Nothing like Scotts to fire up some inspiration and give better focus to your design prowess. I'm kicking myself for missing it last month, or having to miss it EVER for that matter.
Ohh k, where should we start? How bout these mirror mirrors on the wall...
Love their shape and will be keeping my eye on them...maybe a client bedroom...
along with these beautiful linen pillows and their great flange.
I liked these fluted lamps, paired with some black empire shaped shades.
This art vendor had BEAUTIFUL prints, mattes and frames but I particularly liked the color of this matte and want to incorporate it into my kitchen photo wall.
Everywhere you see a yellow post it note, I'm having the matte replaced instead of all the blah blah white. It needs some yuckin up, some variation, some depth.
Makes a mighty fine desk...
A couple of gorgeous pairs of doors and shutters. As I was leaving, the blue ones on the right were on their way out. Sold!
I had to kick myself when I went back through my pictures and saw this vintage round suitcase I'd forgotten about. There is a killer cool record store down at the beach and they convert vintage suitcases into AWESOME sounding amps for your ipod. Like rock out amps and this mama loves to rock. This would have been perfect but dangitall I got distracted.
It was all the commotion in the corner, the three huge rows of tables where its just a free for all, piled high with junk, affair. You rummage through, grab your finds, take em to the man and he gives you a price.
Its where I found this Winter watercolor. Sucker for paintings with snow. I miss it.
For like
a day.
;-)
The glass needs to be replaced, brown spots, but I'm keeping the matte. I like its old tarnished appearance.
I also picked up the Can Can girls by Artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec at the commotion tables. The colors are perfect with a favorite pop of orange. My first thought is a garbage can for my office although it looked good just sitting out on the shelf in the mudroom too. Insert photo of Mom's tin collection from childhood home here, but BOO, I cannot find it.
I love the dancing girls. When the hubs and I were in San Francisco last May I came across this print inside the restaurant Boulevard. I think its the outfits. I need to blog that trip. I took tons of pictures for you, even held my camera over tall fences, like the paparazzi, for a shot of some pretty homes. Imagine the sight. Coming up shortly.
Completely in love with these tables and their wonderful finishes.
This coffee table below is in the running for a master sitting area and the small side table in the upper right hand corner (the favorite shape of all) a side table in a formal great room.
A client's new kitchen table coming soon...
The wood is over 100 years old!
The dresser I picked for our bedroom. Its got a lot of girth, big deep drawers and great surface area to style.
The hubs isn't particularly fond of it but I made an executive decision. It is the dresser I've wanted for years and reminds me of one of my favorite designers,
Ginger Barber. Here is a shot of Ginger's bedroom. Ours was in need of some knotty pine texture.
I also contemplated this guy, but the scale wasn't quite right for the space, however, the finish was off the chart.
And these came home to perhaps go with.
I've always loved the look of perfume bottles and thought maybe I should start a collection, like my late and totally fabulous Mother-in-law Jan had. She had a lot of collections and perfume bottles was one. Another picture I swore I took and cannot find. Hiss.
Here is my start. I liked their dark and stormy finish.
And I picked up this little trinket (no more coulda shoulda woulda). I'm going to be working this sweet little handmade heart into a vignette I have planned with the wooden peg board shelf and Jack and Sophia's baptismal outfits and baby shoes. I'm pretty excited about this coming together which means it might actually happen.
My client purchased these large glass jars for her kitchen island and will be filling them with fun and whimsical stuff. We've been racking our brains for the perfect combo...a pair of plants? Seashells and rope? And recently I came across a photo where they filled them up with vintage papers. Me like.
My friend David, dealer ATK at the Queen of Hearts and master faux painter, had these old piano leg lamps for sale. I see patterned shades for their tops.
A bedroom pillow for Bridget.
A pair of repurposed corbel sconces with a DIVINE shield shade (imagine covered in a great pattern). $950 for the pair! That is a great price for one-of-a-kind. They were enormous.
