Holiday Help: How To Trim Your Tree

The holidays are upon us! 

And since many of you told me how helpful this article was to you last year, I thought it would be good to put it up again to remind us all of the basics of tree trimming.

 Happy decorating!! :)

Just this week someone asked me the darndest question:

"Can you tell me how to decorate my Christmas tree?"

This time of year, a lot of us are bundling up in our mittens and hats to go pick our tree, while others of us may be hauling an artificial one out of the basement…but what I didn't realize is that many of us never really feel all that satisfied with the way it looks once we have it all trimmed. 

Well, that's not good!

SO, I thought it would be fun this week to share some tips and tricks that I use when decorating my own tree as well as my clients' trees that can really help this centerpiece of our holiday decorations to look dazzling and magical. :) So here goes: 

1. Be Bright-- the first and most important thing you are going to add to your tree is lights, and lots of them. The formula I most often hear for properly lighting your tree is to use approximately 100 lights per each vertical foot of the tree.  I know this sounds like a lot of lights, but once you see the difference this makes, you will never go back to a mere two or three strands sparsely sprinkled on the branches! The reason the number of lights is so important is because the glow and sparkle they give is really what makes the tree come alive visually, and gives it that magical twinkle that literally lights up a room. This year, add more lights. Really. It is a game changer. 
2. Be Consistent--In order for your tree to have visual impact, you need to have elements on it that make it look cohesive and consistent. Usually the best way to do this is to use garland and/or ribbon as well as matching glass balls or other large ornaments all over the tree that are all of the same color scheme. Trees that don't have this grounding element can look chaotic, with each ornament different from the next, and nothing pulling the whole thing together visually. Once you have these foundational elements in place, you can comfortably go on to the next step where you can then add a little of the sentimental chaos….:)
3. Be Sentimental--The part of our tree that makes it so meaningful are the ornaments that we have collected over the years that are significant to us. To be honest, these are NOT the things that will most likely give your tree the "wow" factor…but they are, after all,  what we love about Christmas! After you have completed step two where you have given your tree an overall balance and color scheme, the sentimental ornaments should be sprinkled throughout the limbs, between the colored balls and garland, completing the look of your tree!

I hope that these few ideas help you to feel more confident as you deck the halls this year-- AND I hope this year you are able to step back and smile with pride as you look at your gorgeous, glowing, glittering tree!

Instead of Sheep

Since we are only one week away from Thanksgiving, and I have been humming the tune....I just have to ask, do you remember the old Bing Crosby/Rosemary Clooney song "Count Your Blessings" from the movie White Christmas?

No? I'll sing a bar for you....

when I'm worried, and I can't sleep

I count my blessings instead of sheep

and I fall asleep

counting my blessings. 

 (by the way, I really did sing that as I typed it. Couldn't help myself.....)

I have been thinking a lot about gratitude lately, and how the practice of it can change your perceptions, and therefore change your life.

As far as our homes go, we all spend a lot of time dwelling on the things we wish were different about them. You know the drill:

"Oh, how I wish my house just had....______"(fill in the blank with whatever you have been longing for lately).

But if we choose to shift our focus, we can instead notice all of the things that our homes do well for us day in and day out--even such basic things as keeping us warm and dry on a cold and rainy night.  We can choose to count our blessings.

I am sure that you have heard how important it is to practice gratitude, but the thing is that the message that we need more, better, bigger, & newer gets a lot more airtime. That message drowns out the smaller voice inside of each of us that reminds us that we are enough, and that our houses, while imperfect, have amazing beauty, purpose, and function just as they are.

SO, what are the simple yet wonderful things that your house does for you?  What are its charms, possibilities, and positive characteristics that you don't often recognize?

What are you thankful for?

Focus on these things, and you may just feel that you & your house have gone through a complete renovation.

What things that you are thankful for today?  Please share --gratitude is such a blessing, especially when shared with friends!

It Bears Repeating

Deciding to redo a room can be a time of overwhelm.

Where to start? What to put into the space? What color should it be? 

We often feel we have to totally reinvent the wheel and come up with completely new ideas, getting rid of everything in the space & throwing the baby out with the bathwater.  

