Newsflash: gone are the days of basic and boring dorm room decorating ideas and décor choices.
These dorm room decorating ideas feature tasteful and dashing furnishings, accents and accessories that come together to transform an otherwise nondescript space into a chic oasis of comfort and personal style.
My dorm and townhouse roomies and I kept close company with throws and blankets. The degree of cozy rises to a most comfortable level making for a happy dorm-apartment-condo-townhouse environment.
Ions ago when I was at LSU in the dorm my roommate and I used round 3 gallon ice cream containers you could get for free at your local Baskins-Robbins for wastebaskets.
DIY project days gone by consisted of discontinued wallpaper rolls, glue, decorista determination, and a little help from our friends Ernest and Julio Gallo.
Let’s talk getting an idea of the holiday kitchen accessories perfect for the holiday decorating season.
With the present state of health affairs we all find ourselves in I say if we’re spending more time at home let’s start sooner than later decking the halls, dining rooms, and kitchens.
One good thing about staying close to home and being Covid 19 safe is the scads of internet time it affords decoristas to check out the latest and greatest home for the holidays goodies.
It’s never too early in my humble and holiday opinion (think Black Friday).
Besides, who wants to play the waiting game and run the risk of the dreaded sold out and not available notice?
With that thought in mind, coupled with the knowledge Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, I’m sourcing and sharing kitchen accessories and accents in holiday and not so holiday finery.
Images of Christmas from 1900 yesterday depict the hustling and bustling times of the spirited and decorated holiday kitchen.
Check out the back in the day Philco Port-O-Sound Cart.
Music is a key part of my kitchen plan and prep routine, a natural stress reliever, brings back and makes memories old and new, and delivers as a grand communicator.
Vintage wares and groovy sound system style caught my eye, but the apron is sending true kitchen keepsake love my way.
Feast your eyes on Mama Places In The Home modeling her mother’s apron which is almost identical to the one in the image.
Necessary holiday kitchen accessories for the holiday kitchen include a sassy apron in seasonally appropriate colors and patterns.
Do you include home decor items on your Dear Santa gotta have it list?
Lost on me is the notion of home decor accents and accessories being off limits for Christmas gift giving and/or receiving.
Who came up with that?
A decoristas love of all things house that make a home does not take a break at the holidays, and the gift of holiday kitchen accessories and accents is the gift that keeps on giving.
Working with an in the style of premise, let’s look at a few items dripping in vintage chic that classically make the leap from yesteryear to current decor styles.
Christmas morning comes early when you find a forgotten set of copper molds bought sometime last year on a Goodwill run.
Chic is served in the holiday kitchen in many ways, but I especially like the blending of old with new, classic with current.
The Woodward Style Iron Patio Bar Cart becomes a classic statement piece stylishly prepped for kitchen duty.
Using a Hershey’s Crystal Kiss Candy Dish as a counter decoration holder for sweetener packets, sugar in the raw, or coarse sea salt is a crystal clear reminder of holiday traditions.
Spending an afternoon checking out the many talented artists and wares the internet has to offer is part of the source and ye shall find show and tell.
You never know what unique pieces you’ll find as was the case with these Thanksgiving turkey decoupage oyster shells.
I believe they’ll be focal point worthy as salt and black pepper cellars.
In keeping with the rustic and natural theme associated with Thanksgiving, farmhouse, and a woodland Christmas, artisan wood bark natural decorative bowls become an eye catching addition to your holiday kitchen accessories portfolio.
We’ve covered copper, now let’s toast this beauty that can pull double duty as a champagne bucket/wine cooler when celebrating and as an anything but everyday utensil holder when not.
Decorating a kitchen backsplash , window(s), or wall with a wreath is a year round decorative delight, and at the holidays it gives such a festive look.
Further the presentation with additions and accents in not just for the holidays colors, textures, and patterns.
Farmhouse style is a design style darling for today’s kitchen decor, and these mixing bowls in hobnail white are sure to become a favorite kitchen element all year long.
Between traditional convenience and today’s technology and performance lies my hand mixer preference.
The Oster 270-Watt Hand Mixer with HEATSOFT Technology softens cold ingredients with gentle heat while mixing- cutting out the need to bring non-room temperature ingredients to room temperature.
Copper is a delightful color complement to the shades of the fall and Thanksgiving color palette, however, I’m thinking the KitchenAid Artisan Empire stand mixer in holiday happening red is the way to mix things up.
Cooking, baking, and delicious treat making goes with the seasonal territory, and remember, Santa does love his cookies.
No time like the present for getting into the holiday spirit.
Fall into winter is the season of cozy, and hot chocolate is the official unofficial warm beverage most of us love to settle in with.
