Rustic French Home Accents in the shop

When we last left I was showing you the new Iron Orb Chandeliers 

we just received.  We ordered two of them to see how they would go over

and guess what? They both SOLD! Apparently others liked them as much as

we did, so we will be getting these back in stock.

Its got a great price point for a fabulous statement chandelier.

Today was really fun because a large fedex truck rolled up and 

inside of it were a bunch of packages for our shop!!

 Do you know how hard it is to find candles that smell good?  I mean really have a nice smell, not a sickening smell after a while where you have to blow it out because its overpowering?  And a candle that burns a long time and doesn't just evaporate and then its a mass of liquid instantly? And a candle that is in a good looking container that fits your style of decor? I am not a fan of the big fat glass jar with a push on glass lid with a picture on the front of it telling you what you are smelling. So I looked 

high and low and finally found a fabulous candle line. Its got a rustic french farmhouse look that I find very appealing with its willow wrapped glass container.  The scents are terrific and I am excited to have finally found this awesome candle line! Right now we have the seasonal scents in stock, and will be adding them to our online shop, so if you are interested and cannot come by the shop, you will still be able to order one from our www.shopmaisondecor.com website.  

http://shopmaisondecor.com/collections/new-home-accessories/products/french-farmhouse-candles
We lit up the Holiday Gathering candle today and

 it made the store feel so warm and inviting! 

 I know you will just love these candles!

 Speaking of lovely scents, we also got bunches of dried French Lavender. 

 These tight bundles of sheared lavender look so artful just laid out in a 

basket or on an old silver tray.  Nothing brings to mind

 more the French Country Life than a casual bundle of lavender.

Stacks of the bundles on a silver tray lightly scent the air in the shop.

I used to have rows of lavender in one of the gardens of a house I lived in.

But I did not know that the lavender gets very woody after years and then it 

is not so attractive.  Maybe it because I never harvested it?

  But I have always loved the look of the lavender growing

 in a hedge form and I plan to put some along

our pea gravel walk next spring.  Until then I will 

enjoy these hefty bunches of lavender in the shop.

 Another new item in our shop is the Crossback chair. 

We love these rustic french bistro style chairs. You have probably seen 

them in magazines and even designer Rachel Ashwell uses these chairs.

They look wonderful mixed with painted furniture too,

 imagine a set around a white or black painted dining room table,

maybe paired up with a bench on one side, chairs on the other.

The seats are padded woven cane and are very comfortable.

 I persuaded Colin to pose in the chair to give you a sense of proportion. 

These are decent size side chairs and are sturdily constructed and 

have that rustic french country style we all love.

We are busy working hard getting the store where we want it to be~

its been about almost 5 months now and its starting to look pretty good! 

This gigantic cabinet was the same one we originally used in our Boston store that 

designer Betsy Speert so kindly gave us.  Its been in storage until recently 

when we brought it back to our Reading store.

  The guys just gave it a paint job in Graphite Chalk Paint® and it looks amazing! 

You have to come in and see the shop!!  Word has been spreading around town

 and we have a bunch of new regulars that we love seeing walk through our doors!

Small businesses depend on local customers and we appreciate ours for sure!

 This year we will be offering gift baskets in different sizes for 

the Chalk Paint lover or starter in your family. 

 It makes a nice gift and if its in a pretty container, all the better.  

So we are making up beautiful containers using decoupage and other techniques

and then filling them with Chalk Paint® supplies.  We will have the 

 Ultimate Chalk Paint® basket and the Chalk Paint® Apprentice basket, 

great for anyone starting out.

That is the latest on our shop offerings. 

We continue to grow and try to make this 

shop a place that inspires and helps you make your life more beautiful.

For our readers and far away friends, 

shop for many of our things at

www.shopmaisondecor.com

and find the best prices in the USA on 

Chalk Paint® decorative paint by Annie Sloan

right here at Maison Decor, in store and online!
Candles For Sale Here

Orb chandeliers, Mora clocks and an early Christmas

Our new shop has been open for about 100 days now at 150 Main Street, Reading, MA.

