Happy Easter! Some Beautiful Easter Tablescapes & Some Last Minute Easter Gifts!

It's Easter!  I love this holiday because it's a harbinger of spring and warm weather - and you really don't have to go crazy buying a million gifts like you do at Christmas time.  It's just a lovely holiday that you share with your family and friends.

It's a great time for decorating...so I thought I'd share some great ideas for tablescapes and more.  I'l be sharing some great places to buy last minute gifts and decorations also.

With Easter table settings, you can express your creativity - and more is more. So bring out your pastel tablecloths (a soft pastel paisley tablecloth would be great!) and napkins, white dinnerware and cups - and head over to Michael's for some inexpensive faux daisies, forsythia etc.  Check out the wedding aisle for some tulle and other fabrics that you can fill an inexpensive vase with - and you're on your way.

Oh - and don't forget some pastel M&Ms and other goodies!

An "aerial view" of the tablescape by Courtney & Phronsie Dial from CourtneyOutLoud blog

If you would like a more vibrant way to dress your table, this setting (in my favorite color combination of green and orange) would be right up your Easter alley.  A clear glass vase with cloth carrots is a creative centerpiece.  I adore the dog topiary with the orange and white bow!  If you have some patience and time, you could make one from a foam model and then stick faux greenery through it.  Add a checkered tablecloth and white plates (love the square ones used here), personalized orange and white Easter baskets with name tags - plus some white tulips (faux or real) in milkglass vases and you have a beautiful setting...ready for guests.

Courtney & Phronsie Dial from CourtneyOutLoud blog

 

Courtney & Phronsie Dial from CourtneyOutLoud blog

You could also add these little numbers of you are a great baker.  My friend and dynamo realtor - Dianne Scalza of Netter Real Estate in West Islip NY could whip these up in a heartbeat.  She is such a talented baker - among other things.  And probably as I am writing this, she is whipping up some conconctions.  If so, I'll add them to this blog!  But even if you're not a baker - how easy are those skewered Nabisco's Marshmallow Sandwich Cookies.  I could do that!  You could also just add your own creative toppings to a plain cupcake!

Susan Herrin from the blog BetweenNapsonthePorch

Continuing with the green theme - but adding more kid flair, add some decorated egss on faux grass in pastel colors on a plate...with a beautiful plush bunny as the centerpiece. Use colorful plates, green napkins, placemats and stemware - and a colorful cookie to greet your guests. 

If you are looking for a more ethereal, natural tablescape - here is a great inspiration for you.  Use a clear, glass vase and take some curly willow or some long, bare twigs from your yard and add some beautiful butterflies to it here and there.  I purchased some great, inexpensive ones from Michael's around Christmas time - hopefully they still have them.  But you could use clip on birds or bees - anything natural would do to attach to the branches. In smaller clear vases, add some white flowers and have some curly willow flowing from the centers or sides. 

This is a fun and easy tablescape to do.  A natural runner is the starting point, with a serving tray with with a bed of straw (or you could use faux grass), with a wire bunny, eggs - and for fun - some faux ants!  The surrounding plates are easy - with a napkin folded underneath the teacup filled with a pear - or you could have colored eggs or candy.  I see that the faux ant makes an appearance on one of the cups as well.  Hanging from a chandelier could be an egg wreath with grapevine wound around it.  You could place a bunny on either side of the table as well.

All images above are from HGTV where you'll find other ideas as well.

You might want to shop for some other goodies and fun items (or perhaps get crafty and make some things for you and your family).  Here are some great. last-minute ideas...

Some decoupage eggs from Pottery Barn

Some copper cookie cutters from Sur la Table

Some decoupage eggs from CatnipStudio.com

Easter egg candles from Pier 1

Egglings from Urban Outfitters - which have herbs in them...how lovely on a windowsill

A pretty basket for the chocolate lover from Red Envelope

Don't forget your four legged friend with this Hop-A-Long outfit from Etsy

Some Mommy & Me matching aprons from Sur La Table

Some Easter Bunny glasses from CB2

These are just a few ideas for you to consider - so use your imagination and unearth all your pastel table items - and have wonderful and decorative Easter.  And - Happy, Happy Passover to all my Jewish friends as well.

In my home in Great River, NY, I will be fast at work the next few days - getting my tables ready for Easter.  I'll be borrowing some ideas like these above.  It's fun to finally bring some bright, happy colors to the table after the dreary winter we had on Long Island.

