Secrets from a Macy’s Stylist ...

A few years ago, I was asked to come in to help style what was soon to be the new Macy’s Furniture Gallery at the North Shore Mall in Peabody. Under the direction of Jason West, the District Visual Manager, a team of us spent a few days adding finishing touches to the showroom floor. We hung artwork, set up lighting, arranged bookcases, accented with pillows, and “accessorized” where needed. The room above was one of my favorites — a combination of traditional and modern with a great mix of hot and cool colors. Isn’t that artwork great?! I think this room could still work today.



Back in January of 2008 when I took these pictures, the predominant colors in the showroom were red and chocolate brown. The look was heavily traditional, and many of the accent pillows featured the look of Indian textiles with bits of mirrored sparkle and lots of embroidery. My favorite piece in this room is the black metal “tree.” The other visual merchandisers had some serious stylist-envy when they saw me snag it from the stockroom first!




I was asked to come back again this year, right before the holidays, to help implement some new design schemes from the corporate office. This time around (is it really three years later?) the colors have switched over to bright yellows mixed with neutrals like gray, black, white, cream and brown. Walls were being painted gray and large scale wallpaper patterns were scheduled to be installed. New artwork included modern images like the chandeliers above, and far less landscapes and still lifes were used than last time. Faux fur throws and pillows were added to the mix to create a look of cozy-modern. And lots of metallic finishes were seen throughout the showroom.




Greens are still popular, but in smaller quantities than a few years ago. For this room I was asked to freshen it up with some new accessories. The three glass fishing floats in the large dish on the coffee table were my contribution, along with new accent pillows, a birdcage and some rearranging of the objects in the television armoire. A lot of the accessories that I found in the stockroom looked vaguely familiar to me which made re-decorating a little challenging, but these days even big department stores will reuse and repurpose objects like the rest of us. Can you see something in this space that I used back in ’08?



Books are timeless design elements. I grouped this set with spine colors that matched the rest of the room along with the horse’s saddle. I could do a whole post on horses in design ...



For this bookcase I tried to fill it up with a unique assortment of “found objects” from the design inventory. I faced some books backward in order to see the array of pages instead of the spine. My goal was to have the objects stand out as visual texture in front of the dark wood.



A styling tip that I picked up from Jason: if you have a piece of abstract art, don’t be afraid to hang it vertically or horizontally. We turned this one on its side so that it would look better in relation to the sofa below. Why not?



Jason also had me cover a few books with paper, which is a technique that I often share with my clients. If you have a lot of photo albums on your bookshelves that all have different covers, for example, try wrapping each of them in the same solid wallpaper or kraft paper. Add a number to each and they will look less cluttered and more collected.



Some new light fixtures, like this branch lamp, were a nod to one of my favorite trends – bringing the outside in. There was another table lamp that really caught my eye that I forgot to take a photo of, but luckily I just saw it recently in Rue Magazine as a favorite design pic of Kelly Wearstler (I love her sense of style). It is the industrial looking hanging light bulb table lamp shown below. Cool, huh?

Rue Issue 2 pages 28-29 featuring
design pics from Kelly Wearstler

What every vignette had in common was a large, colorful arrangement. Of course this would not work everyday when sitting a group of people around the table to eat, but for visual display it attracts attention.



I saw this guy when I was leaving on my last day. Part of me thinks he is really cute, the other feels bad for him. How do you feel about animal skin rugs (real or stylized?) Either way, animal prints are a classic trend that are forever in style.

Inspirational posts

A tiny vignette of child-attracting objects features
a glass “wish” ball and a sparkly fairy.

For my third resolution going into 2010, I have decided to write an inspirational post each day and post it at home for my kids. Today I brought them over to my friend Beth’s Design Studio which is now officially closed. It was only a nine-week “pop” shop set up for the holidays ... I am so going to miss it, as it was a pretty – and quiet – place for me to escape to! I sat all four of the boys down in my corner of the store so that I could pack up remaining inventory to bring home. I figured they could at least help carry pillows to the car without the likelihood of doing any damage. While we were there, I grabbed the chalkboard frame off the wall with the intention of using it at home for my “words of wisdom” idea.


When we returned home, I found a prominent spot to hang the chalkboard. It is at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer, a place where every family member can see it as they come downstairs to begin their day. Even my husband noticed it right away (and he rarely notices anything without my having to jump up and down and point out “look what I did!”) With the exception of my youngest, who is just learning to read, each of my boys asked me about the quote and why I had written it on the board. I was surprised at the conversations we had!

As a mom I feel some days like I am constantly repeating myself with advice on how to behave and why ... now I will just let the chalk do the talking! And when the words come from someone else, sometimes they are more likely to be heard and believed.


I like to collect the inspiring words of others.

I chose the first quote from Walt Disney (someone famous that they could relate to) as a New Year’s reminder that each of us has the power to accomplish whatever we set out to do. You would be surprised at some of the long-term goals that my boys believe they can achieve ... they always start out with “I want to be a famous ...” They remind me of when I was 100% certain when I was little that I would sing “Feeling Groovy” on the television show Community Auditions, the late 70’s version of American Idol! Not sure where I got the idea – and I never did make it onto the stage – but I told a lot of my playground friends that I was going to do it at the time! My mom probably said I would be just as good as any of those kids up there (she still tells me I should sing every now and then!) and I just believed her because she believed in me. Funny how that works, huh?

I am really looking forward to this new resolution to inspire – and to believe in – each other as an important part of our daily routine. I might even let the boys choose favorite quotes of their own to post on the board, or they could post a few words of encouragement to someone else, or write a simple line of gratitude. I will let you know how it goes ...

On a less-than-perfect side note, my youngest picked up the glass paperweight that I named “the wish ball,” closed his eyes tight, and then proceeded to wish for Call of Duty 5 (if you don’t know what it is, consider yourself lucky!) I guess we have a long road ahead of us! I think the next quote will be the Chinese saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Have a safe – and inspiring – New Year’s Eve!
xo Yvonne