Maison Decor

Christmas Dollhouse and Purple Poinsettias and the perfect Nite Cap

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 15:17:00 +0000

The French Dollhouse has become a Christmas centerpiece since it moved

to the antique table in the living room. I stuffed it with twinkle lights and its

been the most amazing and cheerful thing to have greet us each dark wintery morning.

A dollhouse tour was a big hit on my Instagram page, and its

available under my highlights if you want to see the interior.

This year we don't have a full size tree, as our spaces are stuffed to the gills waiting on the lake house to be built and delivered next spring. Its like having two pounds of chocolates in a one pound box, all the wonderful antiques and new additions slated for New Hampshire added to our existing things. So the wrapped gifts are shoved them under the table to be opened by our small family pod of 4 on Christmas morning, this dreary and downsized Covid year.

All is merry and bright, well it is calm for sure.

The quiet Christmas spirit is alive and well and each morning hubs and I

gather in this room with our coffee and the twinkling lights and the pups by the fire.

Why this dollhouse all dressed and lit for Christmas may become a new tradition.

Its a magical touch with a nod to the best of childhood Christmases.

In the dining room, where purple transferware reigns, I always try to hunt down the elusive purple poinsettia. And there has only been one place I have ever found them....at Lowes!

Set in a punch bowl, this purple painted and glittered poinsettia is the perfect Christmas decoration,

along with a few glittery purple snowflakes I found at Walmart one year with Reeve.

A bit of greenery and a dash of snowflake...

One fun new thing~hubs purchased this 12 Days of Christmas collection from Crown Royal.

Each day you open up a door and out pops a unique flavor of whiskey.

We aren't even whiskey drinkers, so I was surprised to see him bring this home, but it

has been great fun to split a tiny crown bottle each night until Christmas!

My favorite is the Salted Caramel, and hubs likes the Vanilla.

There are six flavors in all.

And the perfect glassware is from this glorious antique Tantalus set bought at auction last year.

It is French and fancy, just how I like things!

So it adds a bit of fun in this not as much fun year.

Wishing you and yours a safe and happy New Year,

and along the way figure out a few things to add a bit of JOY.

Celebrating in our homes this Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 18:09:00 +0000

Well its already December! I've been busy with family life during these COVID times.

I think its more important than ever to try to make our homes a refuge as well as a place

of family fun and celebration. The facts of the virus cannot be ignored, and staying healthy is

at the top of my list. So how about making our homes more cheery and take an extra step to

make things feel more special? Sometimes it feels a bit depressing not to spend time with

others or eating out at our favorite places with friends, so lets make home life more special.

A big antique blue transfer-ware platter sits on my island holding holiday snacks.

The college kids, Scott and Kai, love to grab and snack, as does hubs.

This is an easy way to add grab and go things your family enjoys.

Tiny oranges, nuts, candies, and homemade cookies are some of the revolving treats.

A cute Rosemary Christmas tree from Whole Foods adds a bit of Christmas magic.

Adding greenery, ribbon and baubles to your everyday surfaces makes for a festive feeling!

The tiny french clock with its blue and white flowers looks extra special nestled in the greenery.

In our living room there isn't a lot of room for a Christmas tree, so I used a faux

Nordic tree I had last year and put it in the corner, covered in antique multi colored bulbs.

A tinsel tree with tiny mercury bulbs in green and blue is on the antique center table.

Our decorated mantel in blues and greens goes with the color palette in this room.

I know I skipped right over Thanksgiving....

here I am putting it all away with the help of Sylvia.

The week before, I had taken a Covid test and upon getting results, I drove up

to Maine to see my greandchildren.

They are getting bigger every minute, and Reeve couldn't be a more loving big sister

to Harry, who is always smiling it seems.

We always pick up right where we left off, and it comforts me to know,

she loves me as much as I do her! This grandmother gig is a fabulous thing!

Living in rural Maine is proving to be ideal for my son's family,

where they are learning to run a farm together while they raise their kids.

We enjoyed the outdoors and collected pine cones while Harry conked out from the fresh air.

I always have an arts and crafts idea when I visit Reeve, and creating a pine cone garland

was this visit's adventure. After collecting them we spray painted them with gold paint and

then glued them onto a peppermint stripe butcher twine to hang in their windows.

A few days pass quickly, and soon I was off in my Jeep headed back

to Massachusetts to prepare for Thanksgiving at home.

We celebrated with two of our sons, one college roomie,

one fiance, one brother and one mother in law....we all got tested the week before the dinner,

and wore masks (except while dining), and social distanced as best we could,

keeping our windows open to make this is safe as we possibly could.

An idea of making it extra special despite the small gathering

inspired me because of these trying times.

I decided to hunt down antique turkey plates for the big meal, and was

lucky in finding a set of 7 dinner plates from a man whose father ran a turkey farm

decades ago. This man, now in his 80s, was selling off things, so I felt especially

lucky to get them. Each of us had a different antique transferware turkey plate.

After Thanksgiving the boys were in the spirit and we all got going hanging

lights and getting little trees put up around the house.

Hoping you all stay safe and find ways to get through these difficult

and isolating times. Add a little extra effort in your decorating and I think it will be

appreciated by others, and soothing to yourselves.

After the Nordic tree was decorated, I spotted the boys wearing

their Santa flannel pjs in the living room admiring the tree.

I can't tell you how cute that moment was!

So, in the works for our Christmas at home,

we plan on having a Christmas PJ and movie night,

along with a tree trimming party for four in our family room!

Make your holiday plans with

the ones at home, and make it memorable!

Decorating with Antique Delft Tiles and Florentine Pumpkins

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 15:38:00 +0000

Delft tiles have been catching my eye when I have been antiquing this summer.

They never did before, but this is why.

After receiving this pair of blue and white club chairs from my parents,

with our lake house build looming I thought they would be a good fit for that home.

And because they are this bright cornflower blue

it has steered my decorating path in that direction as well.

Our current home has become the test ground for the lake house!

Delft tiles are still made in Holland but I have been collecting some of the older tiles I find in

antique shops. As a child my parents took us to Amsterdam and we boarded

a tour bus to visit a factory in Rotterdam. This factory and others existed from the 17th century!

My parents bought a few souvenirs from the visit, which I have now and they are over 50 years old.

The little clog is one of their souvenirs, while the Heineken mug

and the pitcher are two of my finds while antiquing.

I love finding the older pieces and tiles are at the top of my list.

It is fun to be collecting again, with a new perspective on blue and white.

This is a pretty castle scene, much like Cinderella's home!

You can see the age of the tile, literally, on the back of the signed tile.

The little holes at the top are for wall hanging.

Delft Pottery, also known as Delft Blue, is a general term now used for Dutch tin-glazed

earthenware. The city of Delft was the major production center, but it can be made elsewhere,

included England. In the 17th and 18th century, Delft was in it's heyday, exporting all over Europe.

It is amazing to me to find so many pieces in the antique shops in America, but I see it as a

result of the popularity of blue and white porcelain that many favor today in home decorating.

On another note, I did a crafting project yesterday. I was inspired by some fancy pumpkins

a friend of mine posted on her blog, Edith and Evelyn. It involved making clay molds of

medallions and painting them. I added some gilded Dresden paper trim to mine as well as

did one with decoupage calling to mind a Cinderella castle with an internet image I printed.

It was a fun and fairly easy project and gave me some

Florentine style pumpkins that go with my decor.

I am not an orange person, and avoid all the spooky stuff that goes

with Halloween decorating. These are pretty, and that works for me!

Check out Cindy's blog to see the basics on how

to do the molds and where to buy the products.

Edith and Evelyn's Fancy DIY pumpkins tutorial

Happy Decorating!!

Low Carb Meals, Harry and Reeve

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 14:48:00 +0000

Fall has arrived in the Boston area.

My little shed has been decorated with Indian corn and kale.

The vintage flower cart I found this summer is perfect for mums and pumpkins.

After a year of Covid and the pounds creeping back on

I began my low carb dieting again and have a few easy

recipes to share with those of you doing the same thing.

Buffalo Chicken dip is a favorite for fall football games in front of the TV.

The guys have the chips and

I have the celery sticks to be compliant with my carb counting.

Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe:

8 oz softened Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Blue Cheese Dressing
1/3 cup Franks Hot Sauce
3/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese
1- 2 cups of Shredded Cooked Chicken

Carb count is 4 grams per Tbsp serving with celery sticks.

Mix all ingredients together and bake for 20 minutes in oven at 350, but may be served cold.

This is so yummy you will have to control yourself portion wise.

Next recipe is a low carb Eggplant Lasagna.

Eggplant slices take the place of noodles.

Olive oil and salt and pepper into a 400 degree oven until soft, about 25 minutes.

Peel and slice the eggplant longwise. I used one medium size eggplant for a 9x13 dish.

Ingredients call for marina sauce with ground beef.

I love Raos brand for its flavor and low carb count.

This was absolutely delicious! I found the recipe on

Wholesome Yum here. Click here to see the full details. Lots of

great Keto (Low Carb) recipes on this site!

Net carbs are only 6 per serving!!

The idea is to aim for 20 carbs a day when you begin.

A standard for me is tuna fish with mayo and celery on a salad

with 1 carb dressing (read your labels) and a few marinated mushrooms and a pickle.

If you are craving something forbidden like a pizza or hot sandwich, I recommend the Josephs Low Carb Pitas with 5 net carbs as the base and build on it. Here I layered a little mayo, sliced turkey, shredded swiss cheese and pepperoni slices for a yummy hot open faced sandwich.

Simply start with the pita cut in half and laid in a frying pan or griddle and then add toppings.

Count the carbs to stay within your limit. This hot sandwich had a carb count 8.

Pita 5 g, Mayo 0 g, Turkey 2 g, Cheese 1 g, Pepperoni 0 g. Just count and create and enjoy!

Mashed cauliflower with light cream and butter is a

favorite low carb substitution for mashed potatoes.

Served with any chicken or meat and green vegetable,

this makes a great low carb dinner.

An easy and delicious Chicken Bocolli Alfredo dinner has a secret ingredient.

This Classic Alfredo sauce has 2 carbs for a 1/2 cup. I baked up some spaghetti squash instead

of pasta, and used the sauce over chicken tenders and broccoli for a total carb count of 8 grams.

If I omitted the squash and just had chicken and broccoli, the carb count would have been half.

I make pasta for the guys, so it is one of the ways you can feed the family but stay true to your diet.

Simply reserve a few chicken tenders and sauce for your portion.

The guys get the pasta mixed with the sauce and the chicken and broccoli on the side.

Everybody is happy with this meal!

For breakfast its been harder for me since I discovered I had an egg allergy.

Eggs are the perfect low carb food, with only 1 carb per egg.

Alternative eggless breakfast ideas are cottage cheese and diced strawberries.

Strawberries are low in carbs and are 1/2 carb per small berry.

You can google anything to find out what the net carbs are,

which is the way you count the carbs. Subtract the fiber gram total from

the food's carbohydrate total to get your NET CARBS.

And an avocado is only 2 NET carbs for an entire one!

One mistake I made and seemed to slow my weight loss

was not realizing how many carbs are in blueberries.

One of my favorite eggless breakfast is 3/4 cup of plain Greek Yogurt,

some chopped walnuts and berries. But the blueberries are considered on the high side,

so I have since banished them and replaced them with diced strawberries to

add the sweetness the yogurt calls for. Walnuts are only 2 grams per 1/4 cup.

A low carb cocktail idea is my version of a cosmo. Lets call it the "SO LOW COSMO"

because the carb count is soooo low. Diet Cranberry Juice, Key Lime Juice,

Vodka and just a teeny splash of Cointreau or orange flavored liquor

(this has more carbs so can be eliminated altogether).

Without the orange liqueur, this drink has only 2 carbs.

Of course you can have most any clear alcohol with flavored seltzer,

like a diet coke with run, or vodka with lime soda water. Steer clear of wine!

So far I have lost 5 pounds and I have at least ten to go.....no thanks to COVID!!

It was so stressful to me, that during the beginning of the pandemic I chose not to

stress myself out further with being on a diet and trying to cook for the family while

not being about to go to the supermarket like I used to do, picking out the ingredients

I needed to stay on my routine. But now I feel like the food emergency is in the past

and the shopping can be done, using the safety measures like masks, now required to stay safe.

Even little 3 year old Reeve has gotten adept at keeping on her mask when she

goes out, like here at a farmers market in Maine.

Otherwise she is loving life at the farm~

and has even begun taking dance lessons!

She is in love with her new little brother Harry!!

Harry arrived in early August and I have only gotten to meet him twice.

He is a good natured baby and everyone is head over heels in love with him!

The fall weather is perfect for family hikes in Maine.

Snapchats on a daily basis keep this grandmother up todate with her littles ones.

Reeve likes to hold him and help feed him his bottle. It is the sweetest thing to see,

even if it is from a distance.

The next time I visit them I hope to have dropped a few more pounds.

Last week I chopped three inches off my hair as I am letting it go natural

in regards to no more coloring. Another COVID decision!

If you have any favorite low carb recipes or meals leave me a note in the comments,

I would love to hear them!

Lakehouse kitchen cabinets

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 13:31:00 +0000

Merrilat

Our lake house plan is finally at the finish line!

The process of building a modular home is very different than

building a custom home with an onsite construction crew.

With modular builds, you select almost every single thing in the house, from

the kitchen and bathroom cabinet style and color, the countertops, door styles,

trim for the baseboard and ceilings, the staircase elements, lighting and windows.

This home has been completely customized and will arrive on flat bed trailers,

then put together like giant building blocks with all of the cabinets

and sinks and lights already installed!

The kitchen cabinet style and color is shown above in an image

taken from Merrilat Cabinet's website. Because we are having taller ceilings

than the "standard" ceiling height of 8', we will have most of the cabinets stacked

to ceiling height. Below you can see my notes with the kitchen I designed

for the lake where I added the top row of cabinets on one side of the kitchen.

Merrilat has a great kitchen cabinet design feature where you can put together your

dream kitchen. A Swedish style plate display rack was on my list among other things.

On the opposite side of the kitchen there is a bank of cabinets that will function as a secondary

station for microwave, food storage, coffee making, trash cabinet, pots and pans cabinet

and a bookcase for cookbooks. All the cabinets are maple in a painted white finish.

A kitchen by East Hill Cabinetry shows some double stacked cabinets with some glass front cabinets.

Our kitchen will be open to the main room overlooking the lake similar to this, but we will have a peninsula with the sink and bar stools creating a separation while still affording the view of the lake.

A kitchen by Julie Williams Design shows white painted cabinets to the ceiling but the ceilings

are lower so no room for stacking. My cabinets will be 42" with another 12" cabinet stacked

to take advantage of extra storage space. I am only having one large glass front cabinet for putting

some of my transferware on display. The others will all be solid front cabinets so I can stuff them

with my various random collections for holiday dinners etc. I know some people have lots of

glass fronts, but I know mine need to be more for utilitarian storage than for beauty storage.

And while I have been designing the house I also have been imagining the details of the various spaces.

I saw a mirror at a local auction house and thought it would be perfect for the powder room bathroom.

It has an elegant cottage look to it as if it once lived in a grand lake house.

This antique AntebellumVictorian mirror with its painted floral crest and

faux bois finish with gilded morning glories was just the ticket to give our new house some soul.

Flanked with modern golden bronze sconces, its the mix of old and new that I find super appealing.

That is why I love antiques and decorating with them. You won't see this mirror anywhere else...

Our lake house will be a blend of new and old and I can't wait to see it all

come together and share it with you on my blog.

A Castle Room and Princess Dress for Reeve's Magical Sleepover

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 12:46:00 +0000

A magical reunion with Reeve

It had been five months since my granddaughter Reeve had been to our house

and she finally was coming back for a two night sleepover!

She always stayed in the guest room, but I had just

put up a stone arch wall mural and I feared she would miss her old room.

I had the idea to turn the room for her into a castle room, and she would be the princess.

It was an easy switch to just add princess type details to the bed and the room and voila!

A castle room was waiting for its princess.

Next I searched online and found one of my favorite dresses from the

Disney princess movies, Frozen's Princess Anna's coronation dress.

It's Scandinavian charm is so much more lovely to me than the icy blue gown that Elsa wears.

