Great New Product!

Several months ago we began carrying a new product called NuMe. It's a natural soap made in Woodstock, a small town near our store. Their website, www.numenaturalsoap.com, explains the origins of this amazing company.  

Also on the website, the soap-making process is explained. They use "pure plant and vegetable-based oils, which have been carefully chosen to create soap with excellent lathering, moisturizing, and cleansing abilities." Natural essential oils "from flowers and plants produce their amazing fragrances" and shea butter with its "moisturizing and skin healing abilities" are infused into each bar. To help the skin "attract and retain its own natural moisture", "a cold process soap-making method is used that retains the natural glycerins."


Because of its overwhelming popularity, we have reordered several times. Could it be because we place the display on the counters where the scents seduce our customers, or because they look so gorgeous? Then again, it could be because they are priced just right...$7.95 a bar.  

Bramble Shipment Arrives!

We love Bramble and so do our Casabella shoppers, so you can imagine our excitement when the new container arrived! Not only is Bramble very affordable, but they have made a "commitment to the environment by planting trees and monitoring their survival rate." Since 2005, they have planted over 300,000 trees. 

I have included images of a few of our popular pieces. Below is the Roosevelt Buffet Sideboard. As you can tell, it has plenty of storage. 

The Octavia Dining Chair is painted grey. We have it paired with a black table and it looks great! 

The Fairlane Armchair has a contemporary wicker look. 

The green Tucker Six Legged Round Side Table would be a welcome addition to any room. 

The Shutter Plasma TV Stand would give your family room a comfy, cottage feel. 

You could store lots of things in the Veranda Triple Storage Tower...crafts, towels, vegetables...you get the idea.

And finally, this white Aries Dresser would be just the thing for any bedroom. 

We have many, many more pieces in the store...from tables to trays to dressers. They all have that "weathered Bramble" look that is admired by many. 

Come in soon and make your selection.

ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE...with vases!

Vases provide a strong impact when used in various areas around your home. I have a large collection of McCoy vases that I have been acquiring for many years. In this post, I'll include several images of different ways that I have used them in my home. 

Space, balance, and color should be taken into account when displaying vases of different heights and styles. Below, I have pictured some of the McCoy vases from my collection. The mirror and the lamp provide a dramatic backdrop to showcase my vases. Using the stand helps to enhance the vignette by giving needed height.

A part of my collection is placed in a small bookcase located in a corner where I needed some color. Pictured below, I have included pictures and plates to add interest in that area. 

In another area I have displayed my cream McCoy that is paired with a brown ironstone plate. I prefer to keep my vignettes harmonious with their surroundings. The light wooden bookcase provides a wonderful backdrop for this cream colored vignette. 

Collections don't have to be complicated. Below, I have placed three vases of similar color on a shelf. This is an option I use when I don't want to hang a picture. This three dimensional option is appealing to the eye and and does a wonderful job "showing off" my collection. Notice how the curved lines in the vases and the plate are compatible with the curved lines on the shelf? 

I hope I have given you several ways to use vases in your decorating. We have many vases in the store that you could incorporate into your scheme. We would love to assist you and help you create your own vignette. 

ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE...with collections!

Accessories provide the finishing touches in our homes. By including mirrors, pictures, vases, plates, and flowers, you enhance your living areas, and at the same time bring your personality into your space. 


Many of us collect things...figurines, photography, pottery, plates, and vintage items that we love and we want to display, but not sure how to do it to get the best "bang for your buck." At Casabella, our designers visit homes throughout Atlanta to offer ideas and ways to include your accessories in a way to make your home more comfortable and inviting. 


Pictured below are examples using a collection of ironstone, some english and some american. We started with one platter and added three vases with willow balls for interest.

Then we added one more plate and a bowl.

Soon, more and more plates were added to the collection.

Plates can be displayed in any room in your home. One plate can be as appealing as two or three, depending on your taste. LIke the plate below, you can make a statement...

or just have fun...

with souvenirs of your travels.

Just remember, it's your space, your home. Show your personality and have fun. 
Go ahead, do it!

Did You Know?

If you've been in our store during the last few years, then you know we carry OKAb shoes. What is not known to everyone is that OKAb's are made in America, actually in a town not far from our store. These shoes have consistently been a top seller and each spring we can't wait to see what new colors and styles will be offered. 

The shoes are both stylish and comfortable. They have great arch support and soothing massage beads that make your feet feel great! 

OKAb's are extremely durable and even machine washable! 

At Casabella we have lots of styles that we are sure you will love. So come in and try on a pair or two. You'll be glad you did. 

What A Mess!

This is usually what a new "room" looks like before the merchandisers get their hands on it. In this picture all of the flowers were moved from their previous area to this holding area that would soon become the "flower shop." 

After hours and hours, the "shop" is completed. 

We buy flowers in a large variety of colors and we take pride in buying only the best silk flowers. One of our merchandisers, Debbie, creates amazingly beautiful arrangements for our store and for our customers. When a custom arrangement is requested, Debbie always asks for a snapshot of the area where the arrangement is going to be placed. That way, she can add additional spots of color to make her creations "POP!"

