Ethan Allen's Holiday Workshop {What I learned}

I hope all of you in the U.S. had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It always goes way too fast. We spent a week in Hilton Head, SC with our family. It was quite relaxing and of course we ate WAY too much food. I am headed to the doctors tomorrow and hopefully he doesn't think I am having triplets by looking at the numbers on the scale! hehe

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to attend the holiday workshop at our local Ethan Allen. I went to the holiday workshop last year and really soaked up a lot of ideas and inspiration. The designers at Ethan Allen did not disappoint again this year. They came up with new and fresh ideas for all of us customers that attended.

I know many of you have already finished your holiday decorating, but for the rest of us that are either in the mist of pulling our bins from the attic or trying to decide how to decorate our trees, I thought I would share some of the tips and tricks they taught us. And for the rest of you overachievers....you can pin these thoughts for next year!

Of course I forgot to get a before picture...but here the designers took a plain buffet and mixed rustic lamps with a glitzy mirror to add some interest. I love the unexpected pop of red tulips instead of the typical amaryllis or paper-whites. The designers also gave us some tips of going out into your own backyard or gardens to pull out different textures in leaves and greenery to add depth and character.

This was a neat display on a dining room table. Here they added a plaid scarf instead of a table runner for warmth. I love the open box with the different heights of candles. They created an asymmetrical look, but it feels balanced with all the different materials used.

{P.S. I won the cute little footed silver tray! I can't wait to use it for the holidays!}

This picture is kind of washed out, but you get the general idea. This is what they called the transition from fall to winter using rustic, velvet, burgundy or burnt orange colors and textures. 

Tips:

-Place a Large tray on top of your coffee table for drinks and snacks

-Borrow pieces from other rooms

-Use spice colors to bring in the holiday look without going red and green

-Add candles for warmth

-Varying heights of objects on your tray or coffee table

-Use tray for entertaining with some small hors d'oeurves

-Place the recipe for your hors d'oeurves in a small frame on the coffee table for guests

I adore mercury glass for the holidays. It says classic and can be used around the home all winter. This adorable vignette boasts fabulous with yet again an asymmetrical look. I love that bowl layered with greens, gold beads, pine-cones and baubles! I think I need to add that idea to my dining room for sure.

After walking around the store and having the designers share their vignette's and ideas, we were invited back to the design room for hors d'oeurves. They had everything displayed perfectly using a gold, black and white color scheme. I of course loved the idea of the centerpiece below.

How great is this idea? Using an old mirror for a centerpiece and then layering candles and flowers on top to create a glam look for the holidays! Now...if only I had an old mirror laying around.


While we snacked on all of the fabulous treats, we were given some great tips and tricks on how to create a designer holiday tree.

And of course I didn't get a great picture of the tree they decorated....so here are a few of my favorites from around the web. I love the variation in colors and themes. 

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Colorful Ombre Tree

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So tell me....do you change your colors and themes every year or are you a traditionalist where everything looks pretty much the same year to year? 

Hope some of these ideas spurred you on to finished your decorating or at least get you started thinking about the holiday season!

I am off to do some Cyber Shopping in my sweats! Nothing better. Have a wonderful start to your week!

To view last year's Ethan Allen Holiday Tips and Tricks click HERE. 

Christmas Home Tour

How are you all holding up? Ready for Christmas? I am sure you all have lots to do to get ready for the big day. I am right there with ya! We have been enjoying parties with friends, visits from family and the hustle and bustle that this time of year brings. I am really trying to embrace this season this year! It goes by so fast and sometimes I forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas. So I am trying to slow down bits and pieces of my day just to look at our decorated trees, call a friend on the phone and look through all the cards and pictures that are sent through the mail. I feel very blessed.

Today I wanted to show you around our holiday home. The Holiday Decorating doesn't last long so I wanted to give you a glimpse into this year's decorating for Christmas. Be prepared to grab your coffee and/or wine....this is called picture overload!! Welcome!

Are you all still awake? I hope you enjoyed the tour of our home. I really tried to make it simple, classy and fun this year. It isn't perfect by any means...but I do love it so.

Have a great week sweets!

Ethan Allen's Holiday Workshop- {What I learned}

Welcome to Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend and are getting ready for this holiday week. We are actually staying home this year and celebrating Thanksgiving with my family. I can't wait to relax and spend some quality time with family.

I am sure some of you have already started decorating for Christmas. Some of you are probably against the thought of decorating before Thanksgiving. I have always been until this year. Because Thanksgiving is so late and we are going to be busy the next couple of weeks, we decided to start the decorating this past weekend. I will be sure to share some pictures and updates after thanksgiving.

Two weeks ago I was invited to attend the holiday workshop at Ethan Allen. Have you ever been to one of the decorating workshops either at Ethan Allen or Pottery barn? I had never been before, but thought it would be fun to get some new ideas and learn a little too!

They had a lovely spread to start the workshop off....

The first designer talked about all the new items that Ethan Allen has to offer. Below are some of my favorites:

Sunburst Mirror, Hand-blown Vase, Faux Fur Throw, Brass End Table, Footed Glass Bowl, Pearl Box


The second designer talked about decorating chandelier's for the holidays. It brings interest to a room when there is something higher than your eye level to look at. I pulled together a few examples below to get your wheels turning:

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A few designers also shared their secrets for decorating certain places in their home.

1. Choose a color scheme and use it throughout your spaces.

2. Use nature from your own yard to cut down on cost.

3. Group an odd number of objects together to create interest.

4. If you don't have a chandelier, create a tall center piece for the middle of your table using candelabras. 

I loved the idea of adding a sunburst mirror to the base of the candelabra to add a little texture and interest to your table centerpiece. 

My favorite part of the workshop was learning about decorating shelves, china cabinets and/or built-ins. I find that styling these items is a bit hard and I can never quite figure out where to place what. I absolutely love the idea of getting foam board and covering it in wall paper or wrapping paper for the holidays. It gives a little pop to your shelves and a glam look for a lot less!

If you choose to add some color to the background of your shelves, then the items you place on the shelves should be monochromatic. Using different textures and metals keeps your eye moving from one object to another.

If you aren't in to the large graphics on the back of your shelves, then your items on the shelves should have little pops of color. I love how they wrapped books in wrapping paper for the holidays and added a few colorful bulbs.

So did you gather a little inspiration from Ethan Allen's designs? I am definitely going to back my china cabinet in some kind of paper for the holidays. I think it will make my dishes pop! I also love the idea of adding a little something to my chandelier. Stay tuned...

Have a Marvelous Monday my friends!


P.S. I was not sponsored by Ethan Allen to write this post. All opinions are mine...I just love sharing them with all of you!! xoxo