My Style. My Life.

This weekend project showcases vintage photos of the cities most dear to my heart: Florence, San Francisco and Zurich.  Besides the emotional value connected to these beautiful cities,  the texture and hue of the pictures,  together with the  consistent framing style, create a uniform, sentimental look.  This  gallery display adds visual interest to the wall delileating my dining area and can be enjoyed from all angles of the living space.

The dimmable gallery fixture provides additional drama , creating a warm, inviting atmosphere.

I cannot believe I waited so long to do this! It only took my friend Barbara and I one hour to  tile the entire surface, and I am very happy with the results. Adding new  Ikea decking tiles has been an easy, inexpensive way to update my balcony,  providing an easy-to-clean, quick and cost-effective alternative to ceramic or stone tiles. New cushions, pillows  and an outdoor rug completed the look and elevated the space,  turning this relatively small balcony in a delightful outdoor retreat. 

  To most of us, Christmas evokes a special time of the year. A time for beautiful decorations, home-baked cookies, hot cocoa, coziness, sharing gifts and spending time with family. It is no wonder that many people consider it their favorite holiday. Indeed, some of my fondest childhood memories are the ones spent with family at Christmas time. Our house would sparkle with lights, and the aroma of baked cookies would fill every room. We would always spend it with my maternal grandparents, my aunt, uncle and cousins. It was a special day for everyone, a time to share, to enjoy, to rejoice. As a child, it was the day I looked forward to for the entire year. Many years later, the Holiday Season still holds a very special place in my heart. And with the birth of my daughter, new traditions were made. Decorating the tree, baking cookies and building our gingerbread houses together are all part of a celebration that renews itself every year. And how special it is to have a white Christmas. Here in Switzerland you can! 

My decoration collection was built over the years. Some of my original ornaments were bought when I was living in California, choosing the traditional color scheme of silver and gold (with splashes of burgundy here and there) to which I have gradually added overtime. Since living in Switzerland, each year my daughter and I enjoy visiting the Christmas markets here in Zurich, and choosing one very special glass ornament to add to our collection. Each ornament we buy is intentional, and has a special sentimental meaning.  But what has really elevated my Christmas decor  over the years, is the incredible style of my favorite designer and YouTube star, Rebecca Robeson - an infinite source of creative inspiration and design talent!

To decorate my balcony, this year I chose a more organic theme, to complement the beautiful nature that surrounds the place where we live. During my weekend walks in the forest with Millie, I picked up a few twigs and cypress trims, along with a bunch of pine cones and arranged them within the string of lights we traditionally use each year. I think the result is a simple, organic look that is timeless and elegant.

Over the years, I have been collecting faux pine twigs and wreaths to decorate my house, but this year I wanted to soften the look a bit and decided to opt for a more “frosted” or flocked look. As it can be quite expensive to replace your decorations these days, I discovered a great hack to frost your existing decorations on a very limited budget. Read on to see how I did it!