Arturo Porcelain Lamp - Coastal Living magazine

Get the "Betsy" look!

Coastal Living features the Arturo Porcelain Lamp from Arteriors Home. Style director of Coastal Living magazine checked into the Betsy Hotel in Miami and found a new color scheme of lavender, yellow and beachy naturals.

Included in the picks for this "look" is the Arturo Lamp (above) for it's texture and natural color scheme. This light works well with any style, but looks fresh with their picks for the "beachcombing" section.

Sometimes all a room needs to freshen up is fabulous lighting. A lamp like the Arturo light provides an interesting accessory, as well as being functional at the same time. Purchase a pair and take advantage of a 10% discount on these lights.

Arturo Porcelain Lamp - Coastal Living magazine

Holiday Party on Friday, December 4th

Everyone is invited! Join Clayton Gray Home this Friday, December 4th as we celebrate our first Holiday Party. Cocktail for everyone! Party starts at 5 p.m. and goes until 9 p.m. or until the beverages are gone. See all of the new Holiday decor items in stock. Lots of gifts ready to go, no need to wrap!

Address: MarketPlace Interiors - 301 N. Willow Avenue - Tampa, FL - 33606

Call if you have any questions - 813-786-4827 - otherwise we will see you then!

Holiday Party on Friday, December 4th

Metropolitan Home - Conti Chandelier

Glamour Rules for "Editors' Choice" in Metropolitan Home magazine this month. To celebrate Met Home's latest book, Glamour: Making It Modern, they asked top designers and architects for their secrets to creating rooms worthy of the silver screen.

An obvious choice for this category, the Conti Chandelier from Arteriors Home, brings the right amount of glam with it's antique brass finish and crystal accents.

The 2-tier shape is simple and Arteriors Home offers shoppers a choice of nickel (above) or brass (below) finish to work with. Sometimes "less is more" and in this case, it's abundantly luxurious. Hang this 9-light chandelier in your dining room and enjoy the compliments that are sure to follow.

Metropolitan Home - Conti Chandelier

Kitchen Pendant Lights - Top 10

Kitchen pendant lights can completely change the look and feel of the most used and highly visible room in your home. Fortunately there are many choices out there for us to select from. Whether your decor is modern, casual, rustic or high style - pendants lights can be a great addition over an island or sink area. We've rounded up our Top 10 Favorite Pendant Lights at Clayton Gray Home - see what you think!

1. Hammered Wide Iron Pendant from Arteriors Home - metal design plays off other metal elements of a kitchen. Silver and gold combo makes it an easy fit, but the best part of this light by far, is it's shape. "Bell bottom" look is unique and adds personality with ease.

2. Metal Slats Pendant - simple "slats" of metal form a round shape hanging from a simple chain. Black color plays a neutral for all accessories in a kitchens. Scallop edge and flared design give definition to this light fixture.

3. Wash Tub Pendant - little more rustic, but high on style and interest. Finish will vary from pendant to pendant, but the aged effect is key. Why not turn things upside down every now and then and have a little fun?

4. Anderson Iron Pendant from Arteriors Home - much more sleek design. Simple in finish and coloring, this one is ideal in pairs. Diffuser softens the overall light projected.

5. Bell Pendant - we love these! Line up a row of them and enjoy. Again finish will vary and unique shape keeps a kitchen from looking boring. We promise that you will have lots of compliments from house guests!

6. Faceted Mirrored Pendant from Worlds Away - here you have an upscale choice with it's strips of uneven antique mirrors. The reflection of the light is eye-catching and an overall mood is hard to avoid.

7. Marilyn Pendant from Worlds Away - another round shaped light that brings in crystals for a completely different touch. In gold or silver leaf, this light can be the finishing accessory for your kitchen.

8. Venini Chandelier from Worlds Away - even though this light fixture is a bit bigger than the other "pendant" lights, it's such a great fixture that would look so attractive with its canopy and leaf detail.

