February 29, 2012

Winter White Decorating


The look of Winter whites is different than summer whites;
they are more off-whites like ivory and cream and
have more beige tints.  The feel of winter white fabrics
needs to have a warm cozy touch,  too.

After the Christmas decorations came down and it was time
to put the painting back over the mantle, I felt like it
was time for something different in the frame.

While I was looking in the poster/print section at
Hobby Lobby, a birch tree print appealed to me.
As it turns out, it was the basis for the rest of the
decorating in the living room for Winter.


The print got a new finish on it to try to
make it look like an actual painting.
There is a blog post about how that went

To further the birch idea, I put birch branches
in the off white aged urns beside the "painting.

The battery-operated candles seemed like a
good place to expand on the birch mania.
They got birch branch disguises.  The blog post 
about how I did that is Faux Birch Candles.



All the various-shades-of-white candlestick holders
came out to hold up the birch candles.

The birch bark that I found was just so interesting
to me so I also piled some into the footed urn
(hoping that others would pick it up and
admire it too but I don't think that happened).





To bring some Winter White onto the upholstered pieces
in the room, I made pillows using warm and fuzzy fabrics.

There are a couple of posts on that project. 
One is about the things I learned about fabric rosettes.

Another pillow post is

The cane back chair usually holds a rectangular pillow
with a needle point frog pattern on it.

The back of the frog pillow is a beige color so I just
 flipped it over and hand stitched some left over
fabric rosettes onto it.

The dining area and living room are very open to each
other so I added some winter white in there too.

For a small dinner party in January I brought out a
centerpiece holder that I had purchased at Kirkland's
several years ago...

...gave it a couple of different white shades of
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint...

...and added cream colored roses and candles
for a centerpiece.

The picture above also shows tan and beige herringbone
table runners that were made for the dinner.
( I use the words "table runner" and "made" very loosely.  When I realized that I couldn't get
paint splatters and other craft-related goobers off the table in time for the dinner, I rushed to
the fabric store and bought this upholstery material.  I cut it into runner sized  pieces
but didn't have time to actually hem the fabric.  They did a good job of covering the paint,
and I don't think anyone really noticed that the runners were really just fat strips of fabric)

After the dinner, one of the runners came into the kitchen
area to be used under the terrariums and orchids.
The light color of the runner served to act as a visual break between the darkness
 of the table and the brown soil in the terrariums.
There is a blog post on how to construct a terrarium in Terrariums Tips.
If you would like to see close up pictures of the white orchid in this
vignette, you can click on The Opening Orchid.

When I wasn't happy about the way the fabrics I had chosen
for the pillow rosettes was working out, another runner
got cut into smaller pieces and made into rosettes
to join the solid color ones already made.

I feel like we have hardly HAD a winter here in
Alabama this year and now Spring is upon us.
But, just like the Jimmy Buffett
song "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere", I know
that it IS Winter somewhere on earth right now.


 

14 comments

  1. Your mantle looks great! Love the new print and the way you tied the branches right into the theme. Now...if you would throw a few potato chips and chocolates into that mix of bark they would be diving right into it---although it MIGHT not be pretty- just a thought- xo Diana

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  2. There's nothing cold or gloomy about winter in your house! Lovely! ~ Maureen

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  3. I really like your birch tree theme for the winter. I'm your newest follower and I'm intrigued by the name of your blog because I think most of us copy and adapt what we see to fit our styles.
    Your home is lovely displaying your creativity.
    Mary Alice

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  4. I love the birch tree picture and the urns with the birch twigs. Your room looks great with the birch theme. I like your pillows with the fabric rosettes too.

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  5. Loving the calmness of your winter whites. You are right about not much winter here in the South-but that's o.k. by me!

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  6. Your room is beautiful! I love all the elements you have decorated with. I love white decor and you room looks very warm and inviting.

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  7. Your Winter white room is beautiful and I've enjoyed all the special project you put into it! Thank you for sharing at Potpourri Friday!

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  8. Wow! You did a lot and it all looks great! I wish we had a winter here in SW Missouri, but it's not to be this year I guess. Thanks for posting. Saw you at Kim's Kandy Kreations.

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  9. Everything is so pretty. I love what you did with the birch tree print!!! It is gorgeous. Off to check out how you made it look like a painting.
    Cindy

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  10. Gorgeous!! I love all your urns and pedestals. The birch print is so pretty with the branches in urns and your pillows turned out wonderful. I have always loved your decorating style and your home is beautiful! Have a great week. Hugs, Sherry

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  11. Lovely post--I love that birch "painting" and the candles--the rosettes, the flower holder, I love it all!

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