Happy New Year! I hope your holiday season was a blessed and restful one. The hubs, Dais and I returned home yesterday after traveling for about two weeks. We were so lucky to be able to spend Christmas and New Years with friends and family in Dallas, and we also traveled to Guatemala for my sister's wedding. Our holiday were absolutely magical, and I'm definitely sad it is over.

But with the end of the holidays brings a new year. And I am one of those people who thinks it is important to take time at the beginning of the year to visualize what I would like the coming year to look like. And in the spirit of keeping myself accountable, I thought I would share my thoughts here.

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Call them resolutions, goals or whatever you would like. Here is what I am striving for in 2014.

Grow my business 
2013 was good, but I'm going to make 2014 great. I am so thankful for the support and clients I have received thus far, but there is always room for growth. To achieve the overarching resolution, I have outlined few individual goals/milestones to hit. Being specific and breaking things down into smaller steps will help me know how I'm progressing toward the overall goal.

Keep my exercise habit going
Maybe the most universal resolution in the history of new years resolutions? Perhaps. But my health is something I don't take lightly. In 2013, I did a pretty good job of exercising and eating right and I'm definitely looking to keep that going this year.

Start a book club
Reading is something that I truly enjoy. Since moving back to Tulsa, I've been wanting to get a group of gals together who feel the same way I do about books, I just haven't done it yet. The book club I was part of in Houston was so fun and I hope I can recreate that here.

Less TV time
I watch too much TV. More notably, I watch too much crappy TV. Cutting down on this bad habit will leave more time for other things - house projects, blogging, reading, etc. I can and will kick my TV habit this year.

Find a church we love
We've been trying out various churches around Tulsa over the past few months. This year, I hope we find our fit and get involved in a meaningful way.

Happy New Year to you all! I hope this year brings you health, happiness and many blessings. Thanks for following along :)

pondering: dining room art

A constant item on 'the list' since we moved in has been art for the dining room. I've pondered lots of options, but the Hubs and I recently settled on the winner.

The wall is big, so the art gets to be big too! But before pulling the trigger, I wanted to make sure the dimensions are right. So I did what any self-respecting decorator does - I taped it out. Might not look like the classiest thing in the world, but it totally helps get a sense for the scale.

Just to give you an idea, we are going for this vibe (over sized scenic):

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Think it's going to be goooooooooooooooooooooood. Now I really can't wait for the 'after'!

Probably not going to post until after the New Year as we will be very busy with travel and whatnot, so I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!! And thank you SO much for following along this year. It's been a great year and I can't wait to see what the next will bring :)

currently working on...

a master bedroom. Here is my first go at it:

As a courtesy to my clients, I will decline sharing source information. If you’re interested in my services - I would love to hear from you! Contact me at emilydavisinteriors@gmail.com.

Will also involve gold accents and some reupholstered vintage chairs. Lovin' it so far! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope December is treating you all well :)

newest vintage find

I shared in this Insta snapshot on Friday that I scooped up some vintage Drexel Heritage chairs at a local antique store, and they now live happily in our formal living room.

@emilyswensondavis

The plan is to have them reupholstered eventually. Probably in a good neutral and have the frames sprayed black. Honestly, I would love to have them upholstered in the animal print that is on the ottomans that used to sit there, but I'm pretty sure it's been discontinued.

I liked the leopard ottomans that I had in that spot before. But after a while, I realized they weren't the most comfortable option for that space. And really, since this post, I've been searching for the right chairs to switch them out for.

Before:

Now: (nevermind that the lighting is much better in the before pic...)

I knew when I saw them that I liked them a lot. But I did take some time to think about pulling the trigger on them (even though they were very afforable) for a few days. I really could have missed out on them because after having them home, I realize just how cool and well made they are. When I find something that I don't know much about, I always do some Google searching to learn more about my find. Especially in this case because I hadn't seen this shape of chair very much before. This posting and this site call them Dorothy Draper style. This posting  and this posting call the style "Esperanto" chairs.

If any of you know any more background, I would love to hear it!

Another design side-note: most of the time, I try to keep a pretty good mix of old/new items in each space I decorate. In this room, the 'new' items are the banquettes, garden stools, pillows, cowhide rug and mirror. The 'old' items are the armoire (in pic below), white chests, coffee table and now the chairs.

So I'm feeling really good about the 'mix' in this room. More to come!

pretty much perfection

Over a year ago, I pinned this image of Brooke Shields' Manhattan townhouse:

here.

And earlier this week, I came across the original article on Architectural Digest. I'm not sure why I didn't originally seek out more photos of her stunning home. I think her living room is pretty much perfection, so it's no surprise that I feel the same way about the rest of the home.

What is so great about this home is that the design will stand the test of time. Had I seen it on it's original print date, I would have loved it. But it is just as fabulous and relevant today as it was a year ago. Great work by designer David Flint Wood. Classic, personal, polished but slightly quirky- exactly what I strive for in my own designs.

Hope you all are having a great Thursday! I'm working on finishing up the design of a living room and hope to share pics in the coming weeks!