Sharing a screenshot of the listing on Amazon,

where they had lots of princess dresses to choose from.

The quality was amazing and the day Reeve arrived, so too did the package holding her dress.

It was time to go upstairs and show her the "Castle Room"!

The first thing she did was climb up into the bed with the little princess sheets.

I had made big pillows out of The Company Store clearance section.

The stone arch paper from Photowall was the perfect backdrop for a Princess bedroom.

Then it was off to rediscover all the things she remembered about her Grammy's house.

Like her Grammy's French Dollhouse....

The view to the city out of the window....

She wore it the entire day and even took her nap in it.

She even went next doors to show Grammy Claire, my MIL how

beautiful her new dress was!

It made a long awaited visit to her Grammy and Grampy's house

a magical experience that we will always remember.

We even had a princess photo shoot.

This coronavirus had made us miss our little one, and I know many

of you are missing your grandchildren too. Making our reunion a

little more magical was so easy with this $20 dress and the idea that

she had a princess room in a castle!

We had such fun dressing up together!!

PS Read the Dramatic Wallpaper Mural post here

I am offering my readers a 25% discount until the end of August 2020

using the discount code amymaisondecor25

Visit Photowall to see all the amazing murals and wall treatments here.

Dramatic Bedroom Mural

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 19:19:00 +0000

Our guest bedroom got a new look with a photo mural.

We updated the room because our son's best friend, Kai,

is coming to live with us while they start their college freshman year

together at our home, because of the Coronavirus situation.

The boys will be taking over the second floor of the house,

which will serve as their college dorm!

I wanted the room to have a completely new look for the guys.

These murals are actually photos that are blown up and made into wallpaper strips

to fit the exact dimension of the wall you want to cover. I was excited to

collaborate with this Swedish company, PhotoWall, and selected a rustic brick

arch wall called "Arch Ruin" as the backdrop for our guest room

from the thousands of images they stock.

Look for my 25% discount code at the end

of this blog post for your own order from Photowall!

The wallpaper mural comes with a package of powdered wallpaper paste.

Mixed up with a gallon of water in a bucket, it was ready to use in 5 minutes.

I also ordered the $18 wallpaper tool kit so that I would be all set

when it was time to rock and roll.

I have hung a ton of wallpaper in my life yet this set up from PhotoWall is a little bit

different than anything I had seen before. The roll of wallpaper is continuous, yet has

each strip numbered, and you cut it with scissors when you are moving on to the next strip.

Simply cut along the dotted line....

You apply the paste on the wall where the strip will go first,

so I measured out 18" and made a small pencil mark to give

me a rough guideline for the paste.

Apply the paste with the brush to the section of wall next to the strip you just hung.

The paste has some globs in it but they brush right out with the wallpaper brush.

This wallpaper was the easiest paper I had ever hung,

and I was finished with the wall in just two hours.

Now it was time to style the room....

First I decided to put the bed on the angle so

we could take in the dramatic backdrop of the wall mural.

But wait....do you remember what it use to look like?

When last used this room it had the dollhouse as well as the pastoral murals

I had painted on the walls giving the room a feminine romantic artistic effect.

It was very pretty, but wouldn't work for a college guy.

So, before I began my wallpapering I painted

over the lilac stripe at the top of the room as well as the murals so

they wouldn't show any trace of pattern through the wallpaper mural.

And two hours later I had a whole new wall of brick!!!

Everyone loves the new look!

I was able to reuse many of the things we already had in our home,

including lamps with burlap shades, some Ralph Lauren beige linen pillow covers

my modern office desk chair, and the grey and white checked curtains from Ballards.

Piper gives it a thumbs up too!

Use Photowall if you want to create a dramatic new look with ease.

All my readers can get 25% off any order of Photowall products

until the end of August 2020 by using the promo code

amymaisondecor25 for your discount.

With everyone at home more than ever now because of the coronavirus,

this is an awesome way to improve everyday spaces in your home.

I am already planning my next mural!

Blue Transferware, Reeve Turns Three and the Lake House

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Mon, 06 Jul 2020 13:04:00 +0000

Summer has arrived and with it comes some decorating changes.

This time as I decorate I am imagining the decor in the lake house

we will build later this summer in New Hampshire.

Blue and white has been creeping into my palette.

It began with this blue and white checked gingham fabric on the Swedish day bed.

Next came a few pieces of blue and white transfer ware,

including this unusual large pedestal bowl!

Powdery pale blue and white is my preference, and I have been lucky to find

some beautiful platters and bowls. The trio of botanicals framed in a country check

had been sitting in an antique shop for two years. I've noticed them with every visit

but didn't grab them until I figured out that blue and white would be part of the lake house look.

For now I have hung them in our kitchen where I plan to hang the platters on the wall.

Custom framed for someone else a few decades ago, they will be enjoyed

by us in our new home. Shopping for vintage finds always makes it fun,

as you never know what awaits you on the hunt.

My granddaughter Reeve turned three at the end of June.

She lives in Maine now on a farm, and is having an idyllic childhood.

She helps her daddy with fixing up the house with her own tool belt...

And of course there are farm chores.

One job is to drive her tractor to pick up vegetables gone by

for the compost heap. Look at that head of lettuce!!

We miss her very much, with the imposed isolation that Covid19

brought to our lives and loves. But hopefully we will have extended

visits soon, because she is going to be a big sister this month

and we are excited to meet him and share in the joy that grandchildren bring.

I stitched up some big floor pillows for her bedroom out of the cutest sheets

sold at The Company Store. Princesses in every color standing in front of castles

and riding in fairytale coaches!

Oh and how about these covered dishes?

They are large, and I found out they are excellent for using in the

courtyard at cookouts to keep the flies at bay.

I have three of these now, and they are fantastic!!

We have had a few small gatherings outdoors, and my system is that I use

a table set up next to the grill where I put all the plates and flatware, along

with the various (covered) dishes that have the food, and then grill the main

course. Then I plate and serve my guests, all the while maintaining sanitizing.

Its been easy to keep social distances and enjoy each others company.

And those covered transferware tureens are awesome for holding the food.

And one more darling blue and white addition, is this needlepoint pillow

with the blue and white striped background, done in roses and a cute lab!

I couldn't resist!

Its been a quiet summer so far,

but I am hoping to report on ground breaking for the lake house soon.

The well has been dug and installed and the final house plans are getting printed.

Next up will be the demolition and site work!

I promise to keep you posted~

Courtyard Planters and French Daybed

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Fri, 29 May 2020 17:19:00 +0000

Sprucing up the courtyard after the long winter has been underway for several weeks.

A fresh coat of black paint was needed for a few scuff marks on the French doors,

and I decided to paint the iron urns, as they have been in their original rust

form ever since I got them.

One on the left just painted, the one on the right still in ancient rust finish.

I was loving the look of the fresh black paint!

Valspar Duramax in Kettle Black was what I used for both the wooden doors and the iron urns.

It is made for the outdoors and it was really nice to work with. (Not a sponsored post)

Look at how nice everything looked with a fresh coat of paint!

Pretty Piper and Sylvia posed for my Memorial Day flag Instagram post here.

After trying to install a greenhouse in the courtyard and enduring an epic fail,

I was left with the wood landscape timber platform that was supposed to be the

base for the greenhouse.

The platform built for the briefly existing greenhouse....

Because it was chintzy and the wind took it away!!
Anyway, instead of ripping it apart and removing all the stone,

the solution was to turn it into a destination spot~

a raised platform for the French daybed and a pair of bistro chairs.

In the meantime the vegetable garden is underway up above in front of

the garden shed and I have to figure out how to get the water up there

in a more attractive manner. In the meantime the new courtyard layout

is actually pretty nice, and we can have a number of people and still

be able to practice social distancing easily!

The daybed is decorated in a French bohemian style.

A mosaic birdhouse in pink adorns the ironwork.

We really enjoy gathering outdoors, and the weather has finally turned for

the better. This courtyard is really an entertaining solution right now

during this Covid 19 pandemic. It hasn't been easy to isolate,

and we are looking forward to seeing loved ones in a safe way out here

during the summer months ahead.

Country House Door Baskets

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Tue, 12 May 2020 20:00:00 +0000

There is nothing prettier on a door than a basket of flowers!

It is the epitome of a Country Style welcome.

