Christmas Tablescape in Red and Gold

The Christmas Tour continues in the dining room!     

The dining room got its traditional Christmas treatment with swirly gold and red placemats and runner.  Each place is set with red metallic chargers and Lenox Holiday china. 

I took the silver platter from my autumn centerpiece and filled it with real trimmings from my tree, cedar sprigs, glittery sprays and my beloved glitter poinsettias.  Every year it’s a delight to discover those flowers in the Christmas boxes, followed closely by the excitement of finding a special place to display them.  (They always end up in the dining room... hehe) 

I love my holiday china and table linens.  This year I put the red napkin on the outside and the swirly one on the inside for more contrast.  While looking over my past Christmas photos, I decided that I have been doing it wrong for the past two years.  Yes, I sit and think about this stuff… it’s serious business. :)

 

The chandelier got its Christmas spruce (get it, spruce? hehe) with greenery, pinecones, glitter sprigs and gold snowflakes. 

Over in the corner on the cherry cabinet I put the cute little china bowl of Christmas goodness.  I pulled it out of the box just like this!  It was hiding out in the master suite last year, but I thought it deserved some face time in the main house. :)

And I draped a red scarf over the chair to cozy up the corner a bit more.  Several years ago, I fell in love with this scarf from Victoria’s Secret and bought a clearance sweater just so I could get the scarf “free with sweater purchase”.  That is love, I tell you.  I have since worn the sweater and scarf each once.  The chair has worn it several times, though.  :)  The scarf, not the sweater… although that would be interesting.

And in the other corner, my Christmas birdcage perches on the flatware cabinet.  This year I filled my birdcage with greenery and a real nest!  I found the nest in the driveway this summer and I’ve been saving it for my tiny golden bird. :)  I think she likes it.

 

To finish the room, I brought out a couple of wreaths for the deck doors.  I added some real tree trimmings and a beautiful red and gold bow.  I love them so much that I made a similar one for the front door.  Stay tuned for that!

Wonderful Christmas Time

Can you believe it is already December 2nd and I haven’t posted one thing about Christmas yet!?!  I know, it’s unbelievable.  Well, I am here to rectify this situation with the big reveal of my Christmas tree!  I haven’t visited the blog much lately, but I’ve been busy working my magic behind the scenes on Christmas decorations and crafts. 

I actually started decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving this year (eek!) but we had to wait until after Turkey Day to get our tree or else the Thanksgiving sanctity police (AKA Michael) were gonna put me away. :)  Anyway, the tree is up and here it is:

It is hard to think of new creative things to do with the tree each year that don’t involve buying all new decorations and lights… so I decided to once again switch up the ribbon on the tree.  Last year I used gold mesh ribbon and the year before I had red beads.  I like the red ribbon so much more!  I got a new tree stand and to accommodate it I had to cut off a lot more branches from the bottom of my tree.  Good for wreaths, bad for tree.  I’m still filling in the space beneath with presents.  By Christmas Eve I’ll be glad for the extra room!

There’s something else new under the tree this year, a little red sleigh:

Papa has been busy building sleighs this year and here is mine!  It’s holding a few gifts, as well, and taking up some more of the too-much space under the tree. :) 

The tree is the star of the show, but here’s the rest of the room:

I put my cranberry trees in the mercury glass pots that I got for Christmas last year.  They are tres fancy.

And my couch is sporting a couple of new pillows, too!  I made them for my sister, but before they were delivered, I “borrowed” them for my blog photos.  Sneaky, huh?

I love them.  I want to steal them.  Barring that, I’ll have to settle for making a set of my own.  They are green and cream felt.  I printed the template for the snowflake one from BHG.  (They have a bunch of good holiday ideas with felt!)  You can’t really tell from this picture, but I sewed all the way around the snowflakes instead of gluing them on.  It was annoying, and took forever.  But, it’s pretty! :)

For this one, I borrowed an idea from Pottery Barn and applied it to a pillow.  I love it especially.  I’m thinking I’ll have to whip up something for my den couch, too. :)

I brought back the plaid topper and Santa over on the console cabinet and spruced it up with some greenery and pinecones.  I would have added lights, but 1) I have no lights left and 2) the outlet is behind the cabinet, so I would never plug them in.  Just imagine there are lights. :)

To finish off the space, I hung my garland on the railing and added shiny ornaments and bows.  Let’s just ignore the fact that I hit my head on this all the time while coming up the stairs and trying not to trip on the puppy/kitty. 

Here’s the view from the foyer:

I’m sure you’re wondering how I hit my head on this… well, trust me, anything is possible if you try hard enough. :) 

It’s all so much prettier after dark…

Come on over one night and I’ll fix us a cup of hot cocoa and we’ll sit and stare at the tree.  :)  Ahhh, Christmas…

Office Desk Design

For two people who spend a great deal of time at the computer, we are seriously lacking a proper desk for our office.  I am using an oak vanity as a desk… it’s too short and the center drawer hits me in the leg.  Michael is using a cheap second hand computer desk that has limited knee space and wobbles.  So, it goes without saying that we need a new desk!  I have been scheming and dreaming for a few years now.  And I have finally decided the time has come for our wishes to come true.  This Christmas I asked my family for wood and hardware to build a desk.  Naturally before any shopping lists can be drafted for Santa, I have to finalize plans for the dream desk!
Enter Google SketchUp.  After a tenuous “getting-to-know-you” period, SketchUp and I have become fast friends.  Don’t ask me to draw any spindley legs or spheres, but I think I have a handle on the simple operations required to draw a desk.  I’ll let you be the judge. :)
Here is the latest (and hopefully final) version of the Horvaths’ Dream Desk:

