2010 in review

We wanted to share a few of our favorite photos from 2010.  We hope you, your family, and your friends have a very happy 2011!  Happy New Year!

travel (Doug’s Chicago visit)

It was a White Christmas at Doug's parents' house in Illinois!

 

Hey everyone, it’s Doug.  I hope you all had a great Christmas.  I spent Christmas at my parents’ home in Illinois.  Although my parents live on a farm in the central part of the state, I flew to Chicago for a couple of days prior to Christmas, to see some friends and to enjoy one of my very favorite cities.

My best friend from growing up, Wally, lives and works in Chicago and I talked him into taking me to see a few stores I’d wanted to visit while I was in town.  I love visiting other shops to see how they display items and what sort of things are being featured.  We started by visiting Jayson Home & Garden.  Jayson is famous for being one of Chicago’s best home stores and it did not disappoint.  It’s located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, located in an old loft-style building.

Doesn't this old bathtub look great filled with evergreen branches?

 

 

You know our Mountain Brook shop shares space with a rug shop. I thought this chair was so cool...I want to collaborate with our neighbors and do this!

 

What a fun take on lacquered faux bamboo furniture! This chair was vintage and had the finish stripped down to the bare wood. The seat had been reupholstered in vintage menswear fabric.

 

After we visited Jayson Home & Garden, we went down the block to Arhaus.  My friend Natalie, who used to work at Dungan Nequette Architects and was one of the project architects for a few houses we’ve designed the interiors for, works at Arhaus now.

 

 

I loved the bold graphic striped on these high-backed chairs at Arhaus.

 

After leaving Arhaus we headed to the Andersonville neighborhood to check out a few more stores.  I’ve always read about Scout but never had a chance to visit and I was not disappointed.  Scout had a really cool selection of vintage pieces mixed with a few finer antiques.

 

A really cool vignette at Scout. I especially liked the vintage eye chart.

 

Next door to Scout is a quirky shop called Brimfield.  Brimfield is kind of crazy, in a really fun way.  The store is PACKED with stuff…lots of vintage and lots of warm, fun color.  Brimfield has tons of vintage chairs, all upholstered in wool camp blankets.  There’s a lot of plaid and a lot of taxidermy.  We visited the store 3 days before Christmas so I can’t say how it looks the rest of the year, but during the holidays everything in the store looked right at home.

 

 

A vintage chair covered in a wool camp blanket at Brimfield.

 

Vintage taxidermy dressed for the winter weather.

 

The back room at Brimfield is a garage--complete with a vintage Wagoneer that's become part of the display!

 

We eventually headed downtown.  I don’t recall the name of the mens store where I took this next photo, but it sold nothing but gingham and plaid shirts.  A dangerous place for me to visit!

A store full of plaid shirts and vintage stuff like gauges mounted on iron pipe stands. Heaven.

 

I’ve always loved the amazing Ralph Lauren store on North Michigan Avenue.  The entire five story shop is detailed with paneling and wainscoting and antique light fixtures–it looks like a store placed in an old mansion.  The main staircase makes an amazing first impression.

 

The main staircase at the Ralph Lauren store...hung from to top to bottom with portraits.

I had such a great time in Chicago, I can’t wait to go back again.  I have great memories of visiting at Christmastime when I was growing up so it’s always fun to come back during the holidays.  Did y’all visit anywhere fun last week?

Giveaway over at Simply Seleta

Did you know that we have style sessions with Seleta of Simply Seleta?  They have been really fun so far.  We styled a chest {here}, a thanksgiving table {here}, and now Christmas Table decor {here}.  There is always a fun giveaway with our style sessions.  This time it is this great little Mercury Box.  So head on over and see what’s going on over at Simply Seleta and comment to win! 

Isn't it just so cute?

XO,

Paige

P.S.  If you don’t win they are available on our website {here}

holiday flashback

This is the time of year to relax a bit, enjoy time with family & friends and reminisce about your favorite holiday memories. Below are pictures from our childhood holidays….what’s your favorite memory from Christmas past?

Paige

Anna Kay & family

Bess baking

Doug

Megan & Santa

Hannon

 

 

Merry Christmas from the Tracery family to you & yours!

Christmas Tree…again… again… again

Four years ago we went to a tree farm and bought a Christmas Tree.  We decorated it and had a great Christmas!  I have always wanted a tree without needles so we took the tree into the backyard after Christmas and stood it in the woods and waited.  Every now and then I went into the back yard and shook the tree.  Then the next Christmas the tree came back inside.  It was fun that after Christmas the tree went back into the backyard.  We lacquered the tree white for the next 2 Christmases.  Now we are on Christmas #4 with the same tree(isn’t that crazy?)  Now every year we come up with new ideas!  This year my daughter, Mallory, and I sprayed the tree silver then we sprayed it with GLITTER!  So our theme this year is sparkle.  We had such a good time decorating our family tree.  I hope you enjoy.  Merry Christmas to all!

Here I am changing the tree from white to silver!

More silver....

Adding the glitter.

After the tree dried we brought it inside and added the lights.

Then we added the ribbon.

Then we added an assortment of silver balls.

Mallory took another great close-up!

Here is our tree! Now it is time to wrap presents!

Thanks Mallory for photographing our Christmas tree!  You did a great job!

XO,

Paige

ready for guests

Do you have guests coming for the holidays?  We think that bedrooms should always be relaxing and peaceful–but particularly so when they are intended for guests.  In this guest bedroom we designed for a home in Mountain Brook, Alabama we strove to create a space that provided a welcoming place for guests to the home.  Throughout the second floor of this renovated home the ceiling height was raised from a claustrophobic 8 feet to a much more spacious 11 and a half.  The beams and brackets we designed to detail the new ceiling are subtly highlighted with a trim color that’s just a shade off from the pale and neutral wall color.  To take advantage of the high ceilings that were created we selected a hammered iron bed with an open canopy.  The lightness of the bed is contrasted by the heaviness of the antique wood chest, which is topped with a dark marble.  Little courtesies like bedside lamps and mirrors are always thoughtful in guest bedrooms.  Underfoot a shag rug ensures that guests will step out of bed onto a soft and warm floor–perfect for this time of year.

Of course great bedding makes any bedroom more inviting.  In this bedroom we had a custom linen coverlet made for the bed and then mixed in a collection of shams in complimentary patterns.

”]One embroidered pillow in a lighter tone is all the accent that’s needed to bring some interest to this cozy bed.

What do you do to make your guest bedroom more inviting?

{artist spotlight} Mallory Page

Hey, it’s Doug.  Yesterday in our Mountain Brook shop we held a trunk show featuring artist Mallory Page.  In both of our shops we are proud to carry work from regional artists who share our aesthetic.  We’ve just started carrying Mallory’s work since we opened our Mountain Brook shop earlier this year, but plan on adding her work to our Rosemary Beach shops soon as well.  Mallory’s pieces feature abstract forms and soothing colors.  We think her paintings are beautiful, and the wide range of sizes and prices that comprise her work make it a great fit for our shops (and we have eyes on some pieces for some of our design projects too!).

Here a few photos of the latest pieces we’ve added to our Mountain Brook shop.  You can contact us at (205) 414-6026 for pricing or dimensions for anything you see here, or email doug [at] traceryinteriors [dot] com

 

Don't our fun glazed pottery pieces look great with this painting?

 

 

 

Mallory's pieces have a great range of sizes...we love this little guys, some of which are painted with a BEAUTIFUL iridescent ink that shifts colors with the light.

 

 

Our mercury glass votives and accessories complement this piece beautifully

To learn more about Mallory Page’s artwork, visit her website [here]