Handmade Pretties

I've been getting a ton of emails asking about our Christmas stockings from the Better Homes & Gardens shoot. 

They had the recycled sweater stockings made for us by Lara Newsom of Handmade Pretties and & I can't get over them!!!  (We have our ratty old sentimental ones that we love for Christmas morning but these beauties are hanging on the mantle :)

We also tied some of her felt ornaments on wrapped packages:

And they're hanging in our tree too:

The boys absolutely love the sweater balls she made...

They're under our tree right now and it's fun to see the boys go in and start playing with them.  It looks like presents waiting under the tree!!  Here they are:

{photo by Lara}

I know Lara is totally backed up before Christmas but if you can wait, it's so worth it!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Stuart Membery Blog

Well, we can all now keep up with my friend Stuart Membery as he has just started a blog! How exciting. Oh and our latest container of Stuart's furniture is now in store at Black & Spiro....just in time for Christmas. There are some lovely new pieces so make sure you pop in for a visit before it is all gone again!!

Click HERE to visit Stuart's blog...

xx

Anna

Convex Mirrors

{Mount Vernon Federal reproduction Convex Mirror by the Friedman Brothers  $3200}

I've had my eye out for a Federal-style convex mirror for a while...  Alone, they can be very serious pieces, often thought of as formal & symbolic.  Above, the 13 balls surrounding the mirror represents the 13 original colonies, and of course, the Eagle, chosen by our Founding Fathers, symbolizes the United States of America.  Originals and even good reproductions like the mirror above cost in the thousands.   In the 1940s and 1950s, a bunch of reproductions were made out of plastic and other cheaper materials and then painted gold.  I looooove the one below on liveauctioneers.com with a starting bid around $1200. 

In the photo below, Dorothy Draper used a massive ornate convex mirror for the Greenbrier Hotel:

{Dorothy Draper, the Greenbrier Hotel, photo via tilevera.com)

Below, Markham Roberts used a guilded Regency convex mirror above a fireplace in a new home that he worked hard to "age."  This story came out a few years ago and I really loved it because it showed how to add patina and a sense of history & permanence to a brand new home. 

{Markham Roberts in House Beautiful by Eric Piasecki}

...But as formal as Federal style convex mirrors can come across when used traditionally, they can also read modern & fresh when used unconventionally.  Below, Darryl Carter has a painted black convex mirror in his bedroom. 

{Darryl Carter's bedroom in Elle Decor Magazine}

I love Eddie & Jaithan's small white one below.  It's so unexpected and adds a bit of whimsy to the room:

{Eddie Ross in Lonny, photo via Matters of Style blog}

And how pretty and & glam is this mirror layered over mirrors below?

{also Eddie Ross!!}

A bit more versatile are plain convex mirrors as seen in the living room below.  The domed mirror itself is beautiful:

{JB Randall Powers in House Beautiful, photo by Luca Trovato}

Smaller ones can be added almost anywhere:

{image via decoroad}

If you look closely at many of them, you'll see the balls or starts inlaid in the frame reminiscent of the 13 original colonies.  Many of them have exactly 13.

{House Beautiful}

{image via Homeandgarden.com}

The convex mirror below lends a cool vibe to the room.  I love it when the mirror is old & spotted.

{Miles Redd in House Beautiful}

...And... -finally-  I found my very own vintage convex mirror when I was shopping at a thrift store in High Point with my friend Maria of Colour Me Happy.  I think it's one of the 40s or 50s reproductions and I might reguild it.  The mirror has been aged to perfection and it's complete with the 13 balls representing the original Colonies.  It was just the thing missing from above my nightstand:

{my bedroom.. photo by Helen Norman}

I'm always on the lookout for them and ebay has some pretty good deals.  That being said, there's nothing like an original & the beauty & history it posesses, so antique stores & sites selling mirrors in the thousands are also worth looking into if you have the budget.

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Parties Flowers & Installations

I think that summer wind may have swept me away last week. I just realised that I haven't posted since last Monday. It is amazing how time flies. This week has seen the installation of a few gorgeous pre-Christmas jobs, Harry's school Christmas pageant, a friends surprise 40th Birthday party and a summer garden dinner party which Brad and I hosted at our home last night with a few of my lovely clients and friends.

I filled the house with fresh flowers including my first Peonies for the season.

The garden looked so lovely and green. I'm so glad the drought is over here for now.

I also filled the house and verandahs with lots of candles. I must thank my friend Stuart Membery for organsing a rush delivery of the oval rattan placemats from Indonesia and also to Brad's dad for painting them for me in that pretty green which I chose to go with the napkins and cushions on the chairs. We had such a lovely night. I think it was the beginning of the festive/party season as Brad and I have a few more exciting parties to attend this week...Christmas really is such a wonderful time of year!!

PS. I promise I won't let that summer wind sweep me away this week!!

xx

Anna

Our Thanksgiving Table

This year we're having Thanksgiving dinner.  It's an "off" year for our family so most of them are travelling and the gathering will be small.  My dad's driving out from Chicago but hasn't left yet so we'll see if he makes it to Virginia in time. 

