My Holiday Home Depot Style Challenge

 

Giving thanks for so so many blessings this Thanksgiving holiday. Persevering through some personal challenges, getting a clean bill of health from my first mammogram, and being fortunate to see the continued growth of our design business, which allowed us to hire another assistant.

And this year, for the first time ever, my home is already fully reflective of the holiday season thanks to my participation in The Home Depot Style Challenge    



For the challenge, I was asked to incorporate specific holiday decor items sent by The Home Depot, into my dining room and to include a few DIY projects where possible. I'm no DIY queen, so I kept it simple with some clever DIY items like spray painting these hurricane vases in gold, using paint chips as place cards and scribbling personal notes inside a thank you card for guests.

Go see all the details on The Home Depot blog and be sure to share your thoughts and your own ideas we can all use. Huge thanks as well to our friends at the Home Depot for inviting us to do this challenge. It certainly pushed me outside my comfort zone to finally decorate my home, albeit in 90 degree weather! Have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving Day!

http://www.livelaughdecorate.com/2015/11/my-holiday-home-depot-style-challenge.html
http://www.livelaughdecorate.com/2015/11/my-holiday-home-depot-style-challenge.html

What Are You Thankful For?

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Yep. I'm stuffed. Ate way too much as always but had such a blast hanging with my men all day, then having dinner with one of my dearest friends, Karen, who I have known for almost 30 years. Man, that's a lot of years! 
Thankful for the abundance of blessings that have come my way this year. Thankful for all the clients who continue to entrust us with the keys to their homes so we can work our magic. Thankful to all of you who faithfully read this blog and have become dear friends beyond these posts. Thankful too that I've never shopped on black Friday and never will. Is there any deal worth camping out all night for? Sleep, my friends, is a precious and well cherished commodity in my world.
Most of all, I'm truly humbled and blessed to have made it through another Thanksgiving with Xavier and the hubs by my side.  
What are you thankful for this year?

         

And the Winners Are!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!
I know I shouldn't be blogging on holy Turkey Day, but we had to announce the winners of our first giveaway. The suspense has been killing us!
Without further ado, congrats to Rachel Hardison and Mary Beth Hamilton! Each will have a chance to pick an amazing item, valued at $80 or less, from the Nicole White Designs online store.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and became a follower of the blog, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest and took the time to check out all the goodies in the store. Stay tuned for future giveaways and be sure to check out the store for all your holiday needs.
And thanks most of all to Jessie at Mix and Chic for hosting this giveaway and for allowing me to be a sponsor. You are the best! See all the winning details here:http://www.mixandchic.com/2012/11/and-winners-of-giveaway-are.html?m=1

Now, let's all go eat. 

Thanksgiving Mash Up and Giveaway Countdown!

Every single diet plan I've been on this year will officially be erased after tomorrow's feasting extravaganza. I shant complain, nor shall I give a rats booty! Here's to everyone enjoying some quality time with friends and family. And here's to me giving two thumbs down to all the people who'll ditch all that quality time, so they can be the first in line at the mall to buy a television or other electronic device that will be obsolete by next month. 
Enjoy, if you will, this mash up of some of my favorite Thanksgiving E-Cards. 

Have an amazing, blessed and safe Thanksgiving Day guys!
p.s.
Debbie and I will be recovering from stuffed turkey syndrome for the remainder of this week and won't be blogging. But I'll of course pop in for a second tomorrow to announce the winner of that fabulous giveaway hosted with Jessie of Mix and Chic. Today is the last day to enter! Hurry people! Hurry!

My DIY Demon Unleashed and West Elm - St. Jude Children's Hospital

So thanks to some of my very DIY savvy blogger friends, I've been dabbling more and more with some DIY when time allows on projects. DIY works best because there is NO labor cost to you. It becomes a little tricky when your designer does DIY because well, we have to charge for our time and labor. So anyways, I'm squeezing in some simple projects here and there for some of my favorite clients. 
This weekend I installed the guest bedroom project we talked about here. Well, sort of installed. We're 95% complete and will be making final tweaks this weekend. 



This client has a thing for the Caribbean and had these custom framed artwork from various islands. The walls in the guest room have been painted white so since I needed to incorporate these pieces,  I decided to paint the frames. Colors to be revealed! This curtain rod was also in perfectly good shape but I needed it to be black to make the new white curtains pop. They too got painted.



The guestroom will also function as an office space since she's working from home more these days. When her adorable grandsons come to visit, we wanted to create a little zone in the room that they could call their own. We decided to paint this wall with a magnetic paint and chalkboard paint so they could both pin items on the wall and write away to their hearts content without getting in trouble! So word to the wise, that magnetic paint is a britch! Three coats should do the trick? Er, no. Try seven or more which is why our project isn't complete and why they have gotten such scathing product reviews.  Sigh.


In other news: Our friends at our favorite West Elm store at the Village of Gulfstream are hosting a Customer Appreciation Event today from 5-9 pm.  

 

 

They're having some killer sales (I got some great deals here for the guestroom) so tonight's event is a great opportunity to start your holiday shopping early, and also give back to the community by making a donation to the St Jude Children's Research Hospital. Their Thanks and Giving campaign is a time to give thanks for the healthy kids in our lives and give to those who are not. It is important to remember that at St. Jude, no child is ever turned away because of a family’s inability to pay. All costs for treatment, travel, food and lodging for patients and their families are covered. Eighty-five cents of every dollar St. Jude receives goes directly to research and treatment, which is why it is so important for us to help. So please go forth and shop this evening to show your support. Enjoy some light refreshments as well while you shop.

That's all folks. Holla back and let us know what's cooking with you and what you're giving thanks for this holiday season. 

*LLD received no compensation for this West Elm/St. Jude Hospital mention.

Thanksgiving Decor Settings to Salivate For....

We know the turkey is da Queen of the show on Thanksgiving day, but that doesn't mean the table setting and decor can't give that Queen a run for her money. Here are a few show-stopping settings we found to get ya motivated to turn it up a notch this year. The first is a gravity defying centerpiece by the uber fabulous Preston Bailey. How in the world is that thing standing? Any who, feast on - yes, the pun is intended.

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Any faves? We love that the the oxblood trend will likely seep into many settings this year. But I think my faves are the simplicity of setting at that stunning glass table with the Lucite chairs, and the personalized touches added to the candles and napkins in the that rustic setting. Which do you prefer? Do you go all out with your Thanksgiving decor or do you just sit back and let that turkey do her thing? Holla. 

p.s.

Thanks for all the anniversary wishes. The hubs pulled out all the stops and it was a great night.

p.s.s

Did anyone (besides moi and Linda at My Crafty Home Life) watch the premier of Million Dollar Decorators? I caught a bit and am so NOT impressed with the ridiculous expenditures. A $50,000 table that weighs a ton? So unnecessary. And what decorator worth his or her salt would NOT know that the paint crew and company had not yet finished doing their job or mailed a $10,000 check to a vendor you'd NEVER met or seen his/her workspace? Come on..............This is reality TV that is not based in reality, at least clearly not my reality which aint million dollar budgets.