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More from Holly Mang of Brick Street Botanical

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It’s fitting that Holly Mang of Brick Street Botanical share her ideas for decorating with “holly,” right? Here, the Rogers florist offers a step-by-step approach to creating balls of holly that can dress up doorways, chandeliers and more. “The options are endless,” she says.

Deck the Halls with Holly

Step one: Start with holly branches, a one-third block of wet floral foam, pipe cleaners, pine cones, clippers, scissors and wire cutters. Additional ornaments can be added as well.

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Step two: Using a pencil, make a hole straight through the foam.

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Step three: Fold a pipe cleaner in half and insert into the hole, leaving a small loop to attach ribbon hanger.

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Step four: Flip foam over, place a small piece of holly stem against the foam and twist pipe cleaner. (The stem prevents the wire from ripping through floral foam.)

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Step five: Begin inserting holly branches into the face of the foam block to develop a shape.

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Step six: Add ribbon to loop on top of floral foam before it is hidden by holly. Continue to cover foam completely with holly.

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Step seven: Wire optional ornamental additions such as pine cones.

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Step eight: Hang your hand-crafted Christmas decoration wherever your heart desires!

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Organize Your Closet (In Less Than 10 Steps!)

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Katie Buchanan of Little Rock Paper Scissors has 13+ years experience in fashion, retail and event management, so it’s no surprise her business (organization, event planning, style consultations, holiday gift wrapping and delivery, you name it!) is exploding! We love her chipper personality and are thrilled that she allowed us a view of her own closet clean-up. Aren’t the results fabulous?

Thanks, Katie! (When can you come over to our house?)

Although I happily spend my time in a profession that involves organizing other folks’ messes, I rarely make time to sort out my own junk properly! Do as I say, not as I do, if you will. But with 2010 brewing, I decided to “hire” myself to get my own disastrous closet in tip-top shape. After all, I had recently moved into my own house…ahem…eight months ago, and the shoes on my dining room table were making it difficult to serve a decent meal.

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I have a philosophy when it comes to organizing the useful yet rarely-seen closet/pantry/attic spaces in a home: We all go to such lengths to make the obvious rooms in our homes look beautiful with well-chosen colors, fabrics, furniture and fixtures, yet when it comes to the closet we personally enter 85 times a day, we treat it like a trash heap. There is absolutely no reason that our private spaces shouldn’t be as lovely as the rest of the home while remaining functional. After all, YOU are using that trashy closet, and YOU deserve to look at an extra-pretty space as much as sweet Aunt Hilda who has tea in your decked-out living room once a year!

To begin, I decided to paint the inside of my closet the same shade of pink as my adjoining bedroom. (Because, fun, hot single girls can get away with that sort of thing.) While a paint job is not a necessary step in this process, it did get my lazy ball rolling.

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Painting the closet not only made me love it more, it forced me to TAKE EVERYTHING OUT OF IT. Removing absolutely everything is the very best way to really get down and dirty and purge what you don’t need, hate, or, let’s face it, can never fit in again. I was resigned to only put back what I truly loved and needed, including my Mt. St. Mary high school uniform, but not including the dress I wore to Sigma Chi formal senior year in college. You see where I’m going with this…..prioritize wisely!

The one downside of removing everything is that, well, everything is removed. This made the task look daunting! But it also forced me to get myself into gear, unless I wanted to sleep in a hotel.

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…much less walk anywhere in my house.

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When it was time for the actual closet re-organization, I followed the guidelines that I use when re-vamping closets for my clients:

1. Only keep what I really love or need.

Check the denial at the door and be ruthlessly honest with yourself. The cost of letting clutter pile up in your life far outweighs what it might cost to replace a silly skirt you haven’t worn in 6 years.

2. Hang as much as possible.

Jeans, t-shirts, slacks, all of it. More often that not, if you can’t see it, you won’t use it.

3. Use thin, sleek felted hangers; your space will double.

Although plastic and wood hangers make a closet look great, they are far bulkier and do not grip clothing well (without ugly hanger marks on the shoulders).

4. Hang pants and skirts on tiered, clipped pant hangers.

5. Only fold things like sweaters, lounge wear and pajamas.

Use extra drawer space for accessories.

6. Keep out-of-season items, eveningwear and rarely used specialty items in a guest room or spare closet.

Doing this will force seasonal rotation and purging.

7. Store out-of-season or specialty shoes, hats and handbags in safe, mildew and moth resistant containers.

Place containers in alternate closet or under beds. Do not store in attics that are not climate controlled!

