Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

by Caitlin McGauley

Jingle Bells!

I love this idea for a staircase~maybe next year :)

Peter Callahan's country house

Drafting course

The required drafting portion of design school just concluded for me.  Much gratitude is owed to my architect instructor (who has his own very busy practice) for taking the time to teach this class and for his excellent constructive critiquing~it made it that much sweeter when he was impressed.  He told us at the beginning that our drawings would be beautiful and I doubted him.  But in the final class, it was obvious how much we all had learned.  Only 8 of the original 18 completed the course and it was worth it to finish. :D

 My elevation of a closet built-in.

Dream finishes--Scalamandre zebras wallpaper, Barcelona bench, beautiful wool rug and glam chandelier.

Christmas trees

The idea of having Christmas trees in more than one room has always appealed to me.  Here are some beautiful trees in different rooms to celebrate the season.

images from freshome

Pantone names 2012 color of the year

Get ready for a spicy 2012. Today Pantone declared Tangerine Tango (17-1463 on your fandex) the “vivacious, enticing” color of the year. It’s a bold follow-up to the similarly tropical choice of Honeysuckle for 2011 and the previous year’s breezy Turquoise. “Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Pantone Color Institute executive director Leatrice Eiseman in a statement announcing the pick. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.” Those eager to embrace the “spirited reddish orange” should keep an eye out for the Color of the Year beauty collection, part of a new partnership between Pantone and cosmetics retailer Sephora. Launching in March at Sephora stores in North and South America, the limited-edition collection will include eye shadows, lipstick, lip gloss, and nail polish, but it’s probably best to wear one at a time

source: Pantone

terrain

 If you're in the Philadelphia area, terrain is worth a visit.  Styer's is a 100+ year old eleven acre nursery and terrain is the 4th brand of Urban Outfitters.  After reading about their workshops and seeing some of their products online, I was excited to see it in person.

 The first thing I noticed was how wonderful it smelled--part nursery, part home goods store, the outdoor areas especially smelled of delicious pine.

 Being here made me want to buy an old house just so I could hang the wellie boot knocker on my door :)

 It was all I could do to resist buying it . . .

 'Please close the gate' came home with me . . . to help ensure our corgi doesn't escape the backyard.

 Just seeing paperwhites makes my heart race . . .  forcing them is a beloved 20+ year tradition and they smell heavenly.

 Pots of fresh herbs.

 An interesting chandelier.

 They have a delicious gourmet cafe as well.

 Thought this elephant was very clever.

 These mercury glass pendants are so charming . . . wish I had a place for them and I love the Edison bulb.

 A stack of these would have been nice, but at $48 each, they were beyond my comfort zone.

 A variety of pendants.

 Retro Christmas ornaments.

 Loved the use of plaid blankets.

The poinsettia house. 

Terrain at Styer's Store & Nursery

914 Baltimore Pike
Glen Mills, PA 19342

December's Matchbook is live!

Matchbook Magazine

C. Wonder(ful) in Soho

After hearing about this shop from a friend and then reading about it, I couldn't wait to see C. Wonder in person.  A few days ago, I had the opportunity to head to Soho and check it out.

Everything is beautifully displayed and fully stocked.  They also do monogramming in-store.  We loved the kitchen area.

Some of the products they offer, those ikat dishes were a favorite among us.

All the color and pattern makes this a beautiful space full of lots of goodies.

The area for home was my favorite--beautiful frames, dishes, bone, horn, mother of pearl and lacquered boxes, pillows, blankets, trays, coasters, wine stoppers, napkin rings, etc.  A great place for gift shopping or picking up something for yourself.  :)

 The elephant tray and woven box were some of my purchases.  They are a nice compliment to the foo dogs I just picked up in Hong Kong.

Well worth the visit if you're in the area.

C. Wonder

72 Spring Street

New York

Martha's Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations

Since I can remember purchasing Martha Stewart's first Entertaining book many years ago, I wanted to add this to my library as well.  Even though most people don't entertain or live life on the scale that Martha does, what I appreciate about her is the inspiration and abundance of ideas she provides no matter what the topic.  This large book is full of beautiful photographs of gorgeous food, tables and celebrations.  Sure to enhance entertaining no matter what the size or locale.  Available on Amazon.

High Street Market Home

High Street Market Home opened today!  It offers a nice selection of vintage, custom and new items for the home, I found things to be well priced.  There are sale items and a deal of the day feature. 

Well worth a look--enjoy!

The Perfectly Imperfect Home

My copy of The Perfectly Imperfect Home arrived from Amazon just before we left on vacation. Since I was facing a sixteen hour flight, I was thrilled to have a good great read. This is one of the best decorating books I've purchased. The ideas sparked are marinating in my mind and I can't wait to implement them. For those of you who miss Domino Magazine, Deborah Needleman has done it again :)

Two more things I'm in love with from High Street Market Home

High Street Market Home is opening in a couple days and the sneak peeks are killing me--I want everything so far!  But these two, in addition to the lamp I posted previously, are favorites.

This faux bamboo tray table can be used as a bar, an end table or for entertaining.  It can be folded up and put away or left out as a permanent piece.  The tray is removable.

This turtle shell brass tray is so clever and unique, it could be purely decorative or used to hold various items.  It is based on a vintage piece the owners found.

November Matchbook Magazine is live!

One of my favorite couples ever.

Matchbook Magazine
favorite quote from Andy Spade
"To work for us you had to be talented and nice.  You couldn't be talented and mean."

terrain

Although terrain is within driving distance, I wish it were closer~I'd be there all the time!

November events