Decor and a Happy Thanksgiving

Hurrah! As always, I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the year.  Usually I like to cook a big dinner and have relatives over to eat, eat, eat, and drink wine.  Since I have not lived in my hometown for about 40 years, those who come usually stay with me making my house full and happy.  This year, however, we will be going to a restaurant instead of staying at home to cook.  And for once, I am glad this is so, since I have been extremely busy lately and finally I do have family living in the same area I'm in.
 Because I'm not cooking this year, I have more time to ponder the problems of decorating the townhouse. Above is our small entryway.  Two problems here:  do I change the little lantern-like light fixture and put a small chandelier there - or a different kind of lantern?
The other problem is with the sidelights - the little windows on either side of the doors. In his book, 101 Things I Hate About Your House,  decorator James Swan criticizes those who leave these windows uncovered.  However, with the different floors we have, it's not likely we will be running around the living room without clothes so that someone could see in .  I like the light they allow in during the day, and since the living room sits above street level, I think we're safe from passers-by staring in.
 Below is another problem: the square bay window.  The bay's ceiling drops down from the tall living room ceiling.  I'm not sure what to do about curtains. And once again, should I curtain the sides of the bay or leave them open.  I have some luscious coral silk I bought in Brazil that will make wonderful curtains - I'm just not sure how to style them.

Finally, above, should I put a different mirror or keep the round gold one.  I do have a French mirrour that is longer and a creme lacquer like the bed. I'm going to have to try it. I do love having the gold pick up the gold in the little chandelier though.
  Happy Thanksgiving!

Life in the Townhouse

I am blissful this Fall season as I enjoy the crisp Fall weather and rainy days here in the Washington, D.C. area in my own townhouse.  We can see lovely trees outside almost every window of the townhouse; the leaves have turned yellow, gold, red, and a pretty chestnut colour.  I can hear cars go by constantly, a sound I love, since we live on a major thoroughfare. I never feel alone because of the city sounds and the many buildings surrounding me.
   My two cats are jubilant.  Because the townhouse has four floors, they have stairs galore!  And each flight of stairs twists and turns so that Cluny and Cuervo have a ball chasing each other up and down.  And sometimes, the exuberant Cuervo just runs up and down for fun. 

 You can barely see Cuervo on the landing.  We are having difficulty finding window coverings for the large stair windows since we want to preserve light, yet also have privacy at night; the situation is more complicated because of the position of the stairs.

 No curtains in the bedroom yet, but we do have accordian shades for total privacy.

 I love the mirroured wall, but am having problems with the placing paintings on the left wall.

     Cuervo peeks through the third floor railings watching for people to come up the stairs.   
The townhouse is coming together and I'll be posting pictures.  Trying to get all of our furniture in the smaller space is challenging, and, of course, we'll never get all of it in here; we won't even try.  I still want to keep the grand piano though, and when we finally move it up here, it's going to be an ordeal!