8. Did you hear me when I said be ruthless????

The results…

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Guest Series Finale with This is Glamorous

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It’s been fun but, alas, our Spring Guest Blogger Series must come to an end. After all, summertime is here. Helping us recall the fleeting beauty of spring is none other than Roséline of This is Glamorous. (You may remember the lovely guest post she dreamed up for our Holiday Series.) Here she is again with a stunning series of images, and a note for you to read as well. Thank you, Roséline, for being a constant source of beauty and inspiration…and now a part of At Home in Arkansas.

Come and let us seek together / Springtime lore of daffodils, / Giving to the golden weather / Greeting on the sun-warm hills.
Ours shall be the moonrise stealing / Through the birches ivory-white . . .

There is a certain charm to the falling leaves of autumn and a loveliness to being cozy by a fire in the wintertime, but shall always and forever adore spring and summer best; and while the magnolias may have gone and the lilacs soon to follow, there is the promise of long weekends and saltwater kisses and an utterly romantic and lush green-ness to everything that inspires thoughts of throwing open all the windows and French doors to the green, green gardens and breathing in every single and last sunlit ray, a glass of lemonade — or champagne, if you prefer — in hand, dreaming away the moments with thoughts and plans of the long and languid days ahead . . .

 

 

{images: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten – the little big house, eleven – scans by this is glamorous, photography by polly wreford for at home with white by atlanta bartlett; poem from spring song by lucy maud montgomery}

Cara Wilkerson’s Easy Holiday Furniture Redo

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If you ask us, Cara Wilkerson is the local queen of furniture makeovers (check out her blog, Live the Home Life, for a taste of her fab projects and fun humor). And we were just delighted that Cara made over a set of chairs just for us! Come to find out, it’s really quite simple! Have a look, then get to work making over a couple of chairs of your own, just in time for Christmas dinner.

PS- Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a year-long subscription to At Home in Arkansas magazine! Click here for details, and to see our month-long Holiday Guest Blogger Series schedule.

When my friends at At Home in Arkansas asked me

to whip up a special Furniture Flip for their holiday guest blogger series, not only was I honored to have been asked but also super excited to haul out holiday decorations from the depths of my attic and get down to serious rehabbing business.

If you are anything like my crew of friends and family, you too tend to cram as many folks around a dining table as possible. Extra seating is never turned away from one of our holiday gatherings, so a couple of arm chairs was a no-brainer choice for this round of rehabbing. Let’s kick off this experiment with a few before shots of our guinea pigs…

In this neck of the woods, I tend to stick to a lime green & cherry red color scheme for holiday decorations. Since these chairs were in need of just a smidge of reupholstery, no better way to keep this furniture flip in the spirit of the season than to choose a fabric along the same lines.

First up, removing the seat of the chair from the frame. Most dining chairs have just a few screws anchoring the seat to the frame, so with the twist of a screwdriver, the seat popped right off.

Next up, the always enjoyable task of plucking the old staples to release the fabric and batting. A pair of needle nose pliers can help knock out this job in no time.

A few layers of batting give your seat a fuller look and adds a little cushion. When measuring batting, leave a few inches of overhang for stapling. Gently tug the batting over the underside of the seat and use a staple gun to secure all the way around.

Measure and cut fabric just as the batting—leave a few inches overhang. Staple to secure the fabric around the entire perimeter of the seat.

Once the fabric is secure, just reattach the seat to the frame using the original screws. That’s it! A super simple way to add additional seating (and a little extra spice) to holiday entertaining.

color confidential with tobi fairley: decorating with neutrals

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Q:

Dear Tobi,

I love using neutrals in my home, but I still want it to feel fresh and up to date. Are there any popular neutrals that you can recommend?

Leslie, Pine Bluff

 

A:

Hi Leslie,

Thanks for writing in to us! This is a great question and one that I’m sure lots of other people wonder about as well. Neutrals are a classic look that can always be in style, but I am continuing to see gray as a very popular color. Here are three of my favorite shades for living and sleeping spaces.

Pearl Gray (Sherwin Williams 0052) is a light, fresh shade of the color.

 

Silvermist (Sherwin Williams 7621) offers a shade that has lots of blue undertones.

Uncertain Gray (Sherwin Williams 6234) provides more saturated color.

Recently, there has also been a huge trend toward “greige,” or a mix of gray and beige tones. Greige is popping up everywhere, but it’s especially hot on kitchen cabinetry.

 

Here are a few of my top Greige picks.

