Simply Decked Out

This past weekend we put up our Christmas decorations - which meant we had to get rid of some of those boxes we had not yet unpacked to make way for the Christmas tree!

When it comes to holiday decor and tree decorations, I tend to err on the side of simple.  We've purchased new ornaments on a conservative level over the last few years.  And we started our tradition of choosing a new ornament each year with our two year old...and he's got good taste!  He picked out some sparkly, silver snowflakes - and a great snow globe with a Christmas tree in it.  Smith & Hawken provided the selection - and I have to say, that place had some great deals on Christmas decor!

Our Christmas tree has been placed in our front living room:

    

One of my favorite ornaments:

 

And the mantle and shelves in our family room:

I purchased the "Merry & Bright" blocks at the Shoppe of Vinings.  They always have the cutest things!

And lastly, our dining room table:

Oh!  And I can't forget about the snow globe my favorite little boy in the whole world picked out:

I'm officially "in the sprit!"  Happy Decorating!

Over the Fireplace Perfection!

I've been searching and searching for the perfect piece of art for over our fireplace.  This is the room where the trim will soon be white - so keep that in mind.  I am envisioning something on canvas - as the canned light in the ceiling creates a nasty reflection on glass.  I'm thinking something with reds, oranges & golds.

Here are a few contenders - apparently I am drawn to trees and poppies...

Brilliance - by Gregory Williams

Maple Road - by Vasil

In the Sun - by Andrea Kahn

Festa Di Papaveri - by M. Luffarelli

Anyone care for a vote??  All of the sudden I am leaning towards Festa de Papaveri.  Hmmm....Art.com is having sale - and they will transfer to canvas for me....

Grand Plans

Alas - the audit busy season wins out!  I have neglected my blog yet again.  Well - this time I beg for forgiveness by teasing you with a bit of things to come.

YAY!  My husband sold the second love-of-his-life (I'm the first, duh!) and we now find ourselves with the capital to do some home improvements that have made our list since the big move-in back in September.

1.  Paint and new carpet for the basement.  To refresh your memory, it looks like this, currently:

Couldn't find a better pic - so there is one of my son from behind!  Anyway - you get the picture - lots of dark trim and some old, white berber carpet.  So this is our first stop - new carpet, new paint!

2.  Trim painting & wall opening in living room.  Our living room currently looks like this (not our furniture!):

This trim will be painted white - and that wall you see will have a large cased opening in it.  And we plan to build a TV entertainment cabinet in the bottom of the shelves you see.  And of course - I cannot leave out the plantation shutters for the large windows off the back of the house:

Soooo....I promise I will get back to all of this very very soon!  Plans are underway!  I'm very excited!

NEWS FLASH: NADEAU FEATURED VENDOR AT EAST COBB URBAN MARKET AT PAPER MILL VILLAGE

I received this email today - and just had to share:

Nadeau will be a featured vendor at the East Cobb Urban Market at Paper Mill Village (Johnson Ferry & Paper Mill Road).

Don't miss this European-Style Market shopping experience! Tons of local artisans and vendors participating!
*Holiday Treasures
*Children's Fashions
*Handcrafted Jewelry
*Gourmet Edibles
*Antiques & Home Furnishings

*$3 Admission benefits the Empty Stocking Fund & USO Georgia!

Novemeber 14-16
Friday & Saturday 10 am - 6 pm
Sunday 11 am - 5 pm
For more info, please visit: www.papermillmarket.com

**REMINDER: Nadeau is also opening its 10,000 sq. ft. Atlanta warehouse to the public, every Saturday from 10-4 until the end of the year!!! Thousands of unique items to choose from, at wholesale prices!!! Please call (770) 449-9770 with any questions!

See some of our photos at:

www.photobucket.com/nadeauatlanta and www.furniturewithasoul.com

So, I'll be stopping by this market for sure!

I'm a Woman of My Word...

Well, not so long ago I pledged here exclusively that I would someday own a piece of furniture from Nadeau.  Just to prove to you all that I am NOT just a lot of decor talk - TADA!  I now own my very own piece of Nadeau furniture!