As you can tell, we love flowers at Casabella. When you visit our store, you'll see flowers included in every vignette. When you visit, take a walk around the store to get ideas that you can use in your home. 


Hope to see you soon. 

Where Are The Placemats?

The other day a customer holding two placemats, approached me and asked if we had more placemats. I replied that we had more in the "new" kitchen area. The perplexed look on her face told me that she had no idea that we had a "new" kitchen area. My guess is that she went to the "old" kitchen area and saw the flowers. She didn't know that the "new" kitchen area had been moved to the other side of the store. To make a long story short, she was in a hurry and didn't have time to peruse the "new" area where lots and lots of placemats are displayed...she said she would be back and when she does return, this is what she'll see. 

This used to be the flower area where hundreds of flowers were displayed and Debbie did her magic. The flowers have been moved, but that will be a story for another day.


This is the area after the flowers, containers and architectural pieces had been moved. It's a blank space just ready for the merchandisers to move in the displays and the beautiful merchandise.

We display most of the merchandise in this area according to color. Here is some of our dinnerware in shades of gold.

And here is the dinnerware in shades of green.

Cookbooks are also displayed together making it easier for our customers to select just the right one! 

Now that you know where the "new" kitchen area is, come and visit. Hopefully, you'll find something to take home to use in your kitchen.

Moving Day

From time to time, we like to move things around in the store. This time it was the baby section. This section has been located towards the front of the store for over a year and the time has come to make a change. But, before we actually moved the merchandise, just in other areas of the store, the current merchandise had to be dismantled and moved out. The picture below shows Julie moving the card cases out of the area. 

Then she took her life in her hands by removing the pictures from the wall. Look out!

As soon as the area was cleared, I repainted the walls and put another protective coating on the floor to protect the faux painting. 

Pictured below you'll see the baby merchandise stacked up and ready for the merchandisers to "do their magic."

                                              Voila! Done!

Here is a close up of the baby girls' side. Lots and lots of pink!

And here is the baby boys' side. Lots of blue!

The merchandisers here are just amazing. The are extremely creative and do a great job making our store look great!

And on and on it goes. Next section, the kitchen area.

A Work In Progress

For those of you who have never been in my store, here's what you should know: we are constantly changing things around. It's a necessity. Take picture frames for example. Because we have unique frames reasonably priced, we sell a lot, and new frames are coming in every month or so.

 Debbie, one of our merchandisers, does a great job creating a display that will show off our frames in a manner that our shoppers can create in their own homes.

This involves a little planning, a lot of time, and tons of CREATIVITY (not to mention the energy that it takes to go up and down the ladder)!

Here is the finished display.

What a great job! The next time you're in the store, walk towards the back to see this display. You'll be amazed!

This One Is For The Birds

We have two adorable love birds who live in the store. They have told me time and time again that they want their turn to write a post on my blog. So to keep them happy I'm letting them write this one. Here goes!

Okay, okay, so we can't say "Polly want a cracker," but we do have hook bills that could leave a pretty good bite if you put your fingers near our cages. If you don't believe us, we would be happy to show you!

May we introduce ourselves to you? Drum roll please. We are the resident Peachface Lovebirds at Casabella, which by the way, is a very cool store in East Cobb. We the mascots, if you will, are much MORE beautiful than the falcons, hawks or thrashers. Besides, those birds are for the guys, we are all about girls! No one took the time to formally name us, so the girls call us "Nipper" and "Baby." The girls feed us, water us, talk to us, play with us, and scold us if we try to bite them. Considering that Casabella is known as the "bird store," we have a pretty good set up.

Sometimes kids like to just sit and watch us tear paper, but mind you it's not JUST tearing paper, we perforate it with our razor sharp beaks and very carefully and almost precisely tuck these pieces of paper into our rump feathers. Why, you ask, do we do this incredibly interesting thing with the paper? Well, it's because we are female Peachface Lovebirds and if we were in the wild we would do this to make nests to lay our eggs. Male Lovebirds not only do not make the nests, they do not know how to tuck bits of paper into their brilliant blue butt feathers like we do, which goes back to the girl thing! We can and will enjoy doing this amazing trick for hours. We are always entertaining the "little ones." It keeps their parents shopping longer!

The next time you visit Casabella, whistle at us and we will say "hello" back in bird language. See you soon!

We're Ready!

Tomorrow is our annual Holiday Open House. Most of the decorating is complete, so I thought it would be fun to show you the before and after images. We began decorating in late September in the area toward the back of the store. The ornaments, trees, and other holiday decor began arriving in the summer and we started the unpacking. By September the merchandise was moved to our Christmas area where we begin unloading it from the crates and carts. The area was blocked off during this time so our shoppers would be surprised when we opened about a month later.  

Here is a before picture of one of the walls when the decorating began.

And here it is completed!

Again, here is the before.

And now.

These small trees will soon brighten the room.

See?

This is one of our many large trees. As you can tell, it needs help.

Done. So beautiful!

We hope to see you soon!