Blackland Road Renovation

I just completed the renovation of a house my husband Robert and I have owned for 15 years. We raised our three kids here and decided to downsize when they took off for college and NYC. We leased the house for the last 4 years and it was tired and haggard looking so I decided to redo the house. My plan was to paint the entire house Benjamin Moore's Seed Pearl which is a beautiful white paint that has a great "feel" to it - not too white but not too yellow either. I also used all of my new lighting fixtures and items from my line that I show at Scott's Antiques. The kitchen cabinets were done with old wood and German glass that looks old. I love the wood against the white. We redid the floors in the kitchen but only had to sand and stain the ones in the rest of the house. For fifty year old floors I think they look fab. We stained them Jacobean which grounds the house also provides a continuous path through the house. The fireplace in the living room is new - tavertine and the beams were fauxed to look old.

I love the bathrooms. These were definitely tired bathrooms so we put beaded board up on walls and in the master on the ceiling as well. I took out the old vanities and pedestal sinks and repurposed a console for the master. A new tub adds "the look" and the mirror over tub is an old window frame that I thought did the job. The guest bath has a vanity made from a steel base and a fossilized coral top with a concrete sink. All of the natural elements come together to make a statement.

All the items are available for purchase so if you see something you like please email me and let me know what you are interested in.

Enjoy the tour!

Vacation - New York City

I spend a week or so each summer with my good friend Michelle in NYC. She lives on the upper East side and I love walking down Lexington looking at the great design shops, getting a great lunch and then taking in the museums. This is Mecox Gardens one of my favs.

Fabulous bench for end of bed. Love the finish!!

Great use of old wood as doors to a standing cabinet would be great as a kitchen cabinet or in a bedroom to hold that flat screen tv.

This pot is fabulous shaped like a gourd, a wonderful scale.

Who wouldn't love this birdcage on a porch or in a sunroom!!!

An unusual basket that would look fantastic on the wall.

I love this store and will bring you pictures of their fantistic items in their Southampton's location.

Meaghan's Apt

Ok so I don't yet know how to do these blogs very well, but we will just keeping working on it.

This is her living room with two basket hanging fixtures. These were done with a swag since we didn't want to hardwire in an apt. The coffee table is an old train depot cart that was rotting in my husband's warehouse. The orange rolling cart is great with old paint on the top. The couch is from Ikea (about $500). The pillows add alot of color to the room.

She didn't really need a "dining room table" so we use it as a work space with a bench instead of chairs. The bar stools are old chemistry class stools. The lamp was found at a garage sale and has a skin shade. The wall hanging ties all the colors together. I also love using black and white photography. I think it is wonderful as art whether taken by you, your friends or someone great. Just frame it all alike and it will create it's own design.

Coffee bean chairs

These chairs have a flair of their own. They use to be slipper chairs which were kind of boring. So I recovered them in a linen fabric but used old coffee bean bags for the back of them. I love that they don't match from the back but from the front they have a natural look. Also the bags are scratchy so you don't probably want to use them on the front.

Coffee bean bags can be used for tons of things but they do not clean very well so make sure it is not something that you are going to get dirty often.

Meaghan's Bedroom

Her headboard is an old fence. I love the texture of the wood. I used old shutters to frame the windows and the chests are old metal chests. The black and white photography shows up again above the bed and leaning on the chests. Her lamps are made from old drills and the red just screamed to be in the room with that fence!! My good friend Lindy makes these fabulous lamps.

Okay, this has been my longest post to date and I am worn out. Hope you enjoy!

North Highland Steel Apartment Design

When my daughter Meaghan moved back from New York City last year she moved into an apt in Inman Park which is very much like Soho (well sort of). It has a boho feel to it with great restaurants, art galleries and plenty of side walks for pedestrians and dogs. Also it is on the upswing so prices are not as high as other parts of the city.

Lots to do and people watch at the cafe's. Graffiti is still part of the scene.

Her apartment was fun to do, low cost and in my opinion looked pretty cool. Many of the items used I have redone for my booth at Scott's.

More Lighting - Vine Pendant Fixtures

Vine pendant fixtures

These are the hanging pendant fixtures made from the same vine found in Thailand and Viet Nam. Note this is the same vine as the lamps shown in the prior blog. Hung in pairs or threes or even just as a single this fixture provides a sculptural, graphic feeling in any room. The rope can be customized to any drop and are reasonably priced at $295 each.

I just love these!!

Lighting, Mirrors and More

These are lamps made from vines that comes from Vietnam and Thailand. The vine grows up trees and while it is green it is woven into sculptures. I take the vine balls and create light fixtures and lamps from them. They are wonderful in any environment.

The photo in the background is by Jeff Jones who is a very talented artist. This is an image of scaffolding that has a very graphic impact.