3 Sister’s Got Style!

Have I ever told you about my older littler sister? If I haven’t, then I need to, because she is just super! Don’t believe me? Take a look at this super face…

 

Don’t be confused. She’s the cute one in the lower right-hand corner, not the hairy hitchhiker in the background.

Anyway, while helping my lovely sis with top secret wedding plans yesterday, another impromptu photo shoot occurred. At least this time it wasn’t in the lady’s room of Hank’s Fine Furniture.

Jessica had quite the holiday tablescape going on in her happening Hillcrest condo. I love the red and white, but more than that, I love how easy! Fun table runner, couple of candlesticks and a bowl of coordinating ornaments and you’re all set…

  

Fair warning to all, if you invite me over during the holiday season or any other season for that matter, I may be tempted to whip out my camera and start snapping. I will expect invitations to start rolling in. Any minute now. I’m here by my phone. I’ll just wait right here…

-Cara

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7 O Christmas Tree

Yesterday, we Wilkersons got down to serious Christmas business and put up our tree. Yes, off we trotted to battle the crowds for the most magnificent fraiser fir out there—you guessed it, we are real tree people. Mainly because Eric knows that if we had an artificial tree hanging around our attic, I would be tempted to haul it out in September.

Man, did we find a beauty. The first tree we came across was the most perfect tree for two reasons:

1. This 9 foot stunner of a tree could not have been more handsome.
2. Shiver me timbers! I was freezing and the faster we made our decision the sooner I could get home, crank up the fire and get down to decorating business. Okay, so it was like 70 degrees when we were sorting through trees, but it just felt more Christmas-y to provide an ambiance of chilliness.

Alright! Now to get this beast of a tree home…in a Camry. Hmmm, pretty sure we broke at least two laws during the process. Oh well!

           

Here’s a handy real tree tip. Put a towel underneath your stand to make it easier to slide the tree across hardwood floors. The towel also soaks up excess water should you dribble a little in the process of feeding your new friend.

Once the stand was secure and lights were strung—anyone else agree that this is the most daunting holiday task ever?—it was time to bring on the ornaments!

I’m a pretty simple gal when it comes to my Christmas tree. Let’s face it, ornaments don’t grow on trees (Like the play on words? I knew you would!), so I’ve found that collecting ornaments in set colors over the years has served me well, fiscally speaking.

Lime green and cherry red for me please, and the more sparkle the better!

      

Ready for a little cheese? I did allow one ornament to stray from the lime green/cherry red color requirement. How sweet…

Merry Christmas, ya’ll!

-Cara

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1 Deck the Halls

We are taking this lovely Saturday to put up our Christmas tree—an overwhelming task at times. Luckily Martha is on hand with a few secrets to trimming a tree…

1. Choose a spot to display your tree. I recently learned that I am not alone in my need to decide where the Christmas tree will go before buying a house. Glad to know there are other psycho Christmas fanatics that worry about tree placement in July.

2. Place tree in water tight stand & prune any stray limbs. If your preference is an artificial tree, you get to skip right on to the next step, you lucky goose!

3. String the lights. Now, you overachievers that have the artificial tree with lights pre-strung can just go ahead and plug it in. I’ll stay here and battle my noble fir.

4. Add ribbon, garland, popcorn…popcorn? Do people still do that? Ah well, whatever floats your boat.

5. Organize & hang ornaments. If you are aiming for a particular color scheme, select the ornaments that fit what you have in mind. Then, place the larger ornaments on the tree first and fill in with smaller guys. Don’t neglect the back of the tree!

6. Keep fragile ornaments safe.

Hang antique and fragile ornaments near the top of the tree, where they will be less likely to get knocked off by pets and passersby. I learned this lesson many moons ago when our childhood cat, Teek, decided that climbing the Christmas tree trunk would be a good idea.


Hope this helps, and remember as long as you can keep your kitten from shimmying up the trunk, you’ll be in ship shape.


-Cara & Martha

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7 The Great Tree Debate

What do you think? Is the real deal or an artificial stunner the way to go when it comes to decorating the ol’ Christmas tree? 

-Cara

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1 Just a Little Turkey Humor

Ralph’s favorite Thanksgiving joke, for obvious reasons...
 

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

-Eric & Cara

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17 wwW.indowShopping.com: Christmas Stockings

1. Personalized stockings from Frontgate in contemporary holiday color duo: lime green and cherry red.

2. A twist on tradition, these ice skate stockings from The Great Indoors are sweet and nostalgic.

3. Don’t forget about Fido! Pet stockings from Ballard Designs are adorable and a good way to keep puppy presents away from sniffing snouts.

4. Who needs stocking stuffers with these j

ester stockings from Pier 1 Imports? What’s inside is not near as fun as the sassy frills!


-Cara

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2 What Were They Thinking?

Thought I’d add a smile to that Tuesday face of yours with this little number. Yes, my friends, that is a wild horse shower curtain with matching bath towel…



Did anyone else catch the episode of The Office with Dwight’s wolf t-shirt—also known as his “casual social outfit”? I’m having déjà vu…and laughing a little. 



