A New Year & New Projects

I do not make resolutions anymore, at least ones involving habits like exercise, eating, etc. However, I do have a list of projects I want to tackle for 2010. These involve landscaping and finishing some large projects we started inside (painting, installing home theater speakers, putting in new lighting and more).

Most projects are a phone call away to a professional, but I like to budget for them. We have reached a point where everything is paid for in full at the time. While fiscally good, it does delay decisions (which irritates me, patience is NOT a strong virtue).

Owning a home means that there is always more to do. If you love to decorate like me, you always have more, as you like to tweak your design. We also switched styles from traditional, to a more modern mix, including many fabulous mid-century pieces that I inherited.

Style at Home this month showed a kitchen with a banquette, and inspired me to finish ours. I have talked about it forever. Our eating area is laid out poorly, and a banquette would make the most sense. This one was made using 13” IKEA cabinets, and had a custom 4” cushion made. I found many good articles if you want to build your own, having a custom one built will run about $2000 (?). 

A little history from lovetoknow.com

Furniture historians trace the banquette, derived from the Germanic word for bench, all the way back to France in the 1600s. Royalty used banquettes as window seating in formal rooms, with cushions covered in lush upholstery and carpeting. Rumor has it that many castles and palaces had concealed entries to secret passages located underneath banquettes.

Fast forward to America in the 20th century, when interior designers Billy Baldwin and Elsie de Wolfe reflected on the finery of French design and began to incorporate banquettes into the homes of their wealthy clients. Again, not as a kitchen convenience, but as adornment in sitting rooms, libraries, and ballrooms.

Kitchen banquettes appeared in American homes in the early 20th century to accommodate the needs of a busy family. Many houses built during this time still had relatively functional kitchens, so a banquette, with it’s space-saving design of a bench and tabletop, made more sense than a full table and chairs set.

I compiled some of my favorite images from HB, showing the homes of Peter Dunham, Phoebe Howard and more. All incorporate the best in banquettes, but I am going to use them as inspiration for ours.

    

   
Another option is to look at Coventry Benches from Ballard Designs. You can order them in an L-shape to create a dining nook as shown below. They offer a variety of fabrics, and some standard fabrics will ensure your pieces ship in as little as 3 weeks.

So Happy New Year to you all! Join me in 2010, as I continue to create my own sense of style, and hopefully help you create yours too!

New Year’s or Not?

I have mixed feelings about New Year’s Eve. In years past, we have hosted large gatherings (cooked and cleaned for days), small gatherings and no gatherings at all. I use to stay up all night, yet nowadays, I would rather go to sleep early. 

I keep thinking that New Year’s Day brunch sounds good. You all know that I love brunch! I headed over to Martha Stewart for some inspiration.

I can’t decide – a fresh pitcher of Bloody Marys

 

to accompany a Canadian Bacon Strata?

or Pear & Cranberry Bellinis

 
to serve with a Warm Spinach Salad with Fried Eggs and Potato

They both sound great! Which pairing would you choose? Or do you prefer pancakes, etc.

In addition, do you feel like celebrating, or after all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, are you content to stay at home and relax?

Expert Tips for Holiday Storage

I hope you all had a great week last week. Now that Christmas is done, my thoughts turn to two things: storing my decorations and making plans for New Years.

Style at Home has a great article about holiday storage tips. Most of the tips concentrate on how to keep things from being a jumbled mess next year. The best tip from the article is below:

“First, organize decorations into boxes in a logical way. All tree ornaments in one box, all banister and mantel décor in another, and all outdoor decorations in yet another box. Then, number them according to how you’ll want to open them next year says about.com’s housekeeping expert, Sarah Aguirre. Do you always decorate the outdoors first? Label that storage box with a number 1.”

Since I know our products best, I thought I would suggest some products from The Container Store, to help you determine what type of solutions you need. There are many more styles in store, but these are online options.

Ornaments

Consider a divided storage box. I have an archival one I bought years ago, with four removable trays; it holds over 100 ornaments. I can remove the dividers as needed, giving me room for larger ornaments. All of my ornaments are kept safe and sound until next year.