Every location or area has a different vibe and customer base and because

of that our store in Reading is a little different than the one we had in Boston 

and the one we started out with in Malden.  I am enjoying this shop the most,

(although I know Justin would pick Boston hands down).  Colin is happy to 

be where ever he is needed and getting things done.  Anyway, we have

been doing lots of custom work in our Reading store as well as both big and small

home decor items with price points for all so no one is excluded from finding 

a treasure to go home with from Maison Decor.  We all love our new

Iron Orb Chandeliers that arrived last week.  Colin got this big one hung up

in the front window and it looks amazing all lit up, especially at dusk when we

are driving away from the store.  These chandeliers are very similar to a style

sold at Restoration Hardware, which is what attracted me.  The price point is 

so much better I just had to have a few in the shop!  

 We have a smaller Iron Orb Chandelier without the crystal chandelier inside 
if you want a more pared down look over your table or foyer. 

 Tip of the day: hang your chandelier 

so the bottom of it is 30" off the top of your table. 
 If you want it to feel a bit more intimate

hang your chandelier a few inches lower. 
Nothing worse than a chandelier too high off of a table,

unless is is a hideous chandelier and you don't want to look at it! 

 Take a look at the store front above as it is now completely revamped!

We spent our family day off (Sunday) all working together

to get the store retail ready for Christmas.  I know!! I am the shopper

who hated seeing anything Christmas related until after Thanksgiving.

Now I am seeing it in shops around here before Halloween!! It is a hard line 

for me to cross, but as a shop owner you just have to do it and get your holiday

items out onto the floor early.  We waited til after Halloween because it 

just did not seem right to jump the gun that much....after all we will have to live

in the store everyday for two whole months before Christmas arrives.

Our Maison Decor Christmas style will have very little in the way of 

red and green decor.  As time goes on we will share some of the 

vignettes and Christmassy things here and on Facebook with you.

 One simple and little thing that has me excited is our 

new tissue wrap in black and white toile!

I just love it! When it came in I used it as a liner for this 

chicken wire basket for our leaf orbs.

 So french and so classic and it will look wonderful at holiday time too!

 We got new black shopping bags to tuck the toile tissue inside 
for our gift buying customers. Just peel off the price tag and 
you have a gift already wrapped up for that

 chic party hostess gift.  It makes it easy whenever you need that 
 "grab a gift and go"! 

Colin has been doing some merchandising and display work around

the shop and I have to say he has a talent for display.  I think it was his 

nature to take a back seat to me and Justin so the other day I walked

by an area and noticed he had arranged some things and they looked great!

Above photo is me just snapping him in front of this big french buffet

piece that a decorator brought in for us to paint for her client.

Its a custom green mix and it will be getting distressed and dark waxed.

This is an iPhone photo so its not the greatest but it gives you a dramatic

look at the before and during which shows how much a piece can change

with a stroke of a brush! We offer custom painted furniture services,

so call the shop if you want to get a quote on your piece.

 That antique french chair is getting a custom makeover too.  

You can see it in the workshop

area, the same table we hold our Chalk Paint Workshops at.  

The chair has the typical gold paint over off white trim on the frame.

  I was asked to do this for a designer 

and I will be sharing more on where this piece is going and how it ends up looking.

However for now, this is the during phase as well. 

The frame is in Old White and will have a pearlized 

blush with a tinted wax finish.  

Then the fabric will be switched out for this beige linen with a silver

metallic thread.  It will be stunning I am quite sure, updated and elegant!

 I cannot wait to see it all finished and will be sharing it here.

 Here is our Deluxe Mora Clock in Antique White. 

 You may have seen it in Gustavian Grey and Pale Blue 

and now here is the Antique White!
Justin has been doing all of our Deluxe Mora Clocks
and they are incredibly beautiful.
He has done an amazing job on their antique style faces
which is why these clocks are even more popular than our
Classic Mora Clock Reproductions.
He has been training Colin and it won't be long before 
he is up to speed and Maison Decor will have two Mora Clock 
Master Painters able to create these stunning reproductions! 

This clock has already been shipped to its forever home~

and a few more are on their way today.

And the flowers in the window?

 I arrived home from work last week and felt like a celebrity as HomeGoods had sent

me this beautiful bouquet of roses and lillies from Boston Commonwealth Florist.

A little note from the HomeGoods team thanked me for my work on their Pinterest board,

Happy By Design.  I need to shoot some more accessories for homes in the area so if you 

have a room that needs some accessorizing and you would like me to get some items from

my shop and HomeGoods and decorate your room send me an email. 

You can see the HomeGoods board with the link provided at the end of this post.

Back to our Mora Clock.  

This is the Deluxe in Antique White.

Compare the whites to the drapery panel and the woodwork

and you can see it is heavily antiqued.  We love mixing whites

 in a room for a more complex and sophisticated look, so if you have

 a love for whites, make sure there are many shades in your palette.

