5 Ways to Decorate a Buffet Style Thanksgiving Dinner

If your Thanksgiving is anything like mine, it's a large family gathering around lots of delicious food, drinks, laughs and football of course. Thanksgiving is one of the few times a year my entire family on the northeast coast gets together. Therefore sitting around a standard dining table is almost impossible. In order to accomodate the entire family, we usually have a buffet style dinner. 

Buffet style doesn't have to be impersonal or boring. Have fun with it and be festive. 

Having a flow of stations will create transition to your dinner.

1. Have A Flow of Stations. Allow your guests to choose what they want and to mingle freely. Group all the similar dishes together on one table. For example, it is a good idea to group your starches like pasta, rice or potatoes together. Since the turkey is the star of the evening consider having a separate station for it such as a small server or extra table. 

2. Add a BAR. Who doesn't love a good bar! This is your chance to be creative and allow your guests to make their own treat. This can include a table with different sweets (sweet potato pie, cupcakes, cookies, tarts, fruit bowls, brownies, etc.). The kids will LOVE this section! You can also have a salad bar where your family can create their favorite salad and customize it with their favorite toppings and dressing.

3. Don't Forget to Label your Food. Just in case someone isn't sure what a dish is you can create labels with the name of each dish. This will help create a stress-less evening for you.

4. Use Different Heights. To increase visual interest, serve certain dishes on a pedestal or use rustic boxes to add height. 

Some flowers placed in mason jars can add color and depth to your buffet stations.

5. Add Decorative Accessories. Since we are celebrating with those that we love, add some festive decorations around your buffet stations like candles, plants or pottery/vases. This will add an another layer of interest to your delicious stations. 

Whether you are enjoying this holiday as a big family or a small intimate sit down dinner, don't forget to be thankful for what you have. 

Have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Must Have Decor Accessories for Fall

Fall is here and it's one of my favorite seasons of the year (Spring is my second). There's something about fall that brings new changes. Maybe it's the start of school, or the new football season, or the rich colors of the leaves outside as they fall to the ground.

If you're like me you want to bring change to your home now that fall is here. Simply add these 5 accessories to help bring the comfort and warmth of the new season!

must have decor accessories for fall

1. Throw

Fall brings colder days and nights therefore, having a throw is convenient to have on hand. However, a throw is not only a cozy accessory on a chilly day but it also adds color and texture to your space - making it a functional & stylish accessory!

for this bedroom suite I draped an orange throw on the brown leather bench for color and texture.

2. Picture Frames

I love picture frames because they turn a simple photograph into a piece of art. Picture frames can be changed periodically with a different image or photo. In my designs I always use different size frames and finishes to add visual interest.

3. Pumpkin Accessories

Pumpkins are not only for jack-o-lanterns. They can be painted and accessorized for a festive touch!

tie a ribbon around a pumpkin for a festive fall touch. 

4. Candles

Candles are my favorite accessory! They instantly add ambiance, a warm glow and a pleasant scent to your space. Tip: If you are using metallic or covered candles consider using flameless operated candles...to be on the safe side.

In this living room design I accessorized this ETAGERE with metallic candle votives using flameless canadles for a worry-free warm glow. 

5. Storage Basket

Storage baskets are a great way to conceal storage. They come in varies sizes based on your needs. Use them to store magazines, paper, kid's toys, extra pillows and blankets. Choose a basket that fits your style. For example, if you have an industrial style, consider using metal wire baskets to store items like catalogs or books. If you have a rustic or traditional style, you may want to use woven baskets with more detail. 

woven baskets

However you decide to enjoy this fall season, be sure to incorporate these small accessories to make a big visual impact to your space.

Need help accessorizing your space? Let's talk! Call me today 610.921.2780.

Here's to enjoying the new season!

Classic & Casual: How to design a balanced space.

As many of you know Georgette Marise Interiors is named after my late grandmother Georgette Belfong and my late mother Suzanne Marise Guillaume. These women played a large role in the development of my own style and why I fell in love with design.

How to Design a balanced space.

