Julea Joseph

I'll be getting interviewed for our local paper in 1 hour on Holiday Decorating & Entertaining. After spending the weekend compiling my thoughts and doing a bit detective work, here are a few thoughts on Holiday Decor for your home.

Retail can be overwhelming, you can be swayed and tempted a few times within an isle these days. From new color combinations in the ornament lane, to adorable tiny bales of hay to adorn your tabletops - Retailers aim for you to spend. So here is a philosophy to apply when seasonally decorating -

• When seasonally staging/decorating a home keep true to the bones of the home and the decorative style of the interior. Be very careful when dressing and styling the home to keep in-tune to the price point, architecture, and decorative interior style of the home whether it is for sale or not.

Example: A Colonial looks best with classic seasonal decor on the outside - The burlap Hoe-Down theme looks out-of-place with the classic lines and refinery of the home. Instead, replant your entry Urns with seasonal finds - Tall grasses, mums, kale, pumpkins or gourds. Or create a bit of whimsy with a pumpkin topiary by stacking graduated sized pumpkins within the urns. Symmetry is key when working with formal style. (Pumpkin Topiary www.lowes.com)

Inside: IN this same style home, an entry or dining table looks festive with a fall inspired floral in an eye-catching container of polished copper or silver. Apple baskets or primitive wood containers will not be in-tuned to the home's style. Instead, mix in a bit of everlasting pods, berries or branches to bring a bit of the "nature" trend alive. Purchase plaid or a fall colored stripe yardage from a local fabric store for use as runners, simple throws or as pillows. The plaid or stripe pattern will pair beautifully with your traditional interior design. Want to create that cozy feel - Look for throws in a small pile "fur" such as sheared mink.

On that same note, it is a struggle these days to find the time to even consider not using paper plates, paper table clothes and throw away serving trays when hosting a celebration. DON"T! Unless you have over 60 coming, paper is just a no-no. Whether it is a Broker's open or a Holiday gathering for friends and family, take the extra effort and make it special.

Example: Broker's Open - If you have to get "throw-away," purchase clear plastic or at least the paper square plates in a solid color. Crazy patterns and motif only fight with what is on the plate, and if they're extra cute, become the conversation rather than the home... Transfer the chow to new platters. If the food is store bought, by this simple move, it goes ready-made to home-made. from thrown together, to thought out. Add a bouquet of fresh seasonal flowers, a "with compliments" bag of pumpkin seeds with your card attached, and you've just made a great statement.

Beyond the typical home stager's repertoire of prepping that home for sale, we have an array of added services aimed at clients moving in.

Take an existing client as an example. 1st recommended by her Realtor when she 1st arrived in the Chicago land area from Louisville in 2007, she wanted to put her stamp on her new home. We used what she already owned, and made her new home hers with a new wall color paint palette and interior redesign.

Three years later, relocated again - I'm at it again with her new home in Indiana.

Color Consultation- Often times a new homeowner wants to start decorating their new home from the get-go. Gone with the old homeowners, in with color choices in-tune to her belongings and personal style.

Interior Redesign- We take what you have and make it all work within your new home. In a few hours, your blank space becomes your space. Your room becomes balanced, functional and unified. Best of all, you get instant gratification, validate your existing pieces, and readies the space for family and friends. If added items are desired, the home stager will create a "wish list" of things that will enhance the room further.

Shopping & Traditional Design Services- If you'd like to refresh and add to your collections, we can make suggestion or shop for those new pieces. We too offer more traditional design service such as window treatments and one-of-kind accents such as custom floral arrangements to add those finishing touches to your space.

End Result: A home you can call you own, without the stress of thinking you have to buy ALL NEW. A space you can entertain and live-in within a few weeks of moving in.

Before closing -

Two Weeks after move-in... Home

Wall Colors: SW7738 Cargo Pants SW7736 Garden Sage - Fireplace Wall

- Room is now arranged, and a new item wish list established -

•· Larger wall art for over sofa (We have plenty of room in this home to find a new place for her old art and clock.)

•· Big Chunky Candle holder and candle display for Mantle vignette.

•· New floral for side table.

"The thing I love about you Julea is that I would of thought to put everything back just the way you had it in my old home, instead your found a whole different way of arranging and displaying my things to fit into my new home - creating something fresh and new." - Angela

Mother Nature is beginning to put on her grandest show for the year, and we're heading to the attic or basement for all those boxes marked "Fall Decorations." As many of you would agree, fall is a great season to change out or update your seasonal and home décor, but just like our wardrobe, sometimes we need to weed out or refresh our stash. Here a few ideas and tips to help you update your home for the season and infused the latest trends into your home décor.

