I heard a comment the other day that caused me to chuckle:
"At Christmas, our house is like a Donnie and Marie Christmas special!"
I loved that! I always want that kind of holiday - everyone happy, smiling (the Osmonds had big grins!), standing around singing Christmas carols, enjoying the holiday. (and by the way I always had that kind of Christmas when I was young, thanks to my mother, who loves Christmas as much as anyone I know. She begins listening to Christmas carols in August each year! It was always a time for excitement and joy and I have such fond memories of our home and family around this time each year.
Do you remember your favorite Christmas present? The "bestest" gift - the one you had hoped for? Well, I do - (although, as I think about it, it may have been a birthday gift!) - it was a Barbie Dream House, complete with furniture - ! - and an elevator! My wonderful Uncle Alan presented me with this gift and I thought he was the greatest uncle in the world. I was enthralled with the design and layout of the house - I would spend hours "redecorating", moving the furniture from one room to the next and using scraps of material for rugs and drapes. That just shows that you never know how your choice of gift may "inspire" someone's future!
I hope that you have the chance to enjoy your holiday and remember your wonderful childhood memories, while making new ones for your family...
Everyone here at Reflections wishes you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and happy New Year!
Mary
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!"
November 1st! We love November 1st! It is the first day that we begin playing Christmas music in the showroom! Well, most of us love it - some greet this day with,"Bah, humbug".
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the holidays. My mother always decorated our home with care and pride and, even now, I can close my eyes and see our tree with it's beautiful ornaments - some homemade, some "store bought". I knew when she began dragging all of the boxes out that our home would be transformed into something special.
How about your home? Will your family recall your efforts to make their holidays "merry and bright"? Now, no one will ever accuse me of being - for lack of anything better - a domestic goddess! However, I do love a beautifully decorated tree and hope that my son remembers helping me decorate our trees when he is older and has his own home.
We are putting our last few trees and holiday decor displays up in the showroom, getting ready for our 14th Annual Holiday Open House. We hope you will join us, November 10th through 13th! We have many trees all dressed for the holidays, with lots of ornaments, wreaths, garlands, and gift ideas! Our store hours will be 9am to 6pm and 1pm to 5pm on that Sunday only. Remember, refreshments wil be served on Saturday, from 10am to 4pm. Just like last year, for every non-perishable food item that you bring for our local food bank, you will receive an entry for a $1000 gift certificate to be given away on Sunday evening!
Everyone here at Reflections hopes that peace is your gift at Christmas time and your blessing all year through!
"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." - Burton Hillis
Happy holidays to you and yours,
Mary
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the holidays. My mother always decorated our home with care and pride and, even now, I can close my eyes and see our tree with it's beautiful ornaments - some homemade, some "store bought". I knew when she began dragging all of the boxes out that our home would be transformed into something special.
How about your home? Will your family recall your efforts to make their holidays "merry and bright"? Now, no one will ever accuse me of being - for lack of anything better - a domestic goddess! However, I do love a beautifully decorated tree and hope that my son remembers helping me decorate our trees when he is older and has his own home.
We are putting our last few trees and holiday decor displays up in the showroom, getting ready for our 14th Annual Holiday Open House. We hope you will join us, November 10th through 13th! We have many trees all dressed for the holidays, with lots of ornaments, wreaths, garlands, and gift ideas! Our store hours will be 9am to 6pm and 1pm to 5pm on that Sunday only. Remember, refreshments wil be served on Saturday, from 10am to 4pm. Just like last year, for every non-perishable food item that you bring for our local food bank, you will receive an entry for a $1000 gift certificate to be given away on Sunday evening!
Everyone here at Reflections hopes that peace is your gift at Christmas time and your blessing all year through!
"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." - Burton Hillis
Happy holidays to you and yours,
Mary
Monday, October 3, 2011
Where would we be without the beauty of color?
"Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower." - Albert Camus
Fall is my favorite season - God's beautiful creation gives us a colorful show to enjoy. It always seems that I want to bring some of that color indoors! Pumpkins, leaves, berries, and branches decorate many homes this time of year.
At Reflections, we have taken the idea of new color one step further and we have been painting our vignette rooms some fresh new colors! With paint names like "Cork", "Raspberry Truffle", and "Dragon's Breath" - (talk about brave - yikes!) - several of our rooms have new life and beautiful color. Which got me to thinking...what are some tips for selecting color?
