Designing Diva Interiors

If you follow “divainteriors” on Twitter there are savings in store for you! Between now and December 24, 2009, you can purchase design service gift certificates in one hour increments and receive $15 off each hour!

Example: Standard design fee is $75. For the next eight days ONLY you can purchase two hours of design service for $120 instead of $150.

Gift certificates set to expire one year from date purchased and make great gifts! May be applied towards any design service DDI offers. Minimum of one hour ($60) required.

“Jennifer helped me transform my home into a cozy, warm home that I enjoy every minute.  She is an expert in using what you have, adding her ideas and carefully chosen additions and creating a beautifully crafted look in the style you want.  I look forward to working with her for many years.”

-Liz Lundin

People tend to believe that their decorating problems are unique; that they are the only people on the block with outdated furniture, with a bad room plan, with a themed room gone wrong. But truth be told I hear a lot of the same complaints from homeowners and that is never more true than at this time of year. Holiday decor has always been a mish-mash of collected items from over the years, in my home and in most homes I visit.  I don’t know anyone who has a perfectly coordinated Christmas look– sure, your gift wrap may match your ornaments but that’s as far as most people get. I’m not encouraging a Stepford Wife approach to holiday decorating, either, I’m simply saying that most folks have common issues with their holiday decor and its my job-I mean joy- to solve them! The most common gripes include “Everything I have is hand-me-down and nothing matches,” or “My Christmas decorations are so old, I don’t even know what’s in style this year.” My solutions to these individual households are very customized but in general you could safely stick to these rules:

1) If you have a collection of odd and end decorations, work with it! Its called “eclectic” (or “Bohemian” if you’re from the east) and it works because it looks effortless! This usually ends up looking very colorful and its okay if every ornament isn’t color matched or if you have pink ribbon in one room and green in the other. Think more “Dr Suesse” than “Martha Stewart” and you will easily pull off this playful style on a tight budget.

2) Add a little sprinkle of “new” to your decor. So obviously the kids’ reindeer cutouts from kindergarten have to go up but there’s nothing stopping you from adding a few new pieces to give the room an entirely different look from years past. But be disciplined and make a list before you go shopping otherwise you will get easily overwhelmed and end up purchasing more than you had intended. I recommend replacing the garland every two years depending on its quality. Replace the tree skirt every year (3-5 yards of fabric will do the trick and is only $8 compared to a $50 off-the-rack skirt. Tuck under the raw edges and no one will notice!) and the silk floral arrangements every 3-5 years.

3) For a more tailored look, choose three colors. Two will be your main colors (what your ornaments, tree skirt, gift wrap, candles, etc will be in). The third will be your accent color (use on throws, candle holders, decorative plates, ribbon– smaller doses). Carry these color scheme throughout the home for a designer look.

4) Stick with classic pieces and ornaments if in doubt. Trends are..well, trendy, but if you haven’t shopped for Christmas decorations in several years you could run the risk of going in the very extreme opposite direction (having very outdated decoration to having very modern decorations all over the place, which looks forced) in the middle of the excitement.  You can never go wrong with glass ball ornaments in clear urns, vases, bowls, etc. 

*Photos by Cheryl Meares of Captured By Cheryl Photography www.capturedbycheryl.com, Edmond, OK.

In honor of the upcoming holiday, family time and much-needed rest, Designing Diva Interiors, LLC will be closed November 26-28th. Additionally there will not be blog posts for these days. Hold back your tears.. there will be plenty of hot-off-the-press design news and tips come Monday! Happy Thanksgiving!

By now you have had time to recount the last few winters and you get tired just thinking back to the trips to the store for ornaments, a second trip to the store when Fluffy broke your ornaments, decorating the tree at midnight (because when else were you supposed to do it?), getting the house sparkling clean, preparing the meals, entertaining the guests— WHEW!

WANT TO ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY SEASON AGAIN?

So you’ve wisely decided to hire Designing Diva Interiors, LLC to take care of the decorating for you this year but you’re not sure what to do next.

Schedule your consultation! But please be forewarned that you may not get scheduled in the same week you call. As this is the busiest time of the year for DDI we do our very best to meet the client’s needs as quickly as possible but may be booked several days out so plan ahead! A consultation is $75 and includes 1-2 hours with the Jennifer Hicks, owner and an experienced Certified Interior Decorator (C.I.D.). During this time the following points will be discussed (see below) and a plan of action/design will be laid out. Holiday decorating jobs are priced by the size of the job. The following are topics that you will need to think about prior to your consultation.

a) Time frame. If you intend to have the home decorated in time for a party, open house, home tour, etc, please give your designer ample time to complete the project so that every last detail can be perfect!

b. Budget. If new accessories/garland/ornaments, etc are required how much would you like to spend on these items? This may or may not be a realistic budget given your design preferences but your designer will be able to estimate costs for you before the decorating begins.

c. Style. Do you like your mantle overflowing with things that sparkle in the night or do you prefer a more natural, simplistic look? A custom holiday design is indeed very custom– no two centerpieces from DDI will ever be the same, no two Christmas trees donning the same ornament collection, no duplicated floral arrangements, guaranteed.

d. Inventory. Before your consultation it is important to go through your current decorations and determine what’s broken and needs to be replaced and what you would like to use again this year. Once your expert knows what you have to work with an appropriate budget and shopping list can be determined.

