‘Tis the season for getting our homes and hearts ready for the holidays!  To that end I attended a lovely holiday party for designers yesterday at Darby Road Home in Waltham, MA.  (http://www.darbyroad.com/)
 
What fun, and an opportunity to see owner Michelle Coppolo’s new offerings of counter stools, as she showed us in the photo below.

For some reason, counter stools are super hard to source for designers and the buying public alike.  I know this because recently I’ve helped several clients finish up their spectacular kitchen renovations by selecting stools, paint, lighting, wallpaper, and accessories – and finding the right stools was as hard as picking the right paint (and that just seems wrong). The discussion yesterday on this very subject among my designer colleagues was unanimous - there are too few places in the Boston area where you can actually see and test out a counter stool before you purchase it. Look in any design magazine featuring a kitchen and the counter stools are always featured prominently in rounding out the décor.  Michelle and Darby Road Home to the rescue!  And look at these beautiful offerings, all customizable in finish and fabric. Thank you, Michelle, for giving us a local store, a real treasure at that, to bring our clients to do the all important “sit test” on furniture and chairs.
 
And doubly thank you for a beautiful and elegant luncheon featuring a demonstration and workshop on holiday arrangements from Carol Hudson, Master Gardner from Wellesley, MA. (​https://carolhudsondesigns.com/)

During her demonstration Carol described how at the holidays, you very likely have some suitable greenery right outside your window to form the backdrop for small arrangements—Japanese Pieris Andromeda (yes, right outside my dining room window as a matter of fact), juniper, spruce, and holly.  She interspersed these greens with some roses for delicate detail, and the resulting arrangements were so lovely.  We each had the opportunity to make our own (thank you Carol and Michelle!), and you see my friend Linda Woodard (of Linda’s Decors, http://www.lindasdecors.com/) with instructor Carol and her arrangement.

​Thank you, Darby Road Home. Can’t wait to see all the new stock you are bringing in for 2019!

​I’ve always loved the styling and fine wood craftsmanship of Windsor chairs and benches; a classic staple of New England homes that are still very current in all sorts of locales be they coastal, mountain, country, urban or suburban.  When you think about the work involved in making such a chair/bench, and the subtle proportions involved, the Windsor style is truly a piece of art.
 
While my pursuit of a Windsor bench at the Brimfield Antiques Fair this past week was sadly unsuccessful, I did score a terrific resource to share with you.  First, let me point you to the furniture maker I have long admired, O & G Studio in Rhode Island (oandgstudio.com) that makes the gorgeous Atlantic Settee Bench you may have seen in New England Home, Elle Décor, the New York Times, Lonny, Vogue, and various other publications.  This is the bench I crave, and I have just the perfect striped fabric to make the crisp and tailored (but unstuffy) pieced cushion they feature here.  Striking, isn’t it?   And the black paint makes it look so modern and architectural.  

​For a dining area, Windsor chairs are very versatile and durable.   Here’s a photo of my client Monica’s eating area with such stylish flair…I can’t take credit for the overall design, it’s all her creation!  I was helping her with window treatments for the sliding door, and I couldn’t resist admiring the beautiful, kid-friendly, and fresh space that she had created.  Bravo, Monica!  I love it when my clients have a design point-of-view!

​Finally, let me share with you some of my design and decorating work in the upstairs Ballroom of the famous Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA.  In the photo you can see the Birdcage Windsor chairs that the Inn favors in this small (50-person) function room ‘s space.  In 2011, I had the privilege of totally renovating this room (and many others at the Wayside Inn) with new window treatments, bench cushions, carpeting, lighting, stenciling, and other historically accurate decorative features.   I’m sure I’ll share more on those projects in future blog posts, but suffice to say it was a dream project for me; one that fueled my love of historic spaces and renovating with a period pieces and styles that are still very relevant today.