Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Finished Making Mel's House The Cutest in the World!

Not my best photo taking but you get the idea. Mel's mom removed all the wallpaper in the kitchen/eating area and Janine and I painted there and in the living room and hallway where they had a beautiful shade of sage green. There was nothing wrong with the way it looked; it was beautiful. But as we all know, we get tired of things even if they look good and just want a change. So one of Mel's greatest wishes was that I do dots on the big wall in the kitchen in the aqua blue we painted the wainscoting and it looks pretty darned cute.
I had finished the living room within the first round of two days painting so between then and her second stay in the hospital and my subsequent recovery from strep throat she had done a lot of redecorating with her special small pieces in addition to the big pieces that Kurt had moved around while she was in the hospital.
You can see how too cool she puts her great pieces up; great, special things well placed in unexpected places...perfect!
Sweet vignette in a small shelf in the kitchen.
Mellie and Kurt's special salt and pepper shaker collection. Pretty much everything displayed in her home has very special meaning which, in my humble professional decorating opinion, is just what decorating should be.
With touches of one-of-a-kind ideas.
Here's one of her main inspirations for the color scheme and decor for the kitchen area-one of Jenny and Aaron's pieces she was lucky enough to receive in a swap a while ago.
And a collage Hope made of one of her cards just for Mellie with all the colors also. I hope having these things done will let her enjoy her healing time off in her fabulous cottage 'cause that's what it's all about.

Leesburg/Luckett's two weeks in a row?!

Hubby took Friday off since the kids were off school and he was hoping we'd be able to head to O.C. for the weekend. The weather did not cooperate. It was nice enough on Saturday for him to play golf but, having taken an extra day off, he was antsy. So, when I mentioned that Hillary of Chicks Picks was offering Mellie's art at the Luckett's Annual Sale, the guys wouldn't dare refuse to join me in supporting the cause.
Here we are; Hillary, me, and Cristina.
And, just as I arrived, Hillary was wrapping one of Mel's pieces going home with this lucky girl. My camera (or me) was acting up so sorry for the grainy resolution but at least you get the point...great timing.
And here's just one of the many displays of Mellie's art.
Out in the tents, there were other vendors and here's one of the cool pieces...frou frou chairs covered in old feed sacks...very chic.
Inspiration that Karen and I have talked about in the past. It's hard to imagine I can take our old (one year) turtle cage and make it look like this...we'll see.
Loads of great vignettes of inspiration.

First trip to Leesburg brings first vignette from Leesburg

The first round of decorating with a few things didn't make the cut but when Mellie passed on the Bromeliad I had new inspiration and the perfect plant for the great pot from the cottage.
Here's the full home view; you know I have to love something to put it on my "special" t.v. So far, it's all from the cottage, I'll get to Lucketts some time soon...

Shop Redeux Deja Vu

It was that time again last week; when the shop starts feeling stale and needs some mixing up. So into it I got that every item ended up getting moved. So here are my new looks and nooks...
This, if I do say so myself, really fab wreath went home with Patrice last week. After seven years of being a faithful customer I finally declared her St. Patrice, The Patron Saint of Doojies!!! And what a great patron saint I have; you could not find anyone sweeter or more fun, and, dare I say, with better taste. I'd had those little, antique plastic houses for a little while and figured I'd do a 3-D collage with them at some point but, when I started making wreaths again lately, this idea struck me. "My Old Neighborhood", was the title (I think) I chose for it. It just reminded me of that perfect Nebraska/Texas neighborhood where I want to live. Patrice said that it now lives on her front door, what a great idea.
A recent find...the house shaped shelves that hold my renewed love of playing with birdhouses.