Spring..moving forward

New surroundings...spring tingling in our thoughts...buds bursting on trees...flowers poking through the warming soil...sprigs of green everywhere...birds singing a happy song...open your windows...let the soft cool breezes wash away the winter...be alive with newness...time to freshen...to renew...check out the options at Anthropologie. You can view their new catalog online at www.anthropologie.com.

Raw and refined

click on pictures to enlarge them

Home is most precious...where we surround ourselves with all that is good in this world..love, laughter, romance, peace like a warmth that encircles us when we walk through our door. We dress our homes, tweak them, dream about their possibilities, but whether rich or poor there are always options...just because we care enough to see beyond today...we always will.

all images from Anthropologie

Anthro Wedding Gowns

A bombshell dropped on the "wedding world", February 14, 2011

BHLDN.com

(beholden -- Dutch meaning to keep)

Anthropologie has entered the bridal and special events world. Until recent years, we were also enscounced in that world~so w-e-d-d-i-n-g-s still grab our attention! How exciting to see the winds of changes blowing through this institution at a record rate! Cookie cutter weddings are falling fast by the wayside. Have you seen blogs like, 100 layer cakes or ritzy bee? Couples are really infusing who they are into their wedding and being true to themselves, budget and all. In the end that's much more meaningful and endearing. This new addition to Anthro postures them right into the "now" mix. By the end of the year they will have  ventured into wedding receptions and the special events arena also.

What's cool about BHLDN is that their approach is similiar to the Urban Outfitter organizations model on design and lifestyle. Their website allows you to browse through times past weddings, become further inspired, and find your style be it Nostalgic Romantic, Neo-Sophisticate, La Bohemienne, or Lady With a Twist. You can view, gowns, dresses, shoes, lingerie, jewelry, coverups, hair adornments and accessories within each of those muse type categories or go with an even more eclectic selection on your own.

They plan to not only to utilize their own designers, but feature guest designers as well. Each season they will develop their line of vintage, heirloom quality, bougie wedding designs. Gowns are priced from $1,000.00 to $4,000.00 and bridesmaids or special occasion dresses will be placed at around $200.00 to $600.00. You can check it all out at BHLDN.com. 

 Sift through BHLDN's collection of past weddings for inspiration.

Do you know anyone getting married? Do they have that individualistic flair about them? Be sure to tell them about BHLDN.com

Holiday Musings

click on the pictures to enlarge them and see all the little details.

We've settled on a centerpiece this year of large fall branches. A couple of days before Thanksgiving we'll go to our favorite spot and get some branches. All on the up-and-up mind you. They will get a good bath and then be placed in a large rustic vase. We're loving the woodland textures this year. One of our co-workers is lending us their small chainsaw. Some of the trees in our backyard will yield some nice pieces for our table that we will combine with some other French wood pieces we've collected. Now we just have to pull out our family's signature recipes and order our free-range, humanly treated turkey (I hope you can support those that really care about how humanly an animal is treated and not kept in small boxes and tiny pens. Animals were meant to roam and roast and have a normal life. We can so easily do away with the inhumane treatment so prevalent in the USA. We'll jump down off our soap box now). Yippee, Thanksgiving is almost here! Look for our special recipes here over the next couple of weeks.

Anthro holiday post

Trees made with green plastic twist ties and beige tissue paper are so charming. So much creativity and we love the organic quality to all of their visuals.

A Nudge Out of the Nest!

The Urban Outfitters Catalog came this week. It got us thinking about all the gazillions of eye popping creations we've seen over the years from all of the companies tied in with Urban, i.e., Anthropologie, Free People and Terrain. Working in visuals for these companies is a schooling in and of itself. Each season is well thought out, has it's set of muses and you might even get a dvd about how beavers build their dams or how birds build their nest,etc. We kid you not! As crazy as it sounds, it works! They have visual books pre and post season when the "best of" is presented. I'm sure we all have our favorites, and just when it seems that they have exhausted their resources, out comes a whole creative process using coffee filters or plastic soda bottles cut into floral shapes or simple cups creating a modern collage.

Have you seen Keith Johnson's, Man Shops Globe, on the Sundance Channel? When Keith's partner, Glen Senk took over as President of Anthropologie, it was then that Keith found his genius as a buyer for Anthro.

What do you do when you pull the bag of tea out of your morning cuppa?

In London, they string them in strands ~ by the hundreds and viola~a show stopper window.

Who knew books could be so sculptural

This is a peacock created out of plastic spoons.

So we all have imagination. Really, it's true! Keep your home fresh and current. Shop your own home. Find different ways to use your possessions. Maybe you could create a visual impact with a collection, or switch rugs around or pillows, or art work. Open your eyes and walk around your home and look for things you could change up.

It doesn't necessarily take money to have good taste or to be creative. If you could live any way, any where you want, where would you live, how would you live? Could you incorporate some of that into your home? Live it now? How would you live in that dream "someday I'll"?

Nate Berkus said something very interesting the other day, he said, "Why do we get our homes just the way we want them when we are putting them up for sale, but live in them less than the way we'd like to ~ prior to that?"

