Bonjour! My friend, Laura Dowling of Interieurs et Fleurs, has just written a wonderful piece for StyleMePretty.com a great all-things-weddings blog. I just had to share it with you! It includes an impressive list of trends in French flower design and stunning photos of her work. Laura is a floral designer in Old Town who creates the most incredible pieces of art. To view her masterpieces go to LauraDowling.com.

She was also kind enough to mention us! One of the recent trends in French floral design is the use of mirrored cubes as vases. She recently did a wedding where she used our mirrored cubes as centerpieces. They turned out great! We have several wonderful mirrored pieces - orchid pots (above), boxes and cubes. Pick one up today and you too can be tres chic!

Merci! Amy

Hello! I’ve been wanting to talk about this since Thursday… Did you see the article in last week’s Washington Post Home section about family-friendly interiors? It was really well done and very comprehensive. The tips were spot on!

I especially agree with the thought that good-quality furnishings that can be refinished or recovered over time are better than flimsy new pieces.

It is better for your pocketbook and the environment if you buy something that can be used again once it has outgrown it’s intended purpose.

They give an example of a pine kitchen island as a changing table in a baby’s room - can I just tell you… that is exactly what I did four and a half years ago when my son was born. Now my daughter is using it. Great minds think alike! When she is out of diapers - hopefully VERY soon! - I’ll clean it up and use it somewhere else in my house. Maybe in the kitchen… or maybe not. : )

I could go on and on about the article, but you should read it for yourself. I think it sums up a new style of thinking for the whole home, whether you have kids or not. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Speaking of tips… Please take a look at Vintage Indie’s blog. She very kindly asked us to write some design tips on how to mix old and new. We were very honored to contribute. You can view the three-part series here, here and here. It’s a great blog with really neat handcrafted features. I hope you find my tips helpful as well!

Finally, I wanted to give you a proverbial heads up about an upcoming sale. Beginning February 1, all upholstered pieces on the sales floor will be discounted 25%. And, if that weren’t enough, we are giving 15% off all upholstery special orders. Oh, and there will be several accessories on sale too. More details to follow. Sign up for our email list for more information and reminders.

That’s it for tonight! Take care, Amy

Now that the holidays are over it’s time to start thinking about furniture! My mom and I are itching to get back on the antiques trail. In fact starting this week we will be hitting all our favorite haunts. So, I wanted to put this out to you all… If you have anything in particular that you are looking for, please feel free to email us or post to the blog your desires. At the store we keep a “Wish List” for our clients and every time we set out on one of our treasure hunts we take it along. We are happy to hunt for you too just let us know what it is that you need. Although not as life altering as pairing an orphan child with a new family, it is tremendously gratifying to pair someone with just the right piece for their home. : )

Speaking of wishes, if you are in need of a dining table we just brought in a wonderful old Heart-of-Pine farm table. We also brought in an antique shipping crate that is really unique. It would make great storage and a neat console table. Finally, we brought in a beautiful farm-table-come-coffe-table. Mom and Dad were able to save this little table that we bought at a recent flea market. I love the look of an old table used as a coffee table. However, I’m the last person to cut the legs off of anything in order to accomodate my antique needs. But this little table was a prime candidate for such a thing. The legs were damaged irreparably so we felt no remorse in cutting off the legs to make an extremely handsome piece of furniture. I think you will love it once you see it! Those two are miracle workers!

On another note, if you have a favorite haunt that you would like to share with us, we’d be ever so grateful! Mom and I are always interested in finding new places to shop - no matter the distance from NoVA. We love a good road trip!

Thanks everyone and wish us luck out there on the trail! Amy