1. Pick an item that you love, (rug, window treatments, upholstery, art), and pull a color out. Narrow your choices to 2 or 3 and purchase a quart of each to paint sample boards. While no one wants to buy paint that they won't use, this can keep you from buying gallons of the wrong color. Hold the dry sample boards up to the furniture, fabric and surfaces already in the room. The larger swatch makes it so much easier to decide if a color is right or not.
2. Leave your paint sample boards in the room for a couple of days. Look at them during different times of the day and evening to see how different lighting plays on the colors. You are the one who will see this room in the morning AND evening and you need to be pleased with the color selection.
3. A perfect match to your choice color isn't always the best wall color choice. Allow one of your samples to be an imperfect match - it might just be the spark that gives your room that "Wow!" factor.
4. Think about the atmosphere that you want in that room. A room with a relaxed atmosphere often has "cool" colors: light greens or blues. You can warm up a room by using reds, yellows and browns. Grays, beiges and taupes blend well with with other earth-tones colors for a more contemporary feel.
5. One of my favorite ideas: try a contrasting color for an accent wall! Brings interest and color to your room.
6. Consider the size of your room. Light colors increase the feeling of space, while darker colors bring the walls in for more coziness.
If it is just too large a decision to make on your own, our wonderful associates at Reflections will be glad to help you choose the right color for your home!! They chose the colors for our latest "update" - I am telling you, I was a little unsure about "Dragon's Breath" - and it is more beautiful than I imagined. They can offer you the same assistance!
"There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice." - John Calvin
Happy Decorating!
Mary
Fall is my favorite season - God's beautiful creation gives us a colorful show to enjoy. It always seems that I want to bring some of that color indoors! Pumpkins, leaves, berries, and branches decorate many homes this time of year.
At Reflections, we have taken the idea of new color one step further and we have been painting our vignette rooms some fresh new colors! With paint names like "Cork", "Raspberry Truffle", and "Dragon's Breath" - (talk about brave - yikes!) - several of our rooms have new life and beautiful color. Which got me to thinking...what are some tips for selecting color?
1. Pick an item that you love, (rug, window treatments, upholstery, art), and pull a color out. Narrow your choices to 2 or 3 and purchase a quart of each to paint sample boards. While no one wants to buy paint that they won't use, this can keep you from buying gallons of the wrong color. Hold the dry sample boards up to the furniture, fabric and surfaces already in the room. The larger swatch makes it so much easier to decide if a color is right or not.
2. Leave your paint sample boards in the room for a couple of days. Look at them during different times of the day and evening to see how different lighting plays on the colors. You are the one who will see this room in the morning AND evening and you need to be pleased with the color selection.
3. A perfect match to your choice color isn't always the best wall color choice. Allow one of your samples to be an imperfect match - it might just be the spark that gives your room that "Wow!" factor.
4. Think about the atmosphere that you want in that room. A room with a relaxed atmosphere often has "cool" colors: light greens or blues. You can warm up a room by using reds, yellows and browns. Grays, beiges and taupes blend well with with other earth-tones colors for a more contemporary feel.
5. One of my favorite ideas: try a contrasting color for an accent wall! Brings interest and color to your room.
6. Consider the size of your room. Light colors increase the feeling of space, while darker colors bring the walls in for more coziness.
If it is just too large a decision to make on your own, our wonderful associates at Reflections will be glad to help you choose the right color for your home!! They chose the colors for our latest "update" - I am telling you, I was a little unsure about "Dragon's Breath" - and it is more beautiful than I imagined. They can offer you the same assistance!
"There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice." - John Calvin
Happy Decorating!
Mary
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
I know...I know...
How long has it been since I have posted on this "blog thingy"?? 2009! Are you kidding me?
I know... I know..."time flies when you are having fun"!
Well, I am making an - ummm - August resolution that I will do a better job about keeping everyone up-to-date about the happenings at Reflections.
We have had a unique problem that has arisen at Reflections over the past few weeks... I thought I would share it with you - husbands and wives who cannot agree on their home decor! Now many of you know the head honcho at Reflections...my husband, Bill. He is a wonderful husaband and father who is happy as long as he has a comfortable chair, TV, refrigerator and bed - in that order. He likes whatever I bring into our home and really offers no opinion about the design, or fabric, or color, or style of any of our furnishings - even though he sees the latest and greatest in home decor whenever we venture to market to buy for the store. Not everyone has it this easy...
