Holiday decorating tips: Make an entrance!

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Ready or not Christmas is coming! If you are waiting for inspiration to motivate you to start (or finish) your holiday decorating, there are lots of ideas this season for easy and beautiful designs that will have you decorating your home like a pro!

As a Fort Myers interior decorator, one of my favorite tips is easy and inexpensive:

Start at the front door and take your door from drab to fab with a fresh pop of color!  Think greens, reds, turquoise (if you are bold). Remember, it is only paint, so don’t be afraid! 

Is your front door a little boring? This beige entry needed a holiday makeover!

Photo of beige door before makeover 

Voila! Turquoise door and new color scheme make all the difference for this holiday home.

Photo of holiday turquoise door after makeover

 

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Tips for decorating like a pro this holiday season

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Photo of velvet stockings from West ElmVelvet monogramed stockings from West Elm add traditional fun to holiday decor. Photo: West Elm.

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press• Dec. 8, 2012

If you are waiting for inspiration to motivate you to start (or finish) your holiday decorating, this may be a good weekend to spring into action! The good news: there are lots of ideas this season for easy and beautiful designs that will have you decorating your home like a pro!

Photo of jewel tone ornaments from Pottery BarnAdd some bling to your holiday with Pottery barn's jewel tone eclectic ornaments. Photo: Pottery Barn.If you are thinking about changing or updating your look this year, consider  adding some of the popular metallics, bling, jewel tones, feathers and fresh, shiny colors to your home.  Think moderation and be selective!

If you’re in a time crunch, and who isn’t, Frontgate lets you create your own signature style with a choice of three beautiful design options. Select one and you will receive everything that you need for the tree from ornaments, enhancers to ribbon and trim.  It also includes coordinating garland and a decorated wreath.  It couldn’t be easier. Almost like Christmas in a box. www.frontgate.com.

Use your traditional favorites but don’t be afraid to try something new.  Some of our favorite decorating tips are listed below. Use them and tell your friends that you hired a designer to help this year!

Tips for holiday decorating like a pro

Make an entrance! Start at the front door and take your door from drab to fab with a fresh pop of color!  Think greens, reds, turquoise (if you are bold). Remember, it is only paint, so don’t be afraid!  And don’t stop there! Take last year’s wreath and give it a makeover to complement the door.  Beautiful shells, branches, colorful ribbons will help you create a new wreath in no time. A huge impact with minimum expense and effort.

Use what you have! Don’t put everything away and transform your home into a winter wonderland.  Use what you have in your home as your stage.  If you have a piece of artwork that you love over a mantle or table, start there and add holiday decorations that compliment it. And don’t forget: what comes from nature works best!

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Simple Pleasures: A vintage piece becomes a holiday treasure

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It was easy to walk right past this little gem at the antique market in Mt. Dora.

Photo of vintage, shabby chic chair before

Someone had tossed some dried twigs on top of it and this vintage, white rocking chair didn't have much of chance with all of the other great pieces for sale. Plus, it was covered with dirt.

But the minute I saw it, I knew it was going home with me. More shabby than chic, it's white paint is very weathered. Perfect. Someone put a lot of love into making it as it has a pretty curved back. It must have spent many years on someone's porch. And now it was looking for a new home.

So, after negotiating a rock bottom price, into my car it went. I had no idea how I would repurpose it but as I always tell my clients, when something speaks to you, buy it. You will find a place.

Photo of vintage chair repurposed for ChristmasAfter a good bath and some gluing, it has found the perfect home. Years ago, a dear friend in Orlando gave me two holiday reindeer (dressed for Christmas dinner) that she purchased at an auction for a children's charity. It has become my most treasured holiday decoration. Today, they sit in my new (old) chair on my front porch with a holly berry wreath on the back.

Simple pleasures really are the best.

 

Want to turn plain rooms into Spectacular Spaces? I can help. Contact me!

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Accessories: Maximize with minimum

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Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press• Nov. 17, 2012

Photo of accessories from Ballard DesignsWorld map printed canvases reproduced from an actual 1937 map. Photo: Ballard Designs.