Morris Room Grey, SW0037

Universal Khaki, SW6150

Amazing Gray 7044

Last, but not least, if you want something deeper choose a charcoal gray. You can use it as a wall color to create a cozy look or in accents. It also pairs well with brights if you like to accent with a few pops of color here and there. One of my favorite combinations is charcoal and yellow. You can pair a deep wall color with accents like the ones I use in my Home collection.

[From top left: Grizzle Gray SW7068 paint chip, Venus, Atlas and Athens pillows from Tobi Fairley Home, Rothesay Lantern from Tobi Fairley Home and Bistro, Athens and Marrakech fabrics.]

I hope this “new” neutral is just what you’re looking for in your home!

Happy Decorating!

Tobi

Welcome Executive Chef Jason Godwin!

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Today, guest blogger Jason Godwin, executive chef with Simply the Best Catering in North Little Rock, chimes in with three of his favorite holiday recipes: spiced pecans, brioche and sweet potato gratin. Each is versatile and delicious (a magical combination when it comes to holiday cooking!) and was especially chosen for you, At Home’s readers, to help spice up that holiday menu!

Jason’s resume includes a culinary degree from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and a stint at the Capital Hotel as pastry sous chef. He also worked with Americorps VISTA in 2004, coordinating chefs who taught classes to low income individuals about cooking cost consciously.

We’re honored you stopped by, Jason. Turning it over to you!

Three Holiday Recipes

These pecans are awesome. You can play with the recipe until you come up with something that you like! I usually add a little cayenne pepper to the meringue, but you could also use cinnamon, curry powder, nutmeg, etc. Have fun with it! Why not make a big batch of these and package them up as gifts for all your friends and family? The packaging is up to you; these sweet, crunchy, buttery snacks will speak for themselves.

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I picked this dough because of its versatility and relative simplicity. It is also a crowd pleaser because of its richness. It is different than many breads in that it has eggs and butter. Every time I make this brioche, I think about how it is almost impossible to find at the grocery store and that, when I was living in France, the brioche section of the supermarket was almost as big as the regular bread section! You can add chocolate chips, dried fruit, cocoa powder, sweet potatoes…the possibilities are endless. I like to roll extra dough out, sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar, and then roll it up for cinnamon rolls. It also makes a great French toast.

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Most people think of a gratin as containing cheese. However, the word “gratin” refers to the crust that forms when the dish is cooked. This can be achieved with cheese or bread crumbs, or by using heat to caramelize the natural sugars in the product. Celery root, or celeriac, is widely used in Europe and often in restaurants. It is, however, overlooked in home cooking. It is a fairly gnarly-looking root that can now be found at many grocery stores, and its flavor is mild, nutty, creamy and savory. It is one of my favorite ingredients because of its versatility, as it can be used in soups, purees, gratins and even salads. I would definitely recommend incorporating a root into your home cooking. Don’t be scared…I think you will pleased with the result!

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Imagery: MarthaStewart.com, Saveur and At Home in Arkansas

Top 10 Tips For Selecting Paint Color For Your Home

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guest-blogger

Welcome Mary Lawlor, color stylist at Kelly-Moore Paints! To complement our Color issue, now online, she’s here with her top tips for selecting paint color for your home. Mary tracks the paint industry’s color trends and develops both consumer and trade-friendly color tools for Kelly-Moore. She speaks to design and paint groups on color forecasts and provides insight on color trends and color style evolution. We’re happy she joined us–Check out what she had to say!

A successful color scheme is a scheme that is pleasant to live with and reflects the moods and personalities of the people living in it. Creating living areas that allow us to rest and relax are just as important as creating other places that invigorate or stimulate us. Light and color affect our senses. Bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens all serve different needs. A few tips can help you find a right palette for your home..

1. Don’t pick paint colors at the paint store –

go to the paint store without any preconceived color ideas. Select a wide variety of color samples to consider from the store selector and take them to the room being painted.

2. Look around your room for existing elements like carpet or furniture –

their color will play a part in the color-making decision.

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These bright furniture colors are grounded with Kelly-Moore’s HL4263-3 Hammered Pewter, a cool neutral color from the Arts & Crafts palette.

3. Place your color samples on or near the existing elements in the room to be painted.

At this point you should see immediately any colors that will not work in your space and eliminate them

4. Of the remaining colors, consider those you love and those you didn’t know you loved –

a surprise color might be just right for your space.

5. A pleasing color scheme will include a blend of warm and cool colors –

a color wheel is an invaluable tool. Use it to help find colors that work well with your existing elements. Most color wheels offer helpful hints for putting schemes together. Even if you are only using one paint color in your room, the colors of other items in the room will create a color scheme.