Setting up a hot cocoa bar is easy and never fails to impress and please the home for the holidays crowd.
Grab an inexpensive silver tray from the dollar store, fill with equally inexpensive theme of the season mugs, and you’re off to the races.
Pick your garnishes and place in glass containers, jars, small bowls, porcelain creamers, vintage gravy boats- you get the idea.
Snacks, appetizers, charcuterie boards, and yes, a hot cocoa bar/station will still be a part of our holiday sip and snack times with a few tweaks to keep with safe and smart gathering.
Oohs and aahs over presentation is a gift to host, hostess, and guests alike.
Construct a central presentation board, and from there go with individual items, single portions, and serve yourself beverage or cocktail bars.
Fall into winter themed charcuterie boards dressed with seasonal cheeses, meats, fruits, nuts, jellies, and preserves tempt and delight.
Serving ideas include:
Assemble individual charcuterie boards.
Layer glass jars with cheese bites, seasonal dried fruits, sweet breads and nuts, a couple of breadsticks, garnish with fresh herbs, and voilà.
Prepare individual trays for beverages including all items to mix, mingle, spike, and jingle.
Simply and elegantly single serve to guests.
We can’t spread the germs, but we can spread the holiday joy!
This Baxton Studio Romilly 7-Drawer Black and Oak Brown Dresser checks all the boxes in regards to function, form, affordability, and the signature feature required by decoristas, style.
But wait, Darleen.
Did I understand you to reference it as a dresser?
Good eye, decoristas!
True, it is marketed as a dresser, but the dual tones, serpentine shaped frame design, and ample amount of drawers qualifies it as an excellent furnishing option for use as a sideboard-buffet-server.
Crown home decor accents as in crown themed is having quite a crowning moment currently. Streaming series, triple crown races, once in a lifetime coronation events- see what I mean.
While working on content for an upcoming post, I found it necessary to head over to the bookmark manager. Information overload is the driver of my “where did I see that” moments.
Enter the bookmark manager.
While scanning the manager, I style spotted the article “Inside Tara Shaw’s Breathtaking and Very Europea New Orleans Home” from One Kings Lane.
Immediately I remembered the wooden crown sculpture and bed crown home decor pieces prominently featured in several of the images in the article.
Bookmarked under inspiration, the New Orleans home of Interior Designer and Antiques dealer Tara Shaw is an interior design and decorating love letter to the signature interiors befitting the European influence witnessed throughout the Crescent City.
Serene colors create a nuanced backdrop, one in which contemporary furnishings, unique antique pieces, and crown home decor strike a balance between elegant and livable.
Gilded (also called gilt) refers to the gold appearance or illusion achieved when covering a surface such as wood, metal, porcelain or stone with a thin layer of gold.
Gold paint or gold leaf is traditionally applied by hand resulting in an overlay effect of gorgeous gilded goodness.
Spring into summer entertaining season is back in full swing, and these crown embellished plates accomplished the style mission of serving grand and regal style.
Beauty is discovered in the details, and the chamfered legs, crown detail, turned feet, and decorative solid brass hardware detail of this accent chest come together to promote a regal presence.
Dramatic statement pieces, spaces draped in dark palettes, and spellbinding decor accessories rich in presence and character denote hauntingly stunning interiors.
This post contains links to Paperless Post. I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions expressed are completely my own based on my experience.
Places In The Home is in full-on this is not a drill, the holiday season is here mode.
When a shopping network host announced Christmas is less than two months away, it brought it all home.
This end of October-beginning of November week kicks off the whole let’s holiday plan and prep shebang, and I’m inviting and celebrating family and friends, thankful feasts and fêtes, seasoned and Seasons Greetings, ’tis the season of soirees and open houses, New Year’s Day supper, and happy birthday greetings with a little help from my friends at Paperless Post.
Paperless Post is an online invitations, cards, and stationery platform. Begin the custom design process by creating an account.
Choose the occasion and from there peruse the selections of designs.
A wide range of distinctive designs, fonts, colors, backgrounds, shapes, and designers make it easy for you to create, design and send custom digital invitations, cards, and stationery for your business and/or personal needs.
Paperless Post has many cards free to send, and you can send a free card to up 200 email addresses.
Birthday wishes, save the date, dinner party, graduation, fundraiser, new address, game night, add your own photo, sympathy, charity event, birth announcement, girl’s getaway weekend, entertaining, sip and see free and fabulous.
Premium designer cards require coins to send. Coins are the currency used on Paperless Post to price premium design options and add-ons such as envelopes, liners, stamps, postmarks, logos, and backdrops.
As you go through the customization flow, the cost of your card per recipient will appear at the top right corner of the page.