For example, we have recently had a couple angry and upset over which style sofa to buy - she wanted tailored and classic and he wanted comfortable and "bubba" (our term for man cave furniture) - we carry both at Reflections! They argued throughout the store and on their way out and in the car as they were leaving - I imagine that car ride was not pleasant...
When it comes to decorating, men and women can have very different tastes. I feel that if you share a home with someone, you need to blend your styles. Here are a few tips:
- Talk before you buy. Discuss what both of you like and try to come up with a plan. Find out what each of you value and what you consider important in a room. If you need assistance, your wonderful Reflections Home Furnishings sales associate will be glad to help!!
- Look for similarities in your styles and focus on those.
- Don't try to force your style on your partner. Also, don't allow your partner's style to be forced on you! Never try to tell your partner what items should or shouldn't matter to them.
- Respect your partner's ideas and give them the same respect that you would want in return.
- Choose colors that will appeal to both of you - the new grey undertones in furniture can often work as subtle neutrals and provide a great backdrop to other colors.
- Find a balance between masculine and feminine items. Avoid anything overly curvy and girly as well as anything too boxy or masculine. For example, a leather club chair with a nail head detail is masculine if the shape is boxy, but if you opt for a curvier shape, it becomes more female friendly.
- If you love a more girly sofa, your Reflections associate can help you find a few masculine finishing details to go along with it, like an accent chair in leather or houndstooth or with accesories like many of the new "antique-look" trays, books or wooden tables. It will make your room much more interesting!
- Last but not least, remember your partner when making major purchases - shopping together and making decorating your home a joint effort should be fun!
We've seen more and more husbands who watch HGTV and have a few "ideas" of their own and we love to help them and their wives find the furnishings and decor to make their home warm and inviting to their family and friends at Reflections!
I love this quote:
"May our home know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibilities."
Happy Decorating! (I know... I know... you'll hear from me again soon!)
Mary
I know... I know..."time flies when you are having fun"!
Well, I am making an - ummm - August resolution that I will do a better job about keeping everyone up-to-date about the happenings at Reflections.
We have had a unique problem that has arisen at Reflections over the past few weeks... I thought I would share it with you - husbands and wives who cannot agree on their home decor! Now many of you know the head honcho at Reflections...my husband, Bill. He is a wonderful husaband and father who is happy as long as he has a comfortable chair, TV, refrigerator and bed - in that order. He likes whatever I bring into our home and really offers no opinion about the design, or fabric, or color, or style of any of our furnishings - even though he sees the latest and greatest in home decor whenever we venture to market to buy for the store. Not everyone has it this easy...
For example, we have recently had a couple angry and upset over which style sofa to buy - she wanted tailored and classic and he wanted comfortable and "bubba" (our term for man cave furniture) - we carry both at Reflections! They argued throughout the store and on their way out and in the car as they were leaving - I imagine that car ride was not pleasant...
When it comes to decorating, men and women can have very different tastes. I feel that if you share a home with someone, you need to blend your styles. Here are a few tips:
- Talk before you buy. Discuss what both of you like and try to come up with a plan. Find out what each of you value and what you consider important in a room. If you need assistance, your wonderful Reflections Home Furnishings sales associate will be glad to help!!
- Look for similarities in your styles and focus on those.
- Don't try to force your style on your partner. Also, don't allow your partner's style to be forced on you! Never try to tell your partner what items should or shouldn't matter to them.
- Respect your partner's ideas and give them the same respect that you would want in return.
- Choose colors that will appeal to both of you - the new grey undertones in furniture can often work as subtle neutrals and provide a great backdrop to other colors.
- Find a balance between masculine and feminine items. Avoid anything overly curvy and girly as well as anything too boxy or masculine. For example, a leather club chair with a nail head detail is masculine if the shape is boxy, but if you opt for a curvier shape, it becomes more female friendly.
- If you love a more girly sofa, your Reflections associate can help you find a few masculine finishing details to go along with it, like an accent chair in leather or houndstooth or with accesories like many of the new "antique-look" trays, books or wooden tables. It will make your room much more interesting!
- Last but not least, remember your partner when making major purchases - shopping together and making decorating your home a joint effort should be fun!
We've seen more and more husbands who watch HGTV and have a few "ideas" of their own and we love to help them and their wives find the furnishings and decor to make their home warm and inviting to their family and friends at Reflections!
I love this quote:
"May our home know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibilities."
Happy Decorating! (I know... I know... you'll hear from me again soon!)
Mary
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