While I often put baskets on my doors, the one who does it

best is Nora Murphy, my friend who wrote her best seller

"Nora Murphy's Country House Style".

Nora uses baskets with flat backs for charming door arrangements.

A big basket of white petunias stands out against her black door.

One little story about my photo shoot for Nora's book is that when we

went outside to shoot the exterior of my house, I had a door basket with fake flowers.

Not a fan of faux, Nora asked how about switching it out with a potted flower

I had in my courtyard....so that is just what we did.

It probably could have used a bigger pot of flowers hah!

I love black doors on white houses and I love baskets brimming with fresh flowers

for elegant country style, like this scene from Nora's Connecticut farmhouse.

For the fourth of July Nora dressed up her white petunias with tiny flags.

I did the same with my front door basket.

Because we get full sun beating on the door I must use faux flowers in

the basket, but real geraniums in my garden planters and beds.

Look at this huge door basket made from willow branches.

Nora is stuffing it with all kinds of garden annuals

and it looks stunning.

I was really taken with this oversized monster basket!

Lucky me!!

While checking out the offerings on Nora's online shop,

I spotted this willow wall/door basket and ordered it straight away.

I can imagine it at the lake house

for a heavy dose of Country House Style a la Nora!!

I grabbed my bunch of faux hydrangeas and got to stuffing the basket.

For now the big willow basket will hang from one of

our door's at our " Country House in the City", which is what Nora herself

named our home in her book. I tried it out on one of the French doors

in the back, but I would need two and thats a bit much.

Its a tad large on the shed door but I have to say I really loved it here!

The perfect spot is the front door, the scale is just right!

Stuffed with the faux hydrangeas in green and purple it looked beautiful.

By the way, Nora sold her country house and bought a smaller country house

for her next chapter in life which is what I am about to do myself.

She shared a picture of the new old house recently and wouldn't you know...

it had a pretty door basket!

To visit Nora Murphy's online shop, click here

She's always restocking one of a kind vintage home and garden accessories

so be a frequent visitor and browse to your heart's content till you find

what you love!

To purchase an autographed copy

of Nora Murphy Country House Style book, click here

Follow Nora Murphy on Instagram here

Garden Obsessions of Tuteurs and Peacock Chairs

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Fri, 08 May 2020 20:36:00 +0000

This may be the longest break I have taken in blogging since I had my shops.

Just hard to get motivated to put a post together during this Coronavirus thing.

Hope you and yours are safe and well, but the numbers are so alarming its impossible

to feel very safe these days. And it kind of seems silly to blog about decorating...

I haven't been in the decorating mood since this virus hit.

Its not important.

But one thing I did feel like doing was to get a garden started to have fresh produce,

and so I tried building a greenhouse from a kit, which

failed miserably. Thankfully they refunded my money after the thing blew to bits

in a windstorm. Never the less, I had started seeds for a vegetable garden.

I am excited to get my garden going as the weather has

just started turning for the better here in the Boston area.

Mothers day is this Sunday and with that, I took my first trip for "frivolous" matters to a

garden nursery and picked up some outdoor flowering plants, including a pink geranium for

my 90 yr old mother in law, who lives next door to us. I also sold my Peacock wire set and it

was picked up yesterday by some movers to bring to a woman in Virginia who is obsessed with Peacock furniture! She is lining a path to a reservoir bordering her woodland property with these chairs and has collected about a dozen so far!! I loved hearing that story, as I love imagining her fulfilling her vision as she walks to the water past these fanciful chairs set up in little seating groups.

Tutuers are what I have been obsessed by for years....I love them!

And I always figured I would make one or two or three for my own garden.

These obelisk garden structures can be anything from traditional to fanciful.

At the nursery getting flowers with my son Colin, I spotted a nice tuteur.

I realized this thing wasn't going to get made by me this year, so onto the cart it went.

At home, I lugged it up near the garden shed, next to one of the garden boxes that

has yet to be filled with material. I can imagine it all painted up and standing over the herbs and vegetables this summer! White paint to go with the fencing and the shed.

Everything outside needs to be spruced up and sorted out.

That is the fun of surviving our long winters as is buying some flowers and a new garden ornament.

With the stay at home advisory in play, having an outdoor space or garden to focus on has been good for me. I know lots of people who have started vegetable gardens this year.

My lettuce and tomatoes and other things are doing well and many will be getting into the

garden bed in a week or two.

The dogs love accompanying me outdoor for garden chores.

This winter was kind to the roses on our property,

with no winter kill and lots of new growth.

My parents usually come back to the Boston area after wintering over in Florida.

However this year they are staying put until later on, due to the virus.

So I sent my mom a linen cocktail napkin that will be a souvenir of this strange and scary time,

making the most of what we can do during quarantine and not being together.

My son Brandon and wife Mimi dropped off three dozen pink roses on my doorstep today

to wish me a happy mothers day. I was thrilled, as I haven't had any cut flowers for three months!

I have been busy working on the lake house floor plan and have a scale version set up on the table so I can add cutouts of furniture to try to visualize how we will use the space. Its been really helpful to do this, and I can see what will come and what needs to be sold or donated.

Last but not least, is my little farmer girl Reeve.

I miss her terribly and wish I could spend overnights at the farm in Maine.

But we will have to wait until the threat of the virus passes.

In the meantime Justin sends me lots of snapchats to see her,

and she is a pro at carrying the chickens around!

She's almost three, and we have our visits via FaceTime these days,

where I can see her personality and sense of humor developing.

All of this time of separation will pass, and brighter times are ahead.

For now I am planning my garden and lake house.

Hope you are doing some future dreaming and planning too....

even if it means just going out to eat!

Wouldn't that be nice?

Don't buy my greenhouse!

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 18:28:00 +0000

Don't buy this greenhouse kit! I was excited to share with you all

this little 6x4 greenhouse I ordered from Amazon and I blogged about it

two days ago, with the link and our progress setting up the foundation area.

Well here it sits looking all innocent, but let me say this was a very trying project.

There were a million parts with two million nuts and bolts and a poor set

of instructions. But since we are accomplished DIYers I thought surely

we could handle this build. However it took two days, all three of us

on the job as it would blow over as you tried to build it. And it wasn't even

that windy out....a few what the F's were tossed about, and since the instructions were

so bad, we had varying opinions on how to interpret them. Which meant for

heated family discussions or some of us running into the house to hide.

By nightfall it was mostly constructed, and we all agreed it was an awful project.

This morning hubby finished putting the door on and then it started. The wind picked up.

Around lunch time I noticed one of the panels was loose and about to go flying off....so I ran

outside with the duct tape and reattached the panel from the inside. Not a great start!

We aren't sure if this thing will survive at all, but I had to get a blog post up quickly to say if

you were inspired to buy the same greenhouse we did from Amazon, well DON"T!!!

I heard from a friend via Instagram that she was pleased with her greenhouse kit

from Harborfreight. I will share the link but can't attest to it myself.

To check out her greenhouse kit click here; harborfreight greenhouse

This one is 6'x8', mine is 4'x6'. Hubs said we should have just built a wooden

one from scratch, and maybe he is right...so if we ever end up moving to the lake,

after the Coronavirus dust settles, then maybe that is what we will do.

Stay home and stay safe!

To read part one of my greenhouse kit, click here.

Building a Greenhouse kit

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 13:24:00 +0000

There are greenhouse kits, like this beautiful brick based kit from BC Greenhouse, and

then there are the inexpensive hobby greenhouse kits on Amazon.

This is the greenhouse kit I purchased last week. Its my way of dealing with

the onset of this nasty Coronavirus situation, and having a greenhouse

in our backyard to give our garden plants a head start seemed like a good idea.

Hubs arranged for making a foundation for the 4x6 unit

using supplies we had in the backyard. Some 6x6 railroad ties

coming out from the stone wall will hold the crushed stone

that will be the floor of the small greenhouse.

Our 18 year old son who is home like the rest of us, has

been hired on as the project manager, and I will be his

assistant. The kit has metal frame work, painted green,

that gets assembled, and then corrugated polycarbonate plastic panels

get inserted into the framework. Its not hard, its just time consuming.

