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Naughty or Nice Party: Christmas Decorating Simply Chic

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Elegant Front Porch

What to do when you’ve invited 24 girlfriends over for a ”naughty or nice” sit-down dinner party? Call San Jose floral designer Jose Ibarra to come up with special Christmas decor, inside and out.

Pinecones with Pewter Ribbons

He started with the front entrance way of this Willow Glen home — a house he also decorated for Thanksgiving. While most folks feel pretty relieved to get a decent wreath on the door, Jose takes it up a notch by creating a whole natural scene — with a little sparkle — to welcome guests. He started with bare branches arching over the front doorway. With his secret — a $1.99 can of fake snow or flocking from Walgreen’s drug store — he sprayed sugar pine cones (the tall, skinny ones) with just a hint of winter. He tied the cones to the branches with burlap and pewter double satin ribbon. They dangle over the doorway.

“The homeowner wanted elegant,” he said, “but not overstated.”

Inside, he set a long narrow table and cascaded 200 dark red roses — three different kinds — down the center. You’ll find no vases here. Instead, he cut the stems off the roses and effectively tossed them onto the table. He added green orchids as well.

Roses and Orchids

He tried to “reinvent the idea of simple,” he said. “Not over the top, but new and different.”

Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Posted in Decorating, Dining Room, Featured, Food and Drink, Home Decor, Home and Garden, Interior Design, Julia, Landscape, Q & A, San Jose, Willow Glen | 2 Comments »

Vicki’s Vintage-inspired Holiday Party Favors

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Thanksgiving Decor

When it comes to celebrating the seasons with holiday home decor, perhaps no one is more enthusiastic than Rose Garden resident Vicki Petulla. And autumn is one of her favorites as she decorates with the bounty of the season: orange and white pumpkins and wreaths of drying leaves in cast iron urns at her front door and swags of magnolia leaves and trays of persimmons in her living room.

Fall Table Decor When Lookiloos asked Vicki what she had in mind for Thanksgiving, she not only set anbeautiful vignette for a holiday buffet using all natural foliage from friendly neighbors, she also shared her tips for creating vintage-inspired party favors. They’re snack cones, actually, she said, that can be filled with popcorn, candy or sweet potato chips that guests can enjoy during the party, then take home as a keepsake.

At upscale boutiques, these kinds of cones can cost upwards of $25 or more a piece. But with a little creativity, a trip to a craft store and a glue gun, Vicki made hers for about $3 a piece. She has made these party favors again and again, for her son’s birthday parties or to enclose a gift card for a wedding present. All she does is change the paper and the trims for each occasion. At Christmas time, she hangs them on doorknobs of her friends.

For Thanksgiving, she made up a dozen of the cones and hung them from madrone branches she lightly spray painted gold. Vicki shops at Michael’s craft store where she heads to the Martha Stewart scrapbooking section for her supplies. To personalize the cones, she buys printed initials of her guests to affix to each cone.

Here’s her shopping list: A variety of colorful, patterned 12-inch by 12-inch sheets of paper; assorted trims, pom-poms and fringes to decorate the top edge of the cones; colorful ribbon from which to hang the cones; hole puncher, glue gun, scissors.

Step by Step

Step 1

1. Roll a sheet of paper on the diagonal into a cone, coming to a point at the bottom and open on top.

2. Fold the outside edge inward for a clean, straight line to glue the paper onto itself.

3. With scissors, cut the top, uneven edge into a straight line for a flat opening.

4. With hole puncher, punch hole about one-inch from top on each side for hanging ribbon.

5. Dot the top edge with beads of glue, then affix trims or fringes, careful not to cover the punched holes.

6. With length of ribbon, pull through holes on each side and knot.

7. Fill with candy, toys, or nuts. (Vicki loves Cost Plus World Market for vintage candy.)

Posted in Decorating, Featured, Food and Drink, Home Decor, Interior Design, Julia, Living Room, Q & A, Q and A, Rose Garden, San Jose, Wall Decor | 5 Comments »

Jose’s Tabletop Decor Inspired by Chinese Take-out

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Jose Ibarra -Chinese Tabletop

When floral designer Jose Ibarra stepped into Tina and David Sheffler’s Asian-inspired home, he knew just what he needed to set a smashing dining room table for her. The house was featured on the Rose Garden Homes Tour in October and needed a designer’s touch. As always, you can count on Jose to turn up the creativity a notch.

Jose Ibarra-Chinese Tabletop For the Shefflers’ table, while he celebrated the Asian inspiration by using wooden Geisha statuettes and delicate orchids, he honed in on a simple yet whimsical concept: Chinese take-out.

“Just because you have a party doesn’t mean it has to be catered,” Jose said. “It can be fun with what you have and at the same time look good.”

