No Excuses for Boring Window Displays!

A small mom n' pop hardware store in a town near me has this creative window display up right now. I was laughing so hard when I parked in front of it that I could barely keep the camera still! I LOVE this! The array of silver-tone merchandise featured in this window is astounding, and the imaginative use of everyday hardware items to create a winter scene is wonderful.

For those who may ask 'But how does this sell products?', I ask you: What do we do at the first of the year? We clean, we organize, we try to simplify. And so we need trash cans. If this window doesn't make you notice it, and then think, 'Well, I do need a new trash can", go in and buy a retro galvie trash can, well, I don't know what will!!!

Kudos to this business....they've outdone the big box boys. And if these people can do it, so can you!!!

Looking Ahead...

I received my copy of a Home Accents Today special issue magazine today. In it, I found an 'annual report' of sorts on the home accents industry. Lots of facts & figures, lots of info, and a few of those things just jumped out at me:

Consumers look for decorating ideas in magazines (67%), store displays (60%), tv design shows/channels (53%), and the internet (38%). Other sources are friends & family (43%), decorating books (36%) model homes (27%), and home shows (25%). Designer showcase homes, newspapers, interior designers, and store sales people are low down on the list at @ 10%. (I sure hope store owners are reading this study, and focus on those store displays!)

Only 4% of households in the study hired an interior designer. Reasons given by the 96% who didn't hire one include that they wanted to decorate by themselves (59%), Designers are too expensive (40%), didn't even think of hiring a designer (14%), they were afraid the room would be decorated in the designers' taste and not their own (10%), and they didn't know how to find a designer (6%).

O dear. I'm going to ramble here for a moment.

That whole 'designer ego' issue scares the bejeebers outta' people. Hildy Santo Tomas and Doug Wilson are very talented designers, but they did more damage than good on Trading Spaces when they forced their wacko design aesthetics on wary homeowners who were used to white walls and overstuffed couches. (CHICKEN FEATHERS ON A WALL???? Hildy, good lord, what were you thinking???!!!) I actually never say the words 'interior designer' when someone asks me what I do. It just conjures up horrified responses. I say 'Creative Visual Designer' and they look at me like ....'oooooohhhhhhhhhh', meaning they have no clue. Better than a jaw drop and rolled eyes!

This report has helped clear away a bit of the clutter in my head. I've been working on clarifying just where it is I want to take my business in the coming year...considering options, looking at new opportunities, facing changes that landed on my doorstep within the past month (two major clients making massive changes in January, ending my consultancy with them), and creating a new plan.

I do find it interesting that the Holiday retail reports on the news focused on the big box stores, with no info at all on independents. The women entrepreneurs I know reported that their sales - both online and in brick & mortar shops - were up over last year. Those news reports and the Home Accents Today articles did not take into account sales of handmade merchandise through blogs, web sites, or boutique brick & mortar shops. This avenue of retail is growing by leaps and bounds as we all redefine the way we shop, live, work, and interact.

Part of my plan is that I am going to focus on the 'end user' a bit more - the consumer who is buying boutique merchandise and furnishing her home with it. I want to provide inspiration & resources & information that will make the entire design process better, easier, more fun for her. I'll be looking at opportunities to speak at home shows & conferences for decorators, and writing for shelter publications. I am really excited about retreat, the new venture I've started with my husband. We are creating products out of vintage & reclaimed materials, driven by our philosophy of 'rethink, recreate, reuse' and selling them through booths in cooperatives, at shows, and eventually online.

I'm not cutting wholesale shows, retail clients, or gift shows out of my picture, by any means, but that realm is changing and so am I. 2008 will certainly bring changes, clarity, and challenge my way! And this Diva is ready......

....no chicken feathers required. wink.

First Year Anniversary

Well, it's been a year in our little shop on Florida Ave. We moved in right before Christmas last year, and this Christmas finds us happy with our decision. We have lived in Seminole Heights for almost three years now and this neighborhood continues to surprise us. Our business has evolved considerably over the year. When we opened, we weren't sure how the neighborhood would accept our unique take on furniture and it's mix with our own treehugger tendencies. However, the response has been wonderful, and we will continue to evolve and grow with our customers.