Paperless Post never shows third-party ads on their website, in their emails, or on their mobile app.
Therefore, you do not have to use additional coins to remove ads.
Pheasant Plumage – John Derian
An invitation to gather together with friends to eat, drink, celebrate, and be grateful for one another on the third Thursday of November is but a custom design and email list away.
Gourd Times – Crate & Barrel
Holiday time is open house time, y’all!
A customized invitation to join you to celebrate not only fits the occasion, but reflects your personal style.
A Tuesday Tipple by Charlotte Olympia invites holiday style to the holiday mix and mingle.
The Lady It’s Cold Outside invitation is decked out in faux fur holiday finery for a festive evening of holiday spirits, decorating, and dancing.
So sipping cocktails-Dino on the hi-fi-Cherries Jubilee-1960s throwback swanky.
The Peas on Earth invitation is perfect for our Creole black-eyed peas and Southern buttermilk cornbread Peas on Earth, Good Eats for Luck New Year’s Day supper.
Peas on Earth
A Louisiana birthday celebration deserves a snazzy and snappy birthday card.
Snappy Birthday (Nicholas John Frith) – Red Cap Cards
Design, create, greet, announce, invite, and impress friends, family, and clients with custom digital invitations, cards, and stationery from Paperless Post.
The design and send experience is as easy as email, the design result as elegant as it is exceptional.
It dawned on me last week as I was dusting (the all things house that make a home chore I love to hate) the bookshelves in the not ready for blog sharing time den could greatly benefit from an update-an edit-a rearrange.
That started a I’m tired of-I’m bored with-I don’t like that chain reaction.
An inspection of shelf, space and tabletop ensued, and the conclusion reached is I’m ready for a rearranging home decor accessories change.
Did you hear that?
That’s Dave the Builder breathing a sigh of relief as I assure him no painting, wallpapering or furniture moving will be involved in this most current update to our decor.
Oh, it’s coming, but more on that down the redecorating road.
It’s amazing how easy it is to stave off decor staleness by simply rearranging home decor accessories upon the shelves and tabletops of home sweet home.
I’m decorating to the oldies with the soulful sounds of Dionne Warwick and The 5th Dimension.
The music is from 1967, but the look in this traditional ranch doesn’t have to be.
I’m doing my decorista best to de-1967 this traditional ranch one project, one space, one rearranging home decor accessories at a time.
Stained woodwork works for some spaces, but this den is not one of those spaces.
Dave the Builder suggested I give the stained woodwork a chance.
I did and have for eight years.
Eight years.
That’s a lot of mulling it over.
This future project is on the fast track to the back burner due to prior “real job” commitments.
Dave’s schedule is full through October, and although painting the den bookshelves tops my at home project list, Dave’s projects pay the bills.
Good and stylish things come to those who wait.
Isn’t that how the saying goes?
New cabinet hardware is a must, and let me tell you why.
Changing out cabinet hardware is an inexpensive update, an install I am ridiculously brilliant at, and delivers instant visual gratification.
Move it here, move it there.
Take a look at the look created.
Assign each shelf a focal point accessory and work from there.
To the left, to the right, to the center-no two shelves or vignettes are created equal.
Style each shelf with objects of varying sizes and heights to create flow, balance, and to perfect the art of visual interest.
Feature items close to your heart, interests, and memories.
The rule of you effectively applies to decorating and should be beautifully evident throughout your home.
Old Man Winter has dropped his bags at the front door for an extended stay, but a fabric color, pattern and trim pick-me-up provides all the decorative lagniappe necessary to lift a decorative spirit out of the winter doldrums.
Mardi Gras and the calls of Throw Me Something, Mister ring thick in the mild Louisiana winter air, taking the sting out of the fact we’ve got a ways to go before spring, sprang and sprung of spring.
With the word throw being the star of the Mardi Gras Carnival parades, and bright, bold and anything but boring color draping the entire state in pops of party shades, color me inspired.
Decorative throw pillows remain a great choice of decorative accent for instant and affordable pop of color, pattern and trim.
The colors, pattern and fabric durability of outdoor fabrics are making the transition to indoor home decor accents.
Recently I came across a very informative feature by Stephanie Nickell in Casual Living Magazine.
Exclusive to Casual Living Magazine, the 2015 Fabrics Survey shows fabric color, pattern and trim choices projected to be the best sellers for 2015 by outdoor retailers and designers who responded to the survey.
Categories include cushions, slings, decorative pillows and trim predictions with percentage comparisons between the 2014 and 2015 results listed.
Let’s take a look at the numbers in the 2015 preferred pillow colors category.
Interesting predictions.
In what category do you find your preferred fabric color, pattern and trim choice in?