Receive your $20 OFF coupon for booking your holiday decorating service by November 15th! Remember, you do not have to have your home decorated by the 15th, you simply must schedule your desired appointment by the 15th.  

Who is DDI’s Holiday Decorating Service for, anyway? You don’t need a huge home or an overflowing bank account to get a professionally designed room for the holidays! We do it all, large or small: tree decorating, fireplace/mantle decor, decorating for dinner parties and more.

Use your current decor or allow Jennifer Hicks to design a new look from the ground up and at an affordable cost to you! Take it easy this year and let us do the hard part for you.

*DDI and temporary holiday assistants are insured.

* Includes interior design only, exterior decorating jobs accepted at designer’s discretion.

                                              See “Contact Us” link on homepage.

…to receive your $20 OFF coupon for booking your holiday decorating service by November 15th! Remember, you do not have to have your home decorated by the 15th, you simply must schedule your desired appointment by the 15th.  

Who is DDI’s Holiday Decorating Service for, anyway? You don’t need a huge home or an overflowing bank account to get a professionally designed room for the holidays! We do it all, large or small: tree decorating, fireplace/mantle decor, decorating for dinner parties and more.

Use your current decor or allow Jennifer Hicks to design a new look from the ground up and at an affordable cost to you! Take it easy this year and let us do the hard part for you.

*DDI and temporary holiday assistants are insured.

* Includes interior design only, exterior decorating jobs accepted at designer’s discretion.

Company is coming… are you ready? Some of Designing Diva’s favorite retailers and manufacturers are releasing their Thanksgiving decor this week and I’m loving what I see. From the simply modern to the classically traditional, these accessories and dinnerware are a sure-fire solution to a boring table setting. No time to shop and decorate? What a coincidence: Designing Diva Interiors is here for even the small jobs, like creating the perfect setting for your family dinner. Call 405.816.9716 today to schedule your consultation, but don’t waste another minute! The holiday schedule fills up quickly and at this time, the Designing Diva does not make midnight emergency house calls (sorry, procrastinators).

I am in love with Wisteria’s “In Fine Feather” hand towel. Accent your dining table by placing these under your serving dishes (where the feathers show, of course). See the Wisteria catalog or www.wisteria.com to order.

Put a cork in it! Well, actually, you can put a place card in it. My favorite tabletop trick to date is slicing a wine cork lengthwise and putting your place card inside the cut. If you drink wine at home, start saving your corks now so you will have enough come showtime!  Cards can be  purchased at stationary and craft stores or buy a set of 8 ready-made holders (seen below) from www.uncommongoods.

All ruffled up! The plates on your table say a lot about the personality of the host/hostess. You can’t go wrong with Pottery Barn’s Great White dinnerware-obviously (mix and match with more colorful dishes if you get bored) but Crate and Barrel has won my heart this fall with their new Ruffle Foil Charger. Available in red (shown below), gold, plum and green, these delightful plates add life to any table instantly! (14.95, set of 4)

Birch bark candles complete any style! Everyone looks lovely in candlelight and pillars of all sizes are a staple in my book. My personal favorite is the Birch Pillar collection from Pottery Barn. This candle looks amazing with all sorts of style: Cottage, Modern, Traditional, Eclectic. And their burn-time is astounding, so enjoy your leisurely dinner and sit a spell! These candles will keep the room aglow for hours.

PotteryBarn.com is offering free shipping on tree skirts, stockings, ornaments and other holiday decor staples! Do your own shopping or allow Designing Diva Interiors, LLC to create a new look just for you. Save yourself even more time with our Holiday Decorating Service. Using the decor you already own or your brand spankin’ new Pottery Barn goodies, DDI will design the look your family craves just in time for your guests to begin arriving (but don’t wait until the last minute– book by Nov. 15 and receive $20 off your first hour)!

If you’re like most people these days you love the idea of having a beautifully designed home for the holidays but a shortage of time (and patience) keeps your dreams at bay year after year.

DESIGNING DIVA INTERIORS KNOWS HOLIDAY DECORATING.

Jennifer’s work has been featured in homes across the metro and in a Christmas Parade of Homes in 2008 (South OKC). Allow her expertise and unique eye for affordable style to work for you this fall while you do more important things–like relax!

* “How does that service work, exactly?”

Like all DDI services, the custom Holiday Decorating Service works with you to match your budget and decorating needs. Want to use the decorations you already own? Great! Jennifer can work with your current decor to creat a whole new holiday look! Hosting a dinner party? No table setting is complete without the experienced stylings of Designing Diva Interiors, from the modern to the traditional. Tired of your old decorations? No problem. DDI can do the shopping for you!

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL:

BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK, SCHEDULE YOUR HOLIDAY DECORATING SERVICE BY OCT. 15 AND RECEIVE $20 OFF YOUR FIRST HOUR!