9. Loft Lantern - easily your favorite in terms of light fixtures. Clayton Gray Home shoppers have cleaned us out on this fixture - 1 and 2 lights. However, we have restocked! The Loft Lantern is simple with it's clear glass and simple metal frame. It easily fits into any style kitchen.

10. Antique Brass Pendant - we originally placed these lining a hallway, then viewed a recent installment in a kitchen and loved them in a kitchen! The under side of the brass piece is mirrored, which is a little hard to see in the photo, but it's detailed design is casual and elegant at the same time.

>So there are the top 10 favorite lights for a kitchen. Each is a little different, offering it's own personality and effect. Which is your favorite?

Kitchen Pendant Lights - Top 10

Celestial Cloud Stool sighting

Kind of like "Where's Waldo?", here at Clayton Gray Home, we now play "Where's the Celestial Cloud Stool?" This multifunctional and good looking side table/stool keeps showing up everywhere we look! The swirling design is appealing in so many settings, don't you think?

Beautiful and creative, we love it that others want to show it off too! For more "Celestial Cloud Stool" sightings, check out our previous article - here.

Celestial Cloud Stool sighting

Home Stylist - Wooden Conservatory Pendants

Molly from New York recently purchased the large Wooden Conservatory Pendant from Clayton Gray Home and wrote in to our "Home Stylist" asking for suggestions on other items to pair with her new light.

Great question and we are delighted to offer suggestions, since the Wooden Conservatory Pendants have been one of our best sellers. It's easy to see the appeal of this light (available in 2 sizes) with it's simple wood frame, clear glass sides and white wash finish.

A great accent to the light would be the Architectural Oval Mirror. Made of distressed wood, the natural coloring makes it look great on any wall color. Having the two items nearby would start the cool vibe of wooden products that have been modernized.

Easily our "go-to" floor covering, we love the Zebra Rug with the Wooden Conservatory Pendant. The black and white design would give the light an edge. Keeping the look neutral, but not boring, the simplicity of colors makes bringing other pieces of furniture into the mix an easy task.

Finally, if you are like Molly and placing the light in a kitchen, we love the Stark Round Dining Table right under the large wooden light. The contrast of textures makes it interesting. Add to that wooden side chairs and you've got yourself a magazine worthy setting. Thanks Molly for contacting us with your question!

Home Stylist - Wooden Conservatory Pendants

Wise Choices for Fall - Owls and Skulls

With the wise owl telling us it's Fall, we can't help but adorn our necks and home with the funky little animal. Antique brass owl hangs down low on this pendant necklace that is high on personality.

Love this! Fun kitchen accessory with "fork/knife" version of the "skull/crossbone". No real "danger" here, only warnings that this dish towel is a must-have for the most used room in the home.

Halloween decor can be so typical, but not with the Skull and Spider Web table cover. The organza tablecloth takes holiday decoration up a notch with the orange crystals dotted inside each web. Now it's time to bring out the sweet stuff.

Finally you'll want to toast over and over again with the Owl rocks glasses from New Arcadia Studio. Handpainted in nice fall colors with gold accents, the owl comes to life when used. Set of 4 in a box makes a great hostess gift. Order now and receive before Halloween!

Wise Choices for Fall - Owls and Skulls

House Beautiful magazine features Matisse Cabinet

Media cabinets have sure come a long way, haven't they? Such is the thought in the article/feature in House Beautiful magazine October issue.

We were thrilled to see the Matisse Large Cabinet from Bungalow 5 featured in their line up of "storage beauties". The selections by Orli Ben-Dor give us more choices than the typical armoire that has been used for many years to store the unattractive television.

However, now that flat screens have come on the scene, it's a little more acceptable, and quite frankly "chic", to show off your modern electronic piece.

As some have found, there can be issues with those solid doors and getting your prized remote to access all of the important equipment being hidden by the cabinet. How smart and stylish though is the Matisse from Bungalow 5. The cut-out leaf design (shown above) manages to solve all issues that have previously plagued this essential home piece.

