Spotting Trends at The Atlanta Gift and Home Furnishings Market

I've just returned from the Atlanta Gift and Home show, and look what I found!

One of the biggest delights of walking the Atlanta Market is that you are literally surrounded by the culmination of all those Trend Reports, morphed into three dimensions.  

The photo above is part of the Pantone exhibit, 

showing some of their yummy colors from their 2016 trend palette in application.

I only had two days to walk the market this time, 

but instantly saw textures,
themes, and palettes 

that will be in your 
favorite stores this year.

This Lobster Towel Holder from Mud Pie is one example of a continuing trend - what I call the Ocean Life Trend 
that has been so deliciously hot for a couple of years now.

These unbleached paper towels have the Pantone Iced Coffee hue, 
and that natural wood 
was all over the Market.  

And I do mean all over.

It was so soothing,
so quietly lovely 
after all that distressed
white chalk paint we've
been seeing for a few years.
Which I have a lot of
in my home.  Time to strip.

I saw a lot of Serenity Blue
coupled with a lovely shade 
of Pantone's Snorkel Blue...
usually punched up with
Peach Echo or sitting
sweetly with creamy white
and natural wood.





This Balustrade from Jamie Dietrich
portrays both that Pantone
2016 Color of The Year
- Serenity -
and also continues the
Ocean Life Trend.





Splashes of gold in all types of metallic finishes
continued that turn toward warm instead of cool.

Like these fabulous sconces offered by Vagabond Vintage:

The infatuation with deer heads and racks of antlers has grown even deeper.

Moose antlers, deer antlers, whole racks and parts of antlers.

I do love the antlers, but I'm tired of the deer head outlines - give me some detail!

Another presentation from Jamie Dietrich, with golden-toned antlers.

This lovely silver bowl 

 is from 

Ben and Lael, Inc.  

I could run on and on, but will save some for the next post.  

I'll finish up with this Wall Art from Surya:

It incorporates just about every color from the Pantone 2016 palette, and could be hung in any room that has any of the above pieces in it.

And lastly, let's return to one of the Pantone displays in Atlanta:

See what I mean?  Now, go shopping!!

Tummy Suck, Pelvic Tuck, and Shoulder Roll

See this pretty girl from Mireille Dagher's Spring/Summer 2016 Collection?
Her pelvis is tucked properly underneath and in line with her head,
her (okay, non-existent) tummy is sucked in,
and her shoulders are rolled back to make her chest proud.

What I'm pointing out here, girls and guys, is that it is time to
Tuck it Up, Suck it Up, and get that Chest All Proud.
  

And I am not talking about Plastic Surgery here.
You gotta work on this.

See this guy's posture?

This is how you should NOT stand,
but is how I do, because I've done it all my life.
I think they call it Sway Back.

I call it "Leading with my Stomach".
It is my Mom's posture, which I inherited.

The problem with this is,
your tummy perpetually sticks out in front of everything else.

And your butt looks enormous.
Even though it is just pleasingly round.

Somewhere during last Fall, I figured out that the
reason my tummy always looked like a fire hydrant in profile
was because I was literally Poking it Out by standing
like this guy on the left.  Sway Backed.
So last month I made up a new rule.

Suck.  And Tuck.
TUCK my butt back up underneath my shoulders.
SUCK my tummy in, and roll my shoulders back.
   Get really PROUD of my chest.

That way, THIS is what happens:

Well, you are not going to look exactly like this,
but see how her shoulders are rolled back, and how Proud her Chest is??
We won't look at whether or not she is Sucking and Tucking, because with a six pack like that, who the heck needs to think about sucking her tummy in?

But I can tell you that if you follow the above instructions,
your clothes will hang right,
and you will have the hint of a waist
for the first time in years.
Testify.

Every minute of every day, Suck, Tuck, and Roll.

Look in the mirror at your profile;
SMILE.