•1.) Give your rooms a new arrangement. Fall is the perfect time to review your spaces and ready your rooms for the upcoming succession of holidays. Like a blank canvas, a new arrangement gives you an introduction for a medley of fresh ideas from accessory placement to infusing new color ideas. By starting at the base, you can layer on interesting new ideas, rotate your collections and perhaps come up with something totally new! (Insider Arrangement tip: Your hearth, piano or picture window is appropriate launching points for your new redesign.)

•2.) Shop Your Home & Reinvent It. Unveil those fall décor boxes and sort through your decorating goods by shopping your own home. Metallics are at the fore front of 2009-10 trends. Could your ceramic pumpkin and Indian corn collection get a hip makeover with a quick coat of trendy antique copper paint; perhaps those pitted cabinet knobs, a lamp bases, or a painting frame could be given the same coat, creating a new metallic tread to your décor? From lamp shades to art print's mats - small changes made to your old stuff gives them the same result as a bit of Botox!

•3.) Put it into Rotation. The same stuff out all the time, in the same place becomes a bit dull on the eyes - Consider a rotation of your accessories. Packing away a few of your room accessory staples when seasonally decorating, not only rejuvenates your room, but when you bring it back into the mix, put it in a different spot! My motto is - "A pumpkin in, means a Llardro out. "

•4.) Layer it On. As the temperature goes down, the layers come out. Nothing speaks more to the season than cozy & warm textiles. Hot trends are nature inspired textural prints, animal motifs and ethnic patchworks - So incorporate layered fabrics and other textiles like rugs into your seasonal decorating. Have an old quilt that can be reinvented into a beautiful pillow, framed as art, or upholstered into a footstool? (Horchow's Patchwork Stools.) Don't be afraid to layer more than one rug on the floor or consider that rugs can be wall art too. (Insider Tip: No one ever said you can't use fabrics as accessories - Down tables, tossed on sofa backs or tucked into or on top of bookcases or armories.)

•5.) Setting the Room's Mood. Nothing is cuter than Mr. Scarecrow you picked up at the craft show, but is he appropriate sitting in your formal living room? Remember to set the mood of the room with how you accessorize it. Mr. Scarecrow would be better far better suited to hang out in the kitchen, and sitting on your cocktail table a re-purposed silver serving tray adorned with pine cones, leaves and candles more befitting for the flavor of the room. Ombre is a trend, so why not invest in a few large ombre colored candles for a new candle look. (World Market Ombre Candle Holders.)

•6.) Coordinate with Color. Incorporating a new color palette into a space is one of the easiest ways to revitalize a room. Some new color combinations may evoke your creativity when seasonally accessioning your rooms, looking for a new pillows, window panels, throws or creating vignettes:

-Coffee Bean Brown paired with Artichoke Green

-Deep Plum paired with Paprika

-Apple Green paired with Tomato Red

-Smoky Blue paired with Champagne Beige (Panels from Pottery Barn.)

Ahhh... wouldn't it be pure bliss to have an unlimited budget to make your space lovely. No regard for the bottom line or being reduced to look at price tags? The sheer joy.... For me, there is no fun in that - What about the hunt, the use of creativity and inventive cunning to reach the same end? Now that's bliss...

A core philosophy's of my business is getting the right "mix" - Defining when to spend it and when not to when it comes to decorating and styling your home.

For me, a beautiful space has a rich collectiveness - A "mix" of rich with poor, old with new - A secret recipe that in the end defines the legacy and personality of the homeowner. My business signature is using what you have, and then moving on from that. For most of my clients, shopping is not an issue, nor is what they already own - It's the mêlée of pulling it collectively together to distinguish their space and define their style. Whether they're puzzled on how to make their living room inviting or launching into a remodeling project - Most struggle with knowing how to mix that perfect recipe.

My secret formula is to know when to use it, when to spend it, and how to get the look for less. The total package has to fit together with your personal taste, style of your home and most importantly - Your Budget! It doesn't matter if I'm staging your home, helping you decorate for a party or holiday, or consulting on a major renovation - The formula is the same.

So what's my formula? How you obtain that perfect recipe? Here are the three ingredients:

USE IT: Most of us over the years have acuminated things, whether bought, inherited, or found, we have stuff. If you take a hard look at your stuff; I guarantee there is treasure galore within your inventory. Can you repaint, upholster, and update it? In another room, would it look better or have better use? Your old stuff is your legacy, it defines who you are, and if it doesn't, I'll let you know. As an educated professional, my talent is to be able to identify what can be used or not when it comes to making your spaces beautiful. Although, most would not cast me to appear on "Antiques Road show," I'm pretty good at knowing what's worthy, and really good at using it if it fits into the grand plan.