During this time of self isolation, having a project to work

on together has been wonderful. It should be completed this week,

and then it will be lots of fun to go to the next phase of starting

seedlings and watch them grow. Before too long we will

be serving salads from our own leaf lettuce varieties!

My friend Laurie has an old greenhouse that she purchased from

someone getting rid of theirs, but she has never put the glass in it.

She told me my little project has inspired her to get her own greenhouse

up and running. Laurie specializes in selling vintage garden furniture,

and you can find her on Instagram at 'plainandelegantantiques'.

Another friend from Instagram, Lisa, has been inspired by

my garden shed, and has one being built to look just like mine!

(Our shed in Nora Murphy's Country House book)

Lisa and her husband are building a potager to hold kitchen garden staples.

I think many of us feel that growing and planting things in our gardens

are ways to handle the stress of the siege of the virus on our world.

Last year we didn't plant our garden as we were up at the lake, but

this year the garden will be re-established.

Greenhouse gardening, however, is a new thing for me.
A book on greenhouse basics came from Amazon in just a few days,

as did the greenhouse, my potting soil and other supplies.

Each day more things arrive for our greenhouse project.

I will be back to show you the finished greenhouse, and

hopefully it will be very very soon!!

Stay safe and stay home, and find a project that will bring you

satisfaction and comfort during these difficult days ahead.

PS. We were very unhappy with this greenhouse kit and do

not recommend it...read part 2 to see why, click here.

A Fancy French Comtoise Clock

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 16:41:00 +0000

A French Comtoise clock has long been on my radar as an object of desire.

The Comtoise clock, also known as a Morbier or Morez clock is a longcase

clock made in France on the French-Swiss border in the Jura region.

These clocks were made from the late 1600s to the late 1800s

when they were most prolific. My clock is dated from the 1860s,

and they are easy to date based upon the details of

the clock's appearance.

This book's cover gives a quick overview from the earliest to the latest clock

face styles. My Comtoise has the surrounding brass repousee work.

The long two piece pendulum is brass repousee featuring an urn with flowers and grapevine

leaves with grapes and wheat. These two parts fit inside of a long case that would

have been made by a farmer or local craftsmen to hold the clockworks. Eventually

little factories sprung up that took over the making of these clocks putting the farmers

out of business. They are distinctive clocks and once you become aware of them

you may be captured by their unique beauty, as I was.

My clock comes with a long case and the weights,

the pendulum and the face with the clock works intact.

At least this is what I expected to find at the auction house

based on the photo of it in the catalogue.

But in reality it was looking like a bit of a wreck as it was

disassembled and kind of pulled apart,

leaning against a cabinet very unceremoniously.

You can see the pendulum also leaning by itself next to the cabinet.

I pointed it out excitedly to my husband,

who did not share my enthusiasm. At all.

But he didn't know about the Comtoise, never even heard of it.

And since he was unaware, how could he be as excited as I was to find this special

clock waiting for its forever owner....of this century anyway.

I asked him if he could help me put it together if I bought it.

"No. You are on your own." He said rather abruptly,

kind of unlike him to speak in absolutes about a dream of mine.

Hmmmm.....well it didn't look THAT complicated to me.

After all, look at how gorgeous these clocks are!!!

This one is already sold, but LOOK at how special it is!

The face of my clock was sitting on top of a dresser around the corner from

where the case was. It would just be like putting together a puzzle.

The thing fits inside a wooden head part of the tall case, like this one.

Here is another spectacular Comtoise,

assembled in all it's glory.

You can search for them and they are out there!!

OMG!!!

All unique, and made centuries ago!

And yet another Comtoise on sale at Chairish's website.

Finding the parts still with a case that has survived is pretty special.

Many of these clocks are just hung with the face and the pendulum

which swings freely, without being inside the case.

They just hang on the wall, and their beauty is not to be denied.

So the fact that my clock cabinet was not looking majestic didn't bother

,me one bit. I was lucky to even have a cabinet for it if I could buy it.

So what happened next was that we were both sitting at the auction

and I told hubs, if this goes low enough I am going to get it.

He didn't respond.

I told him how special these clocks were. Again.

Then time passed and he said he was going to get something to eat

in the back room, where they have food for people like us who

sit for hours at the auction.

And just like that, not a minute after he left, the Comtoise clock

came up for auction!

It was mislabeled in the catalogue as a different kind of clock.

Which made me happy, as I knew the secret.

And that would keep other Comtoise hunters off the trail.

However the auctioneer realized this and noted at the beginning,

saying "well this is a French clock....where should we

start the bidding?"

And I waited and waited as he dropped the price by $50 dollar increments.

No one in the room or on the phone was interested in bidding.

And just like that my paddle went up when he said "$200?"

YES PLEASE my insides were SCREAMING,

and my outsides had my fingers and toes crossed until the gavel went down.

No one contested my bid!

YIPPEE!!!!

Amy Chalmers owned a Comtoise Clock!!

And then hubs returned with his snack unaware of the magic I was experiencing.

I waited two minutes, letting it soak in....and then I pointed to the catalogue listing and said quietly,

"I bought it" and smiled.

He kind of rolled his eyes. But what he did next astonished me.

Completely.

There was an even older clock that was on the stage directly behind the auctioneer.

It was an early 17th century American clock with a name signed in the brass face dial.

It came up for bidding.

Then....hubs picked up our paddle, and bid on it!!

WHAT???

"SOLD" to paddle number 367.

I laughed. He smiled.

My husband continues to surprise me in all the best ways.

I whispered "we now have HIS AND HERS antique grandfather clocks"

HERS

HIS

And of course we have the antique Swedish Mora clock

and a tiny Swedish Mora clock

and the wonderful German Cuckoo clock....

So there will be a lot of clocks at the Lakehouse.

That is all I know for sure.

One last thing. Kind of a strange thing, but it happens to me all the time.

Two weeks ago I was admiring this Comtoise clock.

It is a dollhouse miniature, and for sale on ETSY.

I was shocked when I saw it and loved that some miniaturist

knew about these clocks and had made a tiny Comtoise clock!

I was toying with the idea of buying it for my French dollhouse,

as often I like to put things inside it I will never have in real life...

But then I got distracted with life and Reeve or whatever,

and forgot about it. And then look what happened.

A real Comtoise clock came along!

For me its a clear sign the universe is listening.

And I am paying attention!!

Antique Corner Cupboard and New Years

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Sat, 11 Jan 2020 16:56:00 +0000

Right before New Years Eve hubs and I went to an auction and bought a cupboard.

Not that we were planning to or even going for anything in particular.

It was a spur of the moment decision.

I did mention to him that this auction had antique firearms.

Hehe, I knew that would catch his interest and sure enough he wanted to go!

But what surprised me most was how much other stuff caught his interest.

While I had quickly looked around and settled into my seat to listen to the auctioneer,

hubs was walking around checking everything out in great detail,

then coming back to me to ask did I see this thing or that?

He was on a hunt and it turned out he was interested in anything bronze.

Statues that is. See him looking down over there??

He was checking out these cute Corgi dogs, a bronze statue by artist

Elizabeth Leary Strazzulla of Orleans, Massachusetts.

And then he asked if I had noticed the enormous life size Indian and eagle statue.

WHAT?? Why in the world do we want or need that I wondered?

Where is that going to go?

In New Hampshire at the lake, he replied....

ok... well I guess I could try to imagine it....

and that was only the beginning.

We would have to wait for it to come up and then bid on it,

and hope it wouldn't be too high.

I had noticed things like this old tin weathervane which I could imagine

going on the top of our not yet built barn/garage.

I guess one gets attracted to things for whatever reason....I was

still processing his attraction to all the statues.

Then I rounded the corner and saw it.

The enormous and old corner cupboard.

The listing said it was "an important early 18th century

cabinet" and it certainly was important looking to me.

It looked very old, with lots of carvings and the interior

was painted with a turquoise color that was appealing.

I can bet Martha has cabinets like this in her homes!

I thought to myself, no one will want this thing. Its too big!!

We will get it for the lake house!

So I sat and waited for a few of our items to come up on the auction block.

Finally the big cupboard was up!!

Hubs whispered... Oh please. Don't.

I continued to lift my paddle until I won.

Oh yes!! I won!!

And that was that. It was coming home.

We went home with all the big things,

like the Indian statue (bronze but painted white).