Just to give you a little history...my late grandmother Georgette lived in Manhattan during her later years and lived a metropolitan lifestyle. She had an appreciation for timeless decor, classical music and tailored fashion. Being from the Caribbean she spoke fluent French, loved to travel and enjoyed hosting formal dinner parties in her New York apartment. Her style was focused around fine details. 

Georgette is the classic part of the georgette marise style.

My late mother Suzanne Marise, also from the Caribbean, lived both a metropolitan and suburban lifestyle. Her view on style was very casual and simplistic yet sophisticated. Everything she owned was functional and held up to everyday use. Unlike my grandmother, she enjoyed hosting casual (less formal) dinner parties. 

marisE IS THE casual PART OF THE GEORGETTE MARISE STYLE.

Together Georgette & Marise inspired me to develop my own style. As an interior designer, I have an appreciation for a variety of design periods used in the proper manner. I believe design is personal, functional and stylish. Good design should be a reflection of your personality. Georgette & Marise had two different personalities, which I've always admired. As an adult and now mother I have developed a classic & casual style that works with my overall lifestyle.

start with these 3 steps to achieve a balanced designed space.

What is your style? Are you classic, casual or both? Share your style in the comments below, I'd love to know! 

A well balanced space is able to be functional and stylish with a mixture of classic & casual decor. Contact me today at 610.924.2780 to find out how you can have your personality reflected in your space. 

Here's to creating classic & casual spaces!

How to Get the Look of a Luxury Hotel Room

Ever wish your bedroom could look and feel like a clean, relaxing getaway? With just a few decor essentials you can transform your bedroom into a hotel-style bedroom. 

The key to creating a hotel-style bedroom is to remove clutter. You have to make your bedroom a space where you can be yourself and feel pampered. If you have clutter in your bedroom, it's not going to feel like a peaceful oasis. 

Upholstered Headboard. The bed is the focal point of the bedroom. An upholstered headboard can add texture and softness to your bedroom. If you are going to use an upholstered headboard, I would recommend a neutral color (i.e. cream, beige, brown, grey, etc.) to allow for versatility.

Coverlet. Often times in a luxury hotel room the bedding is layered with a duvet, bed sheets and standard pillows in crisp white. The coverlet is the layer that usually is folded and tucked at the foot of the bed and provides the accent to the white base layers. Design Tip: If you have a white base, add a tone-on-tone solid color or pattern print coverlet for interest.

Accent Pillows. Pillows in a bedroom are essential in a bedroom. I personally encourage clients to incorporate 2-3 euro shams and 2-3 different sized decorative pillows for a final touch to setting a bed. This will add dimension, texture and color to your bedding. 

"Pillows are to a room what jewelry is to an outfit." - S. Hayes

Nightstand. Your nightstand is one of the most used table surfaces in the bedroom. Therefore it has to be functional, durable and stylish. The style and design has to shine next to your bed. Design Tip: For a unique look choose a nightstand that contrast with your bed. Just make sure it is proportioned and balanced properly to your bed frame.

Lighting. Lighting is key to any space. Luxury hotel rooms use layers of light sources in each room for efficient, focused and accent lighting such as table lamps, wall sconces and floor lamps. Wall sconces beside the bed frame are a great alternative to table lamps on nightstands. Wall sconces can serve as both task and accent lighting. 

Lastly, hotel rooms use neutral wall colors combined with textured wallpaper like grasscloth to add depth. Neutral wall colors create a fresh and clean base to your color palette. This allows for colorful and interchangeable accessories. 

Creating a luxury hotel style bedroom is all about the details and quality. With the right placement, accents, and finishing touches you can turn your busy and tired bedroom into a relaxing hotel style room. To add a little luxury details to your room contact me today at sabine@georgettemarise.com to get started today. 

Here's to creating a relaxing oasis!

Project Tour: Outdoor Retreat

THAT'S ME ADDING FINISHING TOUCHES TO THIS STYLISH TABLE SETTING. Photography: Simone Merrique

Recently, I had the joy of capturing an outdoor project I decorated through my Votre Chambre design service. This busy family of four lives a very social life and wanted to use their large backyard to fit their needs. They called on a professional landscaper to design and create an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, pavilion, hardscape, landscaping, and outdoor lighting.  Once the hardscape and landscape were complete it was time to design and furnish this multi layered area. 

