Winter Whites~ Can I take your order?

To kick off 2012  I wanted to share some inspiring interiors, layers of warm winter whites & neutral colors and  textures to embrace the new year.

 (Photo taken by my friend Camille)

 Think snowy crisp morning, think neighborhood cafe' reading your favorite blog. 

Ready to order your look for 2012?

Here's the menu...

 ~Skinny Peppermint Mocha~ 

Delicious dining room served up by Benjamin Moore in their Earth & Sky color trends for 2012. 

http://www.benjaminmoore.com

'wewishuamerycrismaswewishyouamerycrismas......'

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

This year our Christmas tree is wonky and messy, a far cry from my usual freakily controlled color coordinated trees of the past.

Clive Christian Furniture. It's personal!

Edwardian Kitchen in Ivory & Natural Oak
 (Photo images courtesy of Clive Christian Furniture)

Clive Christian Furniture is all it is cut out to be. I have just celebrated 15 years in the industry and believe it or not it all started out at Clive Christians in London in my early 20's.  I was lucky to have the opportunity to gain a wealth of experience under a great mentor, I learned the furniture trade from the best. 

Architectural Paneled Bar in Yew

Although I had walked in with experience of my own from the hospitality industry I was always very comfortable presenting large scale projects to board of directors etc... but nothing would have prepared me for the housewife, who are more clued in than any group of budget analyzing hotel directors!
Clive Christians clientele is a rightfully demanding group of individuals and their architects even more so, learning to design and deliver on these prestigious projects was a lesson I learned early on and have carried with me till today; regardless of the size or budget, each client gets my full undivided attention at all times.

The Dining Room in Yew

Working with Clive Christian  has given me the opportunity to work on many great projects including the Sheikh of Riad 's Kensington House and Enya's home in Ireland, Aisha Castle where I designed and installed a total of seven rooms. 

"INTERIOR Details: The Designers' Style"

I love books.

Always have, always will.

I have quite a nice collection which I have treasured and painstakingly packed and repacked from home to home and country to country.

Sadly I don't give books the time they deserve and for this I am guilty. However the past few days I took time to curl up with a book that I had bought around 15 years ago and quite honestly I forgot I had.

The smooth feel of a hardback book, the sound of the pages flipping over to reveal image after image of exquisitely perfected interiors is something I had missed.

The book I have been enjoying is  'INTERIOR Details: The Designers Style' by Noel Jeffrey & Chris Casson Maddon

New York native Noel Jeffrey,  is unequivocally one of New York's design magnates and a published author, he opened shop in 1969 and today he runs his business The Jeffrey Design Group on 58th Street in Manhattan.

In this book, Jeffrey identifies the key elements of residential interior design through the works of Designers & Artists such as Samuel Botero, Vincent Wolf, Victoria Hagan among others.

The stunning photography does each room justice and I am not sure if I can go back to looking at amateur photography online, at least not for today. I applaud their work.

The 16th Century 'Summer Dining Room', Maltese Architecture & Design

On the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea, Casa Rocca Piccola was built in the late 
16th Century for 
Don Pietro La Rocca, a Knight of Malta and an Admiral. On his death it was left to the Italian Langue of The Knights to house some of the more important Italian Knights of Malta. However for the last 200 years some of Malta's more famous and illustrious families have occupied Casa Rocca Piccola.


Apart from its illustrious past, its architectural beauty and historical importance, the elegant interiors are breathtaking, The following images courtesy of casaroccapiccola.com will guide you through the many stately rooms. Of which the above 'Summer Dining Room' is my favorite.

~ Images and some exerts via casaroccapiccola.com ~

WAKE UP your Kitchen

Sometimes your kitchen needs a big WAAAHOOOO moment to inspire more cooking, gathering and general well being, it does doesnt it? 

Scared before you even start? Dont be!

No need to get out the jack hammer, that's a promise!

For the more adventurous, a paintbrush......

Spruce up your tired contractor white or (off white?) walls with a fresh coat of paint. Think apple green, sky blue, the sky IS the limit.

If you are considering painting your kitchen this Paint Color Tool from House Beautiful Magazine will make your life easy. Just click Launch Tool and repaint your room or any of their sample rooms as many times as you like till you find your perfect color!

http://www.housebeautiful.com/decorating/paint-colors/

Seeing that Tangerine Tango is Pantones 2012 color of the year, I'm kicking off with this up and coming paint color, cheery and bright, but not for the faint hearted.

