Earlier this month, we participated in the Sacred Heart Holiday Home Tour, and had a blast! Every year, prominent Sacramento designers decorate East Sacramento’s historic Fabulous Forties neighborhood for the holidays, and put the houses on display for the tour. This was our first year participating, and we loved it!

First of all, we ended up with the coolest family, and the most unique home to decorate. The home was a ranch style house (very unique for the Fab Forties) and was clearly fabulous. The home was full of color, and the home owner’s design style fit in well with what we love to do (mid century modern with bohemian twist). They also had pieces from their travels worked in. Needless to say, the home had character, which we wanted to keep and play off of! To do this, we decided to go a non-traditional route, and base our entire Christmas design off of the family’s style, keeping all of their furniture, art, and accessories. 

The family had young kids, which inspired us to create an entire room full of pom poms. Keeping with the non-traditional design we were going for, and with the colors already found in the house, we went a little crazy with them! We made TONS of pom poms, not only to decorate the tree, but also for the wreaths adorning the front doors of the home. A felt tree topper, advent calendar, garland, and manger scene accompanied our handmade pom poms, giving the space a touch of whimsy. With the homeowner’s daughter’s tee pee and stuffed animals set up around the room, the space was transformed into the perfect children’s Christmas wonderland. 

For the living room, we went for classic mid mod, keeping the family’s couch, rugs, and lighting. The Christmas tree we decided on was a Charlie Brown style tree, dresses in tinsel and vintage glass ornaments. We also added the vintage glass ornaments to the client’s existing tree, which is a permanent resident of the living room. Metallic tinsel garland and bottle brush trees pushed the room even further into mid century style. 

The dining room was designed to be the crowning glory of the home, as it was the last room that guests would walk through before going outside. The idea for the room came from our desire to do something completely unexpected, which we knew the homeowners would appreciate. The design of the room revolved around the Christmas tree, which was decorated with a swirl of live flowers. Fresh roses were also incorporated in the antler centerpiece and in the light fixture. It ended up being a real wow factor, thanks to our florist, Arden Park Florist. The room smelled absolutely AMAZING. For the table settings, we used much of what the homeowner already had, bringing more authenticity to the home and the decorations. The skull on the wall (there are several spread throughout the house and yard) even got a little flower in it’s hair! 

When all was said and done, the home was full of little details and big bold statements that made it special and unlike any other house in East Sac. The homeowners were over the moon in love with it, which was all that we really wanted, since it was inspired by them and their eclectic style. 

Hope you enjoyed this little recap of our tour house! We loved creating this fun and unique space, and would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments below.

Xoxo,

It’s finally the holiday season (!) which means it’s time to decorate the tree, bake lots of cookies, and of course, try to find the perfect gift for those we love. Gift giving, and the challenge of finding the perfect gift for someone, is something the RWD team truly enjoys. The thought of finding some little unexpected item that will bring a smile to the face of someone we love is part of what makes Christmas such a magical time!

However, the hunt can easily turn into more of a stressful experience than a joyous one. AND it has a tendency to turn into an expensive one as well when the list of people we are buying for grows longer and longer. For all of these reasons, our team has compiled a list of 50 gift ideas, all under $50! The list is designed to cover all of your bases, including the kiddos in your life. Some of our favorite items from the list include the cheese board (who doesn’t like cheese and want to display it in a pretty way, duh), the tote bag (everyone needs a good tote!), and the books (books are one of our all time favorite gifts to give).

The list also includes some specialty items such as the reusable leather golf scorecard, perfect for that one uncle you have who loves golf, but he seemingly already has all the gear… bet he doesn’t have a leather scorecard! We also included a coffee maker, latte art kit, gourmet popcorn gift set, and even a homemade hot sauce kit, because everyone’s bound to have someone in their life who’s known for loving one (or all) of those things!

If you have someone in your life you really struggle to find gift ideas for, our words of wisdom are, “go to Etsy”. On Etsy, it’s easy to find personalized items that would work for anyone! This time of year, they even have gift suggestion pages which make it easy to sift through all the options and find the perfect gift. Plus, by shopping at Etsy you have the peace of mind knowing that your money is going to a creative craftsman, instead of a big business. Our favorite Etsy item from our list is the personalized spa gift – you get to choose the soap scent and lip balm flavor you want to include!

