TRICK OR TREAT?

The air is chilly and the leaves are turning brilliant colors. Halloween is a favorite autumn holiday, a fun time for seasonal celebrations and for decorating your home with festive colors and ideas. Kids and adults alike and the term enjoy Halloween, "All Hallow's Eve" lets us explore our dark side and have some mischievous fun.

Trick or Treating

The custom of trick or treating evolved in Ireland, centuries ago. In preparation for All Hollow's Eve, the poverty stricken would call upon the affluent people and request money, gifts and food. The food was gathered for a huge feast and celebration. Now today, children and adults alike enjoy walking through their local neighborhood and collecting treats.

UNICEF

A popular tradition in America, trick or treating for UNICEF began in 1950, when Philadelphia youngsters decorated milk cartons and collected money to help less fortunate children. UNICEF increases public awareness and raises funds to provide health care, nutrition, immunizations and clean water, around the world.

 

DECORATING YOUR HOME

Decor for Halloween can be spooky and scary, or it can lend itself to be playful and fun. Many people find bringing in the signs of autumn, or celebrating the fall harvest with seasonal pumpkins, gourds, and other natural decor makes their home feel special.

Decorating ideas that you can easily make by yourself. Halloween decorations can make use of items that you already have, such as candles, beans, and other natural decor to bring about warm traditions.

 

The most celebrated Halloween decoration is the jack-o'-lantern, traditionally a hollowed-out pumpkin carved to resemble a grotesque face and illuminated by a candle placed inside.  The jack-o'-lantern derives its name from a character in British folktales. 

According to these tales, the soul of a deceased person named Jack O'Lantern was barred from both heaven and hell and was condemned to wander the earth with his lantern.  Orange and black, colors associated with pumpkins and darkness respectively; figure prominently in most Halloween decorations.

Halloween is right around the corner, but there’s still plenty of time to incorporate many of these ideas into your home. From fall colors to playful front porch ideas, Halloween is still adored by the young and old. How will you decorate your home this season? I’d love to hear!

 

JENNIFER LOPEZ… A WOMAN OF TASTE

Grand Staircase in the Foyer

The lunette sofa echoes the curve of the staircase.

Jennifer Lopez knows a thing or two about red-carpet glamour. But at her California residence, a different, more serene glamour prevails. In the foyer, a dramatically sweeping staircase greets visitors. Beneath, a lunette sofa graciously invites them to stay. A white lacquered piano makes a striking statement in the living room, but it's the ethereal blue-grays, velvet sheens and shimmering silvers that truly captivate. In the pale mauve dining room and pastel peach guest bedroom, crystal and blown-glass chandeliers gleam like pieces of jewelry.

"Jennifer and I wanted elegance, but we didn't want it to look stuffy or conservative or serious," says Workman. "We wanted it to be graceful, with just enough sparkle."

Call it glint over glitz. 

INTERIOR DESIGN BY MICHELLE WORKMAN

PRODUCED BY ANNE FOXLEY

 

Custom klismos chairs in Calvin Klein Home fabric for Kravet. Tête-à-tête sofa, Michael Berman Limited, in Casamance fabric. Side tables, Global Views. Charles Hollis Jones coffee table. Custom sofa in Manuel Canovas fabric. Pillows in Scalamandré stripe. Tufted chair, Hollyhock. Fretwork chair, McGuire. Curtains in Schumacher silk.

 

Gray-Blue and White Kitchen

"There are all these tones of gray, and we played with that—using a bit more of a gray-taupe here, a bit more of a gray-blue there," says interior designer Michelle Workman. "It's almost like a black-and-white film from the forties."

 

 

Kitchen Nook

"Jennifer wanted to go modern and streamlined but retain the sophistication and stylishness," says Workman.

 

Pastel Peach Guest Bedroom

Vintage side table from The Red House Interiors, designer Michelle Workman's shop. Headboard and lamp, Williams-Sonoma Home. Linens, Peter Reed. The custom bench is in Christian Fischbacher fabric and the art on the walls are by Jean Cocteau and Ana Carballosa. Ceiling fixtur, DK Living. Curtains in Nancy Corzine fabric. The rug is from Melrose Carpet.

Pink Gown in the Bedroom

"Jennifer and I wanted elegance, but we didn't want it to look stuffy or conservative or serious," says designer Michelle Workman. "We wanted it to be graceful with just enough sparkle."

 

Dining Room

Side chairs, Baker in Kravet fabric. Swarovski crystal chandelier, Schonbek. Art, Julianne Boudreaux. Wallpaper is from Cole & Son.

Great thanks to Veranda magazine for this great article, on an admired home from Jennifer Lopez.

 

 

BEACH STUDIO IN HALKIDIKI

We have been asked to decorate a very small studio that is 45sqm in Halkidiki. Greece. Located by the beach, it has a spectacular view, for it is the perfect location for a beach studio.

