BLOG loving

Two blogging superstar girlfriends, Debra of Acquired Objects and Barbara of Hampton Hostess

nominated me for the above award. Debra is a leading  expert in antique textiles, lives in New Hampshire in a killer home and setting. All with a great sense of humor. Barbara is chic and sophisticated as she guides us through the Hampton's and her life as a designer and hostess extraordinaire. Thank you ladies!

The Rules;

1) worship at the feet of those that nominated you

2)  share 7 facts about you only your BFF would know

3)  pass on the award to 15 other bloggers

4)  contact your nominees and tell them you have tagged them

OK, Here goes......

I am a spiller. I speak with my arms.

Last weekend a friend insisted I sit on her cream linen sofa, red wine in hand. Despite my protests, she insisted. No, I did not spill because I did not move.

Want a traveling companion? Call me, I can pack my bags in an instant.

I love and collect quotes.

If you are in trouble and need help, I am your person. Human or animal I will mindlessly run in to aid

LOVE chairs, they can be so diverse. A pair is perfect, a single is magical. And all the upholstery options are a delightful challenge. My friend Sylvia in England once owned a posh shop in London, selling only chairs.

Men in kilts send me over the moon. No, my husband refuses to wear a kilt. What's a girl to do, ogle  others.........I must get to Scotland!

And...... if that man in a kilt is making music out of this.........it is guaranteed I will make a spectacle of myself.

I hoard fabrics. One never knows when that great chair appears and needs dressing.

Ridiculously clumsy with bad luck. I possess every one of the attachments shown, multiples of the stylish neck brace.

I am passing this award onto some of my favorite blogs. You are in for a treat if you stop by and visit them

cheers!
Debra
                                                          Divine Theatre
                                                          Urban Cottage
                                                          Providence, Ltd.
                                                          Renae Moore Designs
                                                          Ragland Hill Social
                                                          Wind Lost
                                                          Renee Finberg
                                                          Charlotte Interior Designer Amy Vermillion
                                                          Always, Robins Egg Blue
                                                          House of Edward
                                                          Being Ruby
                                                          Art by Karena
                                                          House of Edward

Stay tuned, next stop............Nashville Garden and Antique show!
             

Storage

I LOVE when I come across storage idea's that are not the "usual". I love how there is so much storage for the TV in the first picture, you can never have enough storage around a TV in my experience. If you like the round "library" table, just click title of this post to take you for directions !

Protecting Saved Seeds

As a home gardener I am also a seed saver.  Seeds can be saved from any plant but heirlooms are preferred as they breed true unlike seeds from hybrid plants.  Really from a genetic perspective if you cross two hybrids you have a 25% chance of the resulting plant being true for either of the homozygous traits but a 50% chance of it it being nothing like the parental plant.  I grow and save

Finished......for now

Phew, going to market, it is complete! 

Shopping, decisions (will this sell?) husband questioning "are you really thinking that will sell?!" (insert the stink eye look), loading, hauling back, unloading, rearranging the shops, pricing......embracing a cocktail.  I know, I know, I really pinch myself and have fun on these antiquing jaunts, but.............love when it is over, till the next one that is!

What do you think of our haul? Hope you have fun looking!

 Recycle, recycle was again the uppermost theme and one I can really embrace.
 Re-purposed shipping crates supported with metal sides and finished with a steel top. Personally love the contrast of rough hewn and clean lined. It's all about contrasts

LOVE this concept. A friend goes to Europe frequently and buys discarded salvage. Not just salvage but that which no one else wants. Then her creativity is launched depending on what she finds.

Take vintage bottles, fuse with a band of copper one unbroken bottom with one unbroken top!

Again.....
1.    take one broken wine jug
2.    salvage the top
3.    cut and add a band of copper
4.    Viola.......a lovely cloche!

Stacking chairs intended for the heap
1.     rescue
2.     clean and paint the union jack on the seats.......they did come from London after all

Same concept, different chair, this time add a sparkling metal cover to the seat

 A tobacco drying rack from Provence; add glass and a coffee table is born.  Something of this stature is large and over scaled, a real statement piece. Blend with some shiny elements in a room for great contrast

 Velvet giraffe fabric updates a 70's classic

 Adoring shutters, the real ones. They can be interesting flanking your interior windows or hung on the wall. I recommend you hang them with the proper exterior hardware so they are not flat on the wall but slightly angled. Take it a step further by adding a sconce to the shutter for old-world influence

 Remember the "aqua duct" cabinet from a previous post?

A recently completed project was painting this side table. 

Adoring high-gloss oil paint, alas oil paint is outlawed, (I could be an outlaw)........I made a discovery. See that finish above, slick, with no brush or roller marks and virtually scratch proof? Well it is a Chicago paint manufacturer, Graham's and their 'Aqua Borne Ceramic' paint. Initially used in medical facilities for a impenetrable and sanitary finish. Personally I like the contrasts (did I use that word again?) between the high gloss top and the satin finish base. 

 The old fashioned Apothecary jars from the deco era mingling with miniature apothecary jars from Portugal

 Remember the sail boat we found? Here it is in the shop with a backdrop of French school maps found in Normandy and appropriately.......a whale!

Have a splendid week and as always, thank you for visiting!

Debra

The Winter Garden

 Many are surprised to hear that winter is my favorite season. Yes, I am a garden designer, one that is drawn to the muted colors, textures, whisper silences and the possibilities of the winter garden

When designing for a client winter is uppermost in the back of my mind. It is easy to attain a lovely garden in the summer months, but in climates such as Chicago, winter is nearly six months out of the year. All 5 senses should be equally engaged

The quintessential choice is evergreens. Great start! Do however think of the myriad of varieties, shapes and colors available to you, each play an important role

Boxwood forms after a fresh snow

Ornamental grasses should be allowed to remain upright, catching the wind and rustling

Water can be an integral component; the sound and movement entice birds and create mini ice formations

The Robin of the British Isles, chubby and charming

Shrubs with retentive berries. These are for us to enjoy as these varieties are disliked by birds 

Hardscapes such as gates and fencing

This morning, after a fresh snowfall, Cooper and I went about photographing examples of winter in my garden. Do note his all important color-coordination :-)

Here is my favorite view, off the drive. The centerpiece being our "pass-thru" from this garden to the pool, built by my husband Steve. Nightfall brings on glistening snow as it is lit from within. Additionally there is boxwood, an enormous birdhouse, containers, benches, the form of a weeping cherry and the remnants of summer; spent hydrangea blooms

A great exercise in designing your winter garden is to take a black and white photo, now. Black and white photography diverts your eye to the shadows and shapes which take center stage. Ideally it makes for an interesting photo

Or, is this more of what you see? Hmmmm.......get to work or call your friendly garden designer!

Back to my side garden,  a vintage cast iron horse head that resides in this container year round.

Other sculptures abound, catching snow. Peeking out of the far right of this photo is a wonderful winter plant, a Beech tree. Copper toned leaves remain until spring!

Seating.........so many varieties to choose from

 Here's a great opportunity for color, your containers; urns, hanging baskets, window boxes.......

A favorite home of mine is that of Ron Van Empel of the Netherlands

And the rear garden, all equally enchanting in winter with much to see, even in this diminutive space

Enjoy the season!

Debra

A Busy Garden Year Ahead

I have a very busy garden year planned for 2012.  Aside of doing a bit of clean-up work on the existing ornamental garden beds after moving here in September of 2011, we had done only basic yard maintenance and planning.  So far, we have determined the ornamental garden beds have to be completely revamped.  The two umbrella trees and arbor trumpet vine need to be replaced with something less