Winter in Vegas

I have been meaning to put together this photo blog for a while now. It kept taking a back seat while other work items needed to be ticked off. Whew, it has been a busy month for sure!

Wanting to escape the wet winter season in Seattle for a few days, we made an impromptu decision to join some friends visiting Vegas during the holidays in December. Temperatures hovering around mid 50s, the days were beautifully bright and sunny and the chilly nights lived up to Vegas' reputation of being glammed up in colorful lights. Hotel interiors were wonderfully decorated for the season; all that festivity bound to set the visitors in the complete holiday mood, even to hum a carol or two! Interestingly, sin city was quite packed at the time and was not as quiet as we were expecting it to be.

Here are some snaps we took of things we found fascinating during our short stay. From cityscape, to food, to entertainment, to decorations, the city did not disappoint. The pictures below were taken to capture some of that essence. Enjoy! :)

- Farzana

Guest Room: Holiday Ready

Holidays are here and a big part of this festive season is entertaining overnight guests. My husband and I moved to our new house earlier this year; we recently got around to finally setting up the guest bedroom. When I think guest room, the words that instantly come to my mind are welcoming, comfort, getaway, simplicity, relaxing and cheerful. With those words buzzing in my head, here are some things I did with the room-

1. Color Palette: This is the first thing I decided upon before proceeding with purchasing accents and other items for the room. My wall colors are white and I like that they add brightness to the room; a much needed thing around this time of the year here in the Pacific Northwest. For adding the seasonal warmth I played around with colors like bronze, beige, brown and cream for furniture and hardware. If you are starting with a blank slate and are fixated on a furniture item that you absolutely love, you can always work your color palette off that. I believe there is no hard and fast rule as long as you feel there is a nice flow and a sense of cohesiveness.

2. Furniture & Proportions: My guest room is modest in size, so I did not want it to look crowded with large sized furniture or too many items. The bed is queen sized and has a Victorian style dark bronze metal frame with clean lines. I paired it with creamish side tables in wood on both sides. On one of the corners next to the window I placed an accent chair with vintage French fabric in beige. It came with a cute little ottoman just perfect for my limited space!

3. Window Treatment: I love layering up windows. It gives your window depth, adds texture, allows for controlling light and in general makes it look more interesting without overpowering your room décor. For this room, I used neutral roller shade underneath grommet curtain panels.

4. Wall Art: Here comes my favorite part of home décor. Surprise, surprise! For me, a room feels incomplete without wall arts. It's as if it does not have a voice, or character, or mood. I chose the Parisian shot -Walkers and Observers from my Passenger collection for my focal art here. Going for simplicity, I did not want a collection of art pieces to accentuate the wall. I wanted the art piece here to transport my guests someplace, if only momentarily.

5. Other accents: Accents are great ways to bring in pops of colors in the room. I chose cheery shades of green for the lamps and armchair pillow; they tied in neatly with the drapes. Little items of holiday décor will also add tons of fun colors, if you are in the mood to extend the festivity to your guest room as well. I put in some magazines and bestsellers in a wicker basket to keep my guests engaged when they retire to the room. I may add in some late night munchies or sweet treats to the basket when my visitors are here.

Guest room all set, I am eagerly looking forward to seeing some long missed friendly faces, the inevitable long chats by the fire reminiscing good old times, little food indulgence, and the laughter that follows. How are you updating your guest space this season? Please share your ideas! Hope you all have wonderful holidays and a fantastic New Year! :))