The small home is a one-bedroom studio with an open kitchen living room and bathroom. The challenge in these types of projects is making the home feel warm and inviting, but also adhering to a small budget. We have to be creative with our decorating choices, while still giving the client a gorgeous end result.

 

Design Ideas

In the bedroom, the owner had an old bedroom set in brown wood, which we changed into white lacquer, to enlarge the room. The white color also helped bring a fresh feeling to the space, and the furniture no longer swallowed up the rest of the small bedroom. Adding white to any space also gives a fresh summer feel and psychologically feels inviting.

Above the headboard on the wall, we decided to place ceramic birds we found in the local village market. It gave the wall dimension and a subtle focal point, in which also gave a summer effect in the room.

Money Saving Design

When designing the space, we realized that style shouldn’t be minimized because of a small budget. For example, in the windows we used ready-made curtains from Ikea and tied them with knots in a special way. This gave the room a pulled together look, and dressing the windows helped make the space feel like a home, rather than just a small room.

Since our client has beach views, we wanted to bring in the sea life inspiration wherever we could. From seashells in the windowsill, to the birds on the wall, we wanted to embrace the outdoors, inside the home as well.

Bathroom Ideas

The one bathroom area is a good place to bring a neutral color palette and soft textiles into the space. To soften the look of the vanity we used a linen skirt and matched the shower curtain to unify the space. Simple decor items like a flowering orchid make for a beautiful space without over cluttering with visual elements.

The beauty of this space is that it also hides the washer machine! So the skirted area under the vanity housed the machine, and we used mirror cabinets for storage of toiletry items.

Living Area Ideas

When designing your small home, ensure functionality is at the heart of your intentions. In this small beach home, we utilized sofas that could convert into beds, to help the homeowner be able to accommodate visitors. 

Pulling inspiration from the beach, and seaside living, we covered an accent wall with bamboo and kept the breezy ocean home living theme throughout the entire space. Playful collections like these hats can be functional and decorative. Never miss an opportunity for display to act as decor too!

Ultimate views from either side of the balcony, makes this the best seat in the home. An affordable table from Ikea, simple dining chairs and a lounging area opposite, make this the treasure of the home. 

This simple but cozy beach view home is the perfect place to retreat to at the end of a long day. The affordable design ideas we used helped the homeowner make great multifunction areas, and still feel comfortable and relaxed. Ahhh… the ultimate home.

ON SALE NOW 2

Our last 'On Sale' post was so appreciated by you, my readers that we decided to post some more items on sale we liked. Enjoy the finds, and let us know which ones you love the best!

 Pottery Barn

 Apartment Therapy

 

Pottery Barn 

 

Williams Sonoma 

 

Pottery Barn

 

Horchow

 

Ballard Designs

 

Williams Sonoma

We hope you take advantage of the great sales going on now. You will love how any of these items enhance your interiors, and save you money. A true win for all!

GIORGIO ARMANI - The Man of Taste

 GIORGIO ARMANI

...HIS HOME

                                                               

Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani - The Man Behind the Design. Giorgio Armani is, to many, Italy's premiere fashion designer. His work is crisp, clean, elegant and tailored. Armani's designs have changed the look and feel of contemporary fashion in business, entertainment and the fashion industry itself. Armani is a no-nonsense designer who came from humble beginnings in Piacenza, Italy, where he was born on July 11, 1934.

Young Giorgio wanted to be a doctor, not a fashion designer. He attended local public schools in Piacenza and completed two years at the university there, studying medicine. However, Giorgio soon realized that medicine was not the career for him. He didn't like the sight of blood - to cite just one reason. Anyway, medicine's loss was fashion's gain. In 1957 and still in his early 20s, Giorgio took a job at La Rinascente. He eventually became a buyer for this most famous Milanese department store.
A few years later - in 1964 - Armani, who had never received any formal instruction, became an assistant designer for a line of men's wear, called Hitman, under Nino Cerrutti. He worked with Cerrutti for 6 years. In 1970, due largely to the encouragement of his longtime partner, Sergio Galeotti, with whom he cohabitated for many years before Sergio's passing of AIDS in 1985, Armani struck out on his own. He became a freelance fashion designer. By 1975, Armani and Galeotti had established Giorgio Armani S.p.A. Giorgio had created his own line of men's and women's ready-to-wear clothing.

 

A glimpse at Giorgio Armani's home:

 http://www.centralinteriordesign.com/2206/homes-of-armani.html

 http://www.armanicasa.com/armani_casa_docs/en/index.html

Armani's extension into the home is consistent with the designer's fashion philosophy and language. "The process of creating products for the home and for fashion collections is very similar," he says. "Both skills require an ability to imagine things in three dimensions and to translate sketches into reality. In both cases, it is the precision and finesse that will make all the difference." The furnishings are designed to fit specific zones in the home: living, dining, bedroom, study, kitchen and bath. Each season, additional lines are introduced to complement the existing ones.

ARMANI CASA LINE

 

Don't you love the influence of Giorgio Armani and his influence on the interiors design world? Thanks for letting me share his inspirational designs with you.