And some French barstools, and an antique fish service,

some big blue and white transferware platters....

And the enormous cabinet!!

When we checked the measurement of the cupboard I was nervous to see that the cupboard

was the same height as our ceiling. But it fit like a glove, with the help of our son Justin.

It was meant to be...for now. It belongs at the lake, and in that house our ceilings will be

a foot higher, so it will fit without any worry at all.

We bought a few tables, a game table, a dresser, the corgis,
and another crazy big statue too....

This pretty demilune table with gorgeous carvings came home with us.

Y,a we bought a lot of antique stuff!! And it was sooo much fun!!

These are full size bronze statues out of a Malibu CA estate that someone painted.

Why my husband wanted these is something I can't answer, but I can tell you it was

very funny when he was bidding on them. At least I thought it was funny!

I whispered to him, we are going to be known as "those people" when our neighbors

at the lake see these things on our property. Haha. I will do my best to hide

them in the shrubbery or behind trees.

For now our auction treasures are in our Massachusetts home, waiting for the lake.

Its been so much fun to fill the cabinet with my antique collections

of majolica and transfer ware into the cabinet.

It was all part of what turned out to be a very fun way to ring in the New Year.

Before we headed out, I learned how to saber the champagne,
which means cut the neck off the bottle with a "saber" or knife.
You use the back of the knife blade, not the sharp part.

It cuts it clean off!!
There are a few secrets, and one is to put the champagne
bottle upside down in the ice bucket to freeze the neck first. Then reposition the
casket around the cork to above the bottle ridge neckline, and as you cut it off,
to move the saber up the bottle along the molded glass line of the bottle.
It was thrilling!

We had reservations to enjoy dinner

in Boston's historic North End with our youngest and a good friend,
then headed to Ciao Bella in North Square next to the Paul Revere house
to meet Justin who was working to celebrate some more.

We capped the night off with more champagne and oysters.
What a treat!

In closing I hope you all had a nice New Years Eve.

We usually spend NYE low key, so this was especially fun and memorable.

Wishing all a great 2020!!

Our family looks forward to many changes this year.

Building a new home and then moving to the lake

as our youngest (who, might I brag, just got straight A's in his first senior term)

graduates from Boston Latin School and then heads off to college,

leaving us as empty nesters for the first time.

The next phase of life has arrived for us Chalmers!

Cheers!!

Our Merry Christmas Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Thu, 26 Dec 2019 16:50:00 +0000

Christmas 2019

Christmas morning arrived to a fairly quiet household.

The pups were ready to open their fur stockings filled with toys and bones.

Mr. Maison Decor and I lingered with Snickerdoodle coffee and Swedish coffee bread

until our youngest woke up and my mother in law came over for presents.

That gave us time to get a Christmas portrait with the dogs...

Our Christmas was low key, but enjoyable. My 90 year old Mother in law

arrived with batter to make us all a breakfast of Swedish pancakes before we unwrapped gifts.

However because both my husband and myself were under the weather from head colds,

our Christmas Eve party planned the night before was canceled.

However that didn't stop us!

I felt a bit like we were in Whoville after the Grinch tried to steal Christmas.

We celebrated together in style, dressing up anyways, and enjoying champagne

and a steak dinner together. This, our 15th Christmas together and that is worth celebrating!

Christmas Eve was always the dress up dinner party at my house growing up.

And hubs family had an equally big affair at his aunt's home with a big dinner and

Santa arriving with a sack of gifts for him and his older brother. They sang carols around

the piano long into the night. We both have fond memories of our childhood Christmases.

The lead up to Christmas was strong this year.

The early and often snowfalls really got me in the Christmas spirit quickly.

Reeve and I made her first snowman, Olaf, after a good storm.

When I popped in the eyes and the carrot nose she cheered in delight!

We also made Christmas cookies, which was a fun but messy undertaking.

I don't recall making cookies during my childhood Christmases, but I love the idea of

that tradition, and want to begin it with my granddaughter.

Another fun thing I did was to order a felted needlework kit made by Bucilla company,

featuring the Twelve Days of Christmas. It was really enjoyable to sit and do some crafting.

I don't consider myself a crafty person at Christmas as I am more into the decorating at this time of year. But this was so much fun! It is kind of a throw back craft to the 60s and 70s, but they really are beautiful in a vintage kind of way. It will take months to finish this collection.

Yes, lots of decorating, and I was in high gear for adding bits

around the house including the kitchen. I have this red Swedish candelabra

that had me adding red velvet ribbons to my copper molds by the kitchen window.

Lots of cooking and mess making, and it all felt so festive!

And then there is the three hour process of
Swedish Coffee bread making!

Holidays always includes the family recipe for Swedish Coffee Bread,
someone I know from Sweden also calls it Cardamom Braid,
as it has Cardamom seeds and spice. Delicious!

Greenery was sprinkled through out our house...

The family Creche set that was made by my paternal grandmother

was handed down to me this year as a gift from my 90 year old father.

I know he wants to see it continue down the family line,

and I think I know who will receive it next.

In the days leading up to Christmas, Reeve and I had such fun doing

Christmassy things like making ornaments, cookies...

and those old fashioned paper rings for the tiny feather tree.

I love making a book for Reeve capturing the moments of the year past.

And this is the third year I have made our family highlight book.
These are great for capturing and remembering all the big and small moments
throughout the year, and something I plan to do as long as I can.

Look how cute Reeve's Swedish dollhouse looks nestled under the tree.

The Seven Swans a swimming was the next ornament...

All sequined and hung on the tree! Only ten more to go....

Haha!

Our big boy Colby...I think you can spot the Two turtle Doves

and Seven Swans ornaments on the tree behind him.

And suddenly it was December 24th.

All those Christmassy moments led to our big night...

and even though our big party was dashed,

we had a romantic and quiet party mostly to ourselves!

A brief visit from son

Brandon and daughter in law Mimi

and then we were back to our dinner.

Son Justin and family were in Maine,

and son Colin was in Thailand with his new fiance Rachel,
and youngest son Scott was off to a party at his maternal grandmothers home.

We hope your Christmas was merry and bright, as was ours!

Lastly, one more tradition we have to share with you...

our Family Photo Christmas Card with dogs!!

Faux wax candle tapers create magic

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 15:36:00 +0000

Christmas time is always a magical time in my mind, and creating

that ambience for myself and my family is important.

The woodland theme is carried into my dining room, and whatever your

style, candles add the finishing touch that brings the magic!

I own faux candle pillars but recently have noticed some faux candle tapers,

and was excited to find an affordable high quality version as these can be very pricey.

Searching online led me to Amazon where I found a brand that comes

in packages of different amounts of tapers. I got a five pack for $25,

which is $5 a candle, and if you have ever shopped for these, you know that

the major brand that sells these flickering tapers can cost 10 times that amount.

They fit a normal candle holder size, and they are real wax exteriors

with the flame attached to a removable battery pack.

Here the unlit tapers sitting in a gilded antler candleholder which

I embellished with metallic floral candle rings.

After seeing how awesome they were, I ordered another five pack as I have two candleabras

that I wanted to use for the holidays. They are beautiful and give a flickering effect.

The flame itself does not move, just the colors of the wax and the flame give a flickering effect.

The inside pulls out of the wax sleeve. They are all wrapped in tissue paper and packaged in

a sturdy styrofoam box, and come with a remote control as well as the batteries.

The remote lets you set it to flicker mode or solid light, and a timer setting.

This was the brand that I purchased.

When they arrived I couldn't wait for nighttime to see

how magical they would be....and they did not disappoint.

Also from Amazon were these adorable tree candles, much like one would

see during Victorian times or in Scandinavia and on Nordic Christmas trees.

These are wired in a group of 20, and attached to a battery pack, also with

a timer if desired. I am loving the new lights, the dining room looks so pretty at night.

Trust me, it looks amazing! I am not promoting this product

as a sponsor, just as an excited home decorator that is passing

along a good thing!! Happy Holidays, and get decorating!

European Woodland Lodge Decor

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 20:33:00 +0000

I've been having a ton of fun with a bit of decorating, shifting the style from French Country

to what I call European Woodland Lodge. Its a bunch of neutrals mixed together, with

velvets, fur, burlap and linen textures in shades of beige and grey, with a hint of white.