~ Tangarine Orange ~ 
Photo courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com

Creating a Focal Point

A focal point in any room is where the eye rests as it explores the space, sometimes an architectural feature is the natural focal point, a fireplace or a great window and view. Sometimes there is no focal point and that is where we need to create one, this can be challenging.


The first choice for focal point in a living room would be a wood burning fireplace, the thought of  relaxing on snowy evenings sitting on a stylish but comfy high backed wing chair with a glass of wine would be anyone's first choice!

Please welcome my guest blogger

The Mr is the chef in the house, he is renowned in our circle for great Italian food, I begged him to write about my favorite dish ~ Lasagna.
Here goes....


I like to cook.  I find it relaxing and I enjoy creating.  My love for cooking stemmed from Alton Brown’s show “Good Eats”.  The show was directed toward over analytical people like me who don’t want to know just what to put into a good meal, but WHY to put it in.  I have written this as an ode to people who need more than instructions, people who need an understanding of what and why they are adding certain ingredients, oh,  and for people who love lasagna of course.

Back splashes, what are my options?

This is possibly one of the most common questions asked by my clients, this eye catching element is a feature of utmost importance. It is sometimes the first introduction to 'a real color' and requires a huge commitment, unlike paint or soft furnishings which can easily be changed up.

When choosing a back splash there are many things that need to be considered, it is not simply a single choice of material. There may be multiple materials chosen with varied heights required at installation, and because of this the floor plan needs to be studied carefully and lighting needs to be installed accordingly.

ALL PROJECTS FEATURED ARE MINE ;)

In this London home, it was paramount to take advantage of the windows (and the building was protected) so I created a 2" upstand in the same honed black granite as the countertops, mainly to stop items from falling into the recess.

(Photo courtesy of House & Garden UK)

Thank you Thanksgiving, I am thankful!

 I wish I had some sort of plan as I entered the florist, but I didn't, I guess it left me open to all options. I steered clear of the ready made arrangements. I admit they were lovely but I wanted to do it myself, it was an unconscious decision I made a while ago. 

I skipped over roses and lilies, carnations and sunflowers, then I found the tulips, it was love at first sight :)

I opted for Fall colors, the yellows, oranges and reds were EXACTLY what I was looking for.

I used a simple glazed earthenware pot to hold the flowers.

Do you like my Pear name tag holders?

Such an easy idea, cut a little circle and tie with natural twine.

In this vignette I used another glazed earthenware jug, in a apple green color that picks up the similar color of the pears.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to make apple sauce, my mom-in-law is a pro.. her tip is to always use Green Macon Apples (Qty 5)

1/3 cup sugar and cook until soft and smushy.

The cranberry sauce was just as simple:

1 bag fresh cranberries

3/4 cup orange juice

1/3 white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

Cook until soft and all liquid is reduced.

Not for the fainthearted, this all American sweet potato dish is SWEEET! A baked combination of canned sweet potatos (yes, you heard right), maple syrup, brown sugar and marshmallows.

Don't dish it till you try it! Not surprisingly it is the kids favorite side dish!

The message above the mantle says it all IMAGINE & INSPIRE!

Hope you enjoyed a tiny peek into Thanksgiving with our family.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

(All pictures taken by yours truly.
 Location ~ Mom-in-law's house)

The Camp

A small tribute to Pucky Huddle.

"Discovering this idyllic place, we find ourselves filled with a
     yearning to linger here, where time stands still and beauty
     overwhelms."
 _______________________________________________________________________

Our hunting cabin in Upstate New York that our family was blessed with for many years. This special place will live on in our hearts forever. 

Styling for a Quintessentially British Tea Party

This post was inspired by our favorite Brit Lisa Vanderbilt who is quite the Hostess! Her Tea Party  was just as pleasing to the design senses, as it was I am sure to the taste buds! 