Next time you order Chinese takeout with friends and want to make some simple, but special touches, here are some of Jose’s ideas:

1. Use the white take-out containers as vessels for creativity: insert a small cup with water and add red roses; or fill with moss to give a “bok choy” effect. Jose stuck a pair of chopsticks in the moss and crinkled the paper chopsticks wrapper at the top to play with the color and texture. Wrap colored string around the boxes for extra color.

Jose Ibarra-Chinese Tabletop 2. Add tall, wispy orchids in clear glass or simple vases to add height.

3. Keep the rest of the table minimalistic to showcase your special touches.

Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

Before and After: Spanish Courtyard Makeover

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Courtyard Makeover With Wine Bottle Barrel and Vintage Mirror

The front courtyard of the lovely Mediterranean home clearly had potential. A charming gateway led to it from the driveway. Two Spanish-style arches lined it heading to the front door, and a lovely picture window from the dining room framed the space.

The Problem: But the plantings were dark and overgrown. A big dead tree trunk took up space in the corner. A purple plant hid the window.

Before Makeoever: Overgrown plant blocks window

Worst of all, the homeowner said she never used it.

Well, for the Rose Garden Homes Tour in San Jose last weekend, the homeowner was ready to spruce things up.

In came Dhelia Fahrner, who has a San Jose seasonal container gardening business called La Jardiniere, to transform it.

“Because you enter the front door and walk through the courtyard, I thought it could be such a more welcoming and usable space,” she said.

The Solution: To lighten and freshen the shady space, Dhelia decided to stick with white and green, adding blooming azaleas and cyclamen, ferns and moss. The homeowner also wanted a low-maintenance space, so Dhelia added succulents in several containers, including in abalone shells.

She also wanted to highlight the arched window, both from the outside and the inside, so pulled out the overgrown plant, and added a formal knot garden of box hedges below and a pedestal with a female bust on top.

After: New plantingsfreshen fountain; vintage bust frames window

To add interest and a bit of whimsy, she turned an old metal wine bottle barrel on its side and loaded it with pumpkins and moss, which can change with the seasons. (At Christmas, it can be filled with big silver ornaments, or just planted with verigated ground cover.) A mirror made from a vintage Palladian window leans against the courtyard fence wall.

She removed an old bench and replaced it with a tile console table, and topped it with concrete urns with orchids, the abalone shell succulents, and a tray of drinks. “That will alllow them to serve wine and appetizers in the courtyard if they’re having a party,” Dhelia said.

After:This courtyard is ready for cocktails!

: Before: A lonely bench sits empty.

When they do, this courtyard is ready. Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

4th of July Ideas – A Patriotic Picnic Table

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Whether your Fourth of July picnic will take you to the beach or a tiny back yard, San Jose floral designer Jose Ibarra has set a holiday buffet table for any space on any budget. And for this All-American holiday, Ibarra is embracing the simplicity of red, white and blue. But, as always, he does it with a fanciful twist.

Here are some of his tips for setting a table for a fabulous fourth:

1. Round up your American Flags: For a patriotic backdrop (or just to hide an unattractive corner of the yard) hang the stars and stripes from strung wire behind the table. Ibarra found some of his favorite vintage flags at flea markets.

2. Paint a tablecloth blue and white: Ibarra used a sheet of linen, but a white sheet or even a roll of paper will do (get the kids involved!). For added interest, he laid it perpendicular to the table, instead of end-to-end.

3. Stripes, stripes, stripes! To dress up plain glass vases, wrap them in red, white and blue ribbons. Top with white carnations ($5.99 at Safeway) and red roses ($9.99 at Safeway) and, if you don't have blue delphiniums in your yard, splurge a little. Look through your cabinets for colored glasses and plates. Jose pulled out a red-and-white striped water pitcher.

4. Hello Jello: It took Ibarra three days of watching each layer set in his fridge, but the effect is worth it. He was ready with his blue and red Jello to layer in his large candy jar. But what about the white? He stopped at the Mexican market, and there it was, white Hazelnut gelatin. Add shredded coconut, raspberries and blueberries on top and you've got a grand old flag.

5. Salute this Cake! Ibarra ordered a sheet cake with white frosting from a Mexican market. Add blueberries for the stars and cherries for the stripes. Dig in. (But whatever you do, don't let a crumb touch the ground!)

Other table decorating ideas:
Wabi Sabi: Where the Imperfect is Beautiful
Floral Chic Mother's Day
Going Green on a Budget for St. Patrick's Day
How to Make Paper Roses for Valentine's Day

Here's the complete slideshow:

Posted in Aptos, Decorating, Featured, Food and Drink, Garden, Home Decor, Home and Garden, Julia, Landscape, Q & A, Q and A, San Jose, Wall Decor, Yard | 4 Comments »

Guest Post: Update that Mirror with a DIY Mirror Makeover

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Mirror Makeover

This is a guest post by Cindy Kihn-Santiago of My Romantic Home, one of our favorite blogs. Over the years, Cindy has shared her do-it-yourself projects – updating antiques, chairs and dressers for her charming, shabby chic home. Now shares a new project, a mirror makeover, with us.

