A big day for the pillows!

Today 5 of my sweet pillows were shipped off to Davidson, NC. Sanctuary of Davidson, a new art gallery in the historic district, contacted me recently after seeing the pillows on my Etsy shop. Sanctuary's enthusiastic owner, Kristen Feighery, loved them and asked if I would like to sell them in her shop! This is very exciting and I feel so blessed. Today's picture is of the kids, I mean the pillows, right before they all jumped into the box and headed off to UPS. I do miss them already. Each one is truly a labor of love.

But now I can make more!

Ciao,

Anne

Pesky but so pretty

Look at what was in our backyard this evening after dinner. Oh, we are so bothered by deer in our area! They eat so many of our plants and flowers. But sometimes they show up en masse, with a special guest among them, and I'm reminded about their beauty. Albino deer are startling to see-they are just SO white. They practically glow. My darling dog whines at the door to go out and give chase. The last time he did that resulted in an expensive trip to the vet as he gashed his foot on something as he ran. So now I have to tell him to chill out and leave them be.

Ciao,

Anne

I've been featured!

The very nice Danielle of Koi Kouture (http://koikouture.blogspot.com/2009/09/fishy-finds.html ) has featured me in her blog! Take a look. Her Etsy shop is lovely, so look around there, too. She likes my Koi pillow as she likes all things Koi. Thank you Danielle!

Ciao,
Anne

The key to accessorizing is....

Oh har dee har har, what a punny title. And the picture that inspired it is straight from the Pottery Barn website. I went there in search of a quick photo cause that's where everyone goes. While I do not want your space to look like a PB catalog (so sterile), I do understand that we get some good jumping off ideas with that huge, mass produced retail company. But this time you're trying to get it right, right? So step away from the mall--for now--and head out to thrift shops, antique shops, junk stores, flea markets or your own attic. And be thinking about places you love to visit; whether vacation spots, the tiny town you grew up in, your grandmother's kitchen, wherever, wherever, wherever. Pick apart your fond memories and find some elements that you can bring into your newly freshened space. Here are some rules to guide you:

1) TAKE YOUR TIME. It's better to temporarily live with a rather sparse space than to have it packed with crappy crapola that you bought off the clearance table in some shall be nameless store. Find things here and there that really remind you of people and places that you love.

2) Always have a bit of sparkle in the room. "A bit" is the key here. Something shiny needs to be in every room. Whether it's a silver candlestick or a mother of pearl framed mirror (or a mirror of any kind--they're shiny) or a brass lamp. Look around in your cupboards, I'll bet you have a silver tray that you drag out for Christmas. Use it now to hold a small stack of tiny old books.

3) Texture. I think I talked about this already somewhere. Have some texure in the room. Examples are a nubby throw, a seagrass rug, a rattan trunk, wicker balls in a bowl, an old crusty piece of architectural salvage.

4) Pillows for the chairs. Here's an easy place to have fun. Don't get too tasteful with your pillows. That is so boring. Buy one of mine. Shameless, I know.

5) Go easy. Not too much stuff. You will lose that clean, fresh feeling if you go overboard. The eye needs a place to rest.

6) Good grief, that's enough rules. Who died and left me queen? I'm just a bossy, bossy girl.

7) One more. Have fun and enjoy your room. Don't be all serious and careful about decorating. If your rooms still don't make you smile, please call an interior designer to help you. That's why we're here!

Ciao,

Anne

Time to get to work!

I snapped this photo the other day while Grandboy and I were eating lunch on the back deck. The budleia bushes have been loaded with butterflies all summer long. Pretty, pretty, pretty. Oh but wait, I have another picture that is even better:

That Grandboy is quite a guy. He's gorgeous and fun and smart as a whip. Sigh. I just love him.

So I've been a real slug with the blog. The hardest part for me is the pictures. There's plenty to talk about, but a blog without pictures is a bore to me, so I need to quit complaining, take some pix and blog. That's the plan. I also have to admit that I follow a number of blogs and they're all so good, packed with info and fun to read, that I'm feeling very intimidated. But let's just step away from Mr. Jealousy and give this thing some effort.

Have put the Koi pillow up for sale on the Etsy site. Also lowered the prices dramatically and am about to start promoting it for real (although I say that every day). Let's have a goal; must send out some promos to friends and family by Monday. I'm good with deadlines, so maybe that will work.

Then I made another pillow. Fellow Etsy members have suggested that I have some lower priced items for sale (much lower, like $30). So, at the suggestion of the beloved sister in law, Mary Grace, I've made a very simple pillow. No piecing of various wools, no zipper, slightly smaller in size. But still soft, felted wool, nice velvet back and a nice design that would be useful to the babies of the world. It's not pink or blue, it's not mass produced or have a TV character on it. It's a sweet pillow with clean lines and can decorate the room or either a boy or a girl. Great gift if you ask me. Will put it on Etsy tonight.

Ok, gotta talk about accessories next time for sure! Will do that by Friday--another deadline!

Ciao,

Anne

Time for furniture!

The room has been emptied, cleaned and painted (please tell me you painted--be brave, try a new color on the walls. It will feel SO good.). Now slowly add furnishings to the room. Look at the room in the picture (by Van Chaplin) and read these tips;

1) Don't line everything up against the wall. Pull that sofa out a bit, then a bit more. Maybe a sofa table will end up going behind it. I love a sofa table because I can put a lamp on it. That makes reading easier. Bring chairs right up near the coffee table so guests can talk easily and they can reach their tea and crumpets. You can always walk behind furniture in the room, you don't have to walk in front of it all the time.

2) Try a new placement plan. We do NOT need to put the furniture back where it was. Just because there's a big wall, that does not mean the sofa has to go there. Two chairs could go there, or a big cabinet, armoire, chunky thing of any kind. Shake it up! Switch it around! Change is good!