I bought this Queen Anne cabinet for the bargain price of $246!  I'm telling you - Nadeau is a deal!  (Between now and the end of the year, they are opening up their warehouse in the ATL every Saturday - more about that later.)  I also purchased a bamboo chair that I had imagined sitting next to each other in my entry way - but I have found another purpose for the chair.  I will post about that another time.  My entry way is a work in progress, so I will post pics of the entire area when I reach the finish line.  I'm almost there...so for now you can check out the cabinet.

And in another twist this weekend - I went for some birthday shopping at the outlet malls up in Dawsonville, GA (where it just so happens I bought myself a Kelly Green Kate Spade purse - but, I digress).  I found my way to the Restoration Hardware store - and found the coolest lamps I have ever seen.  Our front living room has been sans lighting since we moved in.  So - we haven't really been able to use that room after the 7 o'clock hour.  I have been searching all about - but just haven't been able to find the right fit.  Well - Restoration Hardware has won a special place in my heart - right next to The Barn!  I had never seen these lamps in the store or online - and I am an avid follower of this fine establishment's website.  The ladies in the store could not tell me from what collection the lamps were - so I am unable to provide details - and cannot tell you where to find these lamps for yourself.  (sigh)  But here they are - and I paid $230 for both of them!  Any of you who have purchased, or coveted, Restoration Hardware items know that this price is a modern miracle...

   

How cool are those?  I've never seen anything like them - and they really give the room a nice twist.  This room, too, is a work in progress - so I will post pics of the whole room once we finish hanging pics, etc.  But I am loving my find!

Lamps

Well folks, Layla Grayce does it again!  I am looking for lamps - and a chandelier/ceiling mount for our guest bath.  

Love this lamp:  From Jamie Young Lighting - the Luna Lamp in Chocolate Brown. Unrequieted love.  $212 on Layla Grayce's site.  I'm tempted.

And this ceiling mount would be perfect in my guest bath.  The Paris Crystal Ceiling Mount.

Imported from Italy, it is a little piece of Tuscany in your house.  And the price, well - the price is a bit depressing at four digits worth of benjamins.  No fair.  Those Italians have all the fun.

The search continues....

Our First Upgrade

So it seems I've been a little slow on the up-take these days with the posts.  I apologize.  Can you ever forgive me?  You - my avid readers - the number of you I can count on my hand - please take this post as a token of my apologies....and a promise of more posts to come!

A quick recap - we moved about a month ago in to a house 30 years young.  It is a fabulous house - with some upgrades (kitchen, thank god, among others).  However, there are still a few remnants of the old days hanging around.  And I wish I could use words such as vintage, charming, even old-fashioned.  But alas I cannot. Instead, the words that come to mind are dated, ugly, and what-were-they-thinking?  I mean, were these things really in style circa 1979? The year I was born is made of decor that is really this misguided?  Oh well.  

This leads me to our first upgrade:  The Guest Bath

Right off the kitchen, this is the bathroom where you find yourself running to as you come in from the garage, as you are cooking dinner (yes, I wash my hands), and as I am watching TV. (Again, I wash my hands)  And each time I would run to the sanctuary of the guest bath - to have a moment (or two, #2 that is) to myself I found myself wanting to hurl chunks in to the toilet each time I saw this mirror. 

     

One other horrifying feature is the counter top - it would not be horrible in its creme & chocolate brown marbling - but the sink is scalloped.  I just hate it - but the upgraded faucet (antique bronze - I love it) makes it a little better.  Point is:  it will be replaced with granite one day - but for now it can be "worked around."  But the mirror just had to go - there was no working around that mess.

But I didn't want to spend a lot of $$, so I found myself at HomeGoods searching for a deal. And a deal I found.  This bathroom is very traditional - so I wanted to add a little bit of contemporary for some balance.  So, drum roll please:

      I've played up the chocolate brown from the countertop in the toilet cover and contoured mat.  The paintings I had from the other house - if you recall I used them in our guest bath there, as well.  (See this post for pics)

The light fixture in this bathroom hangs from the ceiling and is just too embarassing to show it here.  I am looking for a smallish, vintage looking chandelier to replace it.  I'll show that upgrade once I find "the right one."  Lighting is like marriage: jump in to a relationship too quickly and it just won't be flattering.  (I just made that up - not sure how I like it - but it's late, so it's good enough.)