We have met so many great neighbors and made some wonderful friends here. I am happy to see that Nicole is moved into her Green House on Genesee and that her built-ins are handling the majority of her book and record collection.

By the end of the year, we should have the first piece of TSM Designs (our own label!) furniture to grace a public city office! Speaking of official, we even visited Madison Middle School at our favorite art teacher's request and judged their recycled door decorations for Christmas.

We are still excited about the neighborhood's direction. More businesses are looking to our neighborhood for growth opportunities. Even as the housing market slows, our neighborhood is holding its values well compared to other areas in the city. We are so excited for what the new year will bring and hope that it brings you great things as well. Come by and see what's new!

Amy and Charles
Tampa Street Market

Totally Terrific!

Wasting time blog-surfing this morning, I found one of my photos on Totally Tabletops!

It's a shot (not the one above) of my white Santa mugs (I scrubbed all of the paint off of them, obsessive decorator that I am...) filled with snow. Anyone who reads my blog knows it's SNO-Wonder , of course... (and no, they don't pay me to expound their virtues! I just LOVE this product!!!)

Got SNO?

HOT SNO!!!! ;o)

Head over there to see what fab table decorating ideas await!

Retro Holiday

I found this book while thrifting awhile back (at the Glorious Goodwill outlet in Seattle, which means I paid about forty five cents for it) and thought you'd all love to see some fun things I found within it...like this very mod tree (well, it was mod in 1953 when the book was published!) and this thrifty nifty idea for a tablecovering Admittedly, not the grandest of decor ideas, but if you have a company party in a cafeteria, or something for the kids, this is a fun and simple idea - especially for the buffet table. This photo makes me remember that when I was a kid all of the neighbors on our street wrapped their front doors like presents - loads of metallic foil papers and huge Santa faces and holly sprig prints, accented with giant ribbons & bows. Mom covered our stunning persimmon-orange door with red paper for the season, accenting the brown & white siding just perfectly. I see fast food restaurants wrap their hanging pictures like this every year, too! (Tho it's hard to coordinate holiday wrapping paper with the abstract patterns and bizarre colors of outdated 80's naugahyde upholstery....sigh).

This book is like a peek into the past, revealing what was new and exciting in holiday decorating in 1953. No, not much there I can use now, but it's still fun to see what Martha's of a past decade recommended!

Holidays at Diva Central

Since a few clients and readers have asked me what the Holiday decor is this year at my Cottage, I thought I'd share a few photos of what I came up with. Essentially, I took my inspiration from my displays at the Willows Lodge decor seminar (silver, gold, and white) and combined them to create our decor for this year.

It's encapsulated in the photo above: tarnished silver, dried hydrangeas, old spalted glass balls, ivory velvet poinsettias, old sheet music & book pages, and lots of letter 'K's. Sort of a 'tattered & torn Holiday', straight out of an ancient stone grand house somewhere in Texas, one that has been a bit timeworn and abandoned. It's warm, it's heirloom, it's elegant but worn, it's comfortable, and actually quite a bit masculine. Compliments our rooms without competing - and to me, in a small house, that's very important. I love the browns and ivories...like wearing cashmere!

I still have birdnests out, plus some beautiful branches from Seasons of Cannon Falls that are brown, white, and ivory. I used lots of ornaments, drippy beads (thanks, Dona, I bought some of yours!) and very old real silver tinsel to add sparkle to the scheme.

In this photo, you can see the tree reflected in the mirror. It's actually two trees: a six foot vintage chrome tree (with color wheel!) and a four foot white tree, which I am not quite finished decorating yet. We nestled them together to create a fuller look. I"ll post a photo of the completed tree sometime soon!

On the game table, wood game pieces (Scrabble, Jenga, Pogs) sit waiting in silver bowls. A rusty birdcage holds candles.

See those cooooool ornaments? They are ivory glass with cream flocked damask designs. I found two packages of three at TJ Maxx, and actually yelped out loud when I saw them! GORGEOUS! The silver julep cup with dried hydrangea & a poinsettia made from vintage chenille is something I made and have for sale in my retail space. (Oh, yeah, I haven't told you about that yet, have I??!!)