Accessories for the home are the most important part of interior decorating. They are the icing on the cake. The finishing touch.

Done well, they reflect our tastes, our style, our travels, our dreams, what we love. They are the soul of our home.

Photo of repurposed vintage table with shell and glass collectionsRepurposed vintage table is used for shell and glass collection.Done not so well, they create visual overload and just look like a bunch of stuff that was purchased to fill empty spaces. Meaningless bits that in a year will be thrown out. But a grouping that has been thought out allows you to relax and makes you feel calm.

Coco Chanel knew a lot about accessories.

She said that “simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.”

She knew that the simplest possessions in our homes, just like in jewelry or fashion, are often the most meaningful. And so it is with accessories. Less is usually more.

Accessories are often the most difficult part of interior decorating. Not because we don’t have enough of them but because they are often not properly displayed.  Just as we do when deciding on paint colors, furniture purchases, window treatments, flooring and fabric, a plan is needed to make accessories work for the home.

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Travels: Indulgence in the City of New Orleans

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Having some fun in New Orleans this week at a design conference.

I have been touring the amazing homes of art collectors, architects, artists and have met some of New Orleans' most interesting characters.

Writer and designer Wrenda Goodwyn in New OrleansNew Orleans gets into your soul. I always think of Harry Connick Jr. singing  "Missing New Orleans."

Moonlight on the bayous
Creole tunes fill the air
I dream about magnolias in June
And I'm wishing I was there

This week, I am indulging in everything that the city offers...the French quarter, architecture, historic neighborhoods that are being rescued, mansions, cottages, shotgun houses, steamboat houses. A visit to the lower 9th ward. Walking on the levee with great views of the river and city. Amazing food. Jazz. New green-based architecture and design. Brad Pitt's neighborhood of almost 100 cutting-edge homes built since Katrina. Traditional mansions. An eclectic artist's residence on the Esplanade Ridge. Antiques. Jackson Square. Julia Street galleries. I met a voodoo priestess and toured her beautiful home. 

Masks in Jackson Square in New Orleans.New Orleans has a ghostly allure. The winding alleyways lead to the past and when you follow them, you never know what you will find.

The light is glorious and the sensory pleasures are almost overwhelming. I am still here and I already miss New Orleans.

And did I mention that the city is totally immersed in Halloween? Perfect.

 

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Inspiration: Behind the scenes at Kravet's NYC studio

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It was the best of days in New York City.

After a week of meeting top designers, home magazine editors, fellow design bloggers and touring fabulous Manhattan show homes, came the cherry on top of the sundae.

Photo of colorful Kravet fabricAs a southwest Florida interior decorator, I have long considered Kravet the Walt Disney of the fabric and home furnishing world. The level of quality and customer service results in a tremendous comfort level for designers. I often work with Amy Jimenez at the  Kravet showroom in the Miromar Design Center in Estero. Finding just the right pattern, palettes and textures for a room is the most exciting part of my job as an interior decorator. It is a good day for me when I have clients who want fabulous fabric for a new project or want to design a piece of furniture to fit their space. It is always a great collaboration between a decorator or designer and Kravet.

Currently, I am working with Kravet on a gorgeousBarbary Barry carpet collectionBarbara Barry's Indochine Collection for Kravet.  Barbara Barry Indochine rug for a vacation home for one of my Fort Myers decorating clients. Fabric for drapes, pillows and several other projects.

So, on this last day in NYC, I headed to the Flatiron district where Cary Kravet and the Kravet family opened their studio and welcomed 168 designers with open arms for breakfast and a studio tour. They made us feel like family and gave us a peek behind the scenes. Shared a few secrets that are soon to be announced, showed us the latest fabric designs, product development and merchandising for three of the industry's respected brands: Kravet, Lee Jofa and Brunschwig & Fils. In a word: Inspiring.

My heartfelt thanks to Gary, Lisa and Ellen Kravet. To Beth Greene, Ann Felstein and Jennifer Powell. You gave me my best day in NYC.

 

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