3) Try something at an angle. While I don't like everything angled, sometimes that's a nice change. Give it a try.

4) Have a comfortable path, a way for people to walk into and out of the space.

5) Go easy on the eyes--not too much to look at. Think clean lines, smooth flow. Also, it's not a good idea to have everything at the same height, so seat back heights could vary a bit and that would feel nice.

6) Here's a HUGE concept that I learned in design school (also called college); for a truly comfortable and at least semi casual feeling; vary your textures. Don't go all smooth, which gives a very formal feeling and flat if you ask me. Don't go all nubby and textural, this is not a primitive bazaar. Mix it up. Have some smooth, some soft, some nubby. People skip this one all the time and then wonder why their rooms don't feel right.

Once you have the furnishings the way you might like them to be, give it a few days to tweak until it really feels good.

Accessories are next.

Ciao,

Anne

Lovin' the pillows

Oh yes, my home DOES make me smile! Newest project is pillowcases made from quilting fabric. I used an Amy Butler wild floral print and a quieter, leafy print to make two sets of pillowcases for our bed. Our bedroom is a restful space, but a little graphic print peeking out won't hurt a bit.

Picture #1 is the fabric, all ready for sewing, and #2 are the finished result. Lovin' them!

Ciao,

Anne

Let's color!

Now we're finally up to Step #3 in decorating your space--choosing a color for the walls. While white and ivory are perfectly lovely colors, the majority of us need a little more saturation in our shades. Don't be afraid. Remember that this is a background. Plenty of things are going to go over it, around it, near it. The only caveat that I want to give you is that if you've got a fabulous rug that you're going to use in this room OR if you're going to buy a rug, do it first. It's harder to coordinate a rug to a room than vice versa. Otherwise, let your eyes and your heart join together to choose a color for those walls. Personally, I like my walls to be easy on the eyes, so I choose soft shades. By "soft" I do not mean super-pastels or tints of white. My colors are usually 2 or 3 steps down on the paint chip. Accent walls, if you like them, (and I do, but only one accent wall per house please) can be much bolder.

I find it pleasing to choose colors that have a little bit of a gray undertone. They're more sophisticated and have more depth. I also like the finish of a painted wall to be eggshell, although I know there's a big push out there lately for flat finishes. I like eggshell--there's a tiny bit of sheen and they're easy to clean.

One more thing to remember; when choosing your color, don't be thinking of how you're going to "match" your furnishings and accessories to the wall color. You are NOT going to match things any more. Matching results in a flat, boring look. We want to coordinate, never match. Get on board with that concept and you're halfway there!

Really think about your color of choice. Give the colors you know you'd never want a chance. Somewhere lurking in there could be something fabulous that you might be ready to try after all. Consider shimmery grays, softest tuscan gold (gold with red undertones), yellowy greens, pale greeny yellows, khakis of all kinds. Avoid harsh, bright colors. Look hard outdoors to see what the colors are out there. Then buy those little sample pots that so many paint stores now offer and try them out until you find the one that makes you smile.

The pictures at the top of this post are courtesy of Sherwin Williams--one of my favorite stores. Great quality paint, knowledgeable, friendly staff.

Next, we'll put furniture back in the room.

Ciao,

Anne

Why do they call these the lazy days of summer?

I don't know about you, but there's no laziness going on around here this summer! Yes, the pace is slower during this season, but at the end things seem to really start picking up steam and it's a struggle to hang onto the peaceful vibe. The fabulous grandboy starts school in two weeks. We need to fit in a few more fun activities to finish things off right. I'll see if preschool movies are still playing at a local cinema today.

In the studio I'm working on a new wool needle felted pillow. This one has fish swimming in a deep blue sea with some oceanic accents. In the September issue of "Martha Stewart Living" there is a big article on needle felting! It's a fairly simplistic view, but a great place to start.

I've also got some lovely pillow cases in the developement stage. They will jazz up any bedroom, either softly or at a higher volume! I like the soft palette in my own bedroom, but the higher volume in the guest room as it's a darker room and can handle it.

We're going to talk about color in the next post that will tackle Step #3 in our decorating journey. The peach picture is to get you thinking about that. What colors! Ben Moore and Sherwin cannot compete with Mother Nature, but we can get a lot of inspiration from her. See the mix of shades that create such beauty and depth? Not one flat shade at all, is it? Layers are at work. Oh, and these peaches, from my local Harris Teeter, are delicious, too!

Ciao,

Anne

And you thought decluttering was hard!

Now we're off to step 2 in our redecorating process. It's cleaning! Whoo hoo! Sorry, still not having fun, but this is SUCH an important step. You wonder why your previous efforts haven't given you a space that makes you smile? Preparation, or lack of preparation, can make a big difference. You've gotten rid of all the "stuff" and now you've got to make sure that your underpinnings are spotless. I love old words. Thank you for the opportunity to use "underpinnings." It means the floor, shelving, walls, baseboards, etc, are dusted, washed, vacuumed and lovely.

While you're doing this, give your mind something pleasant to think about. I want you to come up with 3 words that describe how you want your space to look and feel to you. Be honest and use whatever words you want. Warm, cozy, spacious, zen, happy, calm, cool, colorful, restful, stimulating, whimsical, organized, eclectic, artsy, formal, sexy, clean, comfortable and modern are all words to get you started. I like to pick 3. Then, every time you look at something you might want to put in the space, you ask yourself, "is this zen, calm and cozy (or whatever your words are)?" This exercise gives you a lot of guidance along the way. I use it on every room that I do. It keeps me in check. I like everything!

Now go clean while you think about your words.

Ciao,

Anne