Whether it's a couch, painting or lamp, I'll let you know if it will work, or if it's an undiscovered treasure that we can use "as is," or is worthy of a reinvention. I did a staging recently and came upon a signed Leroy Neiman print that the homeowner had picked up at a garage sale. They were going to toss it because the matting was ragged and damaged and the print was falling out of its frame. After a quick look over and a suggested run to a framing store for a re-mat & tune-up - They'll have a pretty snazzy "real" piece of showcase art!

SPEND IT: O.K., even though I'm supposed to be the budget decorator, you just have to sometimes SPEND IT! Love that vintage French one-of-a-kind-kind; will be perfect for my awkwardly sized foyer- Entry Table? - Go get it. It will become the showcase to your home. You'll love looking at it every day and it will define the style of your place. There has to be expensive in the mix - and there will be a times that spending the big bucks is a worthwhile or part of the grand plan. That stuff may be pricey, but you can fill in the blanks with less expensive or fabulous finds.

The other piece of SPEND IT has to do with the quality of things. Sometimes you can't get it for less; sometimes the workmanship upstages the price point. Your inherited Grandma's dining room set can be broken or made by the SPEND IT choice you make. Pair her set with off-the-rack Target window treatments and rods and her set is reduced to a "tired pass-down." Pair her set with custom one-of-kind window treatments and the set is upgrade to "antique heirloom."

LOOK FOR LESS: Getting the LOOK FOR LESS is a two- fold feat. The 1^st feat is to see if you can find the expensive, SPEND IT item for less (you still have to pay $$$ for it though.) And the 2^nd feat is to be to make choices at discount store, and have the eye for inexpensive items that LOOK expensive. Shopping expensive is easy; anyone can walk into the Mart and find fabulous stuff, expensively priced. Finding its identical twin or a knock-off for a fraction of the price takes talent and an eye. Getting that look for less, filling in those blanks makes for that perfect "mix."

Say you've got a few lovely Sterling silver pieces. Pair those with a few more in silver-plate, and the plate becomes instantly "Sterling" by association... The end result is a beautiful mix...

Since 1999, Interior Stylist Julea Joseph has owned Chicago area based design and staging business - Reinventing Space. Your seen her on HGTV or Chicago Tribune's CLTV giving homeowners expert insight on how to refresh, style and celebrate their space -Whether prepping their home to go on the market, just settling in, or just in need of a change.

As our latest season, summer, is almost upon us, we are all a buzz to making our outdoor living space a haven.

Whether your home is on the market or not, your outdoor spaces should show as well as your indoor space.

If you are need of a bit of inspiration, here are a few tips, advice and ideas from my own outdoor spaces to yours.

Be inspired to eke out areas of your yard into "rooms." This can be done by establishing an area for an activity, or by anchoring a space with a structure. A room is established by adding a gazebo, fireplace, garden or by simply adding a solid surface to your lawn with concrete patio pavers or decking.

Once your space has been establish, you can furnish and adorn your new room(s.) - Retailers have a whole host of wonderful outdoor elements to make your space shine. You can also get creative by repurposing flea market or household finds to add a special flavor to your décor.


1.) Fun with Rugs.Whether you pick-up an outdoor rug retail, or shop the web, rugs can anchor seating areas and add an element of sophistication to an outdoor space. I found this awesome rug company which sells just the most fabulous outdoor rugs made from recycled plastic - My favorite find is on order from Mariachi Imports for $75.00.


2.) Hot Seat. Ceramic garden stools are those awesome little barrel or vase shaped pieces that you've seen popping up in catalogs and stores. These hipster seats can be used as seating or display purposes, and come is an array of colors. My latest was found in clearance for $20.00 at HomeGoods.

3.) Old is Renewed. Re-purposing a pair of old windows I found curbside created a more interesting space. After a coat of spray paint, and hung with eye hooks and chain - These old window have a new view for around $5.00.

4.) Curtain Call. Although my iron gazebo came with muslin drapes, they would not withstand the weather and were boring white - My cobalt blue outdoor fabric panels from JCPenney were just the ticket for my blue-hued inspired decor; and all of 29.99 per panel after I waited for them to go on sale, and brought in a extra 15% off coupon! Score!

5.) Light it Up. Make sure to set the mood in your outdoor space with lighting. Either electrical or by candle, lighting is an essential element for your new space. I found my garden chandelier at a sample sale, but you can make your own by visiting Sunset Magazine's Site which has instructions to make your own.

Want more tips, the latest outdoor decor trends, and exterior home staging ideas visit my website at www.julea.com. Make sure to visit my site BLOG too!

Since 1999, Interior Stylist Julea Joseph has owned Chicago area based design and staging business - Reinventing Space. She specializes in giving homeowners expert insight on how to refresh, style and celebrate their space -Whether prepping their home to go on the market, just settling in, or just in need of a change. Julea is a frequent segment guest on CLTV's "HomePlus" show. You can also see Julea's work coming soon on HGTV's "My First Place."