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The neutrals in this room are a combination of calm and bold. Only the cushions and draperies add that all-important dash of color. Kelly-Moore’s Trim HL4241-1 Stocking White; Wall 1 HL4217-3 Limbert Leather; Wall 2 HL4279-3 British Khaki

6. Ask yourself what mood you want to convey in the area being painted –

A quiet workspace might need the tranquil feeling created by cooler colors like blues and greens. Gathering places might want to feel a little livelier. Warm colors like reds and oranges tend to add excitement to an environment. (Click here and here for inspiration.)

7. Heavily saturated colors make great accents, the smaller their use the better.

For an overall color, look for more neutralized colors. For example, if you have a desire for a yellow room, the perfect yellow might not be yellow at all, but a neutral with yellow undertones. (Click here for inspiration.)

8. Colors intensify when applied en mass.

Selecting a color slightly lighter than your first choice is suggested. (Click here for inspiration.)

9. Be aware of available lighting –

color will look different in varying light sources. Color viewed in natural light during the day changes once a light is turned on. Old style “cool” fluorescent lights tend to wash out colors. Color in a room with “warm” incandescent light appears more natural. A more energy efficient choice is the newer compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). They are now available in a variety of color temperatures, with a 3500K being the most pleasing — not too cool or too warm and reveal colors very accurately.

10. Don’t be afraid to use color –

it will enrich your space. It can also be changed relatively easily when you have a desire to explore a new area!

August Issue Sneak Peek + Debut of The Traveling Designer with Tobi Fairley

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We know, it may be cruel of us to tease you with these images from our August Family Homes issue (in our defense, it will be on shelves and in your mailboxes very soon). But we couldn’t resist! We were absolutely and utterly thrilled with how it turned out.

These images show two of the homes featured in the issue, one belonging to Laura Day (of Laura Day Living) and the other designed by Tobi Fairley (of Tobi Fairley Interior Design). We’re happy to also reveal that Tobi Fairley and Laura Day will both be guest blogging for us soon! So keep checking back, because these fabulous and renowned designers are sure to have oodles of tips and info for you.

And since we’re revealing things, we might as well go ahead and fill you in on the exciting new guest blog series we’re starting with Tobi Fairley, called “The Traveling Designer with Tobi Fairley.” Debuting NEXT WEEK on Wednesday, Tobi will be stopping by to share with you her favorite finds, shopping destinations, delicious meals, chic hotels and behind-the-scenes design news from her travels around the globe. Next week’s inaugural post topic? New York City! We can’t wait, and hope you’ll check back and help us give Tobi a big At Home in Arkansas welcome as she takes you with her on her glamorous design adventures. We look forward to having you, Tobi!

Photography by Nancy Nolan

Photography by Nancy Nolan

Photography by Nancy Nolan

In case you missed them:

Summertime in Eureka Springs

Rustic Redo on Beaver Lake

La Dolce Vita’s Top 10 Reasons to Love the Holidays

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We can’t say enough good things about Paloma Contreras. Not only is she one of the sweetest guests we’ve had, but she authors a stellar blog (La Dolce Vita) and just founded the exciting new lifestyle magazine, High Gloss. In the spirit of the “10 Things I Can’t Live Without” series she features on her own blog, we decided to turn the tables on her and ask what 10 things she likes most about the holidays. Her answers will inspire your most stylish holiday ever!

It’s hard to believe that another year has passed

and the holidays are upon us yet again! I love this time of year. Not only is it a season filled with love, hope, and fellowship with friends and family, it is also a fabulous reason to add a little tinsel to one’s home, a touch of sparkle to one’s wardrobe, and a personal touch to every gift. These are just a few of the things I can’t live without during the holiday season.

1. Classic Christmas Music

Nothing gets me in the Christmas spirit quite like some classic Christmas tunes! Whether it’s Nat King Cole belting out “Chestnuts Roasting Over an Open Fire” or Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” these songs bring back the warmest memories of my childhood.


2. Personalized Holiday Cards

I am a huge advocate for handwritten correspondence as it truly is a dying art form. I have noticed in the past couple of years that not only are people not sending handwritten thank yous very often, they also seem to have forgone the wonderful tradition of sending Christmas cards. This is such an easy and personal way to spread good cheer and it is one of my favorite holiday traditions. Make a commitment to send out at least a few cards this year!


3. A Little Sparkle

The holidays often mean lots of parties and dinners. A quick way to take an outfit from the office to cocktail hour is by simply adding a little sparkle.


{From Left: Stella and Dot Necklace, Madewell Necklace, J.Crew Cuff}

4. A Beautifully Set Table with an Unexpected Color Theme

A wonderful way to make your guests feel special is by going all out with your table setting. I love setting a festive table with some unexpected elements. This table is not only beautiful and festive, but the color palette and black stripes are completely unexpected for the holidays.