And if the Natural Cerused Oak finish above isn't your look, how about the Matisse Large Cabinet in White.

We also love this for the Dining Room!

House Beautiful magazine features Matisse Cabinet

Fall Fabric Presentation - Schumacher, Thibaut

To be sure we stay on top of the trends out there, Clayton Gray Home attended the 2009 Fall Line Presentation earlier this week at Interiors Trading in Tampa. For those who missed the tabletop show of new fabrics and wallpapers, we have our favorite picks from companies like Stroheim, Schumacher, Thibaut, Highland Court, Fabric, Clark and Clark and Phillip Jeffries.

Stroheim (above and below) featured the large floral prints with a modern edge. The colors used are fresh and inspiring.

Highland Court (above) showed an "Orla Kiely" looking print (back left) with autumn colors. I feel sure I have the actual Orla Kiely bag to coordinate with this fabric. The look is stylish and whimsical and would make excellent pillows.

More from Highland Court (above) - isn't the gray graphic design very "David Hicks". Gray continues to be seen in every line and that makes us so happy!

Schumacher (above) - how about this oversized print in gray and cream? Traditional in design, but the color scheme makes it current. Loving this!

We were drawn to these wallpaper designs (above) from Thibaut. The Cork paper is full of texture and is actually paper-backed blocks of cork printed with metallic inks. We are thinking of placing in a residential bar with brick and iron - very clubby, don't you think?

Clark & Clark (above) is a newer line for us and we are loving the graphic nature (on table) they bring. Each is simple in design, making them easy to add to any room.

Also from Clark & Clark (above) was the fabulous "wheel" of patent leather options. You can be sure we will be incorporating a few of these in our fall products.

Fabricut (above) - also featuring a vinyl patent option and priced for affordability.

Aren't these little wallpaper samples (above) so darling? Phillip Jeffries wallpaper line ended up captivating our visit. When they say "let your walls shine", they are serious.

Picture above isn't great, but these are all beautiful linen wallpapers. Many great colors to choose from and you would be hard pressed upon observation, to tell if one is fabric or wallpaper. The weave is tight and the overall effect is flawless.

More from our favorite company (above), Phillip Jefferies introduced a "metallic back grasscloth" that was beautiful! Each textured piece featured a metallic backer that would surely transform any room. Many great neutral shades to choose from that we couldn't wait to dream up a project that would include the look. To wrap up - neutrals, gray, texture, modern, shine - can't wait for fall! Feel free to contact us at sales@claytongrayhome.com for price and availability on any of the fabrics or wallpapers shown in this post.

Fall Fabric Presentation - Schumacher, Thibaut

Books, books, and more books: tips on artful arranging

As a writer by trade, I treasure my books. From a signed Judy Blume book from the time I met the author in fifth grade to my collection of first editions, each book on my shelves holds a special place in my heart. I've even saved anthologies and poetry collections from college English classes.

If you're not a natural-born designer — as I'm certainly not — arranging books and other items decoratively on your shelves can be quite a challenge.

There's a great blog on displaying and organizing books as treasures at Sanity Fair. I must say, the curtain idea is my favorite, especially for someone with limited living space.

Clayton Gray Home has some fabulous books to add style, character and balance to your bookshelves. From cowhide decorative designer books to black, brown, white, zebra, and jersey hide hair books, our Western Collection offers a variety of textures.

Clayton Gray Home's Parchment Designer books are actually English books of various size, content, color and condition.

The Lorien Hotel & Spa in Alexandria, Virginia showcases the idea of arranging your shelves with one hue of books.

A recent issue of Southern Living offers tips such as painting the back of your shelves a different color to add depth; using lighting (lamps, sconces, backlighting) to create different effects; varying the way you arrange books (vertically, horizontally, tightly, loosely); considering balance; and incorporating art.

Let us know if you have any new ideas or tips for crafting the perfect home for your books.

Books, books, and more books: tips on artful arranging