Archival storage boxes come in many different sizes and styles. This Red Moire' Archival Ornament Storage Box has 44 compartments and is a smaller version of the one I own. In order to maximize space, I often will place 2 or 3 small ornaments in the same section. For instance, I have small crystal drops, and one section holds a few of them.

For a basic solution, consider the Wing Lid Ornament Storage Box. If using a box that is not archival quality, consider packing your ornaments in acid-free archival packing shred to protect them from degradation. Experts recommend packing each ornament tightly. It’s best if the ornaments don’t move, even when the box is moved.

Tree Storage

Determine whether you want soft storage or hard storage for artificial trees (I have allergies, so no real trees for us).

Soft storage with wheels, is a flexible option and allows easy transportation of your tree for next year. Hard storage allows you to stack other containers on top of the tree. Or you can store your tree in a vertical tree bag. After determining your storage solutions, follow these guidelines for artificial tree storage.

Gift Wrap and Ribbon Storage

After you have wrapped all those beautiful presents, you still probably have paper and ribbons to store. This is where you have the most variety in storage options. You can choose from:

a Vertical Organizer

or a Hanging Gift Wrap Organizer

or create your own Customized Gift Wrap Organizer, using a large storage container, with smaller containers inside. Of course, the ultimate customized solution is an elfa Gift Wrap Cart. Don’t forget, now is the Annual elfa Sale - 30% off elfa and 30% off installation, sale ends February 15.

I just put 3 spaces in my house and had the installation done on December 23. It was Merry Christmas to me! I love the flexibility of the spaces and the affordability of the solutions (as I need to save up for those mid-century iconic pieces of furniture). I will have some before/after pictures in the next couple of weeks.

So, many different solutions for you to look over. Spending the extra effort now, will ensure that the next time you pull out holiday decorations, all will be in order. What a great feeling that will be!

images courtesy of istockphoto.com, The Container Store

And to All a Good Night!

photo from Flickr

Merry Christmas to all of you! Thanks for making this blogging adventure so worthwhile. Wishing you and your family all the best for 2010. See you next week.

And congratulations to the winner of the Cool Coat Wine Chiller: Leslie H. from Luxury for the Home.

4 Champagne Cocktails

4 Champagne Cocktails
Real Simple

Upgrade a glass of bubbly with one of these options:

• 1 tablespoon pomegranate juice
• 1 scoop mango sorbet
• 1 tablespoon grapefruit juice
• 1 teaspoon Amaretto liqueur

If you are looking for a great basic Champagne, Food & Wine's Ray Isle gives his favorite, plus four super-value alternatives.

Amazing Advent Calendar

Since this is a holiday week, I wanted to do some small posts for light reading.

I wanted to show you this beautiful Advent calendar. Kellie Cashon, from Cashon & Company made this 2 years ago, for her Garden Club Christmas project.

She made little windows, doors, and two front doors using hinges, and finishing nails for the knobs. She then painted the inside of the windows and doors with tiny scenes, so when the chocolate goody is gone for that day, you can see what little event is happening inside.

In addition, make sure to read about the incredible food and desserts that she and her mother made for their German luncheon. These desserts look delicious!

Friday Finds: Holiday Windows, Last Minute Gifts & More

 

Visual Feast: Join 1stdibs for their annual tour of New York's holiday windows: Holiday Moments, New York 2009. Visit Bergdorf Goodman, Barney’s, Tiffany’s, Ralph Lauren and more, and see the splendor of retail windows at their finest. When I lived in New York and worked at Bergdorf’s many moons ago, this was the MOST magical time of the year.

E-xcellent Gift Idea: Still needing a last minute gift? Avoid the crowds and chaos, and shop online. Give a One Kings Lane E-gift card, and let them choose what they want. The greatest part about one is that no shipping required! You choose the amount (from $25 - $1,000), enter the recipient’s email address, add your own personalized message, click send and your lucky recipients can start shopping the very next business day.