5. Handwritten Thank You Cards

One should strive to not only be a good host, but a great guest as well. Always send your hostess a handwritten thank you note or follow up the next day with a personal phone call thanking them for a wonderful time. The same goes for Christmas gifts. Make sure to say thank you! Nothing is more special than receiving a beautiful, handwritten note in the mail.


6. Fabulous Hostess Gifts

My mother taught me that one should never show up to a party or dinner empty-handed. A couple of my favorite hostess gifts are Swanson Vineyards witty and delicious Modern House Wines, each of which is inscribed with a fun sentiment. Their Clarke’s Bark chocolate-merlot toffee is out of this world and highly-addictive! Another favorite hostess gift that usually gets a lot of mileage is a lovely candle. My current favorite is Lagniappe by LeSueur Interiors. My friend, Meg, had them custom blended to smell like the South. They have hints of oak, fig, hay and jasmine and smell divine!


7. Delicious Food

You can never go wrong with easy, delicious recipes from The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten! She has a new book out, Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That? along with a collection of all of her cookbooks just in time for the holidays!


8. Chic Travel Accessories

The holidays are one of the busiest travel times of the year. Travel in style with stylish and easy to identify travel accessories, like these from Abas.

9. Festive Party Outfits

The holidays give us a fun reason to dress up each year and there are so many options out there whether we are looking for a fabulous cocktail dress or something a little more casual to pair with skinny jeans and some boots.

{This beautiful jade frock from J.Crew is the perfect color for Christmas!}

10. Cookies!

One of my favorite traditions from my childhood was baking Christmas cookies with my mom and sister. We would make so many varieties and would give them to friends, family, the mail man and our neighbors. We always made sure to keep some for ourselves, too!

Welcome Cassandra LaValle of Coco+Kelley!

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Full of inspiration day in and day out, whether home or fashion related, Coco+Kelley graces our list of very favorite design blogs, and just about everyone else’s list too! Cassandra LaValle launched Coco+Kelley in 2007 and her endeavors quickly snowballed thanks to her natural talent and gleaming personality, which both shine through in her daily posts. We’re positively elated that this nationally-recognized blogger joined our cast of guests, sharing ideas for her favorite tabletop this holiday season. Follow her stylish lead and give it a try! Your holiday table will thank you.

Over to you, Cassandra!

Chic Holiday Tablescape

There are few things I love more in life than setting a beautiful table. After all, creating a space that welcomes guests to join in on intimate conversation, fabulous food, and an evening that is nothing short of memorable is a complete joy for all involved! Needless to say, the holidays are my favorite time of year for this very reason. Of course, with so many pieces of inspiration to pull from, creating my own tabletop for Thanksgiving or Christmas is never easy! This year, I spent hours going through my files and searching online to come up with a table that would be perfect for entertaining all winter long…

Coco Kelley Tablesetting

When putting together a tablescape, I tend to gravitate towards unusual color palettes as well as a mix of styles and textures to create something a little more unexpected for my guests. Lately, I’ve found myself very attracted to this rich teal blue, and knew I wanted to use it this year as an accent color. By pairing it with golds, coppers and a rusty red we add loads of warmth and a little bit of sparkle – something every table should have!

This time of year, fresh flowers at the last minute can be less than desirable. Unless you’re ordering a centerpiece ahead of time, I find it’s easier (and less expensive!) to put together an arrangement that can be easily moved to a sideboard to make way for a Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas roast. Ostrich feathers in a shimmering golden glazed vase are a fabulous way to do this, adding instant drama and texture. Candlelight is always a necessary element for any tabletop, and I really liked the varying heights and the texture of these gold pillar candlesticks to draw out the gold rimmed china and complement the fleur de lys tumblers. The copper glass charger adds more depth and texture to the setting while accents of teal in the taffeta napkins and traditional goblets are all we need to add a little pop of this saturated color.

Don’t forget to leave your guests with a lovely little gift when you can! If I could, I’d be topping each setting with a gorgeous crystal encrusted pinecones for everyone (and one for me too!). I hope you all enjoy a lovely holiday and are inspired to do something new with your table this year!

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At Home in Arkansas offers you a look inside the state's most inspiring homes. The magazine features monthly advice from the experts to help you plan your next remodel or redesign, entertain at home, or find Arkansas's best kept secrets. It is your definitive guide to the state's finest homes and gardens, design professionals, fashion and entertaining essentials, and premier shops and showrooms.

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