Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Bachman's Holiday House Part 1...and a Fun Giveaway Kitty Win...


I recently visited the Bachman's Holiday Ideas House!  If you aren't familiar with Bachman's- they are a large Landscaping, Nursery, Floral, and Home Store Company in the Twin Cities!  They are celebrating 125 years in business this year.  The Ideas House was a family home built in the 1920's on the flagship store property and is showcasing fun design ideas and products.  You can find links to the three earlier idea houses this year, on my sidebar.  You've probably seen other bloggers posting about this house, so I'm going to show some of the ideas I loved.  I'll break it up into three posts!  Lots of eye candy and inspiration!
This bench looked great with the red blanket and accent pillows!


I loved this idea- they turned glass insulators over battery operated votives for fun lighting!  I have to try this!


Apples at the base of the trees are so colorful, and look at the creative tea strainer ornaments...



How about this toboggan-top table?

 and little trees...


This wall in the dining room used vintage casserole stands backed with mirrors!  I see these all the time at thrift stores~ such a fun idea!  You could probably make bulletin boards and chalkboards, too!  And the framed wallpaper piece behind them could be used for many displays!


I love how they used this vintage sugar bowl...


and this pitcher makes a great wine bucket...


Wouldn't you love to have a wall of pretty stained glass windows?


And look how they added the little shelves and restaurant ware cups for plants!


The chandelier is covered with vintage cookie cutters...


and a cookie cutter serves as a tieback for the cute curtain, too!


The curtain was hung with clothespins...


They backed the shelves with fabric~ easy to change for the season!


This old gate is decorative with skates...


 and an old drawer is given a top board to creative a charming shelf!


I really love the look of this vintage sled coat rack, against the crisp white paint,


these snow shovels artfully displayed on the wall,


and the old tree stands and antlers!  On my next post, I'll show you the living room and some of the upstairs!


Also, I wanted to share a fun giveaway win I just received in the mail!  I won this absolutely wonderful Halloween Kitty from Lorraine of Paper Bird !  Isn't this the best kitty?



She also sent me some Christmas goodies, too!  A charming Santa chocolate bar, and some fun cards she made!  I love how she wrapped them...


and aren't they cute?  I just love the little girl with the pig!  Lorraine is a very creative, artistic person and her blog is full of creativity, inspiration, and eye candy!  I hope you will stop by her blog and say hi!  There is also a special auction of kitties on her blog for the Haiti Gospel Mission on Wednesday December 15th!  Thank you SO much Lorraine...I love my new kitty and goodies!
 

Until next time...
Linda

28 comments:

Fish Tail Cottage said...

so many things to inspire me! thank you for sharing!!!
xoox
~tracie

paperbird said...

You are so welcome Linda.
Thank you so much for posting about our kitty auction that was so very sweet of you. Take care of your kitty and enjoy these sweet days of December.

ps. I love your wall of mirrors- so cool!

Bringing Pretty Back said...

Linda, I love these ideas! The little clothes pins holding up the curtain. ADORABLE!
Have a pretty day!
Kristin

Prior said...

Congrats on your prize! I always look forward to your posts on the Bachman's house. It is so great! I think I've liked the spring deco the best. Thanks for posting. Lezlee

Debra@Common Ground said...

What a great place, love the apples at the base of those gorgeous trees!

Donna@Conghaile Cottage said...

What a FUN place with great ideas...LOVED those candles! I am your newest FOLLOWER, I see we have LOTS&LOTS in common!!! I would love to have you Follow me to, if you'd like!
Have a wonderful FUN week,
Donna

Lynn Richards said...

Linda,
i can't wait to see the other posts-waaay too much fun in one house!!! I adore the silver sugar bowl. And the picture of the girl with the pig is absolutely priceless.
How are you holding up with your winter storms?
xo
lynn

Cindy Adkins said...

Hi Linda,
Wow--this house is so amazing!!! Are they friends of yours?
XO

Cindy Adkins said...

And the kitty is just precious too!!! WOW!

Debbie said...

What fun Holidays ideas! Of course they never disappoint me. I loved the skates on the old window frame!

La said...

This is a fabulous way to start my day. There's so much beauty here, I don't even know where to start.

I see insulators everywhere and I always wondered what people do with them. I love the idea of using them for holiday lighting.

Those "JOY" pillows are fabulous, too. I can't wait to see Part II.

Stay warm, my friend. La

traci said...

when we were there for junk bonanza we went to the store, but not the idea house. we will have to find that next year. wow. i love the wall of stained glass windows and the sled/clothes rack. so cool.

Alice said...

Such talent these decorators have. That's why I'm not one. Everything is so lovely--thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to the next round.

Deb said...

What a great place to get ideas from! I love your kitty too, so cute.

Something Nice and Pretty said...

What great ideas, thanks for sharing love the curtains!

Devonay@LumpkinAndMe said...

I love it all! It's too hard to choose what I like best. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful ideas!

Susan deGeneres said...

Hi Linda,

Thanks for this post. I'm way behind on my holiday decorating, so I need all the inspiration I can get.

I really love the chandi with the cookie cutters.

Stay warm and cozy.
Susan

Kelly said...

There is so much to love here, and so much to take inspiration from! I especially love the drawer on the wall and the mirrored casserole bases...so great! Thanks for sharing these.

Kelly

Jane said...

Yeah! More Bachman's Tours. You know how I love these...so many great ideas. I really like the battery operated candles under the insulators. It's a great look.
Thanks for always posting the pictures of the changing seasons at the Bachman House. It's almost like being there.
Jane

~Tablescapes By Diane~ said...

Hi lovely lady Your home is just Beautiful for the Christmas Holidays !
I love your old gate with the ice skates sweet. You are one of my follower and Im one of yours, did you see my new Tablescapes on my blog ? May be you can take a look Thanks so much sweet lady.
Diane

Gracie's Cottage said...

I would so love to be able to walk thru Bachman's...thanks for making it possible, virtually! The skate gate is my favorite.

Love your prizes from paperbird too...how wonderful they are!

Jan

Pam said...

Thanks for showing my favorite house again! The chandelier w/ cookie cutters is adorable and reminds me that I have some old cookie cutters around here somewhere. The curtains with the deer on them are very cute also. Can't wait until your next post.

The Boston Lady said...

Linda, thank you for sharing this. I always look forward to seeing The Bachman House trough your eyes. I love the arrangement of the stain-glassed windows and how they illuminated them. I have always wanted some of those! One day... And you know I love kitties, so your Halloween kitty is primitively sweet to me! Ann

Vicki said...

Linda I love it ALL! What great ideas. Great win too from the kitty auction. How fun! Staying warm?

A Cottage Muse said...

Thanks for sharing Linda...so much to see...can't wait for your next post!!

Theresa said...

O.k... LOVE the insulators, I almost got rid of mine last week and then decided against it, so glad I kept them! The cookie cutter chandi is so cute too, really so many wonderful ideas! I loved this visit to the idea house, thank you for sharing! Theresa xoxo

Privet and Holly said...

I wanted to see the
Idea House, but just
couldn't squeeze in
one more thing....
Thank you for the tour!
I'm headed for part 2,
now....
xx Suzanne

Sommers Breeze Antiques said...

Oh my, I love the apples in the big tubs to hold the trees!!
Lisa