Look! Look! Oh, Look!

I just returned home from my weekly "night shift" work. I have a great team-in-training (for my retirement, of course) in Shannon and Ann. We make a great threesome! I'm pretty sure they didn't sign up for midnight shifts and heavy load detail, but all in all, we have a great time finding our creative moxie. The late night hours result from the need to create chaos in the process of new creations in our visual displays.

Upon arriving home a wee bit earlier than usual (!) I promptly sat down to the dinner of champions...




A porcelain tea cup of Cheerios is just the ticket for a midnight dinner. The teacup provides perfect portion control, not to mention keeping the cereal from getting soggy!



After several days of multiple truck-loads of cool inventory coming in the back door, paired with Evelyn and Connie power-teaming through the unpacking, pricing and taking multiple loads to the dumpster, we had a stock room of inspiration to work with.

Here's just a tiny tease of what to expect next time you visit!


This is the fabulous rustic bird cage I ordered during the last Atlanta Market! Shannon went on a hunt through the stock room for my props and came up with a box of straw...Ann gently maneuvered the concrete pigeon through the door. Oh. My. The replica of the old fan has a working clock face, making the the perfect accessory. I added the shallow compote with bird's nests, a few vintage books, letters, and postcards, a favorite myrtle topiary and, WOW!

I love visual display. It's such a fulfilling type of creativity. And, Ann and Shannon really make the work fun!




Last week, same time, same station-you might say, we designed an entire setup around an original oil painting of a flock of smiling sheep (so Bucks County). Ann and I patted ourselves on the back as we left. The entire mantle sang of spring. Two days later, Jackie announced that she had sold the painting. She was gleeful, I responded with a scowl! So, tonight, we were forced to create a new vignette. This clock face made into a large mirror started as our focal point. Flanking the mirror, two chic lamps. The rest of the formula was made up of assorted globes and book storage boxes. Great color story with a very Ralph-y globe theme. We relocated some great warm stone colored cachepots to ground the story with a few favorite maidenhair ferns.



All in all, a good save from the previously destroyed vision. Selling Susan's favorites isn't all it's cracked up to be, Jackie! See if you can keep this one through the weekend, please.

And, to all our Black-eyed Susan fans....come see the magic.

Vail Style Sightings.....or not!

A walk through the quaint village of Vail, Colorado proved to be filled with a myriad of style sightings. The Village is fairly quiet this time of year, not in the throws of the season yet. Shopkeepers, groundskeepers, and UPS men alike indulged us in photo ops, as you will see!


A wonderful shop called "Cos Bar" was filled with beautiful pallets of lip glosses, eye shadows and all manner of enticing finds. Considering my entire family inherited what we call "the primping gene", it was a find to be sure.

Across from the Cos Bar, my daughter Michelle shot this great example of style documenting these coral windows, awning and shutters. So cute. Such style.

I paused to ask the local UPS delivery man if his hat was standard UPS issue! He indulged me in this photo quite willingly (!) and, the answer was "yes" having to do with sunburn protection. I intend to ask Fran (local BES delivery man) when he will be bringing his out!

Yes, even Vail has been struck with the "PEACE" trend! You may recall I documented the beginning of such last January after my winter buying trip. So, PEACE to all.

In an oh-so-cute yarn shop, we spotted countless examples of style! Color and textiles together always speak to my design heart. Skeins of fine yarn were abundant and most fulfilling to sort through and select favorites.

In the same shop, we came across these plastic tubes of buttons! Most of you know that I have a real penchant for buttons, old and new. I couldn't resist purchasing pairs of several of my favorites. The shopkeeper was delightful and fun to chat with. We mused together over the joys of retail

Another collection of beautiful texture and color in the yarns my niece, Emily was knitting with. I composed a photo of our perfectly wound balls as she began her work. Great color selection, Emily!

And to end with, my example of "or not" style!! Bear carvings and sculptures seem to be a favorite of the local residents. This one we found to be particularly spooky.....I guess style cannot be everywhere. We deemed him "werebear."
All in all, a very stylish visit has come to an end. We did do a good bit of stylish cooking while we were here. Link to my daughter, Michelle's recipe blog for more information on that!

Goodbye, Vail. Hello to Bucks County soon. I'm looking forward to getting back to sea level. Not so much to getting back to normal life.

Lovely, lovely Charleston

My firm has been working on a delightful project in Charleston, SC. Our darling client used to live in Princeton,N.J. She first moved to historic Charleston and we completely did her home on one of the most well-known streets there, Church Street. It was such a rewarding project. Beautiful lush silk draperies in every room, old Southern charm dripping everywhere. It truly was a favorite.

Not long after living in the eye of the public, with tourists longing to sneak a peak into the lush living room, she and her husband decided that living in the historic district was not conducive to family life, play dates, and privacy in general. They sold the house in 2 weeks (we shed a tear or two) and purchased an equally exciting home right on the beach of Sullivan's Island. Enter Black-eyed Susan. We quickly put our sadness from leaving the historic house behind us and began to get visions for the new beach house.

Our client is as easy going and agreeable as you can imagine. We had total creative license and she rarely (actually, I can't think of one thing she said no to!) disagreed to any proposed direction. Yes, it was a dream job.

In the last few months, we have been working on the outdoor living spaces. This is some serious living space! The interior color pallet is soft watery aquas and mild chartreuse green, very soft and unsaturated. Many of her photos can be seen on the screen in my retail store. Because the exterior "living room", lounge areas, kitchen, and fireplace gathering spot are such an extension of the home, the colors we have selected are a variation on a theme of the interior.

This is a rough collage of the fabrics, paint colors from the interior, and outdoor trims that we will using. The vision is exciting!

Exterior living space viewed from the pool. (Note two floors of scenic vistas).

View from the exterior living spaces looking out onto the beachfront.

Meet Robert Chesnut! He's a real character. He surely would not approve of this photo, as he is much more animated and charming than this photo suggests! Robert is the landscape architect on the project. To say that he is the most entertaining artist would be a true understatement. I'm quite sure that it won't be long before he has his own TV reality show!!

Stay tuned for more on this project and Robert Chesnut, I promise you'll be entertained.