Monday, November 27, 2017

Holiday Home Style 2017

Welcome, everyone, to my holiday home style 2017! If you're new to my blog, my mentioning just a few things will clue you in on my decor style. I am traditional in my decor, with a fusion of vintage and antique items in the mix. I love Christmas - it is my favorite holiday. Each year, I break out all my reds, greens, plaids and checks like there's no tomorrow. With that, let me share some of my new holiday home styling I've done for Christmas 2017.

We updated our kitchen early in 2017, and one of the smartest styling decisions I made was to reconfigure my breakfast area's bar / wine rack to open shelves. This has allowed me much more flexibility in decorating and in how the space is actually used. Pictured below, you can see my holiday home style for 2017 in that area.
I've made this bar area - which is immediately adjacent to the kitchen - a self-service, hot beverage bar. MacKenzie-Childs chargers and mugs are as stylish as they are functional, and serve as the backdrop. Most of my nutcrackers have found a new home here, and tartan plaids can be found throughout, on everything from the riser box (top shelf, holding tree candle), to the mugs and dishes (second shelf), down to the tray and napkins on the counter.
Coffee, tea and hot chocolate are garnered in a handmade covered rope bowl from a local artist, perched on a Courtly Check pedestal, while spoons are held in a small pot.
The little night light in the back corner is a vintage find - an angel trumpeting. She is perched on a silver compote topped with a small Courtly Check plate.
Just behind this bar, with open flow entry from both the kitchen and breakfast area, is the sunroom. It is my favorite space in the house for relaxing and casual entertaining. The sunroom is a spacious 16' x 20', and for Christmas, I usually style this space with a woodland, rustic approach. With windows on three walls, and a ceiling which is all windows (with built-in blinds), the light is incredible in here. Although climate controlled with a separate heating/cooling unit, we use mostly indoor/outdoor furniture and other vintage pieces to minimize sun damage.
The winter area rug grounds my favorite seating area which includes the chaise lounge. I've very liberally mixed various plaids and patterns in this area for the holidays. The stepback hutch pictured below is one of the carefree vintage pieces I use in this space. It is situated on the wall directly behind the beverage bar just shared. You can also see the kitchen through one of two sliding glass door entries, and a reflection of the chaise in that glass. A loveseat glider with plaid throw sits in front of that door.
Here's a closer view at how I've styled the hutch in the sunroom for Christmas 2017.
The top shelf is styled with collected spools of yarn and cotton thread - perfect as trees - and topped with red bells. The tan Santa mugs are estate sale finds. The plates on the hutch sport sleighs filled with holly, birds and gifts (Pier 1, last year).
The second shelf has a few woodland creatures: my woodland elf Santa, a deer topped Ball jar, ready for candy or marshmallows, and Mr. Fox, one of my most recent finds. The 'tree' in front of Mr. Fox is a stack of vintage, graduated Scotch Brand tape tins! It, too, is topped with a red bell. Another vintage Santa mug and thermos finish off that shelf. The matching lunchbox to the thermos is sitting on the hutch counter with another (taller) thermos. I keep dishes conveniently at the ready on the hutch, accessible near the kitchen space, which I typically use for buffet food service with company.
The sitting area pictured below is just across from the chaise area and french doors to the outside. The area rug with loaded truck motif is just inside the french door opening. My trusty olive bucket, filled with my fallen birch logs, pine cones, red ball ornaments and lights is just beyond the opening.
The outdoor furniture in the sunroom is almost thirty years old and has held up to high heat and heavy use. The chairs swivel and rock slightly, so they're conducive to engaging with company in various directions of the long space. The baker's rack holds some of my garden books and supplies, and there are a few plants in this back area. The corner table is set with whimsical holiday decor, new this year.
Another plaid blanket from my vintage stash was first draped over the table, and the new-for-2017 decorating followed. I started with my red truck (first used here).
The deer couple are driving the truck, with the freshly 'cut' tree (preserved boxwood), and have already strung the lights. ;)
I then proceeded to create a snowman. With three preserved boxwood balls I've had for years, and a dowel rod from the garage, I simply skewered the boxwoods to make the snowman. I found sticks and dried magnolia seed pods to trim as arms, eyes, nose and buttons. The top hat was a tree topper. I placed the snowman inside a gift box atop a stool covered with polyfill, the end result giving the appearance of snow on a hilltop.
My inspiration for the snowman came one evening while perusing my MacKenzie-Childs holiday catalog. I had everything on hand needed for this, so the savings was huge when you compare the two. Once Christmas is over, I can simply deconstruct and use the boxwood balls otherwise.
MacKenzie-Childs Snowman Topiary Inspiration
A view of the sunroom from the breakfast area (below).
Playing around with new holiday vignettes each year is always fun, and mixing with my existing decor is always my goal. I have begun a new holiday tablescape, and it will appear in a post next week, and I hope you'll return. :)
Once I play around with new ideas, the rest of my holiday decorating flows in traditional, tried-and-true fashion. For example, my outdoor decor was set on Black Friday, with a perfectly mild weather, sunny day. The Japanese maple has yet to drop its leaves; meanwhile it frames the poinsettia flag in the garden.
Capturing the photo below just as I finished the outdoor decor, I was delighted to find the crescent moon centered between my dormer windows. Simple pleasures!
If you'd like to see how my traditional holiday decor runs through the rest of my home and garden, you can click on my 2016 tour here. It's also still featured on my sidebar.