I know what you are thinking: Surely this person had to search high and low to find a shower curtain of the equestrian variety.

Surprisingly, no. A similar curtain with bathroom ensemble can be picked up at any Bed, Bath & Beyond, and in my opinion this version is even a bit more unsettling than the first—with the horses staring at you and all…

-Cara

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2 Before & After: Victorian Living Turned Dining

Oh boy. I love a good before and after, especially when a room is transformed into a fresh open space. You can imagine my glee when I stumbled upon this room redo from California Home+Design…



A charming room before, but what a difference when compared to the after shot. The neutral color palate and clean lines make the ceiling feel ever so tall…


Now doesn’t that just make your three day work week all the more special?

-Cara

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4 Let’s Wrap This Baby Up

This year I am determined to sneak up on Christmas before it has the chance to sneak up on me.  Step 1: get an early start on gift shopping AND wrapping. An excuse to shop is easy, but restraining from piling the shopping bags in a closet until December 24th is the tricky part.

So this year I dusted off the good ol’ gift wrap box a few weeks early and got down to business. Seeing as our tree won’t be up and running until after Thanksgiving, our trusty Lady in Red graciously stepped in to host our newly adorned friends.

 

I am all about making life easier—unless it comes time to pick out a new toothpaste, but we’ll save that for another blog post. Why does Target have to carry so many options?

Last year, I ordered business card sized gift tags from Vista Print and have never looked back. I use these little guys for gifts year round and with pricing starting at just $5.99 for 250, they are a steal of a deal!

It felt so good to get a jump start on this holiday season. However, poor Ralph had a tough time when it came to wrapping presents for his puppy pals. A rawhide candy cane was calling his name and this little guy knows how to lay it on thick!

 

-Cara

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1 Just Listed: 6601 Kenwood

What a fantastic home in the heart of Cammack Village! This 2 bedroom/1 bath home boasts beautiful hardwood floors, a separate dining room and a large yard with workshop. Walk to Baker Park, swimming pool, tennis courts, Jefferson Elementary, and all Heights shopping!

Price: $134,900
 

To schedule a time to see this home, click here to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!

-Eric & Cara

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4 Fill ‘Er Up!

With our to-do lists tripling in size around the holidays, we could all use an easy button. Luckily Pottery Barn offers a plethora of super simple vase fillers to knock out a bit of holiday decorating with minimal effort and expense.

Sparkle and shine with jingle bells and mini ornaments. We all have a touch of glitter princess buried inside and what better excuse than the holidays to indulge?…

Feeling a bit more earthy? The cranberries and acorns fill up these vases in a cozy way…
 

Maybe I could handle keeping a safe distance from the fake snow and shriveled pumpkin options. Hmm…still perplexed by this one. Does anyone else think that the gourds look a bit like Halloween leftovers? Just checking…


-Cara

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2 Gotta Have It: Coat Racks

Pottery Barn     Twig Coat Rack   $199.00	JC Penney     Etagere Coat Rack   $99.99
cb2      10 Degree Coat Rack   $49.95	Grandin Road     Expandable Coat Rack   $69.00

-Cara

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5 Making It Lovely: Library Style

Making It Lovely inspires me in more ways than one and this library transformation completed in 2007 is one reason why. Now, I need not remind you how a home library sets my heart aflutter, but this super studious nook is also super simple! A few coats of paint, storage options and furnishings bumped this room onto the honor roll. 

Check out Nicole’s lovely before and after…

This room makes me pray for snow and a thigh-high stack of good reads.

-Cara

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1 Designed to Sell: Dining Room Before & After

Many times, homeowners use a space to best fit their needs instead of abiding by the intended purpose of a room. And why shouldn’t they?

As a homeowner, you need a space that fits the functionality of your life. However, this line of thinking won’t always work in your best interest when it comes time to sell.

Take for example, this dining room turned living room. The owners needed a larger living space and opted to use the dining room as their main hangout. However to buyers, looking for that dining space, this layout could become a bit confusing…

Now, returned to it’s original use, buyers can see that there is indeed an excellent dining space in this home. Extra credit for the wall color…

-Cara

Photos courtesy of HGTV.com

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2 Chad? Normal?

A bit of commentary as we are halfway through this season of Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing…has Chad grown on anyone else?

Maybe it’s the slightly less rigid bowl cut or perhaps his four legged “assistant” Starla that has made him more likeable this season. Regardless, Eric and I both agree that Chad is the favorite* and are impressed at his ability to maintain his heavily starched dress shirts. Incredible!

I could however live without the obnoxious nicknames constantly blubbered between Chad and his live-in gal. Chaddy-cakes? Really?

-Cara

*

Please note that this post was written prior to Chad Karate chopping all of the throw pillows after he paid the big bucks to bring in the professional stager.

Josh is now the favorite with his red carpet trick at the Realtor's open house. What a great idea!

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0 Let’s Make a Deal: The Modern Bar Stool

Inside Avenue   $362.50	Modern Selections   $249.00

-Cara

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