In the end, gift giving is really about expressing to someone that you care, so don’t stress, and have some fun with it! Check out our complete 50 under $50 gift guide below:

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Happy holidays, and happy shopping!

Xoxo,

We’ve noticed that our clients frequently ask a lot of the same questions about the placement and spacing of decor, lights, and drapes, and we have the answers! So we’ve decided to compile these FAQs into a helpful list of go-to design tips that we’d like to see implemented in all of our clients’ homes. Take a look!

RUGS

Rugs can be used to define a space and pull a room together, and they’re an easy way to promote the design style of your home. However, placing your rug correctly in the room can really make or break your space.

For example, in the living room, rugs should always sit under the front legs of your sofa and chairs, in order to tie the space together. Far too often, we see rugs sitting out in front of the sofa, which gives the room a disconnected feel. Ground that space!

In addition, dining room rugs should be large enough that the chairs can still sit on the rug when they’re pushed back from the table. You don’t want to fall off of the rug as you scoot your chair back! And in the bedroom, rugs should sit under the bed, with at least 8” between the nightstand and the edge of the rug, and at least a foot of rug showing on each side of the bed, and at the foot.

PILLOWS & THROWS

Pillows, pillows, pillows! Another great way to showcase your design style, pillows and can add dimension and texture to any room. However, we still have some guidelines to follow to make sure that your pillows look the best they can!

We recommend grouping your pillows in odd numbers, or add a throw blanket to an even-numbered group of pillows to throw off the symmetry. It’s also a good idea to vary the sizes and textures of your pillows and throws. This provides some visual interest and makes the room feel more inviting.

WALL DECOR

If a piece of artwork is hung too low or too high, it can throw the whole room off balance. Hang artwork with the center of the piece sitting at about eye level, or a tiny bit lower (usually between 58-62” off the floor). Gallery walls and sets of artwork should have an even amount of space between each item (preferably about 3”). If you get too funky with the spacing of your gallery wall, it can look a little messy.

ACCESSORIES

Accessories are an easy way to add a touch of your personality to any space. For coffee tables, ground your smaller accessories with a tray or large book. And on your bookshelves, we recommend grouping items of different sizes, shapes, and textures into odd-numbered clusters.

Another good thing to note: When placing accessories on your shelves, don’t feel the need to fill every space. Leave some breathing room in between. And don’t forget to place plants & flowers (fake is ok too!) in each room to bring some life to the space!

LIGHTING

Some of our most common questions have to do with the proper height for light fixtures in the kitchen and dining room. Dining room pendants should hang about 33” above the top of the table and kitchen island pendants should hang about 30” above the countertop.

DRAPES

Properly-hung drapes can provide the perfect finishing touch to any space. We love to hang our curtain rods close to the ceiling, rather than just above the window, to create the illusion of higher ceilings. But most importantly, the bottom of your drapery panels should hang just above the floor (1/8-1/4”). Any higher and they’ll feel too short!

BONUS TIP

This one’s a little hard to categorize, so we’ll call it a bonus. When placing your living room furniture, always allow about 15″ between the coffee table and the front of the sofa. Your shins will thank you!

We hope you find these tips useful! If you have any other questions, or would like to schedule a consultation, please feel free to contact us here.

Happy designing!

Xoxo,

Photo sources: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 // 12 // 13 // 14 // 15 // 16 // 17

Leaves are starting to change color and the days are cooling down, which can only mean one thing…. fall is finally here!

Fall is one of our all time favorite seasons. The cool, crisp weather, pumpkin-spiced everything, and chunky scarves are some of the reasons we love this time of year! Plus, there’s nothing like grabbing a cup of joe, a big blanket, and a good book on a fall afternoon. And at RWD, we firmly believe that you should be surrounded by inspiring, festive decor while you do it!

Here are some of our favorite fall decor items (and they’re all affordable – a major plus). Links to all of the items are numbered below!

Sources: 1a // 1b // 1c // 2 // 3a // 3b // 3c // 4a // 4b // 5 // 6a // 6b

Happy fall decorating, everyone!