Thank you for visiting today, and I hope you'll come back again! If you're a new reader and like my content, you may subscribe to my blog on my sidebar by providing your email. That way, new posts will conveniently arrive in your inbox when published. I am a non-revenue generating blog, and I do not sell or provide your email to anyone.

This week, I am participating in a holiday home tour, hosted and organized by Chloe Crabtree of the blog, Celebrate and Decorate (thank you, Chloe!). See the complete list of bloggers participating below, each and all sure to inspire you. I've provided links to their blogs, and I will be updating the list as the week continues, so you can come back here and find the direct links to each one's holiday home tour.

Monday
Everyday LivingMy Kentucky Living | Panoply (you are here!)

Tuesday





Thursday



Friday



Do you completely change your holiday decor from year to year, or are you a traditionalist, keeping and re-using most or all of your holiday decor? Do you purge - selectively or entirely - your holiday decor each year? I'm curious. Leave me a comment if you care to share your thoughts.

(A big thanks to Kathryn at The Dedicated House Sunday Showcase from Make It Pretty and Richella at Grace at Home No. 277 for featuring this post!)
Happy Holidays!
Rita C. at Panoply
Sharing: One More TimeAmaze Me, DIDI,  BNOTP, Show & ShareInspire MeMake it PrettyThe Scoop, Dagmar's HomeCelebrate Your Story, Totally Terrific Tues SYS, SYCDelightsome Life H&GGrace at Home, Vintage CharmFoodie Friday & Everything Else and I'm also sharing at Common Ground and Follow the Yellow Brick Home:

Friday, November 17, 2017

Panoply Holiday Booth Displays 2017

The Panoply antique mall retail booths were set for the holidays by November 7. As you can imagine, much work goes into how displays will be created for cohesive themes in our various spaces. Our rented space totals approximately 350 square feet, but we have it divided into what really looks like four separate booths. Let's pan the Panoply 2017 holiday booth spaces, shall we? I've added plenty of photos for you to do some armchair shopping.

There are two main front doors to our antique mall, with corresponding main floor aisles. Our first booth space is our Christmas cottage corner, situated at the junction of one of the mall's main aisles and stairway, which leads to the other two floors and a mezzanine with more booths.
We set the scene of a child's room, complete with small tree and hanging [Fenton] lamp. The tree is decorated with crystals marked for individual sale. An antique rug anchors the space with an iron bed (repurposed daybed perhaps?), vintage toy chest, needlepoint rocker, doll baby buggy and various toys.
Children's chairs hang on the wall, with vintage roller and ice skates seated on them.
Various quilts are folded and placed in this space to cozy it up, all vintage.
The cottage kitchen cabinet seques into our second space, our cottage kitchen. The shutter and shelf divider behind the cabinet can serve either direction of two spaces, allowing versatility for us.
The cottage cabinet is currently stocked with various Christmas glassware and other utilitarian items. 
From this view (below), you see the back side of the cottage kitchen cabinet, and the shutter/shelf divider currently serves as display for the opposite side, which is our second space (the cottage kitchen).
The wall shown below butts up against the shutter/shelf divider. Here, we store all our casual linens, now bursting with holiday textiles, and have filled the remaining wall space with lots of Christmas items.
At the front edge of this cottage kitchen, we have this washstand holding items that still inspire Thanksgiving and harvest season. These will be changed out right after Thanksgiving. Just over the left edge of the washstand, you catch a glimpse of the casual linen rack.
Across the from the cottage kitchen is our third space, the Mantiques displays. The aisle which separates these two spaces of ours is the other main aisle of the mall's first floor entry, which I mentioned earlier.
This space is a small, ponytail area situated between the service elevator (behind the main pegboard wall), and the employees'  stockroom (behind the mahogany curio case). We keep smalls locked in both the mahogany curio and in the wooden case beneath the shelves on the wall. 
Equestrian and field operations are on display at the desk.
Shelves behind the desk are set with vintage militaria.
We tend to make our nod toward the holidays somewhat inconspicuous, as we are not full-fledged dealers of vintage Christmas items. Our goal is to create holiday gift ideas for the varied customer.
The billiards are stacked upon a very old iron lockbox, with a late 1800s Yale Towne padlock. Keys for an item like this are kept separately, at the front desk. The billiards are contained, not only in the basket, but inside a mesh bag, too. The price tag is attached to both the mesh bag and basket.These extra steps, we've found, allow touching yet avoid temptation for theft, simultaneously.
Lastly, just across from the Mantiques booth and on the mall's other main aisle is what we've always called our main booth. It was our first rented space. The corner is anchored with another rack of vintage linens, these a little dressier than the casual ones. We use room dividers and tall furniture to distinguish our spaces from others'.
Just when we think we cannot get another piece in, we manage to do just that. It's a bit overstocked now, but it's how we roll. The blue upholstered chair on the left (below, just beyond the barrel table with lamp) sold the day we styled this, so that will allow a bit of space to spread things out.
We've displayed ideas for holiday decorating, whether it be an entire scene such as this sleigh ride suggestion....
...a vintage nativity set....
...or ideas for hostess gifts. Note the hot chocolate cups and saucers previewed in this post.
Just beyond the front case of locked smalls and sleigh scene...we have more furniture, and many more smalls for both decorating and/or entertaining, such as with this cake pedestal and dome, angels....
...or these convertible candelabras....
...or the preacher and the punch bowl. ;)
We also stock a good variety of vintage ladies' accessories, such as seasonal hats and gloves.
That, my friends, is a tour of our booth spaces dressed for the holiday season. Generally speaking, we try to do an average of four big moves each year, to keep inventory looking fresh. If a large item sells, we naturally move more frequently. This is a mostly a hobby for us (three sisters), making enough money to keep shopping. We consider ourselves lucky enough to be able to have fun doing this, knowing we could quit at any time, if necessary. For now, antique and vintage shopping, and being pickers for others is our fun. We also love styling spaces - it's our creative outlet.