Let me know what you think.  I'll be posting more upgrades, changes soon.  Our basement is finished - but the carpet is old, and the woodwork is stained (gasp!) and the more I go down there, the closer I am to redoing it all - paint, new carpet, etc.  So I'm sure that change won't be too far off in the distance.

Until next time....and I promise it won't be so long.  The Barn sent me a new catalog - and I'm itching to review it's contents right here.  You won't want to miss that!

NEWS FLASH: NADEAU ATLANTA SALE - SAT, 10/18

Extra, extra - hear all about it!  In case anyone is looking for me this Saturday - Nadeau (see my last post) is having a sale this Saturday, October 18th!  Tons of dining room tables on sale!  Holy crap - I'm working out a way to carve out the nickels and dimes out of budget.  I need a table for our entry way - cannot miss sale.....must save my strength.....need essential rest....sharpen shopping skills....

Race you there!

Your furniture can have a soul, too! It's NADEAU!

We have been in our new home almost two weeks.  Most of the boxes are unpacked.  None of the pictures are hung.  Our first priority has been building a fence for our dogs (sooo tired of walking them!)  

We did not move far from our old house - we are already familiar with the area.  But we have been out and about full time in this area and are discovering all sorts of new things.  We "lunched" at a new Goldberg's Deli by our house on Saturday.  I decided to be very bad and get a CHEESEBURGER.  Yum.  We exited the deli, preparing to hop in to our car when I spotted a somewhat small furniture store next door.  My husband and child seemed content - so we popped inside.  Oh boy - what have I found?  The name of the store is Nadeau:  Furniture with a Soul.  I looked around at all the fabulous furniture - and I found about five things I would buy in a heartbeat, all before I took five steps inside.  I did what we all do when we find beautiful things in a store - avoided looking at the price tags until I couldn't stand it anymore.  Much to my surprise, the prices were FANTASTIC.  UNBELIEVABLE.  This furniture is beautiful, solid, not cheaply made - yet the prices are incredible.  How do they do it?  My two year old finally gave out before I was able to peruse all the offerings, so I reluctantly exited, promising myself that I would return.  Oh, and return I will.

SO - I immediately Googled the joint to discover just who they are.  Turns out they are importers of furniture that, due to various brilliant business reasons, sell furniture in retail stores (in addition to large warehouses, etc) at wholesale prices.  So THAT's how they do it!  I kid you not - I found a BEAUTIFUL dining room table (seats 8) for $1095.  (not including chairs, of course).  I cannot find a pic of it online - Nadeau inventory is unique and comes and goes like any importing business' findings...but believe me, it was one of the most beautiful, solid tables I have ever seen.  Pottery Barn, eat your heart out.  And THAT PRICE!

I've provided the link up above - it does not show all of their inventory - it could not begin to do so.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Brick Design Bench

A great bench for an entryway.

Now, I do not currently need bedside tables - but this one would be incredible!

The Step Design Bedside Table - Sheesum

What a nice touch to a guest bedroom - and unique.  I haven't seen anything like this lately...

I have pledged to myself that I will not rest until I have a one-of-a-kind deal from Nadeau in my house.  I will be stalking the store near me until I find "the one."  And I will assure you - that you all will be the first to know when I find it!

Wisteria: It's not just a flowering vine...

I opened up my mailbox yesterday to be pleasantly surprised by a fantastic little catalog that is now coming my way.  (I will make sure this one gets my change of address...)  I have no idea how they found me - I do not recall giving out my address - so it must be fate...

Introducing Wisteria to the Behind Decorated Doors blog.  After carefully studying all the catalog had to offer, I am confident that something from this charming catalog/website will be prominently displayed in BDD's new home within the next twelve months!  (We must recover from all of the moving expenses, first!)

Here are a few highlights:

Since I have sofas on the brain lately - this couch gives a new meaning to the word streamlined!

The Streamlined Sofa is a beautiful couch.  The simplicity and the scooped sides have woo'ed me.  And if you read the description, the skirt disguises casters to allow for the decorator in everyone to experiment with different configurations easily!  Rearrange away, ladies! (and gents, of course!)

Next up is a chest that I am longing for - and I will find a way to afford this piece of furniture soon!  The Black Bowfront Four-Drawer Dresser would be a great chest for our new entryway. Since I decorated our bedroom in black furniture - I'm trying not to over do the black.  But this piece is just a little irresistible.  Even my husband was wow'd by the classic lines and fantastic drawer pulls.  It really looks like it stepped right out of an estate in England, perhaps?

