Freshen Up

Happy New Year! I know I'm a day late and dollar short, but I've been easing into 2011. We had a fun, but crazy holiday season as we had house guests two days before we left for Oklahoma for Christmas and house guests the day we got back from OK up until a week after New Year's. Don't get me wrong, it was a blast between visiting my in-laws and opening the doors to Hotel Ivey, but it's taken me a few weeks to recuperate.

However, I'm back, refreshed and excited about this new year. I met with my book keeper the first week back to work to make sure all my books were in order, ordered new business cards, office supplies, etc. I think the start of the new year makes me reminisce about the start of the school year - a great reason for new clothes and new supplies!

And speaking of new....I've added a few fun new things around the house. Our house seemed a bit empty once we took down all the Christmas decorations, so I was excited to quickly start sprucing things up.

First off, I've been hunting all over for a sideboard/bar for our dining room. I came across this beauty on Craigslist for a steal. The previous owner is actually a dealer in the decorative arts, and he had picked up this 1960's post-modern cabinet at an auction in Baltimore.

A similar cabinet was used in a room designed by Celerie Kemble. She had the medallions gold leafed, which look spectacular. I may have to think about gold leafing mine!

My fabulous husband also surprised me with the painting you see above the bar for Christmas. I walked into one of my favorite home furnishing stores and locked eyes with the beauty as soon as I stepped through the door. Being it Christmas, and you are suppose to be shopping for others, I decided to take a picture of it and just dream about it in my house. However, the Mister snuck away one afternoon bought it for me as my Christmas gift. I look at it lovingly every day.

Last, but not least, we finally got our fireplace renovation completed! When the Mister and I were hunting for our house, a fireplace was listed as top priority. Unfortunately, when we bought the house, the fireplace had been plastered over. However, we soon discovered that we could restore it. So we pulled the plaster off to expose the beautiful brick, built up the brick so it would be a proportionate, safe opening and did a little internal chimney work. It's small, but it puts off a lot of heat and a lot of ambiance!

I'm looking forward to these next few quiet, cold months by the fire and the bar!