Revamping old home décor items is a very economical way to decorate. Many outdated items which can be found for a few dollars at flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales can easily be updated for a fresh new look.

Garish gold mirrors are one of my favorite makeover projects. They get an updated look quickly with a can of spray paint.

Remove Mirror - Guest Post: Update that Mirror with a DIY Mirror Makeover

The first step is to take the mirror out of the frame. There are usually metal clips that you can bend up and the mirror and cardboard backing will easily come out. Be careful the edges of the mirror can be sharp.

Paint the Back - Guest Post: Update that Mirror with a DIY Mirror Makeover

Turn the frame over and paint the back with a spray primer and let dry and then prime the front. Once the primer is dry you are ready for the spray paint. I use a flat spray paint. It’s important that you paint the rim that the mirror rests on. If you don’t paint the rim area where the mirror sits you will see the old color through the reflection in the mirror.

Paint the Front - Guest Post: Update that Mirror with a DIY Mirror Makeover

To create an aged look I use Rub n Buff which can be found at most hobby stores. It comes in a wide range of colors. I used a combination of Spanish Copper and Autumn Gold for this mirror.

Rub and Buff - Guest Post: Update that Mirror with a DIY Mirror Makeover

Put a very small amount of Rub ‘n Buff on the very tip of your index finger and lightly rub over the some of the high edges of your mirror. You are adding paint but you are creating the effect of paint that has worn off so put it in places where the paint would naturally wear off over time.

Close Up - Guest Post: Update that Mirror with a DIY Mirror Makeover

A little of this paint goes a long way. You may want to practice on something else before you use this so you get the feel of it first.

Finished - Guest Post: Update that Mirror with a DIY Mirror Makeover

Now you just need to put the mirror back in the frame and you are finished.

I used white paint on this project but you can use the same technique with any color. It works especially well with black spray paint.

~ Cindy

Posted in Painting, Q & A, Q and A | 1 Comment »

Before and After: Outdoor Fireplace Transforms Backyard

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

It would be difficult to find anyone who could say that Vicki Petulla’s backyard was ever anything but elegant and lovely. From the modern-lined furniture to the graceful urns and vintage outside mirror reflecting the patio, this was always a stylish spot. But exit the mobile chiminea and insert a sturdy stone fireplace and voila! Something extra special just happened.

“We created this to be an outdoor room because those French doors are open all the time,” Vicki said of the doors off her kitchen and breakfast room. (A minute after Desiree took this photo, the three of us were sitting here sipping a crisp white wine. Now this is my kind of yard!)

Here’s the before shot:

What a change! She and her family now have a dramatic focal point to their San Jose backyard, made of Monterey stone and built by Martin Delariba. And they have a mantel on which to place — get this — a big screen TV. She and her husband and school-age son have movie nights in the backyard where Vicki will bring out a plate of broken chocolate and marshmallows. Now how wonderful is that? Add red wine and I’m there! (again!) Vicki said that just recently, the family watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” outside. I concur.

Here’s another shot Desiree took last fall of the outdoor dining area just off the French doors. Now I’m surveying my backyard looking for a spot for an outdoor mirror. Isn’t it fabulous?

Want to see what’s behind those French doors? When Lookiloos visited Vicki last fall, we wrote a whole story and included a wonderful photo shoot. Take a look: A Decorator’s Daughter

Desiree also just compiled photos of her favorite outdoor fireplaces for www.hookedonhouses.net. Take a look here: Outdoor Fireplaces

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Posted in Before and After, Bungalow, Decorating, Desiree, Dining Room, Garden, Home and Garden, Julia, Landscape, Modern, Q & A, Q and A, Rose Garden, San Jose | 4 Comments »

DIY – Floral Chic Mother’s Day Dining Room Decorating

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Jose Ibarra credits his late mother with inspiring him to become a floral designer. As a talented seamstress, she always expected her children to help with the cutting and sewing. And Jose has inherited her creative spirit, working with colors and textures — and his own two hands. So when Lookiloos asked Jose to decorate a Mother’s Day table for brunch, he set one in her honor, using things she loved, things she gave him, and things she could only dream about. And then, as always, he took it all up a notch with a trendy and surprising floral display inspired by Jeff Leatham’s designs at the Four Season’s George V Hotel in Paris.

“She always liked Paris, but she never went there,” Jose said of his mother. “So I brought Paris to her.”