We hear it from every decorating direction, paint can change the whole vibe of a room. Bring sample paint chips home and tape them on the wall. Now stand back and eliminate the ones you don't like. One of us has been itching to do a lime wash on some walls. I know one follower of ours that just needs this little push to finish painting her beautiful family room. (hint, hint) Live in the moment, but live! Also consider wallpaper which is very hot right now!

Families can foster a culture of good design. Encourage each other. Have swap parties. Bring something nice you don't use and swap with someone else. Here's a little secret, creativity is similiar to the term "priming the pump". Nothing seems to rise up at first, but the more you exercise those creative juices, the more they will flow. Few people feel creative all the time. We find it often surfaces when needed, and the more you use it, the more you will grow with your style and great taste.

Do you feel nudged? It won't be long until Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Nows the time to "just-do-it."

Anything can become art

We found this chandelier at Anthropologie in Carmel by the Sea, CA. It is a testament to the fact that if you give a true artist just about any medium, they can delight the eye with the most amazing things. Take for instance all the gathered objects, from spoons to silver trays turned upside down to create the layers, to strands of vintage jewelry, an old wind up alarm clock, and so on. We ourselves have been fortunate to be a part of Anthropologie's design team and to help with the artistic frosting of a newly acquired space. A visual team from all over the United States swoops in to rescue a plain Jane, turning her into a visual treat for the eyes.

~Is this art or utilitarian, or both?~

~A close-up view~

Summertime And The Living Is Easy

Ah! The Summerhouse!

It's time to switch out the winter gear for warmer climes.

~Great Reads~



~Edisonesque Lighting~

~A great bed you can languish in~

picture from Country Living

~Then Followed that beautiful season...Summer...Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light and the landscape as if new created in all the freshness of childhood ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

Ahoy Matey!

~The set is complete~I was gifted the teapot~She has stole the spotlight!~

{Notice the teacup turned upside down for the top of the teapot}

*original post below*

Photography by Kailey Smith

~Anthro Wares~

Seahorse Handle Detail

On-Purpose Paint Splattered Cup Interior

Delightful Patterns on Patterns

Sea Influenced Tea Accouterments

It's difficult to take a ramble through Anthropologie and not succumb to the beckoning of a delightfully appointed sugar and creamer and some new tea mugs. They practically jumped into my arms! These are the little things in life that enrich my day-to-day routine~go ahead and pamper yourself just a little (I told myself). Well, I dare you to stroll through there and not come up empty handed!

BTW~You should see the teapot and pitcher. Their handles are inspired by mermaid figureheads like ones would see on the front of an old ship. Too cute!

~Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors~Alice Walker

Spring has come again!

I am a pack rat as was my father. Some might say it was his worst trait, I say it was his best. While I am on a "debt diet" I must invent ways to recreate from what I have. This is just an inspirational snippet. 

Always keep your eye peeled for end-of-the-season sales on high-quality faux greens, berries and flowers. They can always be re-purposed in so many directions. Here are my spring re-do's. 

I checked the price of topiary at my local Home Goods store. They were reasonably priced, but I wanted a "deal". I thought about what I already had around the house. Many years ago my daughter gave me some fine quality olive branches that were being tossed out from her store's display. I had recently bought a bougie flower pot from Anthropologie. I was out of oasis foam so I used a large piece of bubble wrap, plugged in my hot glue gun and pulled out some moss from my "stash".  Determining the height I wanted I snipped off  the excess stem and intertwined them to create a cohesive look. Next, I folded the bubble wrap to fit inside my pot and then removed it and wound it around the base of the branches. I hot glued it in place inside my pot. I covered the bubble wrap with moss glueing it in securely. The leaves and olives needed fluffing and I coaxed them into a ball shape. 

I had another chippy, agey pot I got at Anthro. I took styrofoam balls leftover from a holiday project and covered them with moss, securing them with gold embroidery thread. Plopped on a stack of books, it adds springy wonderfulness.

I have a French aluminium hanging garden can I picked up on sale from a little French store and I  dropped a few faux mossy pebbles inside (from Z Gallerie, on sale of course!), snipped some lavender and boxwood from my garden, nestled in a small rustic nest. So easy!

Be on the lookout for great pots, they are usually inexpensive, but when dressed, they really pack some decorating punch. 

As I stroll through the LUSH GARDEN, I am in awe that not long ago this was once a MUDDLED DOODLE on graph paper...Carolyne Roehm

click on the pictures to see them in a larger format

 

Things we LOVE!

Shoes, you can never have too many pairs! Especially at this price.

With the economy the way it is, I cannot buy everything at Anthropologie (sob story) any longer.

So, imagine our surprise when we were shopping at Target and we found these gorgeous flats. 

At $19.99 these flats fit the budgie and you can afford not only get them in this bougie print but also Black Satin!!!

Get them while you can because they are selling out. (These are not available online, only  in store.)

Perfect with jeans or trousers, We promise you, you will not be sorry.

Trust Us!

Shoes are fashion-they are moods and moments that want to come out and play.

-Manolo Blahnik

Fun Shoe Fact: Marie Antoinette had a servant whose only job was to take care of her shoes (all 500 pairs).