The 'K's are cookie cutters, metal letters, wood letters, paper letters covered with ivory glitter, and even old woodworkers' rulers that I formed into our monogram. Our son came up with a saying a few years back: "Merry Kennemas!', so the K's are a reference to that sentiment. (And yes, it was his version of Kramers' 'Happy Festivus!'!!)

SO now that I've spilled the beans, I'll direct you to retreat - a new venture that my husband and I are creating together, and we are beginning by selling our designs at Faded Elegance Antique Mall in Everett, Washington. We'll also be doing shows in the future, and my books will include a great deal of these projects....so much underway! If you are in the Seattle area, I invite you to stop in at Faded Elegance - it's on Hewitt Avenue in Everett, near the Events Center.

Shop 'Till Ya Drop.....

I was at ToysRUs today, grabbing just a few extra goodies for our grandson's first birthday celebration tonight (not spoiling him at ALL...ahem) and I spied this amazing, adorable thing: 'Pink Boutique' Monopoly! I just have to share this, it's SO cool and totally about getting girls into learning about money, and shopkeeping and entrepreneurship....okay, okay, and shopping. Here's what ToysRUs says about the game on it's web site:

"This is Monopoly like you have never seen it - dressed up in pink and all about things girls love! Buy boutiques and malls, go on a shopping spree, pay your cell phone bill, and get text and instant messages. You and your friends will adore the funky tokens, cool buildings, and cute illustrations. Best of all, the game is stored in a beautiful keepsake box which doubles as a jewelry box. Cool game features include: 8 collectible tokens just for girls, keepsake storage box with removable tray and mirrored insert, pink gameboard with fun properties, pink and purple translucent boutiques and malls instead of houses and hotels, Instant Message and Text Message cards instead of Chance and Community Chest, pink Title Deed cards, redesigned Monopoly money, flocked banker's tray, 2 pink dice, and instructions.

Paint the town pink with this ToysRUs Exclusive!"

Tho that write up sounds like it's targeting eight to sixteen year olds, believe me every woman I know would love this version of the classic game! Got a girl to shop for? Maybe one who owns her own store or boutique or business? Perfect gift! (hint hint, Santa....)

Image and quoted text from http://www.toysrus.com/

Finish Line....

I feel like I must be reclusive or something, 'cause everybody I know keeps calling me, and emailing me, asking what I'm 'UP to'! I'm here to report that I'm 'UP to' my regular Holiday HooHah & Mayhem! (And no flooding in my part of Washington state...lots of rain, but no flooding.) It's madcap adventures with the schedule, I'll tell ya', but I got smart and cut my client list waaaaaay down this year so life isn't quite as crazy as past years! It's been busy, but not crazy:

So, I started here (three hours) .... and he knows I only come to decorate when the office is closed because I can't STAND to hear that dental drill......

...and then went here for three days (two trees, four dozen Dept. 56 houses, 152 nutcrackers, two dozen teddy bears, and a partidge in a pear tree....)

and then I went here for four hours and the most beautiful snowfall went on the entire time we were decorating the house. (Now how much service do I deliver, I ask you???? I even bring the SNOW!!!! ;o) )

...Today I was here (four hours) , admiring a vast collection of vintage ornaments (Dresdens, wire tinsel, glass so fragile & thin it's like tissue paper... awe-inspiring 100 year old ornaments) and moving oh-so-slowly so as not to break any of them!

...and then here (three hours), where a charming young lady of 101 smiled with joy as we filled her rooms with Holiday cheer. SO rewarding!

Some are big, some are small. One business, four residences.
All the retail clients were done way back in October. And now, as of five thirty today, I am officially DONE and may now commence with the festivities!

On my list of fun stuff to do: Celebrate my grandson's first birthday - TODAY! Picking up the first of our holiday guests - our daughter from Texas - at the airport tonight! Spending the weekend visiting with her, attending a soiree on Saturday night, finishing my own decorating.....yeah, well, maybe I'll get to that next Tuesday! Then it's Christmas letters & cards & photos, shopping for stocking stuffers (the gifts were done before Thanksgiving and THAT, my friends, is a record!), another party, then pick up our son & his girl at the airport, and indulge lots of Holiday music, eggnog, and fireside visits.

