White Lights

Hector Table Lamp from Peter Bowles for Original BTC, from DWR

All-white lighting seems so right to me now, here in the middle of winter. My advice is to keep this simple color interesting with unique textures and polished glass and porcelain shades. My favorite for many years has been the Hector, now reissued by Peter Bowles for Original BTC. It also comes in floor and wall versions. I'm also crazy about West Elm's Contour lighting collection; each model is all of one piece in powder-coated steel. Circa's Teri lamp features a big juicy globe of alabaster, a touch of bronze and a prim little shade. The PH5 Pendant by Poul Henningseen is a mid-century classic institutional fixture that thinks it's a UFO; Vaughan's Colvara hugs the wall with a stream of bubbles flowing up and through the half shade. And any child would have sweet dreams drifting off under Ikea's cloudy Skojig ceiling light. 

Contour Semi-Flush Fixture from West Elm

Large Teri table lamp in alabaster with bronze accents from Circa Lighting

PH5 Pendant Lamp Poul Hanningseen for Louis Poulsen, from DWR

Colvara Wall Light from Vaughan

Francis flush mount from Rejuvenation

Drop 2 Pendant by Peter Bowles for Original BTC, from DWR

Elena Floor Lamp by Ballard Designs

Insulator Pendant by CB2

Loren Table Lamp from Crate and Barrel

Artecnica Grand Trianon Pendant Lamp from Velocity Art

Torna Table Lamp from Ikea

Sfera 16 from Rejuvenation

Skojig Ceiling Lamp from Ikea

Warm White Christmas

White, parchment, linen, stone, snow, cream, limewash, ivory, milk, chalk, natural, cotton, khaki, greige, plaster, buff, ice, taupe, alabaster, cloud.

Winter is the ideal time to explore white and all of its neutral cousins.

Start with the most comfortable seating, perfect for reading by the fire and eating popcorn.

George Sherlock Two-Seater sofa

Add some birch logs, or at least have them artfully arranged near the fireplace. They're pretty expensive, and you may be reluctant to burn them!

Birch logs

Decorate your mantel in soothing whites, evoking nature's winter beauty.

David Stark for West Elm topiary tree

Add a few funky handmade trees to your mantel-top forest.

Bottle Brush trees from West Elm

Ice the front of the mantel with this handmade paper garland.

Handmade paper bunting from Toast

Soften the room with frothy white hydrangeas, also a fresh reminder of warmer days to come.

White mophead hydrangea from Terrain

As you sit by the fire, wrap your gifts in plain white paper and finish them off with these tags. Your lucky friends can plant the tags - they're seeded!

Seeded Snowflake tags from Terrain

When it's time for bed, retreat to a cosy warm bed in a white bedroom. Don't forget your hot water bottle!

Master bedroom from Coastal Living

Time to Refresh Your Spirit

This adorable Kashmir Paisley Pillow from Peter Dunham has me seeing green in a whole new way this week. I love the traditional holiday red and green, but each year I reach a point where I can't wait to stash all the ornaments away and give the house a good cleaning. Then I'll bring home a flowering pot of spring bulbs (preferably scented) from the grocery store. The new year has then officially started for me.

I suggest that after you, too, pack away the last of the tinsel and ribbons, consider a freshening up with a bit of spring for your home. Paperwhites, such as these from White Flower Farm, are a great way to start. There are still plenty of these kits available in my local grocery and hardware stores. A few more ideas in green and white are offered below to get you started.

Zesty Arugula, Fennel and Orange salad recipe from Williams Sonoma

Wee Key Lime Tartlets recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Trivsam bowl from Ikea

Iris dish towel, also from Ikea

Fern wall decorations by Two's Company from Country Living

My guilty pleasure

Choose the White and green bamboo bowls and white salad servers from West Elm

For a more ambitious effort, try a fresh green pair of curtains and 

a crisp new white slipcover, like this example from Country Living

Start a terrarium to sooth your winter weary soul. I love this sweet
IndieBliss Hippo Terrarium from The Fern and Mossery.

Still love this image from our visit to Dumbarton Oaks in late
September. I'm trying to remember how ridiculously hot it was that day!