can use ceramic fondue pots or tea kettles or even just a pot on the stove. They give such a great sense of the holidays because they have you using all of your senses. My favorite recipes for a simmer pot is cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and orange peels mixed with enough water to keep the pot going. I use my ceramic fondue pot with tea-light candles to keep the scent flowing throughout my home. It brings an instant smile to my face and reminds me of the snowy winters of my childhood.