Holiday Cheer, indeed! Wishing you all a season filled with joy, peace, and festive decorating!

Let's Table This Conversation....

If you're on the lookout for some great tabletop decorating ideas, check out this blog: Totally Tabletops. The blog is linked to a party supply rental company, offering ideas for entertaining along with their rental services.

The photo above is my tablescape, two years ago at Christmas. And yes, that IS SNO Wonder in the Santa cups! (You knew I had to mention this fun 'faux snow' at least once this season, didn't you?!

Speaking of tabletops, I'm off to the Rosanna Inc. warehouse sale! Later!

Jingle All The Way To SoDo

I snagged these photos from tabletop design diva Rosanna Bowles ... because
Saturday morning at 8 AM, there is a giant sale at Rosanna's south of downtown Seattle (SoDo)warehouse. Guess who's gonna' be first in line?! (Hey, I missed the summer sale that I talked about here after we got into an accident, so I deserve this!)

I am TOTALLY enamoured of the black pedestals and gold filigree dessert plates & Kings Road gold crown collection ('cause EVERY Diva needs a crown, right?!) and the graphic chandelier, tree, and reindeer plates.....I hope I score some of these at the sale. I don't even mind blemishes!

After I've shopped, I'm heading to a client's home to decorate.

Jingling all the way! It may even SNOW!

Holiday Inspiration

My presentation at this years' Willows Lodge Girlfriends Weekend event was once again a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I just love this chance to provide inspiration, ideas, and resources to a wonderful group of women who are devoted to having a great time! It was a much smaller group than we normally have, and I have to say that I actually enjoyed it more, since I was able to stand right at the end of the conference table and chat with them personally all through the presentation. I had so much fun that I just kept on talking and talking....half an hour past my scheduled end time. Sheesh!!!

My goal at these kinds of seminars is always to get people to think in a new way about their decorating. No limits, no rules, no preconceived designer conceptions. The themes I create are just to illustrate, not to push some new 'hot look' for this year. (I was asked to write an article like that once...couldn't do it. I had to write it in a way that said stay true to your own style, express your own personality, don't be pushed into buying what's new if it's not YOU. It didn't get published because it didn't sell products!) I truly beleive that holidays are personal, so your style should come through.

This year my presentation was built around the theme 'Holiday BLING!' I featured three themed setups that served as neutral schemes that anyone could glean inspiration from...

'Whispering White' had a decidedly 'shabby chic' style. Varied tones of white & ivory, white metal accents, and antique linens & lace. For winter, this look is the equivalent of wrapping your home in a soft cashmere sweater.

'Glittering Gold' is a rich tapestry of golds, ambers, browns, and coppers. This traditional look speaks of Frankincense & Myrrh and is perfect for homes with Mediterranean colors.

The lamp above has a bare wire shade form decked out in gorgeous tapestry ribbons...

'Sparkling Silver' combines traditional silver and crystal for a shimmering update on traditional, Victorian, and even cottage decor. The lampshade above is a frame with crystals suspended from the bottom ring, and a crystal chandelier from IKEA sitting on top. It made the light dance across the walls!

And O I love tarnished silver! (With a slight tarnish not blackened!) I just think it has a gold shimmer that is so much warmer than perfectly polished silver is - but that's just me. So many people have family heirloom silver, that they don't use because of the upkeep. Well, let it tarnish a bit, and heap it full of ornaments to show it off for the holidays! No clean up!

Once I had talked about all three themes, I grabbed a few ornaments in bright colors and added them to each setup, to illustrate how color can change a neutral scheme. Really had fun with that - add hot pink to silver & crystal, and everyone says 'Sex and the City!' Add orange and blue to the gold, and it looks even more like a far Eastern bazaar. Add brown to the white, and it just looks even warmer. (One gal snapped photos to show her daughter for a winter wedding idea) It was fun to see them react to the changes. I popped the hot pink into the white, and then said it needed to be a softer pink - they were all shouting "Nooooo! It's pretty!" When I put soft sage green in with the white, they began raving about how you could go with the whole 'shabby garden' look and even add clay pots and moss balls. O how I love these gals!!!



