Holiday photos courtesy of Denise King
I don't recall when I started using the term "borrowed view," but living in an urban neighborhood certainly affords lots of opportunity for just that. We live next door to Denise King and Mike Mullen, and while there lots of reasons why they are fabulous neighbors, Denise's window boxes belong somewhere high on that list (see last photo). Not only does Denise have a wonderful sense of color and a touch for gardening, the couple's condo looks like it stepped out of a home and lifestyle magazine, especially during the holidays.
Because of allergies, Denise is an artificial tree-hugger. "The key to making an artificial tree look alive (see above)," Denise said, "is to really, really fluff it." An interior designer once gave Denise tips on decorating a tree: Divide the ornaments (which she has been collecting for twenty years) into piles and place the big ornaments on the tree first. Finish with very small ornaments and/or fillers. Always make sure your star makes a dramatic statement. You want equal balance from top to bottom. And don't be afraid to load the inner branches with ornaments, so the tree looks two-dimensional.
Denise and Mike's kitchen fireplace mantel gets special treatment for the Christmas holidays, above and below.
Denise saw the felt stockings, above, in the window at Rothschild's (Euclid and McPherson), and couldn't resist.
In early October I took pictures of Denise's window boxes, above, which are what make our "borrowed view" so very special.
Thank you so much Denise and Mike for taking part in this holiday's virtual house tour. This mini-series is proving to be quite popular, with lots of viewers in the past few days. Stay tuned for more!