After I slipcovered the lilac colored sofa to protect it from the dogs, the ball got rolling.
A bleached drop cloth in the biggest size was used to create the slipcover. A German stencil
was used on some scraps to create a grain sack pillow accent for the European lodge look.

After I took down the mirror that has always been over the sofa, a deer mount took its place.

A big grapevine wreath was made up from a rambling grapevine in the backyard.

I wanted to frame the deer and add some greenery for Thanksgiving.

Wintery touches of trees and white lights were added on the tabletops.

A Black Forest tree, the tall skinny trees with

downswept branches, was added to the dining room.

Gilded accessories are in the mix, and I love the overall effect of the gold

with the natural colors and textures. Husband is a big fan, saying the house

has never looked better. Hahaha!! Code for no more French stuff please!

For a long time I have hunted for a small coffee table and found

this marble topped Eastlake antique in a local antique shop.

At night the room sparkles and we love it.

When the troops come home, there are candles and twinkle lights turned on in every room.

Its just magical! I haven't put up our big tree yet, and this adding of decor, bit by bit has been

the most enjoyable process.

After Thanksgiving, I added French Country bows in a silk check to either side of the large grapevine wreath and filled the branches with evergreens, and a strand of twinkle lights.

The deer got a dressy necklace of vintage mercury bead garland and a bobble garland

in green and gold that I used to sell at my old shop, Maison Decor.

The mantle got a garland with grapevine branches sticking out and some new fur stockings

from Arhaus are for the three dogs, each fur to match their own.

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving at home, and got everyone to pose for a family portrait.

As always we include the dogs, which is the biggest challenge of all.

Now we are ready to enjoy the Christmas holidays, and hope you are finding the spirit of the season for your own families and yourselves.

Country French Winter Decorating

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 18:45:00 +0000

In the weeks before Thanksgiving I start adding what I call "Winter Decor".

It sets the mood for the holiday season, but stays away

from too much of a Christmas feel.

So I like to add lights and some greenery with ribbons.

I switched out the summery white curtains for grey ruffled sheers.

And candles in the windows. Love those candles.

Old silver trays and accents look pretty with the grey and white theme.

Its simple and elegant and rustic.

Layer silver plates and trays on top of each other.

Sprinkle faux snow or add more greenery or pinecones.

A vintage chicken wire urn gets a simple

treatment with a bunch of faux iced branches with pinecones.

Later on I will switch the centerpiece for something more Christmassy.

In the living room there is greenery, lights and ribbon on the mantle.

Because I had my granddaughter over I pulled out a tiny tree.

Undecorated it has a winter woodland effect.

Later on after Thanksgiving, or close to it, I will embellish things with

ornaments and make it more, more, more!! I select ribbon based upon

fabrics and colors in the room for a serene look. My father, however,

would be saying put on some RED ribbon!! He is a traditionalist.

The small battery operated twinkle lights can give anything a magical feel.

A garden topiary form with grapevine that I found antiquing in Maine with my sister

was scooped up and brought home and put on my petite French desk. Take a second look

at your garden accessories and bring them indoors and wrap them with lights!

There was one exception to the early Christmas,

and its this tinsel tree with pink pearl garland

that is sitting on my gilded Florentine chest of drawers.

Little pink velvet pumpkins nestled underneath will hang around 'til Thanksgiving.

Pink bottle brush stars with pearls ornament the drawers,

all in an effort to enchant my little one.

Reeve is now almost two and a half, and she is obsessed with all things Frozen.

Particularly Elsa! We both love it, its the cutest movie, and now Frozen 2 is coming

out. I love the Scandinavian clothes and set designs in the castle, its inspiring!

Hope this inspires you to get decorating your home so that when Thanksgiving is over,

you are ahead of the game and can enjoy decorating at a leisurely pace.

Our Lake House Inspiration Board

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 16:53:00 +0000

Its been months and months of planning for the lake house that we

plan to build next year in New Hampshire. Dream homes come in

many shapes, sizes, styles and prices and ours is a modest one,

but a dream home nonetheless!

I have a lot of experience buying a home and redoing it, but never

have we built a home, and so this is exciting but a different process.

We are using a modular company that will build this house to our

specifications, and it needs to conform to the allowances by the town.

When I saw this home of @featherglass on Instagram, it struck me that it was very

similar to the design we had going on our drawing board.

We will have windows flanking a French door topped with transoms facing

the lake, with a side staircase, similar to her home, also in New England.

Her home has more doors and windows, but this photo is indicative of our plan.

It was so nice to see a house in real life that mimics one on a drawing board.

Our floor plan is very open with the kitchen, dining space, and living room all

in one big room. We will have our sofas and tv and fireplace in the area closest

to the wall of windows and French doors, while the kitchen and dining area

will be on the other side of the room. Ellen, of @featherglass has her

dining table near her staircase, where we will have a sitting area of toile furnishings.

Most of our existing furniture will be coming with us if it fits in the house and we

can use it and it looks good. We aren't millionaires (yet) and so this is the furniture plan.

There will be two separate seating areas in the living room.

We love these IKEA Extorp sofa and love seat in beige we purchased two years ago.

They will be centered around a fireplace with an antique mantel creating a cozy space

for our long winters on the lake.

An antique mantel will be something we will hunt for to give the house some character,

like this one I saw on eBay. So many antique shops up there, so it will be fun to find the right one,

that fits the style we are going for, which is more farmhouse than fancy.

Then there will be a second seating area facing the French doors that open to the lake,

which will be lovely during the summer with the doors flung open to the deck and the view.

This personal favorite fabric, Bosphorous Toile by Covington,

will be made into a slipcover for the new purple sofa that we recently

got from an estate sale. I love it's soft gentle colors of sand, grey and misty green.

The seating area will include the French bergere chair and ottoman that

wears the same fabric which I did several years ago.

(Click here on how I reupholstered it.)

On my wish list is a fun and coveted piece, like this French Pastry table, that I can use as a

bar and serving table for entertaining. It will be one of the few "new" things

that I hope to find for the lake house.

The color of the walls will be white. There is not a lot of wallspace in the room and we

don't want an outline of color around all the doors, windows and transoms.

We want the lake and the trees to be the focal point and

this color will create a serene feel to the space.

A reupholstery project for the dining room chairs is underway, using

this pale blue gingham check by Lilyoake designs at Spoonflower.

Much of my antique lighting will come along, like this basket chandelier.

And this square lantern will hang in the front entryway.

Vintage lighting is one of the things I like best when decorating a home.

Overall there will be less fancy French gilded things.

Less things in general. Which is a challenge for me!

The goal is simplicity and comfort with the addition of a few well chosen antiques

to create that age that I think gives a home soul.

A Garden tour at a French Country Estate in Newport Rhode Island

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 01:40:00 +0000

Matthew Mead took me to a book launch party last month.

It was held at the French Country estate of retired food editor of

Bon Appetit magazine, Bettie Bearden Pardee.

Bettie is the author of the blog Private Newport,

and gives her readers the insider view of wonderful Newport Rhode Island.

Bettie is featured in the new book, Entertaining at Home, by Ronda Carmen.

Matthew was the principal photographer and I shared many fascinating chats with him

as he traveled the country shooting the homes of designers

as they showed him how they entertain at home.

Ronda's book is just wonderful~ you will be inspired with all the entertaining ideas

and recipes and ways you can invite others to your home to party in so many ways!

Join us as we step behind the gated entrance of this truly magical French Country home

and poke around her gardens and outbuildings soaking it all in.

Pumpkin Punchbowl Centerpiece

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 13:14:00 +0000

The first day of fall has arrived in New England, and so we say goodbye to our short lovely summer.

The nights have been cooler and the days have been pleasant, but these nice fall days are

fleeting as well, and winter weather will be next. But until then, lets dive into decorating for

fall. I am not a big fan of too much fall decor around the house, but one thing I do

love are the pretty fabric pumpkins that are everywhere! Over the last several years

I have either purchased them or made my own using all kinds of materials.

