wallpaper borders

we are (finally) having our front and back exterior doors painted! i am pretty excited. since this is such a small area, i really don't have a design plan for it---just an idea of what i want...what i like to call an action plan!


door color:
the color choice for the back door was an easy one for me--onyx by benjamin moore.
it is my favorite black--dark but soft, and with a neutral tone to it.
all of the other doors in the house are a slightly softer black called "blackjack", but i want the exterior doors to be just a little bit darker and shinier.



art:
i have a set of these vintage guache paintings that my dad bought in brazil in the 1960's. i think i will hang a grouping of them on the small wall adjacent to the door.





 it is 2' x 2'9", and fits perfectly in front of my door.

 i really love the texture and pattern that it adds to this little area of my house. i am also so impressed with the quality and feel of this little area rug! it is tightly woven, and the colors are so deep and rich.


new hardware:
like the rest of the doors in the house, the back door will get this knob:

(the andover series from schlaage)


everything should be all wrapped up by this weekend! i am excited to show you.



thank you to medallion rug gallery  for collaborating with me on this post!

Happy Halloween to everyone. I love Halloween. Today is the annual Doggie Howl-o-ween Costume Contest at the Hotel Monaco in Alexandria. Izzy has won Most Glamorous Dog three times in a row. The last time we won a fabulous weekend in NYC. Last year was unfortunately canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. That was the Japanese kimono costume in the last photos. My daughter Kate, Isabella (Izzy), and I have this year's costumes all set to go. Izzy's involves a wig this year, so we'll see how that goes. ;-)

 It's an outdoor event, of course, and it's sunny and 72 degrees here in DC today. Here are some photos of my house all ready for Halloween and some photos of our costumes from past years.

This is the fifth week of the One Room Challenge. Next week is the big reveal! I recall that Linda of Calling It Home once referred to me as one of the most personally private bloggers on the blogosphere. Well, today I will reveal something about myself - I love to clean my house. I have never had a cleaning lady and have never even considered it. I love the entire process of taking care of my home. Those of you who balked at me saying that I enjoy doing laundry with my new washer and dryer probably just fainted.

Part of my love for cleaning includes having wonderful cleaning tools. No plastic for me - all wood and leather and lambswool and goat hair and such. They are works of art really. Check out these photos from one of my favorite stores - John Derian in NYC.



These cleaning tools are made by a wonderful German company - Redecker and can be purchased online. Crate and Barrel has started a section in their stores and online called Clean Slate and they carry some of the Redecker line as shown just below.


I wanted to create an area in my laundry room for my collection of cleaning tools. In my laundry room, there was already a large pegboard, so I just bought pegboard hooks at Lowe's. Now everything is easily found and is a beautiful display as well.








I also did another DIY - now I bet Linda has just fainted. I wanted a chair in the laundry room for the mud room area I have created to sit and take on and off muddy wellies and wet boots. I had a mahogany corner chair in one of the bedrooms that was not really being used and decided it would be ideal. I found this gorgeous Clarence House Les Porcelaines Bleu designer sample on Etsy for $15.00 and used it to cover the seat. I placed the pattern on the diagonal and I think it looks perfect.



My laundry room is quickly becoming one of my favorite rooms in the house. I am using things you don't normally find in laundry rooms - so far you have seen my Brunschwig & Fils wallpaper, a dupioni silk roman shade, an antique ginger jar, Clarence House fabric, a mahogany chair, and you won't believe what I have in store for the reveal next week. Everything I have shown you was found very inexpensively on eBay, Etsy, and consignment stores. My laundry room is not only functional, it is gorgeous. Rules were made to be broken in making your home your own.

I hope to see you all next week for the reveal. I cannot wait to show you the rest. Thanks so much to my sponsors and friends of Chinoiserie Chic for supporting this One Room Challenge.




I hope everybody else had made lots of progress in their rooms. Let's go see.

There is a month left until Thanksgiving and I have several projects in my own home I want to finish before I turn my attention to decorating my house for Christmas which I adore.

To  Do List -
Finish the laundry room for the One Room Challenge - the reveal is in a week!
Wallpaper the downstairs hallway - I have scheduled my wallpaper hanger for next week.
Refresh the entryway - waiting on my painter.

I have added one more thing to my list - a new rug for the living room. I am tired of my oriental rug and have decided I really want an offset black and white striped rug. I love combining stripes and Chinoiserie and my go to choice is often striped silk taffeta curtains. I really think this black and white striped rug in my living room will be a great fit. The colors in my living room are pastels - pink, ice blue, yellow, and celadon, and the graphic punch of this rug will add real drama.

I am debating between these two rugs -
The Madeline Weinrib Buche Rug is a 100% wool flatweave carpet in black and white offset stripes and is $4,000 in the 8x11.


The Ikea Stockholm Rand Rug is a 100% wool flatweave carpet in black and white offset stripes and is $399 in the 8x11.


A no-brainer - Ikea here I come!

halloween always seems to sneak up on me. one minute, school starts, and the next...it's halloween! if you are a mom, then you know how busy this time of year can be--costumes, treats, parties...it all adds up to a lot!

here is my simple halloween door this year:
 i have had the witches brooms forever---i bought them at big lots for $4 about 10 years ago, and it is a miracle that they have lasted through our many moves. they are one of those bulky items that i *almost donate every time we move, but i love them SO much, and i always manage to talk myself into keeping them.
(yep. our exterior door has still not been painted. it's on the short list of things to get done!)


and, in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" category, i am still using this  this easy and very affordable wreath that i made 5 years ago. i love it because it only looks better the more battered and worn it gets!
you can get the low down of how i made the wreath here.



i love halloween!
i try to make the treat we give away at least a little special.

 this year, i made some cute, simple labels to wrap around Hershey's bars.
(i bought the full size bars at costco---they come in a pack of 24)



if you like these wrappers, feel free to grab them and use them!


these would also be great to bring to a halloween party or to give away to your childs classmates!
here is a peek at some gift bags i gave away a few years ago:
seeing these always makes me happy!


you can also get these wrappers that i made two years ago for an assortment of candy bars:




oh, and take a look at the buddy the elf costume that i whipped up from some thrift store finds and a little fake fur and fabric paint!
we started with a sleeveless green mock turtleneck, a black t-shirt, and a black belt, all from the thrift store.





i cut the collar and cuffs from some fake fur (made templates from paper first) and hot glued them in place, and then embellished the green tunic with some gold fabric paint. the leggings were found on ebay.






i never actually sew my kids halloween costumes from scratch, but i am pretty darn good at taking a dress or shirt or whatever from the thrift store and transforming it into a costume!  (it always seems like my kids want to be something that is impossible to BUY...!)
here is a look at some of my kids costumes from the past few years:


vicious gladiator + two goddesses.


medusa, a pirate + cleopatra.



teen wolf.


teen wolf (close-up) talking on the phone and WAAAAAAY too busy to take a picture....
(wish you could get the full effect of the creepy red contact lenses! they were expensive, but made all the difference!)

be sure to check out my HALLOWEEN pinterest board--i have all of the goodies from years past, including some scanned images that are some of the most pinned images from my blog!


PS---i have been having some HUGE issues with my pinterest account. about 5 months ago, there was some glitch that stopped the counter going up on my followers, and would not allow certain people to follow me. i kept waiting for them to resolve the issue, and they finally did! so---if you *thought you were following me, and then for some reason you weren't, that is why! try again--all is finally well!
CLICK HERE to follow me. (again.)