This site really shines with its smaller pieces of furniture, like chairs & side tables, and the plethora of accessories it offers.  This side table caught my eye and would look great in a traditional room that needs little interjection of casual.  It comes in blue and in red - and can add a little rustic/shabby feel to any room!  The Stacks of Space table is a favorite of mine:

And I'll close by showcasing just a few accessories:

Mirrors are a staple in any decorator's bag of tricks - so I have to share one - okay, two - from Wisteria's site.

The Italian Octagon Mirror is a must see - this would also look great in my entry way - perhaps above my black bowed chest?  I dunno...the possibilities are endless, I suppose!

And the Antiqued Vanity Mirror would fit right in to a guest bathroom...or a place with a little counter space to accommodate.  I have a dressing room style master bath - this would look beautiful on the counter.

And finally, these pots inspire a little bit of good juju for any new (or not so new) home.  The Happiness Pots are inspired by a Chinese tradition at the time of marriage of receiving two pots with the Chinese ideogram for happiness on them.  What a great idea for a wedding gift?

So these are a few of my favorites.  Please visit the Wisteria site for even more fabulous things.  The accessories and smaller furniture pieces are so unique and usable!  Enjoy!  I know I sure will.....

A little drama...

First of all, please excuse my absence.  I've been buried in a sea of boxes and packing paper...and mortgage applications...and home inspection reports...and I've only now had a moment to catch my breath.  (Actually, I should be packing - but I needed a break)

This break entails a little daydreaming about a new couch.  Now - we do not NEED a new couch in our new home - but at some point it will inevitable.  We will create the movie room downstairs - which will need some couches - for which I will exile our current family room furniture to the basement to make room for something fresh and new upstairs.  Yay!

Sooooo....I've been cruising around and found a little inspiration at Crate and Barrel.  I believe that my next sofa will entail a little drama!  The source of my inspiration are the sofas from the Willow collection - which comes in, of course, a variety of colors.  I favor the Willow Chair and a Half in the Soso fabric in Cafe:

I love the drama that is created by a rich, deep, mocha brown against neutral walls and floors.  This chair and a half also comes in the Deso fabric in a solid Cafe color:

Restoration Hardware had an interesting sofa - I love these lines!  Introducing the Halsey sofa collection:

I'm not convinced that this sofa is one that I can curl up on - but it sure looks fabulous!

I also found this Hyde sofa at Ethan Allen:

In the end, I bet I'll settle with casual and comfy - something that looks lived in.....comfy is gooooooood.  Perhaps something like this?

The Cayman sofa at C&B:

I also love the full sized Willow sofa - mentioned above in the Chair & a Half.  Such a casual style - I could live on a couch like this:

Okay, then....it's settled!  Now all we need to do is win the lottery!

Please stay tuned - we move in to our new house next Friday, the 19th.  And then the before and after pics will start a-flowin'

NYC: Here I Come!

In a nutshell, here is where my life stands:

- Sold a house.
- Bought a house.
- Immediately started packing for the move (in 2.5 weeks).

Anything that does not fit in to the above bullets just doesn't fit in to my life right now! Sigh. But I shall return soon! Once the sell/buy process is complete - I will be sure to post pics of the new house and give you a run down on all of my decor ideas. I want to be sure and take my time when decorating this house - as I have made hasty decisions in the past - and want to make sure I make decor decisions that will have some staying power.

In the meantime, I depart for NYC tomorrow morning with some girlfriends for a long weekend of US Open attendance, a Friday morning Regis & Kelly taping, and plenty of shopping (Although - my money right now is going in to my new house - so we'll see how much window shopping I do instead!)

Until then...

A new canvas on which to paint??

Well, I've been a little busy this past week.  I have mentioned in my earlier posts that our house is on the market....well, this past week we got an offer!!  And after a couple of counters to get those eager buyers back in line with our asking price - (as much as we can in this market) we have a deal!  OH - YEA - and we have to be out in little more than three weeks!!  WHUT?