In addition, watch OKL founders Susan Feldman and Alison Pincus share their favorite ideas for entertaining and decorating.

December Give-away: Next week is the last week to leave a comment to be entered to win a Cool Coat Wine Chiller. Winner gets to choose from various styles and colors. For you non-tech savvy (you know who you are), send an email to mydomicilestyleatgmail(dot)com, with Wine Chiller in the title to be entered. Contest ends Dec. 24th.

Holiday Decor: Ragland Hill Social

I found Gwen Driscoll’s blog, Ragland Hill Social, when she left a comment on MDS. The day I clicked through to it, she was showing us her holiday decorations. I absolutely loved her house and her domicile style. 

Gwen is an interior designer in Memphis. Ragland Hill is a mountain summit that climbs to 764 feet above sea level. It is located on Follis Farms in Butler County, Kentucky. It is where she goes to clear her mind, think and dream. Her blog is an inspirational place to share details of interior design, entertaining, gardening and all things for a beautiful home and life.

The view from the front courtyard. How lovely to have a courtyard!

 My favorite kind of Santa’s helper, the furry, four-legged kind. Gwen had me hooked with this picture of her dog King, who patiently posed with a bell on his head.

A welcoming wreath beckons you in to her house.

  Beautiful Christmas tree in their library, love the warm brown walls.

What a great view – you can see all the way to the dining room. Look closely at the ceiling in the library and the fabulous treatment! They love to have cocktails in the library before dinner. 

Another warm and cozy place to sit and have drinks. The brick painted white gives a nice blank canvas and doesn’t detract from all the rich colors in the room.

Don’t forget to post a comment here to be entered to win a Cool Coat Wine Chiller. Some of you are not tech-savvy (you know who you are), so if posting a comment is too difficult, send an email to mydomicilestyle@gmail.com, with Wine Chiller in the title to be entered. Contest ends Dec. 24th.

Belle Chèvre Holiday Recipes

I mentioned in a post about Goat Cheese Logs, that I really liked Belle Chèvre goat cheese from Alabama, which I purchase at my local Costco.

Tasia Malakasis, the owner of Belle Chèvre, was kind enough to allow me to share some holiday recipes. I can’t wait to try the Mac and Two Cheeses with Caramelized Shallots, it sounds like the ultimate in comfort food!

Visit their site, for even more recipes, beer & wine pairings, and great gift ideas (all items are shipped next day, so perfect for those last minute gifts). I included some of their delicious photography, as it is mouth-watering!

Warm Belle Chèvre Salad with Pears and Walnuts

1 1/4 cup fresh white breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried
11 ounces soft fresh Belle Chèvre goat cheese (cut into 8 rounds)
1 egg, beaten to blend
2 tablespoons plus 3/4 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons walnut oil
8 cups mixed baby greens
2 heads Belgian endive, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large ripe pears, peeled, cored, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Mix breadcrumbs and thyme in glass pie dish. Season goat cheese with salt and pepper. Dip cheese into beaten egg, then into breadcrumbs, coating completely. cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead.) Whisk vinegar and mustard in small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in 1/2 cup oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Combine mixed greens, Belgian endive and pears in large bowl. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add walnuts and sauté until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Transfer to plate using slotted spoon. Reduce heat to medium. Working in batches, add cheese rounds to skillet and cook until crisp and brown on outside and soft on inside, about 2 minutes per side. Toss salad with enough dressing to coat. Divide among 4 plates. Using metal spatula, place 2 cheese rounds in center of each salad. Sprinkle with walnuts.

Mac and Two Cheeses with Caramelized Shallots

3 tablespoons butter plus more for baking dish
3 cups sliced large shallots (about 6)
8 ounces small elbow macaroni (2 cups)
1 1/4 cups half and half
2 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce (such as Cholula)
2 cups (packed) coarsely grated extra sharp cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2/3 cup crumbled soft fresh Belle Chèvre goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, covered, until shallots are deep brown, stirring often, about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, cook macaroni in large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally; drain well. Reserve pan. Bring half and half and hot sauce to simmer in same saucepan over medium heat. Toss cheddar cheese and flour in medium bowl to coat; add to half and half mixture. Whisk until sauce is smooth and just returns to simmer, about 2 minutes. Mix in pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Spread pasta mixture in prepared dish. Top with shallots, then goat cheese. Sprinkle with pepper. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes.

