Christmas Traditions

by Only Prettier Design | Dec 1, 2020 | Uncategorized

Christmas Traditions

Here in our new space at OPD we’ve had the opportunity to explore fresh ideas, brainstorm visions for the shop and offer up a wish list of future products and events.

We are constantly looking ahead, anticipating needs and striving to deliver all things Prettier.

As we prepare for our holiday season, we are discovering some activities that are cementing themselves to become traditions for us.

For one, our vintage truck, Nessy, has been a huge hit for holiday photos. Another? Recently, we welcomed a small group of neighbors to our first workshop event in our new studio space. Not only did the calendar date align with the makings of a lovely tradition but the holiday swag the group chose to assemble was perfect.

Our homes and hearts may have some traditions that are disrupted this year or may have to be postponed all together. We’re not alone in our efforts to preserve what we can.

Although visitors, gatherings, and parties may be limited we can still choose to focus on what truly matters. Here’s how we will honor our family traditions despite the wrinkles.

Dianne and her family grew last year and her littlest guys are now moving and grooving! Expanding on a tradition she learned from her own momma, her four sweet sons are each presented with a hand painted and personalized Christmas Eve box. Each year offers a set of holiday jammies, a new book, a favorite snack and an ornament. Together, under a pile of blankets and pillows, a family movie night begins and memories are made.

Heather’s kids are surrounded by her magic everyday. She has a gift of making everything she does seem effortless. A favorite holiday tradition for her family is on Christmas Eve and involves so many memory makers rolled into one! Dressy clothes and Christmas Eve candlelight services followed by a return home to open an early gift of matching holiday pajamas. All those cutie elves pile back into their car to blast the carols, sing along and take a drive to see local light displays and festive decorations. Back home once again for snuggles, cocoa and movie time. The Polar Express! Believe…it doesn’t get better than that.

Our OPD team is a gift within itself! Our talented staff has some sweet traditions that make us smile!

Amanda lets her light shine bright; her living room aglow in twinkle lights and the classic Home Alone movie is her favorite kick off to Christmas!

Renee also loves a viewing night of White Christmas to embrace the season with her family.

Christy shared a brand new tradition! She and her boyfriend have started a Christmas village and look forward to adding something new every year.

Natalie loves to unpack her roly-poly Santa, a Christmas toy from when she was only two years old. It doesn’t feel quite like Christmas until the tree is up!

Franchesca and her family choose a fresh tree and take a picture. There’s always time for cookies at Christmas!

Bella loves to bake and decorate cookies with her mom, Mimi and aunt.

Kelly travels to the smokey mountains with her husband and son to visit family in the hills of Tennessee each Christmas.

Chrissy still loves to set out cookies and milk for Santa and his reindeer even though her kids are all grown up. Some traditions will never leave us.

From our OPD family to yours, we wish you a season of blessings and a happy and healthy holiday!

Entertaining… add the extra details

by Only Prettier Design | Nov 9, 2020 | Home Design & Decor

Entertaining… add the extra details

2020 really has us appreciating time in a myriad of ways. The time we spend with others beyond our immediate family has dwindled down in frequency, size, and scope. All out extravaganzas have transitioned to intimate soirées and we’re all for it.

Thanksgiving is nearing and hosting can be an ordeal. Your relatives have postponed visiting until next year and while you are secretly relieved Uncle Bob’s boisterous opinions are staying away, you will miss Aunt Mildred’s warm smile and perfect mashed potatoes. Count your blessings and maybe try something new this year! Scale back on the menu, splurge on that bottle of red and get ready to make this dinner, or any feast, a truly special one for you and yours.

A thoughtful presentation and some fun tips just might free you up enough to begin your Christmas list.

Preparation

For any style of entertaining it’s important to prep ahead.
Take some pressure off this year and…wait for it…cook the bird the day before! No way you say? Everyone agrees it tastes better the next day. Warm it up, or better yet serve casual yet elegant open faced turkey sandwiches on thick slices of brioche and fresh thyme.

