Coffee with Creatives - December 23, 2024

Featuring

Tara Braatz of Tara Lee Interior Design

Rebecca Bertoldi of My Local Marketing Shop & 222 Marketing

EPISODE RECAP

Welcome to Coffee with Creatives: December 23rd Edition

Good morning everyone! As we prepare for the festive holiday season, we welcome you to our special Coffee with Creatives session just before Christmas. We hope you're bundled up and warm because it's exceptionally cold out here in New England today. In fact, it's unlikely that we'll see temperatures rise above freezing at all!

The Last Episode of the Year: Looking Ahead to 2025

This marks our final episode of the year, which is bittersweet—but fear not, we have fantastic plans brewing for 2025! We're thrilled to announce that there will be exciting guests and informative content, and we would love to hear from you, our cherished audience.

"Continue to tell us what you would love to see, you know, what kind of guests you would like to see, so that we can make the show even better for you."

Let’s dive into today's creative content!

A Passion for Polka Dots: The Joy of Personal Style

Today, Tara Braatz, our talented interior designer, has decided to start with showcasing her quirky coffee mug. If you know Tara, you're aware of her love for polka dots. She isn't just drinking from a polka dot mug, she's styling a polka dot shirt and cozy polka dot socks this morning.

Exploring Your Theme: From Polka Dots to Gnomes

Interestingly, these obsessions come up organically; for Tara, polka dots slowly became her personal trend. Similarly, Rebecca Bertoldi, our digital marketer, shares a fondness for gnomes—a preference developed only after turning 40.

Creative Gifts and Thoughtful Inspirations

Rebecca shares a charming gift she received—a mug with a cocoa bomb courtesy of her realtor, Kristin Tarek. This unique gift involves placing the cocoa bomb into hot water, turning it into a delicious cocoa beverage. These thoughtful presents, reminiscent of last year's cutlery boards with a Christmas theme, highlight the creativity and quality Kristin brings to her clients.

The Art of Great Gifting

Kristin exemplifies the notion that gifts can be fun, strategic, and meaningful, adding value and creativity beyond traditional expectations.

Design Tip of the Day: Innovative Uses for Everyday Items

Tara has an exciting design tip involving the back of a chair and fabric choices. Utilizing fabric not traditionally meant for furniture can lead to surprising design results. For instance, a dish towel or extra-large dish towel can be repurposed creatively for a chair back.

Thinking Outside the Box

Tara encourages experimenting with different materials like velvet and a variety of textures. Incorporating items like dish towels into your design not only saves resources but breathes new life into spaces.

Personal Stories of Creative Design

Tara shares charming anecdotes—like the unique dachshund patch created from a dish towel after her wonderful new pants tore—to illustrate outside-the-box thinking. These modifications not only repair but personalize and enhance garments, making them conversation starters.

How to Refresh Your Space: From Tablecloths to Pillows

Rebecca connects with the narrative, recounting how her beloved Halloween tablecloth became pillow covers through innovative transformations. This reiterates that unused fabrics and materials can find new life as fresh, complementary accents within the home.

Introducing the Colors of the New Year: Bold and Bright

With 2025 on the horizon, anticipation builds around the color palettes that will dominate the design world. Tara reveals an emerging trend—a unique pea green. Despite its controversial reception, this hue introduces vibrancy when balanced with grays, creams, and blacks.

Incorporating Nature-Inspired Green

Coming episodes will feature this intriguing color alongside advice for incorporating similar shades into interiors, empowering you to balance trendy with timeless.

Pantone Color of the Year: Exploring Neutral Browns

Rebecca points out how mocha brown, the Pantone Color of the Year, offers adaptability. For anyone decorating or revamping spaces, these neutrals allow integration of striking colors like hot pink, enhancing room dynamics without overwhelming.

Fun Christmas Facts: A Data Enthusiast's Insight

Finally, Rebecca, our resident data nerd, shares intriguing Christmas figures. Did you know Santa's sleigh would need to travel over 2 million miles an hour to deliver gifts worldwide? Plus, on average, 230,000 tons of Christmas food is wasted annually—a reminder to balance festivity with eco-consciousness.

We hope this last episode provided inspiration and insight, concluding 2024 on a creative note. Here's to a vibrant and colorful 2025. Remember to stay cozy, imaginative, and connected. Happy Holidays!