Our December Home to Remember

The Wanlass family resides in a super fantastic Italianate-Victorian dating back to the 1860s. It sits prominently on a tree lined street, amid Arts and Crafts Bungalows and other vintage styled homes just a stones throw from the water's edge off of the Carquinez Straits. The home is, of course, flippin incredible- duh. It is the epitome of Filthy Gorgeousness- as it should be! Tirzah Ortiz-Wanlass is my business partner and an interior design style icon, and... my sissy-pooh. This holiday season, after much angst and a ridiculous amount of hoopla, we are pleased to finally allow you a peek into one of the well springs and originations of Filthy Gorgeous Life. So, get cozy and lets see what we gots...

Oh! BTW, the photography sucks, yes thank you, I know. Like I said, a lot of hoopla... I couldn't get it together enough to coordinate with our photographer so you got stuck with me... gimme a break!

The Family Room...

One word- VINTAGE! Yes people, items formerly owned by another can be just gorgeous! No, you don't need to refinish something that's chipped or cracked or, as I prefer to refer to such treasures as, time worn. Simply because Santa's left boot has seen better holidays does not mean he's finished. No, no. As long as he can still stand, he can still offer plenty of holiday cheer! On a more important note, notice the collections guys. They coordinate, not match, co-ordinate. Let's keep moving...

The tree is simple, but full of small wonders... individually selected vintage balls mingle with vintage-esque tinsel garland and basic white lights... AND, the tree itself, with open airy spaces between the branches helps to show off each of these individual treasures. Thats something worth noting, do you give your tree much thought, or do you simply buy from the closest lot?

Instead of a santa here, an gingerbread house there, a manger set over there, etc etc, etc, group things in coherent collections to create tiny vingettes and miniture view-scapes for more visual impact and increased sense of good ol' specialness!

What I wanted to point out here is not the loverly ornaments or the sparkly tinsel garland, nope, I want you to check out the lights on the tree. Take the time to wrap your branches individually. TURST ME, ITS WORTH THE HASSEL! Its a Christmas Tree guys(!!) not leftover ham to be hastily wrapped in saran-wrap!

Often times people, we feel the need to put away 'usual' decor and replace with our Christmas odds and ends. No need, silly. Remember KISS??? Keep it simple, stack and collect everyday pieces (where possible) together into a backdrop of sorts and simply place holiday items front and center. Like a good outfit, its all about layering. Riiight? Right!















You know what Im gonna say- DOMES, DOMES DOMES! If you dont have them already... ummm... why?

The Living Room...



The centerpiece of this room is the antique, square-back piano. So it becomes necessary to build or tier-down from here. A sweet antique feather tree sits pretty at center stage. This also provides the perfect spot for showcasing some of the more special or sentimental tree ornaments. Little mercury glass highlights pepper the remaining space for a bit of sparkle- yay!

The Dining Room

A straight line, contemporary dining table is contrasted perfectly by the classic Holly, holiday arrangements.

-J