(Photo credit Bravo TV)

The reflective quality of the mirrored table is key to the success of this Styling. An easy way to recreate this look is to use a framed mirror as a tray, and place it on your coffee table or footstool. Use one that you have at home or purchase one which can do double duty. The one shown below is a Venetian Beaded Mirror from Restoration Hardware, this particularly deep frame works well to avoid items slipping off the 'tray'. There are various sizes to choose from.  http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/category/products.jsp?categoryId=cat20033

(Photo credit Restoration Hardware website)

~FLOWERS~

Fuscia Pink happens to be my favorite color and maybe why I was attracted to this ensemble, however any color works and with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up I would exchange pink for burnt orange. White and pale blue for the Winter Holidays.

Glass Vase of Fall color Flowers & Berries

Fall Flower Arrangement

Narcissus Winter Flower

White Winter Flowers

~SILVERWARE~

Silverware invokes a feeling of wealth and well being, we all love shiny treasures and I love to find an excuse to use my objets! Some items used in this Styling and that feature most prominently are the cake stand, champagne bucket and the statue flower holder, or maybe its a candle holder? 

Layer silverware and crystal on the mirror tray for amazing effect.

Most towns have a silver shop of some sort, in my town there are curio/silver shops that hold undiscovered treasures and apart from being unique, the actual shopping experience is fun (yes, get off the couch) and its great to support your local vendors too!

Here are some alternative Silver & Glassware Styling items ~

Antique Cake Basket

Antique Lemon Dish

Trellis Cut Glass Plates

Lalique Single Flower Vase

Cut Glass Basket

(All items above courtesy of www.rauantiques.com)

I admit to being a little impartial to Silverware with my parents owning a wonderful Silver Shop full of  interesting and one of a kind gifts.

CELLINI ~ Tower Rd, Sliema, Malta Europe

A little way out of town.... ;)

~CANDLES~

Using unscented candles is probably a better idea, the scent of the flowers and the baked scones should be enough. The candles shown above are from Restoration hardware, they have a good selection of odorless and slow burning, non drip candles which would be the best option. I would recommend keeping the candles a neutral color and use either a single candle or a group of three.

~FINALLY~

This Book is a must have for anyone who intends to host Tea Parties or is generally a tea lover!

Visit the website for more books and information on anything TEA http://www.salontea.com/TeaBooks/store_TeaBooks.html

For me, preparing for an event like this is the fun part, I tend not to stress out and plan ahead of time to  make sure that during the Tea Party I am not running around crazy but enjoying myself with my guests.

Keep the menu simple and if you are not a baker order in advance from your local bakery and maybe they are even nice enough to deliver!

All that is left is to get to the kitchen and start preparing cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, dip the strawberries in dark chocolate, chill the Champagne and wait for your lucky guests to arrive!

Discovering Downtown Princeton

Princeton is not 'just' a university town, it is a busy hub of families, children, academics and well....us designers.

I took a leisurely stroll with the Mr and my camera to give a small taste of what my downtown has to offer.
My Blog is predominantly a design Blog, but I could not resist plugging my new home town, Princeton.

Located in the heart of Palmer Square, the Nassau Inn is a landmark of downtown Princeton with its old world charm and good food.

For more historical facts visit ...http://www.nassauinn.com/historic-princeton-hotel/history/index.cfm

We were greeted warmly by the owner of The Corkscrew Wine Shop who's french accent made me feel a little nostalgia, for my maman et ma grandmere who are french.

The wine selection is fantastic and the staff welcoming.

Mediterra Restaurant & Taverna is run by the lovely Julie Acuff, this upscale eatery offers delights from the 21 countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. 
Now through December 1, 2001 Mediterra is inviting locals and visitors alike to the TAPAS FOR TOYS event where you are treated to tapas in exchange for unwrapped toys in support of the ROWAN TOWERS 10TH ANNIVERSARY HOLIDAY EVENT.
For more information and directions go to: http://www.mediterrarestaurant.com/

No town is complete without SHOPPING! Palmer Square is alive with great designer stores and Kate Spade NY leads the pack!
For the shopaholics and Tweeps alike follow @katespadeny on Twitter for the latest fashion insights.
For the chocolate lover Thomas Sweet at 29 Palmer Square  is you definitive choice and for the best ice cream for miles visit The Bent Spoon also on Palmer Square but be ready to stand in line!

Until next time, Dionne x


 All photography in this post was taken by yours truly :)


Please follow me on Twitter @dionnetrifiro!


Oh, and don't forget to post a comment! A nice one if possible ;)