Merry Christmas!

I’m back with one last unplanned post for Christmas Day.  I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas holiday with your families.  We are really excited bout the possibility of snow here in Atlanta!  My mom, who is visiting from Huntsville, has been getting texts and pictures all morning from her friends telling her about the 3” they have on the ground so far.  It’s supposed to be headed this way so we’ve got our fingers crossed that we will have a white Christmas! 

Here are the last few pictures of holiday decorations that I have to post for my Christmas Time series.  I promise these are the last ones.  :o)   These pictures come from Blayne Beacham of This Photographer’s Life who lives in Atlanta.  Blayne’s home looks so beautiful this year.  I wonder how many of those Christmas presents have been opened by now.  Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your home at Christmas time Blayne!

{Images – Blayne Beacham}

Merry Christmas to all!

LiveJournal Tags: holiday pictures,this photographer's life,blayne beacham

Almost Christmas Time

I hope you all have enjoyed seeing the fun holiday decor that all the readers have sent in.  I have really enjoyed getting a sneak peek inside some of your homes.  Today will be the last installment of the Christmas Time Series.  Thanks so much to everyone who sent in their fun holiday pictures.  I hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I’ll be taking the rest of the year off from blogging and will return with a new blog post onn January 4th. 

Before I share today’s holiday pics, I thought I would share our Christmas card with you.  Billy and I had a blast making making them. 

Happy Holidays Everyone!

xo, Cristi

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Today, Stacy who lives in Macon, GA and writes the blog Simply Delicious is giving us a little glimpse of her home.  Stacy is always posting yummy, gluten free recipes on her blog.

 

And my absolute favorite picture of all is this close up picture of Stacy’s Auburn ornament.  I’m super-excited about this year’s National Championship Game and so is Stacy.  WAR EAGLE!!! 

{Images – Stacy – Macon, GA}

LiveJournal Tags: christmas decorating

More Christmas Time Decor

Today’s bit of Christmas decorating comes from a few different places.  First up is Melissa author of the blog Living a Beautiful Life from Manchester, New Hampshire.  Earlier this year Melissa’s cozy home was featured on ApartmentTherapy.com.  CLICK HERE to tour Melissa’s mid-centery modern home.

{Images above – Melissa - Manchester, New Hampshire}

Next up is Barbara from right here in Atlanta.  Barbara lives in a high-rise in the heart of Midtown and has done a fantastic job of making the most out of her space.  My favorite picture of all is the way she has decorated her modern model home with miniature Christmas trees.  It’s adorable!

And lastly is Glenda from Holtville, Alabama whose tree is beautiful.  Christmas trees are so hard to photograph but Glenda’s tree looks wonderful. 

Thanks again to everyone who has sent in their lovely Christmas decor photos to be featured on my blog.  I’m planning to do one more post before Christmas so please send in your photos if you would like me to feature them on the last “Christmas Time” post.  The details on how to send in your photo can be found HERE.

LiveJournal Tags: christmas decorating,atlanta,holtville,alabama

Christmas Time + A Winner

Before I get to today’s Christmas Time pics I want to announce the winner of the beautiful pillows from the Taylor Galen Workroom.  And the winner is Tina Steele Lindsey. Tina is one absolutely amazing artist.  If you haven’t seen her work you must check it out.  CLICK HERE to go to Tina’s blog.

Thanks so much to Taylor Galen from Outside the Workroom for giving away the pillows.  Taylor also sent a picture of her door to share with us.

{Taylor Galen – Atlanta, GA}

Next up is Melissa from Norcross, GA.  I love the white theme that Melissa has going throughout her house.

The galvanized bucket in lieu of a skirt is such a creative idea.

{3 mages – Melissa – Norcross, GA}

These place settings are beautiful and reindeer plate is adorable.  Love them!

Thanks Taylor and Melissa for sharing your holiday decor!

LiveJournal Tags: holiday decor,outside the workroom,giveaway

Christmas Time

Well, somehow I managed to get all of my Christmas shopping completed in two days.  I will hopefully never ever have to wait until the last minute again.  It wasn’t too fun braving the hoards of people who were out doing the same thing I was doing, but at least it’s over with.  Now I can try to relax for the rest of this week and do some really important stuff like baking. 

