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JoAnne Lenart-Weary, the ever talented and encouraging designer that trained me, has a pet peeve.  She calls it Accessories on Parade. Fitting don’t you think?  It’s so easy to fall into the trap of adding all of our favorite accessories together until they look like they are standing single file in line to get on HGTV.   I don’t think JoAnne has anything against a good parade but parades are meant to be in the streets not on our mantles and tabletops.

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Look around and see if you’ve got an unintended parade happening somewhere in your space.  Edit out all but a couple of things that work the best together.  Aim for having three accessories, tops on any surface.  I admit, this is really hard for me I have a little thing for accessories.   Remember that the more you add in, the less attention each piece gets.  That usually helps me take a few things away.

I knew I wanted something red, aqua and black and white for the mantle so I just played around until it looked right.  I’ll find good homes for the cast offs, no worries.