Easy Holiday Decorating: Swap out your pillow covers!

A really easy, quick way to bring some seasonal cheer into your space is to swap out your throw pillow covers for holiday themed covers. If your pillows don't have removable covers, don't worry, you can buy just the pillow cover (without the insert) to fit over your existing pillows. And then when the season is done, just unzip, fold and store away for next year!

Here are just a few of the pillow covers available. Some can even be monogrammed for even more  "J - O - Y"

1. Woody Car Embroidered Pillow Cover, Pottery Barn

2. Solid Velvet Pillow Cover, West Elm

3. Jackson Plaid Pillow Cover, Pottery Barn

4. Monogrammed Cotton and Velvet Pillow Cover, West Elm

Easy Holiday Decorating: Wall Trees!

One of the joys of holiday decorating is the Christmas tree, but what happens if you don't have space for a full size tree in your Living Room? While the miniature trees are cute, they aren't your only option.
Clear some wall space and create an artistic tree outline. You can use twine, ribbon, painters tape, tree lights, or just about anything you can think of to create this! Check out these great pictures of what people have come up with.

A beautifully drawn Christmas tree done on craft paper and pinned to the wall can be re-used year after year. I love how they added the ornaments and tree topper! 

Use Christmas tree lights and some push pins to create a tree that really lights up the room! 

Simple tape (be sure it's one that won't peel off your paint) can be used for those less artistically inclined. Still a beautiful tree with opportunities for ornaments and a place to stack presents!

I love the dolies used to create this tree! They are so snowflake-like that they are perfect for a wintery, holiday tree! These would also look great against a colored wall! 

Another fantastic idea for a wall tree is to use a chalkboard and draw your tree. If you can't find a chalkboard large enough, then they are super easy to make with a sheet of plywood or canvas cloth and some chalkboard paint. What I love about this idea is that it can become interactive with your friends. Anyone who comes over can draw an ornament on the tree! Then you have a tree filled with fun memories! 

When the season is over, wipe off and use throughout the year as a ever-changing art piece, notepad, or whatever! Or, if you don't want the pressure, you can slide under the bed for next year :)

Happy Holidays! 

KTLA 5 Morning Show!

Decorating for the holidays is fun, but if you're limited in space it can be very challenging! Loralie Orr showed how you can still take part in all the fun of Christmas decorating even if your room is spatially challenged. Check out the segment from KTLA 5 Morning News!

Watch! 

We'll be posting more Easy Holiday Decorating tips on upcoming blogs to give you more information on how to make some of the things featured on the show and share even more easy decorating ideas! (psst... if you sign up as a subscriber to this blog you'll be notified when new blogs are posted!) But for now, here is a list of where you can find the products shown:

Wall mounted deer trophy: "Buck Jr." from CardboardSafari.com
Pillow covers and Stocking: West Elm

Happy decorating! 

Easy Holiday Decorating: Cover your books!

No time to decorate for the holidays this year? No worries, Ellenor has some tips on easy, quick decorating that can have a big impact on your space...

Go back to your high school days and cover your books! Paper bags, holiday paper, or even just white paper can make a huge difference to your space. Bookshelves create a great design opportunity in any space, and if not done carefully they can be an eyesore. Covering your books will instantly make your shelves seem more chic, well designed, and will mask any faux pas!

Covering just a few or all of your books you will create a big change in your space. By eliminating all of the contrasting colors of the books, you create a uniform and neutral backdrop that will allow the holiday decor you place in front of it to really shine!

You can also cover just a few of your books and place them in a way that will create a holiday shape, or outline. Just a few covered books can create the shape of Christmas tree on your bookshelf!

And if the idea of breaking out the tape and scissors scares you away, you can cheat a bit by just slipping a piece of paper around the spine of the book. That's how the bookshelf tree was done in the photo above! It's a huge time saver and still looks great!

Until next time... happy decorating!

Team Spirit! ...In your home.

Forget the foam fingers, bright signs, and tacky team decor. Whether its you or your spouse that wants to adorn the house in team spirit, you can do it tastefully and while still upholding a respectable style by following these simple tips.

This room screams team in all the wrong ways.
Lets try to avoid this, shall we?

1. Be inspired by the colors rather than restrict yourself to them. Use small doses as accents against a more neutral palette. Or use one of the team's colors as your backdrop, but don't necessarily stick to their other color as you accent. Some team colors just don't translate well to home decor... sorry. But I promise your point will still come across.

2. Incorporate subtle accents into your existing space that represent either a team color, player, coach, or an ode to stadium. A throw blanket (or two) that represents one (or the second) color of the team can be easily worked into a room without throwing off any working color scheme. A framed photo of the coach, player, ticket, or stadium can be an accent on your bookshelf. A game ball, token from a game, or even a bobble head could work as a bookend. Coasters, picture frames, dish towels, or a single pillow can all be subtle nods to your favorite team. The idea is to use them thoughtfully and sparingly to keep the tribute subtle. Too many of these objects or too blatant of a display will make your room look like shrine.

These Crate & Barrel throws are a great
way to bring in your team's colors.  

This vintage ice bucket from To Hell in a Handbag Shop on Etsy
is a fun and subtle way to show your love of golf.

3. Adorn your walls with a images and objects of your team to create a gallery wall. This is a great way to contain the love by concentrating a large quantity of memorabilia into a controlled space. A gallery wall can be as small or as large as you want and can showcase your own photographs, others art or photos, game-day tickets, players cards, and great vintage items.

You can use both images and items to create a great gallery wall. 