Dilemma: How to create multi sitting areas while maximizing the seating and making it feel warm, inviting, and comfortable. 

Solution: Since my client wanted an overall comfortable and stylish look I designed a lounge sitting area under the pavilion to seat 6-7 people. In order to accomplish that I used an L-shape sectional with a matching chair and ottoman complimented by a swing chair for an accent. The base was a white outdoor fabric accented by bold colored pillows filled with detailed patterns.

Photography by Simone Merrique

This family loves to entertain intimate dinner parties as well as large gatherings. In order to create a space great for everyday use and large dinner parties I furnished the space near the outdoor kitchen with a bar height bistro table with a stone top and 4 contrasting wicker stools for everyday dining. For a more formal setting I selected a durable rectangular wood-like farm table made of environmentally-friendly Resysta® contrasted by wicker dining chairs.

The color palette was inspired by the bold colors from the pavilion area and colors from the interior of my client's home, also designed by me. Design Tip: Be sure to carry the same style and some colors from the interior of your home. This will help create a smooth transition from the inside to the outside of your home.  

Relaxing fire pit. Photography by Simone Merrique.

With a mood board for inspiration, a complete shopping list for convenience, and a floor plan drawn to scale my client was equip to shop and arrange the furnishings with ease due to the Votre Chambre by Georgette Marise package. So are you ready to start your design project? Let me do the hard part of producing a personalized space for you that is stylish and functional. Click here to get started!

Here's to the final days of summer!

Color. How to Use it Properly when decorating your home.

Color! Some people are terrified of it and others LOVE it! Where do you fall? As an interior designer my clients require guidance on how to apply the appropriate color palette for their home. In most cases, it is common for people to feel overwhelmed when selecting colors on their own to decorate a space.  Color affects your mood and your perception of a space or object.

"Let's embrace your comfort level with color and learn how to incorporate it into your home." 

using color correctly.  PAINT: SW 6379 JERSEY CREAM

Develop a Palette. Every space needs a color palette. A color palette is an index of all the main colors that are selected for the room.  When developing a color palette first decide on which color will be the primary color in the space. I suggest compiling three to five different colors for your space. Let’s create a scenario using a color palette that consist of teal and rust. A great color to add to the palette would be a neutral color, a latte or a butter yellow to balance the two main colors. 

Choosing your Colors.  Ever go to a paint store to find a color to paint your room and feel lost? The good news is that you will only need 3 or 5 colors for your palette. A good exercise when deciding on colors is to find out what colors inspire you and use them in layers. A trade secret that professionals use often is selecting a primary color for the main walls, a secondary color for an accent wall, and a third color for details such as ceiling paint options.

If you are having a hard time finding inspiration flip through some decorating magazines, browse online or take a trip to a furniture showroom to get some ideas on color combinations that they use and make sure to talk to your interior designer to get a professional opinion on colors you selected for your space. If your inspiration piece has more than 5 colors, choose 3 to 5 of those colors to incorporate in your room.

Using Layers of Color. Once you have determined your color palette, you need to make sure that you have light, medium, and dark colors throughout your palette. Your colors can come from your paint, flooring, furniture, or accessories. You might have a color palette that has 5 different colors that compliment each other and has a hint of warm or cool, but if all 5 colors are the same tone or shade this creates a flat, uninteresting color palette. Even if your room were to consist of one color in order for everything in the room to not camouflage you will need to create a palette with light, medium, and dark tones.

"Making sure your palette has light, medium, and dark tones creates dimension and interest to any room."

I used a mixture of light, medium and dark colors to create a well balanced color palette. Paint: SW 6379 Jersey Cream

In this townhouse living room, I used the lighter tones on the walls, ceiling, ottoman and the area rug.  The medium color tones were used in the sofa, pillows and window treatments, and I used the darkest tones in the leather recliner and the wood floors.

Color is an essential piece to decorating and designing any room. It will affect how you see and feel in a room. Using the proper amount of colors creates layers of interest in a space.