Last week I asked for readers to send in pictures of their homes decorated for Christmas so that I could share them with everyone.  Up first is is Kelly’s from Columbus, OH, and here is a link to Kelly’s blog 1551 Transformed.

Enjoy!

 Cute pooch!

Adding Christmas lights to your wine bottles is such a festive way to decorate your kitchen or bar area.

 

{images – kelly}

Kelly, thanks for sharing your pictures with us. 

What a beautiful home! 

LiveJournal Tags: christmas decorating

Christmas Time..Show Me Your Stuff

{Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle}

If you haven’t noticed it’s getting pretty darn close to Christmas.  I am definitely not prepared this year.  I’ve bought a total of 2 whole gifts so far.  I’ve got one shopping weekend left and I’m sure it’s going to be a madhouse out there.  I’m going to put on my brave face though and get it done. 

One thing I have done is my Christmas decorating.  We only did a tree this year due to lack of time to decorate anything else but even our tree adds just enough Christmas to our home. 

I thought it would be fun if I featured some of YOUR Christmas decorations on my blog.  It will be fun for me to see how you all have decorated your homes but it will also be fun for everyone else to see as well. 

So here’s what I need from you.  Send me an email to plansforhomedesigndesign@gmail.com and attach a picture or two of your decorated home.  It can be of the outside or the inside.  In the subject line of the email write “Christmas Time” and in the body of the email let me know 2 things: 1.) Your City and State, 2.)  Your name, blog or twitter handle(or you can choose to show your picture anonymously). 

Start sending your pictures as soon as  you get them ready.  I’ll start posting these pictures on Monday of next week.  I can’t wait to see all of your incredible decorations.

 

xo, Cristi

LiveJournal Tags: christmas decorating

Unlocking the Secrets to Success

Just a quick note…check out yesterday’s giveaway post if you haven’t seen it already.  I’ve got some really cute pillows to give away! 

CLICK HERE to go to the post.

This weekend Erika from BluLabel Bungalow, Capella from A Curated Lifestyle and I spoke at the Lavish! conference about turning your readers into clients.  Since we consider ourselves designers who blog instead of bloggers who design it was a perfect topic for us.  We met a few times before the conference so that we could brainstorm on the best ways to reach out to potential clients and bring more readers to your blog. 

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the conference I thought I would share some highlights from our tip sheet.

Interiors & the Internet: Unlocking the Secrets to Success Through Your Blogging and Social Media Efforts

Why Launch a Blog?

~Blogging is basically free [at least monetarily free] marketing for your company.

~Posting consistently is extremely important when you first create your blog.

~Blogging is a great way to show your company’s personality.

~A blog is a great way to increase search engine optimization.

Blog Design

~Your blog’s design is your first chance to make an impression on readers & potential clients.

~Be recognizable and keep your graphics consistent throughout each of your social media platforms.

How Do You Reach Your Target Audience

~Step One…Determine who your target audience is.

~Engage your readers by commenting on their blogs, creating newsletters and email subscriptions and communicating on Twitter

~Making connections and networking is just as important in the blogging and social media world as it is in the real world.

Create Content that Keeps Them Coming Back

~Have a unique point of view and position yourself as an expert

~Blog with a plan, a purpose and consistency

~Engage your readers with questions/polls/surveys

Show Your Stuff

~Remind readers that you are a designer.

~Use your blog for progress shots and your website for professional portfolio shots.

~Emphasize your brand.

Inter-Networking & The Big 5 (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Linked-In, YouTube)

~Develop a content strategy that will engage your audience.

~Grow your fan base by posting quality content.

~Add Your Social Media info to your email signature.

~Learn which social media outlets your target markets use.

Transforming Readers Into Clients

~Be patient, building trust takes time.

~Offer something of value to your readers (ebooks, giveaways, newsletter, coupon codes).

~Be responsive, but not pushy.

~Ask for the business, Give quality service, Thank client, Repeat.

***Check out Erika’s Blog to download our actual tips sheet as well as see links to notes from other speakers’ sessions.

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And that is our presentation in a nutshell.  These were just some of the highlights.  It would be a pretty long post if I wrote out our our entire 45 minute presentation.  I hope this will be useful to those of you who have a design related company and are trying to turn your readers into clients. 

xo, Cristi

LiveJournal Tags: Lavish conference,blogs,Blulabel bungalow,A curated lifestyle