Tip: warm a stack of plates in the oven to keep food hot when serving a plated meal

While you’re prepping your green bean bundles wrapped in bacon, sip on some apple cider mimosas complete with a brown sugar and cinnamon rim. Have a few glasses prepped on a tray along with pretty napkins, some cinnamon sticks and some shiny apples and you’re good to go!
Tip: keep a few bottles of champagne on deck complete with a bow. You’ll always have a reciprocal gift if someone swings by

Appetizers– make them graze worthy and gaze worthy. Use greens to provide a base on dishes and platters.Colorful cabbage, collard greens and fresh kale are sturdy and help elevate how pretty your stuffed mushrooms are. Speaking of elevating, build your scrumptious morsels a tiered base. Make bites easy to reach with a chunky candle holder and heavy plate. Stack old books as a base. Turn a basket or bowl over for a stand. Soften edges with frilly lettuce and cascading grapes. Use peppers to hold dips or spreads. Turn a basket or decorative box on its side, line with cloth napkins and crackers, rolls, and breadsticks with look amazing spilling out.
Tip: use fresh herbs and stir into softened stick of butter. Roll into wax paper and twist the ends. Freeze. When ready to serve, slice or cube and arrange a pattern on a small dish- lined with a leaf of green of course

Personalize the Experience Allow each diner at your table to feel special with a place card. Kids love finding their name and adults like it too. Add a sprig of fresh mint, a small piece of chocolate, or even a seasonal trinket suck as a perfect strawberry in summer or a pine cone in colder months.
Tip: place cards and place settings don’t need to match. Mix and mingle! Think of something that will make them smile.

Set the Tone Don’t forget the background. Music please! Even a casual family dinner deserves ambiance. Music is also a great way to fill the silence as you eat, calm the senses, and camouflage the clinking and chewing. Let conversation be the forefront and choose something mindful and appropriate.
Tip: Classical instrumental choices soothe, relax, and don’t interrupt. There is a reason why restaurants choose wordless medleys.

Sharing is caring. Sharing your time is always appreciated and sharing a meal with people you love is a great thing. Share with them some of these small details and they’ll really take notice.
If they don’t? Well then, they’ve got dishes.

A Fireplace Makeover

by Only Prettier Design | Oct 25, 2020 | Home Design & Decor

A Fireplace Makeover

Lighter, brighter and oh so cozy!

Lots of us are jumping into projects in our homes. Some of these projects stem from that ongoing list that seems to grow instead of shrink. With the curveball we’ve all been thrown, we are reminded of how much we all yearn for a comfortable and functional space. Sometimes though, a little spruce up in the scenery department is what our home sweet homes need.

Take that brick fireplace surround. You know you love a warm fire on a chilly evening. You love the crackling wood, the snuggles, the movie nights and the family time. You don’t love red-ish, pink-ish , mauve-ish standard brick. Give us farmhouse vibes! Give us a cleaner and modern update! Give us paint!
That’s it folks- white paint and a couple of hours and you’ve got an updated focal point that you’ll adore this season and many more.
Grab and go! You’ve got this!
-Couple of old paintbrushes
-A container to mix paint and some water – we use a mason jar and lid
-A spray bottle with water
-Old washcloths (get a couple wet and wring out)
Tape off the walls and lay out some plastic on the floor. Prep the area accordingly as there might be some splatter with the consistency of the paint.
A 50/50 mix of paint and water is a good start. You can always add more paint if you prefer a thicker, less transparent application. Use a bright and clean white paint. You can always use the same white as your trim if you want a perfect match.
Start in the grout lines at the top and using quick, scrubbing strokes work the paint into the grout and along the edges of the brick. Working from top to bottom allows you to tackle any drips and frees up your standing spots. Ball up your wet washcloth and scrub and rub the paint to the center of the brick. You’re not going for a uniform look here and if you feel like you applied to much paint in one section, use your washcloth to scrub the paint around and just lighten it up as you move around. Again, you can always layer on more paint.
Every now and again back way up and admire your progress.
You may notice how easily the brick just soaks up the paint. Use your spray bottle and spritz some extra water and use your index finger to rub, dab, pounce some additional texture to achieve the look you want.
Have fun and enjoy the process! There really is not a right or wrong look; it’s truly a matter of preference. Before you know it,
you’ll be relaxing with a cozy fire, a whole new look and the satisfaction that you did it!