Fun Ideas and Suggestions:

In remembering that goat cheese is one of the world’s healthiest foods with enough tryptophan to be a feel-good drug, less fat and calories than cow’s milk cheeses, and virtually lactose free you can feel very good about using it in so many of your recipes or as a healthy and yummy alternative to cream cheese.

Goat cheese is extremely versatile and can be used from breakfast to dessert and snacks in between!

• Use instead of mayonnaise on sandwiches or in recipes

• Use as a substitute to cream cheese in all your favorite recipes

• Top a pizza with goat cheese (your own homemade or make Papa John gourmet with Belle Chèvre)

• Top any salad with Belle Chèvre

• Toss in your scrambled eggs

• Spread on green apple slices for an elegant snack

• Use instead of ricotta or mozzarella in your next Lasagna

• Spread on your bagel

• Put a little less butter in your mashed potatoes and add Belle Chèvre

all images courtesy of Belle Chèvre

Tour My Tree

I decided today to show you all some of my vintage ornaments and some of my favorite ornaments. Since I have to ship most of our presents, I don’t have any under the tree. I will wrap some this week and put them there as it looks a little bare. I also need to fluff the tree some more. No real trees for us, since I am allergic to them. One of these days, I may have a photographer friend help me figure out the best lighting for indoor pictures, to make them look as good as I can. I would show you more of my house, if I liked the final results of my pictures.

So, I have a multitude of ornaments. One of my most recent buying jobs included Christmas merchandise. Most of what you see on my tree never made it into the catalog, as ornaments were a low price point and hard to be profitable. However, that didn’t matter to me, as I bought whatever I could and at amazing prices. I also bought multiples when possible, for instance, I have about 30 of the red and clear snowflake ornaments from India. Those large amounts of ornaments always form the base decorations of the tree, and then I add more decorative items as I fill in. Some years, I also use tiny topiary needlepoint stockings (I have about 20) or sugared fruit ornaments (large quantity of those too).

Last year, my siblings and I had to go through everything in my father’s house and get it ready to sell. We unpacked boxes of Christmas items, and found all these all of these great vintage ornaments. Of course, they made it home with me and onto my tree. Such a sweet reminder of my Dad.

Vintage beaded ornaments in shades of turquoise, red, pink and multi. You can see a sequined snowflake in the background.

       I don’t think this picture does justice to this crystal chandelier ornament. For my delicate pieces, I use green floral wire to attach them to the branches. A trick I read about in Style at Home last year. Underneath is an ornament that looks like wrapped candy.

One of my new handmade ornaments in shades of teal.

Very over the top with satin, bead and faux pearls. I inherited about 5 of them, all different, and really love their bold designs.                  

A little blurry, but these are tiny, fragile houses in pastel shades. I have multiples of these and of swirl ornaments in the same palette.

Even though one of our dogs is a Corgi mix, and not a purebred, I couldn’t resist this ornament for $1. And speaking of dogs, I would be remiss not to show you my girls, since I readily admit having a weakness for canines of all types.

Macy, our mouser. In this picture, she plays a game called “dry me off, then let me kill the towel”. Which WAS really cute, until the morning I saw her do this little trick with a live mouse/rat! I wasn’t sure what it was, as I was too freaked out. My husband was out of town, it was 6AM and pitch black in our backyard. I was chasing her around with a flashlight trying desperately to get her to drop the mouse. No such luck, and I had to dispose of the carcass myself. What a morning, one I hope to never repeat!!!

Sasha, our skittish one. I don’t know what she would do if she saw a mouse. She likes to chase small animals, but I think she is all bravado. Either way, I don’t want to find out. Do you like my little fun additions to their pictures? I did it on Photobucket.