LAS VEGAS WINTER MARKET 2014

Starting Sunday and running through Thursday, Las Vegas World Market will be hosting their Winter Market Event. The Market is the leading home furnishings and gift marketplace in the western U.S., presenting 2,000+ home furnishings and gift resources in an unrivaled market destination. Las Vegas Market features thousands of furniture, home décor and gift lines, allowing for cross-category commerce among these industries.The event be featuring a campus tour (which is already sold out!), seminars, book signings, along with designers presenting product launches at some of the showrooms. 

Some of these special engagements will include: Designer Barry Dixon Collection Brunch at Arteriors, a "Make it Beautiful" Collection Launch party with Monica Pederson of HGTV, a book signing with Designer Barclay Butera, a reception at Safavieh with a Q&A plus luncheon with Thom Filicia, plus even a presentation honoring design icon, Barbara Barry. 

Along with these designer events, there will also be the seminars, some of which are the Power of Pinterest for Retailers, The Art Of Storytelling, and even a power-house panel of designers discussing Social Media & the Design Community: How to Encourage Influencers to Grow Your Brand. The Las Vegas World Market is very similar to, but on a smaller scale, High Point Market. Since I haven't been able to make it back east for High Point, I'm thrilled to be attending this event while living out west. I'm especially looking forward to see the new-to-market product introductions debuting this season. The Market calls this "First Look", which is similar to a backstage pass to the new trends in the industry. Here's a peek at some of the "First Look" items I'm already crushing on...

 

 Dazzling wall art debuts from new exhibitor Natural Curiosities...

 

Bar Carts and brass are hot right now, and this one from Nancy Home & Garden is also Industrial Chic!

 

 Loving this Phylum Design symbolizing balance + fairness, and references Eastern characters...

 

This great looking slate colorway rug from a new exhibitor, Orian Rugs, looks like it could work magic for a family, camouflaging stains or a spill...

 

One of my other favorites is this gilded Nola’s Arabella table lamp, part of the New Orleans Collection, with its gilded metal sleeve of arabesque-shaped cutouts...

 

HGTV Home has a great looking raffia chest with stud detail - The perfect accent for griege interior styles. Could make a great statement as side tables with storage for the bedroom...

 

 Andrew Martin's Pluto chair puts a novelty spin on neutrals...

One of the hottest decor trends for 2014 is having a statement chandelier, and this 25-inch-high Muriel chandelier comprised of cast resin spheres, doesn't disappoint...

These are just a few of the many items I can't wait to see at the Las Vegas Market. Besides the new products and events, I'm also excited to see Leslie Carothers along with finally getting to meet in real life social media friends! I'll be sharing pics on Google+ , Facebook, and Twitter. Eventually I'll be adding them to my LVMKT 2014 board on Pinterest and share them, plus my market experience after I come back.

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Follow all the tweets from the market at #LVMKT and be sure to follow the tastemakers on Instagram from the event as well at #LVMKT and #ViewOnVegas. You can learn more about the tastemakers at Maison21.

Thanks for stopping by!

Dinner Party Hosting Tips To Help Guests Feel Welcome - My Guest Post @HadleyCourt

You’ve decided to host a dinner party, but you don’t know where to begin? You want to make guests feel welcome, but you’re not quite sure of the right way? For my guest post in the Hadley Court series, Celebrating Gracious Living, I put together & share my top tips for being a gracious host / hostess and making your guests feel welcome in your home for a dinner party - in Hadley Court style. The key to hosting a dinner party is planning – every last detail – and by doing so, plus being able to relax and enjoy your guest when they arrive, you will help put them at ease. Your guests will feel comfortable and welcome in your home. Since blog Editor Leslie Hendrix Wood lives in Midland Texas, and they do a lot of formal entertaining, Leslie wants to help her readers with these guidelines to reference - including even Organizing Your Kitchen Tips, which guest contributor Jessica Gordon Ryan wrote, and also goes hand in hand with my post today. You can read at The Gracious Dinner Party – Top Tips For Making Your Guests Feel Welcome at Hadley Court today. Here's a peek at what you'll find...

 

Being the gracious & elegant host / hostess...

 

Decide whether to cater or cook the dinner yourself...

 

Apply my previous guest post in the Celebrating Gracious Living series, 

Top Tips for Setting a Formal Table...

 

See how lighting creates ambiance...

Tips to host a relaxed Outdoor Dinner Party...

 

About Hostess Gifts and parting favors - these show gratitude...

Visit Hadley Court today...

 Thank you for stopping by...

