HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hope you are all stuffed with really good turkey right about now!

My final table arrangement before dinner:

And after:

Happy Thanksgiving!

THANKSGIVING TIME IS HERE

Ok, Ok, so maybe last week's post was, in fact, a bit too disturbing.  But you have to admit it is fascinating stuff!  Let's change gears completely and talk about holiday decorating!  While I adamantly declared there would be no Halloween decorating tips on this blog, Thanksgiving is another thing.  Without children in the house, I find Halloween somewhat uninteresting.  However, Thanksgiving is worth decorating for.  Even though the day after Halloween is now considered the first day of the Christmas season....what happened to the day after Thanksgiving!?  I miss pumpkins and orange in the month of November.

So, below are a few photos I came up with for Thanksgiving table decorations.  All are fairly sedate and minimal.  It's me, what did you expect?  Small smiling pumpkin figurines and happy turkeys dressed up as Pilgrims?  Well, then you are definitely in the wrong place.

I think nature offers up plenty of good holiday decorations, enhanced with a mix of vintage candlesticks and well proportioned vases, nothing more is required.    So go forth and be inspired....

FYI- Christa Pirl Interiors now has an Etsy page filled with many a unique and interesting vase and candlestick... absolutely perfect for such holiday table dressings.  (I don't have enough tables to use it all...)  Please check us out! http://www.etsy.com/shop/christapirlinteriors

How perfect are simple glass containers filled with assortments of nature's bounty?  In a long line or clustered together, almonds, cranberries (you know you bought to many of these anyway), and wheat is all you need. (And you don't even need to purchase random plastic things to fill vases...)

Layers are always fun...

Sunflowers have great fall coloring, and paired with polished silver, the tones create a perfect juxtaposition. Add a natural runner and you have just created an eclectic mix of rustic and refined!

 

Those of you who might be more traditional can always go classic white...a weighty cut-glass bowl with matching candle holders is the perfect combo with white roses.

And because I love random collections of vintage candlesticks so much...just add fall colors...

Or glass in thanksgiving-y colors...random collections are always so great...

So there you go.  Something different and simple and with a beautifully set table and a big fat turkey (tofu or turkduckin can both be substituted here), I frankly don't think much more is needed.  Now I just have to pick one for my table... Happy Thanksgiving!

CAUTION: DISTRUBING FURNITURE AHEAD

It seems as though the Halloween House was pretty popular a few weeks ago, so I thought I would share some furniture from the slightly distrubing world of another Art Nouveau designer: Rupert Carabin.  He is part of the Symbolist sub-catagory of Art Nouveau, a sub-catagory usually associated with the female figure and fairly obvious sensual overtones.  Carabin not only fits into this sub-cataory, but goes crazy with it.  Feminists, I must warn you, you may be offended by Rupert's artistic vision.  I myself, just find it utterly odd and frankly pretty amusing.  My only real question: who on earth bought these things???  And of course, what is his deal with cats?  And why did he feel they paired nicely with the nude female figure?

Another spiderweb-ish motif here...never knew this was an Art Nouveau thing:

Wow, this looks heavy...

Ummmm..... this one looks highly uncomfortable as well as heavy:
Back view:

Front view:

And I don't think there is much for comment with this one:

Of course one must keep in mind these pieces were all made in the 1890's....apparently it was a very  different time.

Next week I'm all about Thanksgiving decorating....so skip Martha and visit this blog instead!

SHOPPING AT MoMA

Who would have thought the MoMA Store would be a great place to find affordable pieces of design?  Recently I have been working with some younger clients which is lots of fun.  Despite the fact they have somewhat smaller budgets, they are also very open to different design ideas and just having some fun with their space.  Often I troll the standards such as CB2 and West Elm, but I am always on the lookout for modern design that is not DWR or Hive Modern expensive.  One day it dawned on me to have a quick look at some museum store websites, and low and behold, MoMA Store was actually quite affordable!  I was thrilled to find funky light fittings, great rugs, and general interesting chachka....something different.  And everything is online so no need trek to midtown Manhattan (although it would have been a good excuse...)!  Here are a few things that caught my eye:

Phrena Hanging Lamp for only $92.00:

And the Midsummer lamp also only $92:

And this cool coffee table for $129:

The Unfinished Clock that sits on the edge of a shelf or ledge and is fully functional for only $47:

Love the loop candelabra for $28!

And how cool is the Conceal bookcase where all hardware is hidden and all you see are floating books?! $15:

Of course there are quite a few pricy items at the store too, but I must say I was quite impressed with the selection of affordable and different items.  Thanks MoMA!  Now if I could only afford some of the things in the museum....