 This is the Pale Blue Deluxe Mora Clock. 

A soft blue grey clock also heavily antiqued with the hand painted face.

This is our Gustavian Grey Deluxe Mora clock with the antique finish.

Again, our Antique White Deluxe Mora clock.

 A quick iPhone picture from our Maison Decor Warehouse in Malden shows these two

Deluxe Mora clocks in Gustavian Grey (front) and Pale Blue (rear) 

just before they are being packaged 

to ship out to our customers who placed custom orders.

 I will finish the post up with a few shots of the Christmas area I worked on yesterday. 

Lots of metallics and neutrals with sparkly lights!

No Christmas music til after Thanksgiving I promise!

At Maison Decor we do our best to help you put together special touches

for your home.  Wether its painting your furniture a custom color,

or teaching you how to do so in a Chalk Paint Workshop,

we want you to create the home you love.

After all its nice

www.shopmaisondecor.com

Visit our online shop above for  custom Deluxe Mora Clocks, 

Furniture and Chandeliers,  and

Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan at the lowest prices in the USA!

Visit my Pinterest Page here for HomeGoods tips

or to see my many inspiring boards on home decorating in categories

like Kitchens to Love, French Style, Chalk Paint® and more!

Party for Justin and Madison and a video

 As everybody knows, hosting a party takes a bit of work. 

 Cleaning and cooking and all that stuff.  

We were hosting an engagement dinner party

for Justin and his fiance, Madison.  I love to entertain and lets just

 say its been awhile.... since I opened the store I really don't have

 time to do this kind of thing anymore.  But at last the hour was upon us,

so I clicked off a couple of pics of the house all clean and sparkly, 

after putting on a little black dress and now I was ready to celebrate!

Even Sylvia, Justin and Madison's little girl schnoodle, 

got a trip to the groomer

for the big party.  We all decided we liked her 

former look better, all scruffy and adorable, so this may 

be the last time we see her trimmed up. 

 Tobey went to the groomer as well.  Here he is relaxing 

while his mother is busy ironing a white table cloth and vacuuming the house. 

 Yes, the house was ready for a party~and this time I wasn't cooking! 

 I had a caterer bring us the food and do the set up and

 I can only say it made for such an enjoyable 

experience on my part! Much less stress and planning needed! 

 We were having 18 people, all family members, 

and I tried to make sure there were enough seats gathered 

together so we could sit and talk and get to 

know one another as the families had yet to meet.

 So lots of extra seating was squeezed in here and there

 and it ended up working our perfectly! 

Right before the guests arrived I managed to get Madison and Justin

 outside for a quick photo shoot.

I got some nice pictures, and this one was taken 

right after we finished.  I thought it was very sweet.

 Justin and Madison

Two brothers, Two sisters...One Happy Couple!

 Then inside the guests arrived a few at a time and more photos were snapped.  

This is Taylor, Madison's little sister. 

 They both looked beautiful and were brimming with excitement! 

 At this moment it was as if the party swirled around the happy couple 

and only when I called them did they look up from their conversation 

with one another.  I was getting the message to put down the camera, 

so I only had a couple more clicks left in me that night 

without getting everybody nervous.

 Ok, one more private moment...its a once in a lifetime affair, 

and I wanted to give them something they will really treasure as the years go by.

 The party was in full swing and as I walked into the kitchen I saw Colin with my camera! 

 Hah! I loved it! There would be a pic of me at the party afterall. 

Mr. Maison Decor is right behind me.  At the beginning of the night 

Colin did take a posed photo of us in the dining room. 

Its rare we get a pic together, as I am usually the one taking all of the photos.

Mr and Mrs Maison Decor, has a nice ring to it, don't you think?!

 A cute moment with Sylvia and Mr. Maison Decor on the sofa during the party.

 Waving at the camera is Madison's grandfather, Ray, 

while my mother (Justin's grandmother) tickled the ivories.

I pretended I forgot how to play the piano and I asked her to sit down

and refresh my memory.  It worked like a charm! 

We even played a duette and then she was on her own!

Before we knew it the night had come to an end~

everyone had a great time and we loved Madison's family! 

So thankful and grateful for the love they share and 

 we look forward to what the future holds.

If you want to see me playing the piano with my mom

while my mother in law looks on, click on the arrow.

 Chalk Paint® at the lowest price in the US!
from Maison Decor 
click here