USE YOUR COLOR PALETTE.

Are you still feeling stuck with what colors to use on your walls? Are you worried about making a mistake? Choose my Paint Color Suggestions service today and get hand picked color options perfect for your space. Don't forget to leave your comments below.

Here's to decorating with color!

Create a Bedroom Your Kids Will LOVE

Kids bring so much energy, joy and love into a household. It's important that they have a bedroom as a space that reflects their personality. The key word is...THEIR. Yes... your little prince or princess have their own style and personality. It starts at an early age and will change or expand as they get older. When your kids have a space, like their bedroom, that reflects their personality it makes it easy for them to be completely themselves.  Here are some tips to creating a bedroom that your kids will want to grow, learn and have fun in!

Develop a Layout

Have a plan to determine which area in the room is the sleeping area, play area, and homework/reading area. Once you have measured and developed a plan it will make it easier to know where you will place your furniture.

Use Kid Friendly Items

Make sure your kid’s room is an area that your child can be creative and a space that represents their personality. For example, if your son loves outdoors use accessories and earth tone colors like natural browns, sun yellows, or ocean blues that you would find outside. Find ways of bringing the “outdoors in”.

Ask your kids

Since your child is going to be the one using this room the most, it should be a room that reflects him or her. It’s a good idea to ask your kids about what they would like to have in their room before making the final decision. Most kids are visual so one way of finding out what they like is to take them to their favorite store like, a kids clothing store, a kid’s furniture store, a candy store or a toy store. Use some of the elements from their toys, favorite candy, or an outfit they love to come up with a color palette or a theme.

If you need more ideas or assistance for your little one's room? No worries, I 'm here to help. Email your dilemma to me at sabine@georgettemarise.com and I will do my best to assist you in transforming your kid's room into the best space they've ever seen!

Until next time!

How to Decorate a Stunning Small Space

Designing and decorating a space is all about perception, functionality and aesthetics. As I've mentioned in previous posts I believe a space should tell a story by it's design. The best designed spaces are not determined by the square footage but by its success in achieving functionality and style.

If you have a small space like an extra room, a loft area, an office OR maybe you just have a small space like an apartment in the city. You too can have a stunning space! Here are 3 things you should consider when designing a small space.

1. Find the Purpose. I know, I know...I've said this before but it's key to successfully designing a small space. Before you get into a car you have to know your destination, right? It's the same thing here. Ask yourself these questions and be as descriptive as possible. "How do I want to use this space?" Who is this space for?" "How do I want to feel in the space". This is the first step to solving your design needs.

2. Use Multifunctional Pieces. Since you don't have a lot of square footage to work with you should be creative with your furnishings. Use stylish pieces that have more than one function. For example, an ottoman can serve as A) a coffee table by putting a tray on top B) additional seating and C) a footrest. Another example is a console. It can be used as A) a stylish TV stand B) a low bookcase and C) storage.

ideas for decorating a small apartment

3. Scale. Scale. Scale. One of the elements of design is scale. Proper scale is key to creating a well balanced space. Have you ever walked into a room and the sofa was too big that it made the room feel even smaller or have you seen an area rug that looked tiny in comparison to the dining table and chairs? This is because the components were not scaled to each other or to the space as a whole. When you are decorating a small space like a studio or apartment, use pieces like an apartment size sofa accompanied by one or two small yet comfortable accent chairs. Make sure your furnishings highlight the qualities of your space instead of pointing out the negatives.

I personally love the coziness and intimacy that comes from a small space. If designed properly, a small space can be very functional and stylish. Don't get discouraged about the lack of square footage but instead make the most of what you have. 

If you are frustrated and overwhelmed by your space and need assistance picking the right scale furnishings start with my Furniture Layout service. It will make shopping for furniture so much easier. Don't forget to leave your comments below. 

Here's to Stunning Small Spaces!

Relaxing Staycation Ideas

Summer is in full swing and before you know it autumn will be here. If you haven't had the opportunity to squeeze in a weekend getaway or an adventurous vacation staying in is always an option. Consider a staycation by taking some time out for yourself in your own home. Yes...vacation in your own home! Here are some ideas to make your time relaxing.

