The George Smith Jules Sofa is here!

Hi Everyone,

Hope you’re all doing well one week before the big holidays commence.

Okay, by “here” I mean the George Smith Jules sofa has safely sailed across the pond, and is resting comfortably in a New Jersey warehouse.

Oh, common’ Laurel. You said it was HERE. I want to see it in your living room!

Yes, I know that. ;] Me too!

However, remember when I said there would not be any “big reveals?” You’ll need to exercise some patience as I try to bring more balance to my life, help my son, work on my poor, neglected business, get enough rest, exercise, clean my house, and have a few hours a week devoted to having fun.

What do you mean, “Work on my poor, neglected business, Laurel?”

For those who don’t realize, this blog/website is my livelihood. In fact, every December is my “PBS fund-raising period.” I try to keep it as low-key as possible; however, I’m afraid it’s so low-key that those interested don’t yet know about it.

However, this is the time to get your Laurel Home rockin’ digital interior design guides.

Laurel’s Rolodex (you’ll get free lifetime updates every year) and the Etsy guide are newly updated.

The prices are going up in early January. In the meantime, if you order Laurel’s Rolodex, The Laurel Home Paint and Palette Collection, or the Six Figure Income Blogger (a terrific resource for anyone with a website), you’ll receive it for FREE.

• the all-new Etsy Guide with some 200 of the best home furnishings vendors

And

• 333 Decorating Rules & Tips You Need to Know!

These guides also make terrific gifts.

When ordering, click the gift icon, enter your recipient’s information, plus the date and time, and your dear one will receive the gift via email.

Okay, yes, I received notification that the sofa is in New Jersey, and my lovely rep at Charles Spada sent me three pics.

She also hooked me up with a delivery company.

Shortly thereafter, I received a quote for over $1,700 to deliver the sofa to my Boston living room.

Uh-huh. $1,700. One sofa, from New Jersey to Boston.

I kindly declined.

You know, about 20 years ago, it was roughly $200 to have a sofa delivered to my clients from North Carolina to New York.

The last time I ordered a sofa was in 2015; by then, the delivery was about $300 for a sofa or $400 for a big Chesterfield.

So, I figured the delivery would be about $600 to as much as $800.

For most of my career, I used Metropolitan Warehouse in New Jersey.

Sometimes they were terrific, and sometimes they were my worst nightmare. However, unless someone has a better idea, I’ll give them a call tomorrow.

Soooo, I couldn’t resist and did a semi-virtual image of the new George Smith Jules sofa in my living room.

But first, let’s look at my sofa—not one like mine, but the one I just paid for in full!

This is the view that will be seen most frequently.

I am about to show you the front view; however, because the room is only 10 feet deep where the sofa is going, this view won’t ever be seen.

Like the guard rail, the sofa will always be seen from an obtuse angle, as shown in the image below.

Coming out of the den, the back of the sofa will look something like this.

It extends beyond the guardrail by about 30″.

Okay, I first tried doing this exercise with all the furniture in the room.

My images have gone blurry again, and I turned off the live photo. I will have to investigate, but I didn’t have a chance today because I had to go out. Anyway, this was yesterday.

Today, I changed my angle slightly to accommodate the angle of the sofa image better.

Well, it’s not that different, except, as you can see, I moved the furniture out of the way.

By the way, I just ordered the Englishman’s 60″ extension birdcage base dining table in the mid-cherry finish and one-inch yew wood band.

I requested heavy hand-planing for that authentic antique table look.

This table is similar. I’m super excited about it.

Okay, let’s look at the blurry living room and dining area with the new George Smith Jules sofa!

Above, I placed the Jules sofa about a foot from the guard rail. We’ll have to see what looks best in real life. I could also move the coffee table closer to the sofa I haven’t ordered yet.

For now, I’m probably not doing anything about the dining chairs.

I love this design for the Roman Shades and used it in a rendering I did more than four years ago!

Oh, I almost forgot. Thank you for all of your terrific suggestions regarding my closets. There will be more about that soon.

Some of you, like Elfa and Cale, assembled two storage drawer units for my New York Vanity in 2020. I still use one of them.

However, for my 19th-century home, I want wood shelves—at least in most of the closets.

So, I talked to Robert, my GC, and Brendan and Eugene, my two darling carpenters, who are returning this Friday to help me. They are scheduled to come back on Monday. I won’t be here. I’ll be out getting my kidney poked.

I’m feeling quite well. I’ve been pushing my walks, and this month, I’m averaging about 15 flights of stairs every day!

xo,

***The (11th) edition of Laurel’s Rolodex for 2025 was released on December 1, 2024. Below is more information about my rockin’ interior design guides. Please remember that these are digital PDF guides. You will receive them in your email. You can print one copy for personal use if you prefer to have it in that format.***

If ready to order, click this link or the button below to go to the purchase products page.

(Clicking on the links will send you to the pages to learn more about each guide.)

Laurel’s Rolodex is a unique shopping guide that shares hundreds of my favorite sources and, especially for decorators and designers, tells you the best sources that sell directly to the design trade, especially for decorators and designers.

The Essential Paint Color and Palette Collection (two volumes)

This is a must-have guide for anyone struggling with paint colors. If you don’t believe me, there are dozens of testimonials on the Palette Collection page.

Six-Figure Income Blogger. (Newly Updated for 2023!) (This should be required reading for every website owner who wishes to get more business.) You do not need to be a heavy-duty blogger. But, consistently, once or twice a month will do wonders for your business. But, it would be best if you also learned some other things. Believe me, when I say in the early years, I made every mistake and then some.

333 Decorating Rules & Tips You Need to Know – There is so much information,

and much I’ve never seen anywhere else. The window treatment glossary alone is several pages long.

The Etsy guide on its own. It’s 200+ seriously cool vendors.

Etsy is known for exceedingly helpful, personable vendors and great pricing. I always shop on Etsy and have numerous items for my renovation—everything from hardware to lighting and my cool Chinoiserie cabinet. We did remove a few shops that are gone or have virtually nil product lines. There are one or two shops that we left in, hoping that they’ll return.

Gifting is available for my guides. When you go to order,

just click on the gift icon on the first screen after

you click the buy now button.

If you are ready to order, click this link or the button below to go to the purchase products page.

***Please check out the recently updated HOT SALES!

***

Also, please check out the newly updated HOLIDAY SHOP, filled with Christmas and Hanukkah decor and gifts for everyone!

***

There is now an Amazon link on my home page and below.

Please note that I have decided not to create a membership site. However, this website is very expensive to run. To provide this content, I rely on you, the kind readers of my blog, to use my affiliate links whenever possible for items you need and want. There is no extra charge to you. The vendor you’re purchasing from pays me a small commission.

Please click the link before items go into your shopping cart. Some people save their purchases in their “save for later folder.” Then, if you remember, please come back and click my Amazon link, and then you’re free to place your orders. While most vendor links have a cookie that lasts a while, Amazon’s cookies only last up to 24 hours.

Thank you so much!

I very much appreciate your help and support!