Sunday, July 27, 2008

Common Scents....



One thing I LOVE about home decor stores is their wonderful selection of candles. Often you can find my personal favorites, Tocca Candles. They come in large and travel size and are in clear votives with cream and Tiffany blue labels. Besides their aesthetically pleasing appearance, they smell amazing and permeate the room with their light and sweet smells. My favored smell of Tocca Candles is one of their newest scents, " Florence." Not only does it remind me of my times in Florence when I studied abroad last year, I truly think it is their best smelling candle. My friend Lindsay gave me the candle before I left for Italy and I burnt it the entire time I was there. Since the mind commits smells to memory, it brings back memories of the beautiful city that I called home for four months. These candles are a bit on the pricey side, at $38 apiece, but absolutely worth a try. I would also like to get four or five of their "travel size" candles and place them on the fireplace mantle or a freestanding shelf if I live somewhere without a fireplace.
More Later,
Mackenzie Page
Florence candle picture from www.luckyscents.com
travel candle picture taken from www.harrods.com

Vanity may be a Virtue....



One thing that I have always dreamed of having in my boudoir is a vanity table. I'd like a place to sit and do my makeup before a grueling day at work. I have seen some attractive vanity tables that have an attached mirror or at least a matching one. However, I think the more chic, and perhaps more "new" thing to do is use a desk as the table and use a mismatched mirror to give the look more contrast and elegance. While I am still into the "antique" thing, I am trying to stray from the whole overly shabby chiced appearance of white, chipped wood. I wouldn't mind something that looks polished and is white, perhaps paired with a carved painted wooden mirror for a more casual girly look, like this one from beachdwelling.com. Another one from beach dwelling may be more sophisticated and would give the vanity area a sort of Parisian look. The polished wood would look nice with a gilded gold mirror hung above it and perhaps a vase full of huge white flowers. On either vanity a tray would be ideal, with little bottles of perfume. Since most attractive vanity tables don't have tons of storage for makeup and other toiletries, I would probably find some pretty baskets to put under the table or to the side to hold miscellaneous items.
More Later,
Mackenzie Page

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Window Treatments....


I have never been a particular fan of extremely ornate curtains. I think that they can take away from the natural beauty of the window, especially in an older house. I am however, very much for any curtains that add to the natural beauty of the window and the room and may also let in light in just the right way to make the room glow. I have put in some thought to what kinds of curtains I would like. I think in a mostly white room that floaty white curtains would be beautiful. I also think that in a formal dining room or living room a striped curtain could add some classical glamour to the room. I especially like these curtains from RestorationHardware.com. They hold a certain regalness. I like the colors of robin's egg blue and the sumptuous tan silk tafeta curtains. I think these could play nicely off of a room painted a taupe or a very light blue. The search continues....

Head of the Class....




As the search for the perfect bedroom combination continues, I find that the next most important aspect besides the bedding is the headboard that you choose. The headboard defines the character of your bedroom, gives it a sense of ambiance, the way that an outfit is never complete without jewelery. I want something that will give a serene, classic look to my bedroom, while also being functional, comfortable to lean my head against, and give it a little design edge. I think tufted, fabric covered headboards are just spectacular, but I usually see them offered for a ton of money. This oatmeal colored one from UrbanOutfitters.com is inexpensive at around $300 and would offset white bedding with a subtle and beautiful contrast. This other headboard from Williams Sonoma Home is a bit more modern, but would also look gorgeous with white bedding and would give the room a more minimalist feel.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

A Gray Area.




I have noticed a trend in home decor lately that I want to comment on. That is, the subject of gray walls. I first noticed it in a spotlight in Elle Decor last year on Molly Sim's apartment home in Manhattan. She had beautiful gray walls and furniture that played off the cool, sophisticated color, giving her home a kind of understated glamour. In my favorite movie this year, 27 Dresses, the protagonist, Jane ( played by Katherine Heigl) had gray walls in her Manhattan apartment. While the rest of the furniture in her " home" was a bit too modern to jive with my taste, the wall color resonated with me. Since I have already discussed my desire for white bedding, I think gray walls would be the perfect contrast. The tricky thing however, will be to find a gray wall color that will play along with the kinds of light I get in my room which would encompass natural light, artificial light and candlelight. I think a shade of lighter gray would work best with all lights. I also like the idea of a room with gray and white think stripes that are painted, which is an idea I found from an article in Domino Magazine a few years ago about a woman who had transformed a separate bedroom into her dressing room. The stripes made the room look so luxe and inviting and I think I would truly enjoy time in my bedroom in that type of environment. I think both a solid gray wall and a striped design would be aesthetically pleasing and provide a sense of sophistication, peace,and understated glamour.
More Later,
Mackenzie Page
Home is the nicest word there is. Laura I. Wilder
taken from Brainyquote.com
Picture of Katherine Heigl taken from www.worstpreviews.com
Picture of Vanity taken from Galleries at www.dominomag.com

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Bed of Dreams



As I graduate from college this August, I will begin on a new playing field in my life which I'll call, "pretending to be an adult." With this will come a new set of responsibilities, a new job, and most exciting for me, a new home. Although I hate the physical act of moving, I am always happy to be in a new place and always eager to come up with a new decorating scheme. My house in college was ALL about the shabby chic. Rachel Ashwell herself would probably have salivated with pride and envy had she darkened our door. Now that my college experience is over, I feel the need to make my next home slightly more sophisticated. While I will never get over my love of antiques and cool, light colors I want to add a modern edge to my decorating style. A sort of Marie Antoinette meets Ava Gardner type glamour and something that the likes of greats like Celerie Kemble would beam with pride over. That being said, my first search commences for the perfect bedding. Something about diving into a bed that is completely white sounds so amazing to me. I will just have to be careful not to spill the glass of red wine that will be an omni-present after work staple. I have scoured sites like Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma Home, and Anthropologie and I now have several ideas flooding the left(albeit more creative) side of my brain. I think I would like to have a duvet and two giant euro shams that match and then find standard shams that are soft and simple and have them embroidered with my initials. There is a sumptuous looking duvet cover from Anthro has a regal feel, something that I think my idol, Antoinette and I would be able to agree on, of course minding the pink icing from the petit fours. it is gathered in diamond points will little gold fasteners and looks much like a floating cloud. It is appropriately called the " Crowned Crane Duvet". I also like the more modern edge of this duvet and shams from WSHome.com which features and clover-like pattern. The image shown is their version in chocolate brown, but obviously I would want the one that comes in white. This interesting detail would certainly add some character to an all white bed and would beautifully contrast the swirly writing of the initialing on my pillows. Of course whatever bedding I choose will have to be offset with some 600+ thread count sheets, which I will be purchasing on my "champagne taste, beer budget" at Bed, Bath, and Beyond or Linens and Things.

More Later,

Mackenzie

Peace - that was the other name for home. ~Kathleen Norris(taken from www.quotegarden.com)

image from www.wshome.com