Come on into my living room and see this year's Christmas decorations. We're peeking through a set of double doors from the dance parlor. The square gold leaf wreaths set the tone for what's inside.
Now you can see more. I rearranged the furniture to accommodate the tree.
This is the room with the doors closed. When they are open the hand painted stripes show off in the dance parlor, and when they're closed they are part of the living room decor.
Here's the tree! It's a vintage "steel" tree from the 1950's. I purchased it from eBay three years ago, and it had never been used and was in its original box. It's six feet tall, but I elevate it, since we have such high ceilings. It has a super smart design, basically a pole (a Festivus Pole?!) with holes in it, and several dozen silver tinsel branches. The branches are all the same size, and it is magical to see them form a perfect tree shape. I love the space between the branches - it reminds me of a feather tree.
Of course the color scheme takes its cue from the collection of Tiffany boxes I have. I got them from Craigslist a few years ago. I was perusing the For Free listings, and came across these. A lovely woman had recently been married, and these were her wedding gift boxes. They were taking up too much room, so she decided to give them away. She could not have found a more appreciative taker. When I got them, I knew I would build my Christmas decor around them.
So the colors are aquas, and lime greens, silver, white and black. Most of the ornaments are vintage, but I also use new ones if they have a vintage look and fit the color scheme.
Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly inspired the black accents - her little black dress; the silver tree - her tiara; and the pearl garlands - her necklace.
This is the dance parlor with a view into the living room. These are double parlors, as this is a double shotgun house. We keep the one parlor free of furniture as we use it for private tango lessons.
I recently changed the curtains in here. I found some panels on sale at Lowes ($9.99 each). They have the feeling of silk taffeta. Of course they were not long enough, so I cut one panel in half, and added a half to each of the 84 inch long panels. I also chopped up another panel to make a valence for the transom over the front door, and short curtains for the front door window. There's a third pair I used "as is" for the window in the dance parlor. I wanted to keep the length at the window sill, so we wouldn't trip over them.
Fabric swatch of new curtains in the dance parlor
Just to show you how much things change! These were the window treatments in the dance parlor. I made curtains out of red lining material, trying to fake a silk look. There are French lace panels from my old French country style beach house (that was sold years ago). And check out the original fabric on the settee!!! As you know it was recovered in faux white leather.
Dance parlor curtains 'before"
I moved the rusty drinks cart (another Ruby Beets treasure) from the living room.
I festooned the old tattered mirror with gold leaf garland (the same leaf that's used on the wreaths), added a small aqua tinsel tree in a Blenko glass vase. The little urns with shells got some aqua mini ornaments. You can see in the reflection in the mirror, an antique chandelier with a mistletoe ball (a kissing ball), and some of the framed vintage tango sheet music covers.
So that's a peek into the living room today. Cholo asks that you please come and visit us again, and we'll show you some of the details.