Here's a not-so-great room shot. Ah well...

I told the gals that one year I'd love to be a GUEST at this weekend event, but I really don't want to give up my seminar. One of them said "Well, you could stand up there and talk for a minute, then come sit with us and say 'OOOh! WOW!' and take notes. Then get back up there...." Cracked me up! I was thinking more that I'd stay for the whole weekend, take part in all of the classes and receptions and winemaker dinners with them, and STILL do my Saturday morning seminar. We'll see...

A New Place to Play, Part Deux!

The holiday display at the Faded Elegance Antiques booth went in on Thursday night!
This tiny space is like a jewelry box, filled to overflowing with sparkling & glittering Holiday finery. Ornaments, wreaths, stockings, vintage paper packs, and fab gift items made with vintage materials await...

Replacing the previous 'leaves made from music sheets' are a bevy of bells.
I took old but not-quite-vintage paper honeycomb bells (from about 1970, I think) and 'aged' them with a few of my secret methods. Then I dangled them from the birch branches. They look a bit softer, more 'shabby' and in tune with things here now, don't you think?!
(Dona is so smart - she knew they weren't really old! It was really fun to meet one of my blog readers in person,too. She's such a lovely,sweet woman, and when I have time I am going to go back in and check out the goodies in HER booth!)

Vintage Shiny Brite ornaments and delicate tree topper spires, ceramic sleighs, and more whimsy in soft creams and warm reds. Makes me ALMOST ready to decorate at home! (Almost)

And Faded Elegance is having a Holiday Open House this week...23rd thru the 26th. Lots of giveaways, discounts, and treats!

Green Printing for Dummies

We're looking into organic cotton t-shirts this week at the shop. We recently started offering recycled cotton totes as alternatives to plastic shopping bags in our store. This was another foray into screenprinting for us that led to quite an education in green options for printing. Apparently there is no best option for eco-friendly printing as most have their positives and negatives. This isn't a big surprise though as most green choices involve tradeoffs of some sort. A quick search on the web turns up lots of info, but no clear winner. Plastisol inks (plastic derivatives) are the most commonly used in printing and are easy to deal with for most printers. They don't really dry out like water based inks and last longer than the material they are printed on. The water based inks don't have the nasty chemicals, but they dry out and have to be cleaned out of the screens right after printing. This puts more ink in the waste stream and causes cleanup hassles involving more water use and energy. I thought I had a better shot with the latest plastisol inks that use acrylic softeners instead of pthalates and pvc. The problem is, they cost at least three times as much. This drives the clothing price up and makes mistakes that much more expensive. Hopefully, as the usage increases of these new eco-friendly inks the prices will go down. For now, the searching and experimenting continues...

A New Place to Play!

I had a new display opportunity come up this past week, and it was really fun to do something different than my normal 'contemporary' style displays at the wineries and gift shows.
Take a peek:

Antique Mall Space.....Before......

And After......

The best part was being able to infuse this dealers' space with a mood that I'm really drawn to right now. Old worn surfaces, textures, and colors that evoke Autumn. This is really more 'me' than anything I do for other clients. Though small, it was a fun space to decorate!

Just goes to show that visual merchandising is valuable no matter what kind of space you have. And Antique Malls...well, it seems to me that anything you can do to add personality and a 'story' to them will be a good thing. Shelves crammed with dusty tchotchkes is just so old. This shop is filled with gals who really know how to set their wares off to best advantage....I love shopping here!

Detail shot: Since the mall owner covered the one wall with sheet music, I cut a bunch of leaves out of old music pages, and fluttered them from the branches of a 'tree' in the corner. This adds to the 'story' of Autumn gatherings.

Such a nice break from the 'norm' for me...Thanks, Kimberly!

If you want to see this booth and a bunch of great Shabby fun from other dealers, check out Faded Elegance Antique Mall in Everett, Wa. - 2112 Hewitt Avenue, just East of the Events Center. The tea is wonderful, too!
And tell 'em DivaDeb sent you!