But the thing is, you don't. 

If you carefully look at the room you are trying to redesign, it will kindly give you clues on how to bring the space together more beautifully and purposefully, but you just have to know where to look. 

One of the most stunning elements of the cottage I am currently working on up in Maine is its glorious Gothic windows. 

So lovely. 

They are in an alcove on one end of a very large open space that includes the sitting room, dining room, and music room. 

The shape of these windows is an element that I love. So, how can I bring more of that into play?

Last week while I was there working, I was so excited to find salvaged Gothic windows at an architectural antiques dealer in a nearby town. We brought them home, and set them in place to see how they would look...

I literally jumped up and down clapping when I saw them in place.  

No kidding--I'm that weird. 

We placed them at the opposite end of the large space on an interior wall. The two ends of the house suddenly started "talking" to one another--they were in relationship, and all the rooms in between now seemed to get along better, too. 

Repeating elements within a space creates a way for a room or house overall to relate to itself. Seeing a theme or certain design element in more than one place in a room can create a sense of balance, peace, consistency, and symmetry.  It provides for a bigger impact than if that lovely thing was used only once all by itself. 

You may not have unique historic windows in your home, but you can add impact, too, by being consistent with other elements in your home, such as: 

• color
• texture
• shape
• subject matter in your artwork

What elements in your space do you already love? How can you bring more of that thing into the room(s)? We often think of repetition as boring, but it really is something we look for, and find comforting & beautiful if done in the right way. 

So, please go ahead and repeat yourself! 

Traveling Designer :)

The end of this week finds me traveling north to work on my client's cottage in Maine. Long days beautifying and restoring historic, character-filled rooms followed by a lobster dinner any night I can get my hands on one...

It is hard work but someone's gotta do it! :)

I hope you have some wonderful plans for this weekend as well. 

If you haven't yet, please follow me on Instagram! I will be putting up pictures each day of my travels, and hope to see you there. 

Blessings to you, dear friends!

So, I pushed her...

This morning at the bus stop my daughter was quiet and surly.

Ahhh, I love teenagers.

I was leaving for my morning walk, and was trying to talk to her about her day, but getting only mumbled words and grunts in response as she stared at the pavement. 

So, I pushed her. 

Don't worry--you don't have to call social services. I only sort of accidentally-on-purpose body checked her...and she pushed back--a smile starting to creep across her face. 

"Mom, STOP!"

"Stop what?" Totally innocent. I have no idea what she is talking about...so I push her again. 

"STOP!!"--she's now laughing. And she is actually looking at me. 

Then the bus comes, and we are off, starting each of our days with a totally different energy-- a win in the mom column! (I'll take each one I can get these days.) 

In the past two weeks I have had the opportunity to work on a few different rooms that were sort of like my teenage daughter--totally lovely in every way, but difficult and stuck in their grumpiness. And when I see a theme emerging, I just have to share ...

Sometimes when we are stuck in a pattern, doing something different, doing something physical can change our whole mood and help us to see a whole new set of possibilities. That is the REVEALING part of what I do.

The room above was just fine, the furniture having been arranged by me with my client a few years ago when they had first moved into the house.

But now things are starting to change in the household--a new doorway is being put into the room to improve flow in the house, children are getting older and needing a space to do homework close to mom, and my client and I looked at each other and agreed it was time to change things up, to give the room a little shove. 

Let the redesign begin!

I know it can be hard to see in photographs since all of the elements are essentially the same, but the way this room felt when we were done was totally different. We moved all the existing furniture, opening up the room and switching out a small desk (not pictured) for a new table from an upstairs room. This table is now the perfect place for the homework computer. 

Then this little table found a new home, too: 

Nestled into the window, we created another cozy spot to sit and study or play chess--something else the family loves to do. 

And then we sat back and took it all in. Everything was the same, and yet it was totally different! No more grumpiness--just lots of smiles and possibility. :)

So, if you feel things are a bit stuck in a rut, don't hesitate to shake things up a bit. Move things around, try new configurations, explore new possibilities, and see how much things can change in a few short hours!