This next one, major statement accessory...I couldn't help but start singing..
"Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch. Who watches over you. Make a little birdhouse in your soul..."
Sat and contemplated the smaller scale pair for client and then it dawned on me, if I'm having to sit and contemplate, they are not the answer - right? Still pretty though and logged in the memory bank just in case. I liked their swoop.
These were hilarious! Wine bottle charms stamped on old spoons.
This couldn't be more perfect as a hostess gift for our book club meeting tomorrow night and thousands of other book clubs across the country...
We chose "The Language of Flowers" and I'm really enjoying it (new year's resolution No. 28 actually read the book). What a novel idea.
I'm on a bit of a shutter kick. I loved these...
In the process of designing these for a few folks...
And came home with these!
They are the perfect size and patina and hopefully won't sit there for the next six weeks. Handyman cometh.
I'm in love. Hubs is too. Which is great.
I didn't have to hide them!
Remember my beautiful friend Shannon and her beautiful home tour HERE and all those great glass cloches she has everywhere and my wish for some too? My first wish pick. I'm headed down to my neighborhood village to pick a plant from the flower shop. Happy to report, I'm using the new framing shop for mattes, the new gift shop for monogramming and the flower shop for styling plants and flowers. #shoplocal
BTW Shannon has since changed her front room and has promised us a preview. Chomp chomp can't wait!
Yeah I grabbed him too. He's here all the way from Egypt and will make a great martini table next to the chair (because he's heavy and can hold his own) or with a candle atop. If I use him for a martini table, I'd like to find a small pewter or silver round tray to go on top.
A close up of the washed out gray patina with random holes, the best part. I'm thinking he'll look great down at the beach and will make the trek this weekend for the never ending trial and error process that is my design life. ;-))) But I wouldn't change a thing.
So what do you think? Isn't Scott's the greatest? Treasures abound everywhere you look and I die for the Greek food, "the Greek", especially the eggplant.
This last trip was
especially exciting. I met designer Erika Powell from Urban Grace and her twin sister Darby (who I spotted first and was like damn that girl looks just like Erika Powell but can't be, not pregnant). BTW I love meeting sisters. Reminds me of how much I love and miss mine and how lucky I am to have her, even if she's three states away. I smiled for hours after meeting them. Good people.
If you don't already know Erika, you must. As her sister says, "she's a rock star". I have followed her since discovering what a blog was, thanks to my friend Lee Lee, another Auburn grad with excellent taste, who turned me onto it. Along with thousands of others, we've watched, shared and celebrated in all her success, including this year's
Coastal Living Ultimate Beach House I wrote about HERE. I'm still kicking myself I didn't order that long pink skirt from Anthro she was photographed in. It was right there in my cart, on SALE, my size and I pulled a "trying to be good, not spend, not buy". When I finally overcame that little silliness :-))) it was SOLD OUT
of course.
SO needless to say, it was a real treat. And darn it all, if I didn't forget to ask her about the vintage bathing beauties and where she found them. I really want to do a grouping of them down at the beach. I'd inquired about buying the ladies after the show house closed, common for most show house furnishings to be sold, but she kept that little ditty for herself. Just as well. ;-)
Have a great day you all! Its the big love week, wear lots of
red and
pink and remember KINDNESS isn't just a sweet sentiment, its a way of life...
A favorite passage from an epic piece of literature, The Fountainhead.
#letsmakelifebeautiful
xx
Jen
***I'd like to take a moment and honor the passing of another classmate of mine today, Mark Smith. He joins my best friend Lori and others from our class that passed through this great life much too soon. Graduating from a class of maybe 120 kids, you knew and spent time with almost everyone. And thanks to Facebook were able to catch up and reconnect with those you laughed and got in trouble with after being out of touch for years. We were all lucky to have each other for those four, eight and sometimes 12 years together. Rest in peace Mark. You were one cool cat.***