Here are some of Jose’s tips for a beautiful, thoughtful and stylish Mother’s Day table:

1. Use special things your mother gave you, but have tucked away, including special china, glassware or linens.

2. Set the table in her favorite colors. Jose’s mother’s were orange and green.

3. Decorate with things your mother loves. Jose’s mother loved bugs. So he set out a collection of decoupage plates adorned with bees and beetles.

4. With a bunch of the same-colored flowers, use Jeff Leatham’s “tip to fall” style. Fill tall vases with water, tie stems together, balance the stems near the top of the water, then arch the flowers over the edge of the vase. They look like they will tip over and fall out, but they don’t. This is all the rage among the floral chic!

5. Pull out an old recipe of your mother’s and make one of her favorite dishes. Place a framed photo of your mother on the table. With all your attention to details and the things your mother loves, she will know how much you appreciate her.

Happy Mother’s Day!

You might also enjoy looking at some of Jose’s other holiday displays here:
Wabi Sabi: Where the Imperfect is Beautiful
Valentine’s Day Decorating Tips: How to Make Paper Roses
St. Patrick’s Day Table Decorating Ideas: Going Green on a Budget

Posted in Decorating, Food and Drink, Garden, Home Decor, Home and Garden, Interior Design, Julia, Modern, Q & A, Q and A, San Jose | 1 Comment »

Bathroom Remodel: Aging in Place

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Jane Iki loves her home in Palo Alto and she wants to stay there as long as she can. “I like to call it aging in place,” said Jane. The problem was her bathroom. It wasn’t exactly friendly to someone wanting to stay in her home as long as possible. So, Jane called Case Handyman and Remodeling . Mike Brennan was the designer/planner on the project.

“This isn’t your Grandmother’s bathroom,” Brennan said. The design has an Asian flair and it functions with ease. The faucets from Grohe are sleeker.

“I can turn them on with one finger,” Jane demonstrated. “Look how easy it is.”

The drawers on the cabinet are self-closing. The low-profile shower is easier to step in and out of and the grab bars don’t look like the ones you find in medical facilities. The bathroom door was switched to a pocket door that allows a little more space with out a traditional door jam. It also resembles a Shoji screen, with a frosted glass center. The bathroom’s layout was changed to make for better use of the space and the project took a total of six months to complete.

“Everyone I show says ‘Wow!’” Iki said. “This turned out so well. I had Case Construction do my other bath”. Jane’s second bath is well under way.

Jane’s Resource List:
Wall tile: Bambu Blanco 8X13
Floor tile: Marmi Cemento Manhaton 12×12
Deco tile: Mosaico Acero 1×1
Stainless Steel edging: Pro-Mate 2 Inox 1/2×96
All from Porcelanosa

Paint color: Wild Oats from Benjamin Moore

Vanity/sink/countertop: Red Oak – Fairmont
Plumbing fixtures: Grohe
Grab bars / towel ring / tissue holder: Ginger
Toilet: Toto
All from Splashworks

Light fixture: Titanium-Access Lighting
From Galaxy Lighting

Here’s the complete slideshow:

Posted in Bathroom, Before and After, Desiree, Palo Alto, Q & A, Q and A, Remodel | 3 Comments »

Tips for Hanging Art by Artist Sonya Paz

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Who better to give tips on hanging precious art in a home than an artist? Lookiloos had the opportunity to chat with artist Sonya Paz, who shared her approach to displaying art pieces.

While she offers tips, she did emphasize that each art piece is different, so it requires different treatment – lighting, placement and how you group or not group it with other pieces. There are no rules that cover all type of wall art, so feel free to be creative.

Sonya’s Tips:

1.) Look at your wall space. How tall, wide or small is it? Do you want to fill the entire wall or just a portion? Your arrangement can be as simple as one large print to fill the entire wall or having multiple sizes mixed together spreading across your space. Consider what will be around the painting after it is hung – a tv, another piece of art, a window. How will this enhance or detract from the art itself? Does a red wall bring out the red in your painting or make it look horrible?

2.) Have tall walls? Start at eye level and then move up, emphasizing the height of your walls. No one wants to have to crane their necks to look at your favorite prints.

3.) Themes: Black and white, colorful, muted pastels, all small prints, photos featuring cars or uniform colored frames – these are just some themes that can help guide your arrangement. You can also carry a theme throughout a home or just in one room.

4.) Home “gallery systems” help you change art quickly and hang art without putting holes in your walls. These systems make it easier to add or remove paintings to your collection as needed.

5.) Good lighting makes a huge difference! It can be as sophisticated as lighting attached to each piece, placing your painting in a room that gets a lot of sun or making sure a lamp illuminates your piece just right from a table close by.

6.) The art should be the primary focus. A frame should not take away from the piece itself. When it comes to framing and matting – less is more!

7.) Arrangements do not have to be permanent. They should be changed and moved occasionally. A work of art can take on a new look when paired with something different or when it is placed in a different spot in your home.