I call it the airplane desk, because of those 5’ wings on each side, it looks like it’s about to lift off. 
It is no easy task to design a desk for two people in a 10x10 room with a window, a closet and a door.  It should be.  But these are the Horvaths we’re talking about here.  Nothing is ever easy with those two. :) 
Our original plan was to build an L-shaped corner desk facing the window so we could both enjoy the view.  The desk was nearly nine feet wide and two feet deep.  The corner would allow Michael ample desk space for his elbows and giant monitor, and I would have a little cabinet with a drawer:

Here’s the room in SketchUp with the furniture and walls and doors:
 
I rearranged our existing furniture in the room to simulate the L-shaped desk (minus the corner):

That didn’t leave us much breathing room with the chairs so close together and the closet door to the left.  (The closet door is getting replaced with bifold doors in all of these designs.  That will allow us to put furniture a bit closer to the closet and still be able to open the door.)  The desk area of the room was cluttered and there wasn’t a lot of space for us to spread out without bumping into each other.  Even though it was crowded, we loved being able to see out the window.  We tried this arrangement with the dimensions taped out on the floor.  It seemed like it would work; I was about ready to post it to the blog, thereby making it official, when we decided to try another arrangement.
So, I designed Desk #2 on the 10-foot wall across from the bookcase.  Enter airplane desk… it’s 10 feet wide and 30 inches deep.  That’s twenty five square feet of desk space on top for us to spread out and set up laptops and additional monitors.  A programmer’s heart’s desire.

In addition to a giant tabletop, it’s also got a few storage secrets.  The three drawers in the middle will be perfect for office supplies and files.  And in the middle of each workspace there is a hidden drawer where we can stash more office papers and junk.  See it up under the front edge?

Here’s the second design in SketchUp with the furniture and walls and doors:

 

Then I rearranged the room to simulate the new design:

I love it!  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is the best and final version of the desk.  Now to get the programmer’s seal of approval so I can start that shopping list!

Pumpkin Topiaries and a New Doormat!

Well since Thanksgiving is next week, I figured it was past time for me to share my autumn porch decor! 

This year I skipped the mums (save one that I planted by the mailbox) and went straight for the pumpkins!  After our Halloween party I snatched the towering pumpkin topiaries to use on my front porch.  But rather than sitting them on the ground, I put them atop my spray painted urns for a little extra height.  I think next year I will weave leaf garland around each tier and maybe add some string lights?  That could be pretty!

I added my old fall grapevine wreath to the front door.  I am loving how everything pops against the new black door! 

And while I was at it, I added a new jute doormat from Lowes. 

Back when I shared my black door transformation, there was some concern over my less than stellar doormat, which I had already attempted to repaint.  I could tell it was not hitting the spot.  And even Michael suggested I get a new one.  Then he said that it needed to be bigger. 

Lightbulb!  YES!  The porch is so long and skinny and the doorframe + sidelights so wide that a regular size welcome mat looked dinky in comparison.  So off I went (birthday gift card in hand—Thanks Mike and Molly!) to Lowes to pick out a new, larger doormat.  Luckily they had this oversized beauty.  I love it!  I think it completes the porch perfectly.

It’s looking better, but I still have a long way to go… paint storm door, threshold and shutters.  (I did get the porch washed though… Thanks Papa!)  The painting projects will be on hold until warmer weather. 

But the porch is sure to get a lot of attention soon, in the form of Christmas decorations!  Yay!

 

Kitchen Clean Sweep

I came home from Christmas shopping on Sunday to find my kitchen counters had been rearranged.  Elves?  No, it was Michael.  In an attempt to find more prep space in the kitchen, he moved the microwave, toaster, canisters and kitchen tools.  At first I was resistant to the new layout, but after living with it a few days, it is starting to grow on me.  :) 

Here’s what I’m talking about:

The corner on the left is where we usually do most of our prep work for meals.  The cutting boards are stowed beside the cookbooks and the knives are in the corner.  Sink to the left makes the perfect work spot.  This area stayed mostly the same, except the glass cutting board (which has been deemed useless, decor-only by you-know-who) was moved to the opposite side of the stove, along with the oil and salt and pepper tray.  That opened up the space to the left of the stove for more prep space. 

The toaster was also relocated, which gave us more room beside the sink, and also made it easier to access the cutting boards.  It went to live where the microwave used to be, next to the refrigerator.  This area was always cluttered by the bulky microwave.  Getting rid of that has made a big difference in prep space and convenience when taking things out/putting things in the fridge.

The microwave moved all the way across the room next to the dishwasher.  Granted it’s a bit outside the “work triangle” that we had before, but we don’t use it all the time, so it works better for us to have the empty space near the stove.  Putting in on the far counter meant the pink KitchenAid mixer had to find a new home.  It found a spot in the pantry.  :(  I guess it will be okay, though, since I don’t use it that often.  (I secretly think the whole “rearrange the kitchen” scheme was just so Michael could hide my pink mixer!)

We managed to gain a lot more usable prep space which hopefully will make working together in the kitchen more enjoyable and efficient.  And having all the counters cleared off is an incentive to keep things clean and clutter-free!  Which reminds me, I should probably go do the dishes…

Thanks for reading! 

I’ll be back soon to reveal our autumn porch decor, as well as a special project I’m working on for the office!