It Takes A Village

I thought I might share a few tips for displaying Village collectibles this holiday season. Whether in a retail setting or home environment, there are some pretty simple things you can do to enhance the impact of this kind of holiday decor. I'm going to give a shout out to Linda & Margo at Molbaks here, because they are women who KNOW how to play up this stuff. They've each done the massive (and I do mean massive) display setups at the store for the past five years, and every year it gets better!

Remember Christopher Lowell on TLC tv? One of his taglines was 'Lifts, Levels, & Elevations'. Well, I call this the Chris Lowell tip: Get something to use as risers, and lift up some of the houses & buildings. Take the houses out of the boxes, and then use the boxes as risers - just cover them with fabric, or snow, or even wrap them in giftwrap if you want a cute look. Create hills with them, and then sit the houses on top. Put a few on the flat surface of the table or shelf to add dimension, as well.

In the setup above, a huge mirror from a client's dining table was used as the pond. The bridge sits on it, and we created a 'stream' by lining part of the mirror with rock walls and snow right over the mirror. Creates a cool effect and it really makes the light dance on the surface. And under those snowy hills in the background are cardboard boxes!

In this setup, I took a beautiful antique wood box and opened it, put a cardboard box in it, covered that with snow, then sat the conservatory building on it. This lifts the spectacular piece up and makes it the star of the show.

A closeup of the wood box as pedestal. You can also use books (old leatherbound ones are gorgeous!), small stools, plant stands, and flowerpots to add height. Be creative and match the items to the village theme!

Now, against the advice I just gave, here is a flat layout. This is a sofa table, so the village is visible from all sides. We set it up so that the houses are in two rows, with 'backyards' that are behind each. On the front sides of the houses, there are sidewalks & street, making it appear to be a block of homes in merry old England. Placing them this way eneabled us to fit more buildings into the setup, and it keeps it neat & tidy so it's not overwhelming to the eye.

This setup in the kitchen window uses a part (small part!) of the client's nutcracker collection along with the village houses. Everything has to do with food here - the nutcrackers are bakers and winemakers and such, the trees are made from gumdrop candy, the houses are a cooky shop, a candy shop, and the Rudolph & Santa village pieces. Glass cake pedestals hold some of the houses up high, and the nutcracker pedestals lift a few more way up above the scene.

Sorry it's fuzzy, but here's a closeup.

A really important tip for retail display of these items is to remember to create some SMALL setups along with the huge dioramas. Many people who love these live in small homes - condos, apartments, senior living centers - and space is a consideration. So show them how to display their villages on bookshelves, mantels, small tables, etc. in small groupings. The photos I've shared here are from a darling client who lives a in massive home. She has plenty of room to display her collections...but not everyone is in this situation.

Also, in retail, show a cross-merchandised approach in several of your displays. Incorporate photo frames, books, candles, lamps, and other decorative accessories (florals, even candy!) to show how this can be done in a home environment. You'll sell more product when you show the customer what to do with it!

Eye Candy

The beginning of this week was spent installing the holiday merchandise & displays at Columbia Winery. While there is a plethora of wonderful merchandise to be found there, I just adore this display. It easily wins my 'Best in Show' prize this year (even if I did do it myself!)

The pine tables and hutch all match, making them effectively disappear so that the products stand out. I took a garland, ran it diagonally to create energy, fluffed it up with happy ribbon swirls, and then gathered up all of the glass vases, pedestals, bowls, and domes in the shop and brought them to this area to use as props. That way, the glass helps to create the 'candy shop' theme and adds sparkle, but the real focus is on the products. I hung a few of the giant bells overhead, too.

The merchandise is from Seasons of Cannon Falls, and it's all red flocked velvet jingle bells and rhinestone pins & bell necklaces. I placed the merchandise under the domes, heaped in the vases, lying on the cake pedestals to show it off - it's definitely eye candy! I also added a line of peppermint-twist candles and the Mary Lake Thompson candy cane linens (not seen in these shots) because they fit the theme.

When the Christmas candy order arrives at the beginning of next month, those items (candy canes, lollipops, candy cane wwreaths, etc) will all go into this area, as well. I just wanted to take all of this luscious stuff home and decorate with it - even tho when I use red in my tiny Cottage, it makes the rooms seem OH so small. Ah well.

Photos of other displays later!