Inspiration in Unusual Places: Winter Fashion

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Winter is upon us - in full swing this past weekend here in Utah. It's time to break out the layers and put together a winter appropriate outfit. It's a good time to add the winter layers to your home as well. A dark room setting is the perfect place to cuddle up by the fire on a cold winter day. Add a fur throw to your sofa to cozy it up even more.

Get your party pants on! Pair a comfy sweater with a geometric silk dress pant for your holiday party this year. Repeat this idea with pillows and accessories to add this detail to a room.

Pretty in pink. Go monochromatic with different shades of pink. Add a deeper pink to spice things up a bit!

Black and white with a hint of cognac. Add a fur throw at the end of the bed to soften the look.

Add a touch of tartan plaid with a throw pillow. Beautiful for the holidays.

Add a patterned throw to the back of the sofa for the colder months.

 

Fall Market Review

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We just returned from Market, excited to share what we found with all of you. We saw so many beautiful things, and met the style makers behind the designs. I like to ask questions about where they get their inspiration for their new introductions. What's the store? The answers almost always come from something in their past.

History is a great inspiration for the future. I heard everything from an airplane, like this club chair from Thom Filicia to a Mississippi train station, where Barry Dixon got his inspiration for this screen.

We are seeing a lot of looks that were hot in the 50's and 60's, thanks to today's television hits, Mad Men and The Good Wife. There are whole furniture collections based on what you are seeing their set decorators use. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams has created a collection that is based on pieces actually used on the sets of The Good Wife. These silhouettes are available now.

Vanguard was giving a nod to the past, also. Check out this sofa and entertainment unit! They're better built, cleaned-up versions of your parents or grandparents furniture. So those of you that can't remember this time and place, can discover it for yourselves - the new classics.

Jewel tones were all the rage this Market - just like what you're seeing in your favorite catalogs and clothing stores.

You have to admit, all this saturated color makes you feel something! Everyone is using it in the accents. Occasional chairs, pillows, art - the sofas are almost always still a neutral.

Another not to the past came in the art. The Conde Nast images have been made available to one of our vendors. They narrowed their search for this Market to Vogue magazines from 1920-1940. I can hardly wait to share them with you!

This business is all about living and expressing yourself in a way we believe should seem effortless as opposed to uptight and formal. That is what my search is always for when I shop the marketplace. Comfortable, inspiring looks that will shape your lifestyle. That's right! Lifestyle - you have one! You determine how you live and what it looks like. Live well!

- Jessica

Take Advantage!

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This is the final week for our MGBW Special Order Plus Event! 20% off all MGBW upholstery and casegoods! For upholstery, pick the fabric and finish! These are just a few pieces we've used in our clients' homes or around the showroom to get you inspired.

Blakely Lounge Chairs

Tobi Leather Arm Chair & Rocco Tufted Ottoman

Marlena Lounge Chair

London Chaise in a luxurious steel blue velvet

Graham Dining Chairs in a charming green ticking

Dr. Pitt

Celina Bed in a gray linen

[photos by Meikel Reece]

Book Review - "Living with What You Love"

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When I spotted Living With What You Love at Alice Lane, I started thumbing through the pages and immediately fell in love with the Monica Kosann’s fresh angle on incorporating family heirlooms. Though it can be tricky, displaying precious family heirlooms and collectibles in the home allows them to serve as reminders of your past, your cherished memories, and the life you hope to create.

"Some people seem to avoid bringing out heirlooms for fear that they turn a home into an historical museum or a gallery. It doesn't have to be that way. Create a space that you want to live in. You can bring memories alive and create a sense of family history..."

One of my favorite ideas Kosann suggests is to avoid hiding family heirlooms away in a cupboard or closet. She encourages us to create more special occasions to use those cherished table settings, to take advantage of the opportunity to tell the stories of the heirlooms in your home. Since I was a little girl, I have admired many beautiful and colorful china sets through the closed glass-doored cabinets in my grandmother's home. Each set a lovely little piece of art—and history. As I grew up, I learned the stories of those pieces and the remarkable women who owned them. Now, each time my grandmother uses a certain china set at dinner, I feel a connection with my heritage and ancestry.

“A bowl, even a beautiful bowl, is just a serving piece. But the bowl that a grandmother brought over from Ireland? Or the bowl that your aunt Teresa—who was already such a wonderful cook—wanted you to have someday? That’s quite a different story.”

The strategies to incorporate heirlooms, antiques, and memorabilia are countless, and this quick-read is bursting with ideas on mixing the old with the new, choosing framing, and how to help a wall or a vignette “tell a story”. Ultimately, the key is to follow your instincts and do it in way that is all your own.

“Just as no family is quite like mine or yours, there’s really no such thing as a recipe for the way you express yourself in the domain of your own home. The space you occupy deserves to be filled with its own images, echoes, and signing. Your home is like no other; why not fill every turn of it with reminders that this is so.”

- Eliesa

[photos from Living with What You Love]

Trends for Fall

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I get emails daily filling my inbox from all my favorite clothing manufacturers and department stores, telling me what is on-trend and what the MUST HAVES for the season are. Each one different than the next. Everyone has their  own spin on how the interpreted New York Fashion Week. Fall fashion has to be the biggest launch of fashion of all the seasons.We are all just perched on the edge of our seats to launch into it - boots, layers, scarves, hates, jackets, wool, deeper tones, and more texture!

How does all of this equate to the home? We can't update our home with new looks every season. Or can we? My thought is, just warm it up. I change things up a bit, only twice a year.

It might be a difference of putting away the lightweight spring/summer pillows and bringing out the fall/winter ones. I do it for my sofas and my bed. I swap out the blooms for branches in my large jars and vases.

I'll change up what's on the dining table for a more seasonal effect, add votives or large pillar candles in hurricanes. This is not just a "look". This is a lifestyle. You must light your candles. You can't just pretend to live this way. You've really got enjoy the magic dance that comes from fire when you're eating or entertaining. I add a neatly folded throw to the back of a chair or arm of a sofa in each room.

Simple ideas, but they will allow you to interpret the fall loks you're loving in fashion, in your home. If you're loving purples and raisin tones, tweeds and wools, leather, and furs - all of those can be added with tailored pillows, throws, and table runners!

Don't be afraid to add more metals and mercury glass to your scheme too. They add sophistication and glimmer. Who doesn't need more of that? Stop by and see what's in store for fall at Alice Lane.

- Jessica

[photo 1, 2, 3, & 4 by Meikel Reece]

And don't forget about our Fall Special Order Plus Event - Save 20% on all Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams special order items now through October 8th.