NOTE: image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5, image 6

20 FIREPLACE DESIGN IDEAS TO CREATE WINTER WARMTH

As bitter cold as this winter has been, many people are once again turning to their fireplace to create winter warmth. A fireplace is not only a decorative fixture to create seasonal displays on, but it is also a functional form. Many design their room layout around the fireplace, mostly to enjoy the warm glow and atmosphere, plus it is the natural focal point of a room. A more traditional style home may have a fireplace centered in a wall, built with and surrounded by brick or covered in stone, and perhaps flanked with built-in bookcases (or half cases if there are windows). However, in some modern architectural designs, a fireplace can actually act as a room divider and circulate heat plus ambiance between two spaces - for example between a living room and dining area. Even a mid-century modern home or loft space may have a floating metal fireplace. Whichever style you currently live with, you may be interested in redesigning its look - especially if you've recently purchased a fix-up home. Keep in mind: although the fireplace may be the focal point of the room, the TV need not be. Here are twenty inspirational fireplace design ideas - from modern to transitional style - to help you create winter warmth with style...

Modern Fireplace Design Ideas

 

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 Transitional Fireplace Design Ideas

 

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 via Houzz

 

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 via flickr

 

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via Lonny Mag 

Along with a fireplace form and function, maintenance and safety are most important, particularly the chimney, from the flue to the damper to the firebox to the hearth (see Anatomy of a Chimney). For information on Fireplace Safety, see these articles:

7 Safety Tips for Fireplaces

Tips for Wood Burning Fireplaces

Fireplace Maintenance and Safety

 via

via House Beautiful

 When I began writing this post, I had intended to end it with a feature and link to Sweet Something Designs, an excellent source of seasonal mantel styling... But when I went to visit my fellow blogger friend, I learned she had lost her battle - with cancer... So I'd like to dedicate this post (although not necessarily her style) to Michelle Edwards, who could create one heck of a tastefully done, seasonally styled mantelscape... I will pull together a few of my favorites, and share in a future post... Right now I just need to embrace the moment of the loss of a wonderful person and talent, who once again is gone too soon...
Prayers for healing to The Edwards Family...


I hope you found inspiration for your fireplaces design ideas and stay warm during this years bitter winter cold...

Thank you for stopping by...

2014 VINTAGE MARKET DATES FOR SWEET SALVAGE - PHOENIX

This weekend kicked off the first of twelve monthly vintage markets for Sweet Salvage, here in Phoenix. Considering today's home plays an important role in who we are, the January theme to start the new year was "For the Love Of Home." Since the the new year allows people to look at their homes with a fresh eye, each member of the Sweet's crew had asked themselves these questions as they worked on setting their vignettes: Does this space work for my family? Does it compliment the goals we have set for ourselves? The Sweet's team brought into their creations what they felt represented "For the Love of Home" - from the laundry room, to the kitchen, home office, bedroom, bathroom, dining room, family area and garden. The team not only set impactful displays to sell, they each  incorporated their tips for a functioning and well organized home. The designs are beautifully displayed in a purposeful sense. The "For the Love of Home" event also seemed like the perfect time to demonstrate some ways to add color back into your world, which is easy to do with the popular and natural palette of greys, taupe, and linen. Indigo blues, fresh greens and hints of radiant orchid (the Pantone Color of the Year for 2014) seemed like a natural accent...

 

 

 

Since this is also the start of the new year, Sweet Salvage planned and released the upcoming vintage market dates for 2014 - with one special note: Since Spring holidays (such as Easter & Passover) are falling earlier in the month, their will be a shift in the Sweet Salvage traditional third Thursday & weekend event to the fourth week for April. If you're planning a trip to the Phoenix area, or you already live nearby and have heard the Sweet buzz about this monthly market event, be sure to mark your calendars and plan to stop on by...

SWEET SALVAGE EVENT DATES 2014

January 16 - 19 2014
February 20 - 23 2014
March 20 - 23 2014
* April 24 - 27 2014 *
May 15 - 18 2014
June 19 - 22 2014
July 17 - 20 2014
August 21 - 24 2014
September 18 - 21 2014
October 16 - 19 2014
November 20 - 23 2014
December 18 - 21 2014

*April event moved to 4th Thursday thru Sunday in observance of Good Friday and Easter Sunday - the third week of April.

 

Sweet Salvage 

4648 N 7th Avenue
4 day shopping event open the 3rd Thursday of every month:

Thursday 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

 Have you been to Sweet Salvage? What did you find?

Thanks for stopping by...

 

If you're looking for additional tips on looking at your home wish fresh eyes for the new year, please read my previous post:  

6 Small Space Solutions for your 2014 Design Resolutions 

Note: All photos by Sweet Salvage and its vendors:

Aquamarine Antiques, Flert Antiques, Circa Antiques, Steampunk AZ, Salvage Workshop and Kim Rawlins.