Ready for your mantel makeover?

CONTACT US.

Book a home design consultation

send us an email to learn more

I said Yes, I chose me

by Only Prettier Design | Oct 8, 2020 | Personal

“August came…8am on a Monday came..and out I went on my front steps to make that call I have waited my entire career for.”

Where do I start? With the excitement and joy? Nervousness and uncertainty? Relief and calmness? Seriously, the waves of emotions that I have felt for months and for sure, the past thirty days. Did I make the right decision? Have I lost my mind? What in the heck am I doing? All quite logical questions in the midst of a pandemic, right? But, then I ground myself – and remind myself – don’t be like the rest of them darling. I have always been known to go rogue and if there is one word to describe me, it’s determined, especially if someone says something cannot be done. I guess in these times, that’s an assumption. Life is not easy right now. But I didn’t let that get in the way, and I didn’t let it derail me. I said yes to me, my family and my life.

This dream of mine you see, has been years in the making. I remember running the sales floor back in Presque Isle, Maine, dreaming of the days that it would be for me. I remember planning my wedding, and fighting with my mom along the way when she kept bugging me that I should do this for a living. I remember trying to sell the idea of dogs and flowers together and why just maybe that made sense. I remember convincing Heather that this was the best idea for us and opening a store would be our story – every bit of it. And now, I type this in the office of our recently expanded shop, a place that now is like nothing I ever dreamed was possible.

To sum this up, it feels good – but it was not easy. It took working 21 days straight while being pregnant with twins. It took sleepless nights to get ready for a wedding weekend. It took a village to help us along the way, whether it was watching one of our 8 kids, showing up with a bottle of wine to help us celebrate or vent, or to be there every milestone and celebration we have had along the way.

The decision was easy. I wanted to be home with my kids. I just had to be patient, plan for it, and not waiver on what was most important to me – my family. I wanted to be the one they looked for at preschool pick up. I knew if I wanted that to become true, I needed to be my own boss. I crafted the plan, held myself accountable to the timeline, and my closest people were there every step of the way helping to make sure I really could make this dream a reality.

August came, 8am on a Monday came, and out I went on my front steps to make that call I have waited my entire career for. Here is my corporate leadership role resignation. I am trusting me. I am giving all of myself to my family and my business. I am scared as hell, but I am trusting in God to guide me through and trusting in myself that I got this. He’s gotten me this far, and I have never been happier.

My advice – dream it, plan it, don’t waiver, and JUMP! It’s worth it.

Backyards & Beaches

by Only Prettier Design | Sep 19, 2020 | Weddings

Backyards & Beaches …

What do each of these have in common? Yes, they’re both places that we’re retreating to, but in the year of COVID, they’re also the new destination for wedding venues!

This year has us all rethinking the traditional wedding and for many brides, it has them opting for a more relaxed, intimate, and smaller version of the conventional ceremony.

Now defined as microweddings – these smaller versions of a traditional wedding honor all the details and essentials of a wedding ceremony, just in a scaled down version.

While we’re all for tradition, microweddings definitely have their advantages. More couples are adopting a backyard wedding, destination wedding, or a micro wedding as a placeholder – they’re not putting their lives on hold just because they can’t have their dream wedding right now. Instead they’re choosing a smaller and more intimate version of their wedding ceremony.

Microweddings can offer more freedom than a confined venue including being budget friendly, customizable and less pressured than orchestrating a huge event.

Photos by ESRAY PHOTOGRAPHY

We’ve loved seeing our brides’ adaptability during this season and have had so much fun being a part of their small wedding and backyard wedding ceremonies including this beautiful backyard wedding for Emily & Jim and their two furry friends.

SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS STUNNING OUTDOOR WEDDING IN OUR PORTFOLIO

Are you ready to adopt a micro wedding for your big day?
Let’s chat!

We’d love to help you create the wedding of your dreams whether it’s a scaled down version or just a place holder for a later celebration.