{Our table set up in the lower level in the family room-combination-office}

My parents divorced when I was two years old, so I'm used to split up holidays and celebrating whenever it's possible even if it's not on the true "day of."  Deciding where we'll spend holidays does tend to get me a little tense because of so many years of back-and-forth between my parents and always feeling like everyone was fighting over me.  Now that I'm married and have in-laws it's even harder because there are more people who love us (haha what a rough life! ;) and want to be with us.  We'll definitely be doing a bit of the celebrating of the holidays on other days this year so we can see everyone and still get to spend some time at home. 

hahah okay, enough of my saga and back to the table...   I started with curtains from Ikea for the oatmeal-colored linen tablecloth.  (I didn't have one long enough so I went with curtains...  By using two panels (unsewed and overlapping) I could spread them wider and longer.)  I layered a beautiful vintage orange quilt over the curtains. 

I still have pumpkins left over from Halloween and added them to the table...

It was hard for me to get a picture of the magnolia wreath I hung at the window because the light was streaming in so strongly, but here's an attempt:

{It's a leftover Christmas wreath from last year that's browned just the right amount for Fall}

I used my Grandma Maestranzi's 'wild clover' china because I knew my dad would love seeing it {in case he makes it here in time ;}

{After so many years of daily use at the lake cottage, there were only 2 pieces left of her china...  I loved it so much and had so many fond memories of using it as a little girl that I went to replacements.com and found a whole set for myself.}

And another pumkin... wondering if there will be any room for food on this table???

{I'll remove some of the larger items once we sit down but I love a pretty table for guests to see.}

We might even have a fire in the wood burning stove...

...So have a very happy Thanksgiving!!  We all have so much to be thankful for.  In the least cheesiest way possible, I want to thank you for reading.  This blog has become such a big part of my life & I really appreciate your time & support. 

Oh?  And the food??  ummm... yeah, we'll see what happens with that.  We're attempting our first turkey tomorrow!! 

ps- I also have my 10-year high school  reunion Saturday night--- so excited to see everyone!!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

I made curtains!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I do a lot myself but that I'm not really that into doing it.  I'm after results and don't savor the process.  I'm not a perfectionist and I get sloppy when I do projects.  Watching Dave stencil our living room wall when I was pregnant was torture.   However, I do like an-hour-or-less-long projects and I got one in this weekend:  cafe curtains for our laundry room.

They were so quick & easy and I luckily had 2 yards of fabric lying around that I'd purchased on a whim a little bit back when Seleta did a post on Lewis & Sheron.  (I'd used the fabric for the recent photo shoot at our house as a throw blanket and figured I could use it later.)  It ended up being perfect for the windows!!  ( I love it when stuff like that happens!)  I wanted a natural vintage-grandma feeling...  a teensy bit kitschy and almost as if they'd always been there.  I attempt potting in there and also keep my gardening tools in there so the fern fabric from Lewis & Sheron was perfect.   

When I finish up the rest of the laundry room I'll post "afters" but here's a quick "before" to give you an idea of the state it's been in...

{We haven't been able to really walk in there...}

{before we moved in}

Wish me luck!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

The wardrobe I want

So a month or two ago, a new (to me) catalogue arrived at my house.  Gorsuch.  I fell in love.  Like really fell in love...  I didn't want everything... Just a few things...  all of which had commas in their price tags, so none of them will be coming home to me.   BUT, this little blog is my place to dream and so dream I will...  I wish for:

{I'd wear this at least once a week.. probably more.}

I'm definitely a believer in buying quality over quantity and wearing what I love over & over -which is why I'm often wearing the same things in pics! ;)-     I still have clothes from high school and I've learned the hard way to buy only what I love.  (I still make an impluse Target purchase every now & then and regret it...  I've also made some of my favorite purchases there too but it's easy for me to get sidetracked by their low prices and buy stuff I don't love.)  I consider things I really love and feel like "me" worthwhile purchases, but unfortunately these Gorsuch items are all still out of my price range. 

And below, I want this whole outfit....  Aviators are my friends.  sweaterdress?  scarf? belt?  A-mazing.  Suede coat?  meeeeeeeow:

And I want to wear it in the wilderness and pitch a tent like her.

This blouse has the most beautiful detailing....

{Uhhhh.. love the sleeves!!!!}

{Really????? Come to me!!}

And finally....  I just loooooooooooove this coat and have been thinking about it since I first saw it.  Look at its bell sleeves.  So pretty....

I'll take the faux fur 3-digit version of this please ;)

...So...  none of these are coming home with me, but has anyone seen anything similar? 

Thanks so much to everyone for the sweet comments & emails about the BHG spread!!  It really makes my day and I feel so supported by my blog friends. Thank you :)

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

The Summer Wind

Yesterday at home whilst enjoying the company of family, the first hint of a summer wind stopped me in my tracks. It's that warm summery wind that reminds me of happy times at the beach or by the pool on holidays with family and friends. I also think of Frank crooning in the moonlight...

The summer wind, came blowin' in from across the sea

It lingered there, to touch your hair and walk with me

All summer long, we sang a song and then we strolled that golden sand

Two sweethearts and the summer wind

Like painted kites, those days and nights they went flyin' by

The world was new, beneath a blue umbrella sky

Then softer than, a piper man, one day it called to you

I lost you, I lost you to the summer wind

The autumn wind, and the winter winds they have come and gone

And still these days, those lonely days they go on and on

And guess who sighs his lullabies through nights that never end

My fickle friend, the summer wind

The summer wind, warm summer wind, the summer wind

I'll leave you to ponder that and some beautiful images to remind us of the beautiful summer days which lay ahead.

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