If you would love to have some beautifully decorated rooms in your house, call me at 631 793-1315. 

Emily Henderson & Secrets From A Stylist on HGTV: Part II

Well, after watching the premiere show last week I have to say there were things that I thought were great - and things that I was a bit puzzled about.  I loved the final room creation and the way that Emily was able to meld the husband and and wife's styles - but I had a little trouble with the fact that Emily painted the entire room blue first - only to completely change the color later.

The first incarnation from the premiere show,

which was more the wife's style - a Hollywood Regency look

This is a gorgeous look, but it suited the wife's style more than the husband's.  So - Emily went into her "change the wall color etc" mode...

Living Room...After.  This brought more of the Hollywood Men's Club look that the husband loved

With the wall color change plus some of the furniture and accessories changes - I think she really achieved a beautifully blended look that suited both the husband's and wife's styles.

After seeing Episode 2, you begin to get the real method behind the madness theme in this show - The first look is supposed to be good and the second...better. If my clients ever start making me change the wall color after approving one - I would be out of business! However - on Emily's blog - we learn that the production company is OK with this and the cost to re-do is included. 

Emily with the Ravals from Episode 2

If you notice the orange accent wall in the picture above, that was the "re-do" wall in this episode.  Emily says that men love accent walls.  That must be so because my husband had accents walls all over his house (that I changed after moving in!).  Most were done with wallpaper (nothing worse than wallpaper for a decorative painter!).  In this episode, Emily painted the accent wall orange - for the husband.  It really wasn't good - and I am a lover of that hue.

The first incarnation - the orange accent wall that the husband favored somewhat

The second incarnation - that retains an accent wall - but softened and

more in keeping with the wife's style

All images from "Secrets" from HGTV

I love what Emily did here - the ikat pillows and the chairs (and that great velvet chair in the corner). She brought in more the Madmen look into the room - but softened it to suit the wife's aesthetic. I am still not in love with the door that remained in a wood tone - but it does blend with the floor.  I would have painted both the moldings and the door in the soft gray because I think it stands out too much and it's not a great standout look.

On the Accent Wall Change. On her blog she tells readers that the accent wall looked great on TV but the wallpaper (an Asian grasscloth) installer did a really bad job, complete with seams showing etc.  She had to bring in another installer (a woman who she said she would never give out her name because she's so good and she's be afraid she'd get too busy!).  Oh brother - I hope my clients don't feel that way!  But, I digress.  This installer came in and removed the badly done grass wallpaper and re-did it perfectly. 

I think she did a beautiful job.  I am really starting to love this show.  Would love to hear what others think!

Speaking of grasscloth/fabric looks on the wall.  I just love the look of grasscloth etc on wall...accent wall or full room walls.  It's a lovely way to bring in texture to your room.  At our studio, we do install wallpaper - but one of our specilaties is doing faux fabric and grasscloth looks on walls and other surfaces.  In the Hamptons, we did a beautiful raw linen look/parchment on nightstands, so it's a great effect even on small accents in your home.

A faux raw silk finish that we did in Garden City NY

A pearl silk patterned finish that we did in a sitting room in Bay Shore NY

This fabric/grasscloth look is really beautiful.  I am even doing this look in my mudroom. When I'm finished - I will post!

If you would love to have these beautiful looks in your home, call me at 631 793-1315 or email me for a free consultation at Linda.Leyble@gmail.com

Will "Secrets from a Stylist" Bring Me Back to Watching HGTV?

Tune in Tonight: I am hoping that HGTV's new show "Secrets From a Stylist" will renew my spirits so that I'll start watching this channel again.  I used to be very addicted to HGTV - but the channel has lost its lustre for me over the years.  Too many cheaply created or formulaic programs (endless Househunters ad nauseum) had me switching the dial to find other prograns more worthy of my time.  So I hope that this year's Design Star winner, Emily Henderson, will create a buzz on that network.  Then I'll gladly return to watch!

Emily Henderson, with Glee co-creator, Ian Brennan

She has a modern., yet traditional take on designing - which I am looking forward to.  I like the way that she can take an unused, non-functional room and create a useful and beautiful space.  Practicality - not something over-the-top  - is what people really need to see on television today. 

Emily with Ian in his newly designed living room

I love her style and I am rooting for her.  Just hope that she has taken some diction lessons - and that she starts to speak a little more slowly. Let's see how she does tonight - Saturday at 9PM.  Let me know what you think of the show!