Panoply is located in the South Charleston Antique Mall at 617 D Street, South Charleston, WV.  It is an easy on/off from I-64 at Exit 56. Small Business Saturday is November 25 this year, and we are stocked and ready. We will also be having an open house at the antique mall November 28 through December 3, with refreshments and a few other incentives for our shoppers.

If you'd like to see more of how we style our spaces, you can see more posts like this by starting right here. There's also a tab on the main menu (if on a handheld device, go to bottom of page and click on 'view web version' to see main menu). Thank you for armchair shopping our booth spaces today. Your readership and comments are always appreciated!

Rita C. at Panoply
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Sunday, November 12, 2017

More Late Fall 2017 Vintage Finds

If you missed my last post of vintage finds published just a couple days ago, I mentioned Panoply pickin' for 2017 would come to a halt by this time of year, unless something really good comes along. Well, some really good things came along, and here's my latest haul.
A nice old quilt, all hand-stitched, in the bowtie pattern. There are but two bowties in a red fabric, one of which was threadbare. That only makes it more endearing to me, and will need to be so for the potential buyer. I do not repair vintage and antique quilts I buy, I only launder them for resale.
A pair of hand-thrown pottery wine goblets, signed RUM 11. I had a pair of these back in the 70s, in browns. These coordinate with my Hannah Pottery items I've collected, one being a mug in the last group of items from this same estate.
A great, vintage 1965 Jim Beam fox decanter. I just think he's super handsome.
Doesn't he look quite dapper on my hutch as it's styled for fall? I'll soon be changing this for the Christmas holiday, but I may need to foster this guy for another year to enjoy his company. 
This item below is quite collectable. It's an antique Dietz Sport ice skater's lantern, unused, with original foil label and store price tag (Kanawha Supply Co.). Patent dates on the cap are dated 1904, 1908, 1914, which means its manufacture was sometime afterward.
Two 1924-25 catalogs: The "National" Money-Saving Style Book, spring and winter issues. My inner flapper girl adores these, and I can't to see if any of my collected purses or other vanity items are included in the catalogs.
Black Americana, primitive-style shelf sitter and forest of pine trees. These are only vintage, but certainly cute.
A home-sewn doll tent, complete with sleeping bags, roll-up door and screened vent (back side, circle). This is not my typical type of purchase, but I loved the workmanship detail on it. This lady was a multi-talented artist - quilter, painter, potter, needle artisan - as evidenced by her personal effects and collections. The fabric looks like 1980s Cabbage Rose pattern - maybe Waverly?
I picked up another old, tin bundt pan, with a nicely fluted design interior.
Some hardware: the door handles are old glass and brass; the faucet spigot is newer, solid brass (Flora & Fauna).
As always, I will keep some of these items, at least for a while, and some will go straight into our booths for resale.
Okay, that's it for me. I MUST stop vintage shopping and get on with thoughts of the holidays! Have you started your shopping or holiday decorating?

Rita C. at Panoply
Sharing: Amaze Me, DIDI,  BNOTP, Show & ShareInspire MeMake it PrettyThe Scoop, Dagmar's HomeCelebrate Your Story, SYS, SYCDelightsome Life H&GGrace at Home, Vintage CharmFoodie Friday & Everything Else