Start planning your relaxing staycation.

Turn all phones and email off. Okay...maybe keep your phone on in case of an emergency or to take pictures. But after all you are on vacation, not working from home or catching up on the latest current events. Remove yourself from the outside world for just a small period of time. Remember to take care of any unresolved business before your staycation. 

Make babysitting arrangements with relatives or friends if you have children. Even if it's for 2 or 3 days, a few uninterrupted days will help you recharge. 

Have everything done for you. This includes ordering take out from your favorite restaurant and hiring a cleaning service for a couple of hours. 

Surround yourself with your favorite things. When you're caught up in the busyness of work and home life you seldom get the chance to take time to do what you love to do even in your own home. So this is your time to stream your favorite shows, finish reading that book you started, take a moment to sit outside with a cocktail or soak in your tub with some candles. 

Treat yourself to something that you typically would not do. For example, go to a local spa and get a relaxing massage or take a hiking trip on a nearby trail. However you decide to treat yourself it's important to be in the moment and enjoy the small, simple things. 

Life is so short, so make sure you enjoy every moment. In order to BE the best version of YOU, YOU must take care of YOU. Get ready to relax, recharge and regroup. Leave a comment below to share your favorite staycation items.

Here's to a relaxing staycation!

How To Make a Large Impact with a Small Room

Do you have a small room in your home that currently is getting no use like a bonus room, a tiny attic, a spare bedroom, or maybe a room off your basement? Those tiny spaces can sometimes be a challenge to find purpose for. Then when you do find a purpose for them you have no idea where to start decorating. How do you maximize the space AND still make it look beautiful?!!

My hope is that you are able to find use for your space despite the square footage. You can still have a functional AND stylish room even if it's the smallest area in your home. 

1. Find a Purpose. Before you do anything, you must first figure out what you want to use the space for. Is this a room for your kids to play and do homework? Is this an extra bedroom for when guests come to visit? Is this a casual space for the family to watch TV together? Is this an office space for you to pursue your new business venture or for when you have to take work home? Is it all of the above? That's okay too.

Get great use out of your small space.

2. Who is it For? After your determine what the space will be used for, you need to decide who will be using the space. This will determine how the space is designed. Remember that the space should reflect it's occupants. For example, if it will be used as a play room and an area for you to work it would make sense to incorporate multifunctional pieces that are kid friendly and can be used by your kids and yourself.

3. Determine Your Must Haves. Based on what the space will be used for and who will be using it, write down a few must haves that are needed to get the most function out of the space. For example, if you have an extra bedroom that you use as a home office but need to also use it as a guest room some of your must haves might be a bed, a desk or laptop table, and some form of storage. 

4. Layout the Space. Once you've determined your purpose, your occupants, and your must haves it's time to put it all on paper. This is where working with a designer can save you a lot of time, energy and headache. Poor planning leads to mistakes, returns and frustration so make sure you take the time to layout the space properly. Take a basic measurement (width, length, ceiling height) of your space or room then draw it on paper (use graph paper to make it easier). Be sure to note all doors, openings, windows, outlets, and vents. Start with your largest piece of furniture needed (e.i. a bed, a desk, a sofa, etc.) and draw it in. After you have drawn your largest furnishings, continue adding your remaining must haves. Need help? Add my online Furniture Layout service from my À La Carte menu.

rough sketch of a multifunctional space

5. Think Multifunctional. If you are decorating a small space and want to maximize every square footage you have, you must think of every furnishing as dual use. Back to the home office and guest room example, instead of getting a large full or queen size bed that will only be used occasionally think about getting a sofa bed or a day bed. This will allow you to have a sitting area if you have work guests (without it feeling like a bedroom) while providing a comfortable resting area for when you do host guests.

Don't allow the size of your space make you feel as though you can not achieve a functional & stylish design. With these 5 suggestions you will be on your way to making your smallest space in your home feel like the most functional. Comment below on what you would like to use your smallest room for. Can't wait read them! I am here to help, so if you need assistance with determining what type of furnishing will work best in your space start with my online Furniture Layout service today!

Here's to amazing small spaces!