So - needless to say - we have been fast and furious to find our next house!  Today we went through a record number of 11 houses in a four hour period - and found ourselves frantically making an offer on one that really shines.  This offer is still in progress - so no popping the bubbly yet....but I have to say that amidst all this hustle, I almost forgot what this means:  I GET TO MOVE IN TO A NEW HOUSE AND DECORATE AGAIN!  I know - Pottery Barn corporate has gotten the press release - and they are licking their chops!  Behind Decorated Doors may make their quarter yet!  

More soon - cannot wait to share pics of whatever house we end up getting....let the "before" and "after" comparisons begin!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

When decorating smaller, smallish, or tiny spaces, mirrors are your friend.  They make any space look bigger.  What they also do is give a wall with no windows the appearance and the effect of having a window.  I love mirrors - if only I could put them everywhere in my house.  My next purchase of mirrors is for my newly decked out bedroom.  I love these from Crate & Barrel:  

The Dubois Mirrors are some of my favorites - and I've had my eye on them for a while now.  I want to purchase three of them to put above my long & tall dresser in the bedroom.  It will make a great addition to my "Romantically Organic" room! (see previous blog post on July 29th titled "Romantically Organic" for pics!)  Here's a picture of these mirrors in a room:

Look how great they look with black furniture - such a nice contrast.  If you remember, my bedroom furniture is black - so this is just the ticket.  PLUS - my bed is upholstered in microsuede the exact same color as the chair shown in the above pic.  

I already have this C&B mirror on the landing at the top of our stairs - I got it for $79 - it is normally $299 but it was a floor model that they were trying to get rid of!  I love a good bargain!  The Silver Ripple (this was the best pic I could get of it):

The below mirror, while not quite the right look for my bedroom, would look great in another room. I find myself back involved with Shabby Chic - and this mirror is just that.  I found it while browsing the Vintage Shopper website.  

The Distressed White Round Wall Mirror.  Love it. 

And look who I found when searching the internet for vintage mirrors:  The Mirror Lady

Many, many beautiful mirrors can be found on this site.  A few of my favorites:

The Old Gold Ornate mirror - 53"x 53".

Sunburst mirrors are just about everywhere these days (ZGallerie, C&B, etc) - but I like this one, the Silver Sunburst.  The braided inner frame makes it a bit unique!

And I think I just fell in love with Venetian mirrors.  How beautiful - all mirror, no frame!

The Georgette, comes in two sizes - 37" or 52".

And last, but not least, the Sophia:

Beautiful - a little more ornate than I usually prefer - but the etched designs have such a feeling of innocence.  I dunno, can't explain it.

And, of course, I cannot post without giving a shout out to my home sweet home, Pottery Barn (aka "The Barn").  They have such a great selection of mirrors these days - again, some favorites:

The Honeycomb gold mirror.  This one might be my favorite - and it gives me such a retro feeling.  I could imagine myself sitting in a living room in the 60's with this mirror on my wall!

The Geometric Circles - so different.  I love it. 

And since I have a new love affair with Venetian mirrors, I couldn't leave this one out: 

The Venetian Leaf mirror.  I love the cutout leaves - would add a little glamour to any room.  

Romo - As in Fabrics, Not Jessica's BF

Well, I've been so busy looking at children's furniture - I realized I was in need of some sophistication.  I've been loving the look of two particular colors together - one of which I have never used before in decorating (that I can remember, anyway).  I've got a big crush on Raspberry & Brown combinations.  I had been recently stalking one of my decorating heroes' blogs (Habitually Chic - see link on the right) when I read a recent post about Romo fabrics.  I thought I would check it out - and to my surprise - there popped up Raspberry & Brown in some of their amazing fabrics!

I have to say that these fabrics are some of the most unique and refreshing I have seen in a while - and so contemporary, I'm in love!  Check out this fabric, from the Manderley collection, in raspberry, brown and what seems like a mustard yellow (much prettier than my description!)

Oh yes - and this is beautiful for someone looking for less floral print/pattern.  The Mimi collection might be my favorite showcase of Raspberry & Brown...

And this is the Audley collection in shades of red, brown & cream.  Ooh la la!

And the drama in the Kimura collection is breathtaking - and this picture just showcases it! Black and Khaki - ah, one of my favorites:

Now, this fabric very well may be out of my league - but it is nice to dream, isn't it?  This company is out of London - so if I just have to make a trip across the Pond to check it out myself - then so be it.  Or maybe I can go to their showroom when I'm in NYC in three weeks??