For a nice and easy centerpiece I assembled them all in my silver punch bowl that I found at the Brimfield Antique Fair. This punchbowl has been so much fun to use for centerpieces for the various

holidays. Everything looks good in it! This year I picked up some pink velvet pumpkins and a tiny blue floral pumpkin, both from contacts I have online on Facebook and Instagram. My blogging and Instagram friend, Larissa Jenkins, has a cute Etsy shop and she sold her pink velvet pumpkins there. Her blog, Welch House 1900, is on my sidebar if you want to visit her incredible old house
and see the masterful decorating in the style of Glamorous French Vintage style.

The blue pumpkin I noticed on a Facebook post was being sold by the beautiful shop called Vignettes in San Diego. I reached out and left a note that I wanted it...the shop owner quickly contacted me with her phone number and the next thing you know,
here it is in my punch bowl like the cherry on top of a sundae!

This was last year's thanksgiving centerpiece using many of the pumpkins I made myself,

and some velvet pumpkins I found at Homegoods.

We are having a party for my mother in law to celebrate her 90th birthday,

so I made a grand buffet tablecloth for our dining room out of a pale grey and cream toile.

The centerpiece looked really nice on the cloth, and I plan to use some of my vintage silver

trays for the party to give it that fancy vintage look I love.

Making my own pumpkins is a lot of fun, as I get to use leftover home decor fabrics or

I upcycle velvets from old clothing like jogging suits and fashion them into cute pumpkins.

Enjoy the links below for either making your own or visiting independent shops and blogs

that I find very inspiring!

Tutorial for my designer velvet pumpkins here

Larissa Jenkins Etsy shop for pink pumpkins here

Larissa Jenkins blog, Welch House 1900 here

Vignettes Decor, San Diego, FB page for blue floral pumpkin here

Country Home Magazine Shoot on Cape Cod

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 15:35:00 +0000

Life is sooo glamorous these days!
During the week, sandwiched between babysitting

for my 2 year old monkey Reeve (which entails peanut butter sandwiches and diaper changes),
I was invited to be a model and play a "guest" at a photo shoot for Country Home magazine
by my friend Matthew Mead, the multitalented superstar in the magazine and book industry. Matthew was producing this segment for CH and the location was
my friend Sandra's beautiful home on Cape Cod.

Sandra's home is quite famous now.

It has appeared in several magazines and has a devoted following on

Instagram at her account called Old Silver Shed.

Even I wrote a blog post about it with lots of pics when I first visited it after

both of our homes were featured in Matthew Mead's DECORATING magazine together.

(You can read that post here.)

This house overlooks Old Silver Beach and its simply spectacular inside and out!

The CH shoot was about a summer Pie Party on Cape Cod.

Just like a little movie, the magazine shoot has a script and Matthew Mead was the producer.

He advised me to come in a blue and white gingham shirt and to arrive at noon.

This side porch was to be the setting for the "Pie Party", and it is a porch I know well,

as I have slumbered in the dreamy room that leads out onto the stone pillared porch.

Yup, this is MY ROOM when I stay at Sandra's!! Yummy!!

There are French doors to the right that lead to the side porch.

So when I arrived I walked through my bedroom (lol)

and this was the scene, with the ocean as a backdrop.

While Matthew was getting the props together for the shoot, I grabbed

a pic of him with our hostess. Matthew was going to have one of the pies

cut up and placed on the antique blue and white plates that all the "guests"

were to gobble up while being photographed. Ha! Have you ever seen

pictures of people actually eating? I myself cannot wait to see how we all

look at this Pie Party, eating and laughing at the same time!

Sandra Cavallo, Amy Chalmers, Ellen McHale

One of the other guests is also one of my favorite people, artist Ellen McHale.

I met both Sandra and Ellen through Matthew

when he was doing his own magazines on decorating several years ago.

Flashback to 2015.

This is the night we all met up at a party I threw for Matthew Mead

for the magazine launch at my old shop Maison Decor.

Read about that party here.

We had so much fun that night, laughing our heads off.

We have remained good friends and our point of connection is style guru Matthew.

We aren't supposed to share too much of the actual shoot, but I wanted

to show you part of the styling Matthew did.
Those antique silver glasses were scooped up by Sandra
at an antique place and they have quite a story to them.
They are sailing trophy glasses from the Beverly Yacht Club.

Her kids are into sailing and she loves anything that has a meaningful story behind it, like I do.

Which is why we both are drawn to using vintage in home decor, its so much more interesting!

He also used a fabric by the fabric designer Paula Arndt
that is similar to the one I upholstered my Swedish trundle bed.

You can order fabrics and samples from her Spoonflower account.
I ended up choosing the faded blueberry gingham
at the top for my sofa. Isn't it pretty?

You can see it in the background at my dining room table.
Anyway....I digress.

Ok, here is one shot including a pie....
but really, look at the porch view!!

OMG

For the last scene we shot, we were all sitting out on Sandra's lawn in the

old weathered Adirondack chairs and waiting to be handed plates of pie.

That will be one of the shots in next summer's issue of Country Home magazine.

Which is something to look forward to after the fall and very long

New England winter....sigh.

Decorating Changes

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 14:13:00 +0000

Our living room has gone through some decorating changes this summer.

It all began with selling the painted baby grand piano.

Since we are planning to move to our lake home one day, (which is yet to be built),

I decided to sell off a few things we wouldn't be taking,
like the piano to get prepared for the eventual move.

Then we impulsively bought a lilac colored sofa at an estate sale auction

and played with where to put the sofa, since the piano was gone.

Yes I said "WE", as hubs egged me on to buy it because it looked

much more comfortable than the Swedish couch we had.

Also. the lilac of the sofa and the blue color of the wall just was a bit too much

for my taste, and I hated how the sofa looked against the staircase banister.

So that was going to have to change....

The couch went back between the windows, but not before I

painted the walls a neutral color, French Canvas, by Benjamin Moore.

The corner where the piano was gained the mora clock from the front

entry area and the small French provincial desk.

The Swedish trundle bed/sofa that started off in the living room last year,

was moved to the dining room for seating along the farm table.

I have been reupholstering it in a blue and white gingham.

I painted a pastoral mural to hang above it, however it ended up being moved

into the living room as seen in the previous pic above. One thing leads to another,

and our home hasn't seen this much decorating activity in a long time.

A mirror and the opaline sconces got moved over the Swedish sofa.

This was the same mirror that hung on that wall shown in

Nora Murphy's County House Style book.

An arrangement of purple transferware plates surrounded the mirror.

So it's been a full summer of moving furniture around and painting walls.

I have more changes to share but I will end it here,

wishing you all a happy and safe Labor Day weekend!

We are visiting the lake cottage these last days of

August, taking some needed family time with hubs and the kids,

before the school year begins and everyone is back on the wheel.

Goodbye summer and hello to the cool fall days that

have quickly arrived in New England.

Fancy Pink Nursery for my French Dollhouse

noreply@blogger.com (Amy Chalmers) — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 20:04:00 +0000

A beautiful French crib for the nursery in the dollhouse arrived.

One can make things, buy things and also rehab things for their dollhouse, and

I do a combination of those things. This crib is from the Bespaq miniature furniture

company and they make very fine furniture and some is quite grand.

I wanted a royal and fancy feminine crib and so
I hunted on eBay and Etsy until I found this sweet crib!

I added the gingham bedskirt, which coordinates with the pink

gingham rug I made out of fabric on my ink jet printer.
And baby got her own fireplace as well, which is really pretty,
but apparently I didn't take a good photo of it. Next time!

Take a look at what I started with in this third floor space.

The aged walls were there, and next I painted the ceiling pink to go with

the pink bathroom, which is through the door in the next room. I made

the floral chest out of an unfinished wood bombe chest I already had.

Essentially its cutting out a paper print of a flower pattern that I found online.

First I painted the chest in a pink color close to the paper, then I used

mod podge in matte finish to affix it to the wooden chest.

The floors were covered in a paper print made to look like white painted wood planks.

The gingham rug layered on top of that, with the pretty crib sitting on the rug.

It all looked so cute together and I was quite pleased!

The walls were already made to look old.

I stamped a rose pattern in pink over the

antiqued plaster walls to give it a faded hand painted look.

A cute little box with a vintage baby was a

printable dollhouse accessory that I made.

Its the most darling room in my Petite Maison!

There will be more accessories to add to the nursery.

I even have a fancy highchair, but that may go in the kitchen....

I hope you enjoyed seeing the latest addition to my French dollhouse.