It’s time to start planning decorations for a modern holiday. One of my favorite Thanksgiving posts of all time was written by Dwell Studio’s founder, Christiane Lemieux awhile back. You can revisit it here. Here’s a little teaser:

Since I didn’t grow up with all the trappings of an American Thanksgiving, I felt free to create my own tradition. On this holiday, the meal itself will be the center of attention, so you don’t need to do much in the way of decorating. The rich cranberry red, the warm orange of pumpkin and sweet potatoes, the perfect honey brown of a crisp turkey — it’s already a gorgeous color palette.

She let the food be the star of the show by using beautiful monochromatic linens. It’s such a nice balance:

Thinking ahead to Hanukkah, how happy are you with your menorah? If you’re looking to break with tradition and try something more modern, there are tons of options out there. I love this organic one from Flickr member Less&More:

I also love the simplicity of this understated menorah by Josh Owen:

Thinking ahead to Christmas, we’re finding inspiration from our Fresh New Spaces Group on Flickr. Thanks to Flickr member citrusandorange for switching up our ideas about sticking with red and green:

Branches and beautiful vintage ornaments in unexpected colors make for beautiful vignettes.

Speaking of vintage, Flickr member Electica Miamiadded ths fun vignette, which makes me feel nostalgic for my old Flexible Flyer:

Flickr member Peezeth knows how to keep things minimal, sleek, and subtly festive:

Flickr member 1richtungsblog kept things limited to gold and white, adding sophisticated holiday style:

How will you be decorating for the holidays? PLEASE share your photos from the past and present with us in our Fresh New Spaces Group, or share links in the comments section to wherever you have them posted online.

Once again, a flickr favorite came from Flickr member Saidos da Concha, who added them to our Fresh New Spaces Group. Blogger Concha has moved from Lisbon Portugal to Staffordshire England. She’s obviously finding some beautiful leaves around the countryside to bring into her English home, adding organic autumnal style. What I really like is that rather than going for the typical firey red and brilliant orange leaves we’re used to seeing in fall decorating, she included leaves that were still half-green and light yellow. I never would have thought of this:

Don’t you just want to plan a room around the colors in those leaves on the left side of the mantle? It’s such a beautiful color palette! I also love the way she’s tied in the sweet little gourds, the bird prints, and the books in this mantle arrangement. Simple clear glass vases let the leaves be the stars.

A master of tablescapes and shelf arranging, once again Concha has created a beautiful and fun composition here. The grahpics on the posters are crisp, more intricate little works of art are mixed in, stacks of books that could be total pulp (though I do spy some literary classics) add another layer, and a mustachioed rabbit and a fun little car top off the piles of books. It’s so much fun! I also love the way she tucked these leaves behing the sconce. They will cast interesting shadows at night when the lights are on.

If you’re struggling with ideas for your Thanksgiving decorations, why not take a look around at the leaves outside, grab a pair of pruners, and swipe a few?

Read Concha’s full blog post here

Have you been watching Mad Fashion on Bravo? I have, as I pretty much watch everything on Bravo, well, except for Most Eligible Dallas, which looks too awful even for me. Anyway, I loved Chris March on Project Runway because he’s so creative and hilarious, and it’s so much fun to see him in his element, creating costumes like a Mardi Gras outfit for Jennifer Coolidge.

See that fab rug in the background? Yeah, we got that. It’s the Thomas Paul Flock Dhurrie in Green and Cream, and it will ground your room with a vibrant layer of a rich mossy green oversized pattern. The Thomas Paul Rug Collection is made of high quality wool with the finest construction available. It’s kind of baroque-goes-modern:

Never in a million years would I have thought to pair it with hot pink, but in the case of March’s studio, it works.

Have you been watching Mad Fashion? What has your favorite challenge been? The most shocking thing to me is that the clients tend to hire him about two days before a crazy event and they whip something together in no time flat! I’m just hoping that one day someone will actually choose to wear one of Izzy Decauwert’s fabulous wigs – she puts so much time and love into them and it seems no one ever opts to top of their outfit with her creation. Where do crazy unused wigs go after such rejection? The Wendy Williams Show?

Besides seeing Jennifer Coolidge, who is always hilarious on TV and movies and in “real life,” Dina Manzo’s closet was my other favorite thing about this show. It was so much larger than my entire house and it’s shoe heaven. Totally insane:

Anyway, if you haven’t caught this little gem of a show it really is delightful. Check it out on Bravo; I’m sure it’s on like ten times a week like every other show on Bravo!

First and third photos via bravotv.com