Gallery walls work well in any place!

4. Simplify things... sometimes the mascot (or even a silhouette of it), the block letters of a name, or a team motto can make a bold impact. These are usually super easy to do yourself by printing out and framing or stenciling onto a plain pillow or blanket.

Go Bulldogs!
Silhouette pillow from ElsaBeta Shop on Etsy 

Letter Pillows from Jonathan Adler can easily be
 customized to represent your team's initials and color. 

So go ahead and invite your team into your home without compromising your home's style. And keep these additional tips in mind when shopping for and incorporating team spirit into your decor...

Vintage items are a great way to show your love for the team because people tend to "respect" vintage items over newer items. This work for you because they won't automatically pin you as a die-hard fan... and a tacky one at that. There are tons of vintage posters, postcards, souvenirs, or even vintage "how to play the game" books that you can use in your home (use them as a whole on your bookshelf or take out and frame individual pages). Check out local garage sales, antique shops, and online shops like Ebay and Etsy.

This great print from a 1940's dictionary would be an
awesome addition to a boxing fan's collection.
More sports available from Folie Dujour Shop on Etsy

Vintage John Elway Comic Book from Leftys Leftovers Shop on Etsy

Photographs are something else that people respond really well to, especially ones done in black and white. An old photo of you and your pop at the game or a new one of you and your buddies. Artistic shots of your stadium, a local bar that goes hand-in-hand with your game day tradition, or generic game or stadium shots can be a fantastic complement to team-specific shots. Look through your own photos and ask your friends, Etsy and other online sites are great for finding artistic photos.

Jessica Morgan's photo of Dodger Stadium

Photo of Busch Stadium by Gemini Complex on Etsy

This image of stadium seats could be a great "generic" image to
round out your own gallery wall or collection.
By HHHillaryyy on Etsy

Frame your items to make it look more thought out. Rather than tacking up a team photo to your wall or flag (al a my husband... and hanging these things crooked I must add) frame it, hang it straight, and add to it (thats right I said 'add to it') to make it into a gallery wall.

This collection of team pennants could have looked like a huge mess,
but grouped together and framed make a great impact on a space.

To sum it all up... Use your pieces thoughtfully and sparingly to create a tasteful tribute to your team, and let the colors inspire you rather than dictate you. Remember, you can still represent the team while also representing stylish interiors.

Go team!

Ellenor

Turn an Outfit into a Room: Simply Structured

Last night's Project Runway, season 10, challenged the designers with creating a look for a "Woman on the Go." Overall, the designers stepped up to the challenge and created looks that were really going somewhere... others should have been going home to change. Fabio Costa created a so-so look, not really great (other than the fabulous print) but not really bad either. Still, he ended up in the bottom three which means that we can now turn this outfit into a room! 

So here's the look that Fabio created for his woman on the go...

And now, lets go to the lounge for happy hour! The chic simplicity of this outfit can be turned into a perfect lounge to catch up with your friends and a drink after a busy day.
In this space, place 4 high-back, comfy chairs around the cocktail table to create an inviting and intimate place for conversation. Then throw in a little pouf for additional seating or propping your feet up, and add a couple of "wow" pieces to give this space the chic look that every lounge needs.
Just like with the patterned dress in the outfit above, the rug is the central element in the room to provide the pattern and pizazz. Furniture with very structured, clean lines give this room a similar aesthetic that Fabio was after. Modern accessories, also with very linear characteristics are the perfect finishing touch to this room.
Simplicity is key for this outfit and for this room. Pure function, but with with the chicest of style!

1. "Orbit Chandelier" by Z Gallerie

2. "Portico Mirror" by Z Gallerie

3. "Lola Chair" by Room & Board

4. "Black Bridget Kilim Rug" by Jonathan Adler

5. "Moroccan Pouf" by Jonathan Adler

6. "Origami Coffee Table" by West Elm

Turn an Outfit Into a Room: Sleek, Edgy, and Glam

Last night's Project Runway was a bit underwhelming. The designers were faced with their first team challenge and it seems that everyone toned down their point of view so much that no point was made. There were however a few stand out outfits that could be turned into fabulous rooms, but what kind of challenge would that be for Ellenor? So here we go, from the lowest scoring designs on the runway here is what Christopher Palu and Andrea Katz put together.

With last season's winner, Anya Ayoung-Chee, as their client these designers should have been able to create a look that was fresh, relaxed, and sexy. Unfortunately this dress missed the mark in both identifying with their client and with execution. However pull the same basic ideas from the design of the dress, such as sleek and edgy with a touch of glam and you can put together a pretty good room. 

Streamlined furniture and monochromatic materials create the same basic aesthetic of the dress's design.  Details such as the blown glass lamp and gold accents give just the small bits of glamor to the room to keep it from being too boring. Variations in the same main color also help keep away the blah factor. Leather and industrial elements such as the design of the bar cart and details found in the drum side table, give the edge to the room that the studded leather belt had tried to give in the dress. A palest pink on the walls in a very high sheen would be the perfect way to finish this room.

 

1. "Libations Bar Cart" by Crate & Barrel

2. "Jackson Leather Sofa" by Room & Board

3. "Prescott Cowhide Rug" by RugsUSA

4. "Woven Gold Leaf Side Table" by Neiman Marcus

5. "Glazed Pillow Cover" by West Elm

6. "Jules Accent Table" by Crate & Barrel

7. "Everett Leather Chair" by West Elm

8. "Venezia Table Lamp" by Crate & Barrel