Oui FiFi!

I'm thrilled to share our house painting by Fifi Flowers, as well as sharing her creative work .
Fifi featured my home and other house paintings on her blog post today...thank you Fifi for "une belle maison"!

Is your home special to you? Why not capture it on a painting? I wish I would've had Fifi paint every home I've lived in. Would've made a great wall collage!
Whether you're living in your first starter home or your custom built dream home, a house painting will tell a story and be a conversation piece.
Look at these before/afters:


Fifi added more detail into my painting because I sent her several images to get a better view. Our purple passion vine had grown alot since I had sent her the first image & I asked her to add more vines onto the arbor to reflect the change. At one point, Fifi tried to capture our pets sitting on the porch and/or resting on the rock walls. Unfortunately we had to take them out of the painting because the setting is too small for them to look right within the proportion of the setting. In the other brick house pic above, Fifi painted a pet by the front yard. A pet looks much better in this larger type setting, or this one below:

You may love a certain angle (vignette) of your home, not necessarily the front...here's a great example of an Italian courtyard before/after:

House paintings are a great remembrance but also a great heirloom to pass down in your family.
What about a Christmas gift? I think it's a brilliant idea to photograph someone's home, commission a 7" x 7" painting and give them a unique & heartfelt gift!
Fifi can also create greeting cards from your commissioned house painting....these would be very cute for your holiday cards!

I love how Fifi brings a colorful whimsy to each house, making each painting casual, warm & lighthearted.
Enjoy some of Fifi's creative work:
Fifi captures all the details in a charming & whimsical form that is lighthearted, fun & casual.
Check out Fifi's site for all her great work HERE. (including pet paintings...another GREAT Christmas gift idea!)

All the best, from my porch to yours,
xoxo,

My New Crushes

T.G.I.F everyone, it's been a long week and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Here's some eye candy for you, I'm loving these items.  

This Mademoiselle Chair by Kartell is a little pricey, ok a lot pricey but it's so fantastic. 

It would look great in any room. 

These cubes are beautiful, I could so see them in a party setting with some lights inside or as coffee tables.

Don't you just love Zebra print?  This Zebra Print Leather Chair is a great mix of materials.

The mix of  wood, black leather and zebra print created a timeless piece of furniture. 

This upholstered bed with abstract floral motif is fabulous with capital F.  Talk about a statement piece.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Score

I have a Factory Outlet about an hour from me, I was shopping and wandered into the Restoration Outlet when I scored the following deals.  

My first score was this entertainment center, it's made up solid hardwoods, the normal price was well over $1,200 and I got it for $100.

I needed a bookcase because I love cheesy romance novels.  Yup I said it.  

This is going to be great place to store them along with my television.

My next score was this cedar lined dresser, it was originally $1,750 and I purchased it for $160.  

Once I polish it up its going to be fabulous.

Look at those dovetail drawers, I love a well made piece of furniture.

I thought I scored great deals what do you think?

TUESDAY TRAVELS

I've got loads to do today....study, blog, work on projects for Fish Camp, design more stuff for my Etsy store, etc. Ok, so NOT enough hours in a day, but here I go! While I get to work, please enjoy some inspirational travel photos of L.A. Designer Kathryn Ireland's rustic and beautiful French chateau.
Did you know you could rent her wonderful place? You can also take a 12 day cycling tour with Picnics in Provence .......and part of your tour includes a stay at the chateau.

I would LOVE to build a small quaint chateau just like this in the Austin hills. I love the charming shutters , the vines, gardens, and the gravel courtyard.....
I would add a great outdoor fireplace & pool surrounded by turquoise glazed pots filled with boxwood topiaries. Mix in friends & family , great wine & food, music & clear bulb party lights! Tres bien!

Kathryn Ireland lovingly restored this chateau in northeast Provence.

Ireland , a beautiful & incredibly talented Designer , creates beautiful fabrics and wallpaper. For complete details on the chateau and her designs, click HERE.


Remember to check out the Barn Market (upper right corner of my blog) and I'll let you know when we get our new goods posted!

All the best,

xoxo,






(images courtesy of Kathryn Ireland & All The Best)

Design Inspiration - Nesting Newbies

Have you all seen the current issue of Nesting Newbies, if not head over there right now.
Here's a couple of pictures in the current magazine from designer Emily LaMarque.

This back splash is so HOT, combined with Ikea cabinets it gives the kitchen a really expensive look. 

Ghost chairs, capiz shell chandelier, mosaic tiles all work in design harmony. Love this room!

Now this is a fabulous TV room, the pink couch is so unexpected but the pink and gray works so well together that the room is expensive and chic at the same time.

Hotel Inspiration - Hotel Allegro

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I posted, but life has been super busy especially during the first month of school.  Getting back into the school routine takes some time.   Since we're all getting back on grind today, I thought I would share some hotel inspiration with you.

Hotel Allegro's use of color is phenomenal; it makes you want to go out and buy paint and/or some colorful fabric.  lol

Wouldn't you love to host a cocktail party in this room?  You wouldn't think that these colors would work together but they do and are fabulous.

Wow, isn't the blue velvet genius?

I can definitely see myself hanging out here with kids and adults.  It's a great mix of masculine and feminine  elements.

What can I say about this room, it surely inspires a gasp; love the mix of black and white stripes with the red walls and white leather sofas.

Anyone up for a trip to Chicago?

BARN DOOR BEDROOM

Earlier this year we added on to the back of our 1800's farmhouse. We added a master bathroom which you can see on the right sidebar of the blog (I'll update those photos soon) & we added a new "barn door" bedroom for Luke, our youngest son.
Recently Abbe over at Studio Ten25 wrote a blog post about barn doors HERE.
Abbe's article once again reminded me that I need to take some pics of Luke's room and blog about it. The main focal point of Luke's room is the barn door:
We love the barn door and it's truly a conversation piece whenever someone new sees it. We ordered the hardware through Barn Door Hardware and our amazing carpenters created the wood door that hangs from the hardware. Our carpenters also created a single entry door leading from Luke's study into his bedrooom. The entry door matches the barn door, but hinged on the door frame:
We used a simple "industrial" galvanized handle , on each side, for the door hardware and there's a galvanized latch on the other side for his privacy lock. (if you click on the photo, you can see the handle closer) Notice the picture above and you'll see Luke's study. The study is added on to the back of the old house. You can see the windows that used to be the back of the house too.
In the photo below, you can see how the old windows from the back of the house, are still in the room. In the next month, we will bust through the last window down on the left, by his mirror. Leading through the window is his current bathroom. (used to be the old master bathroom) Right now Luke actually steps into the window to enter into the bathroom, LOL! Hey, redo's cost $$, so we have to do in stages!
I'll post pics when that stage happens......

A great DIY detail in the room are the cabinets. I bought the media stand and the trophy glass case from IKEA. Originally all pieces were red or beige. We spray painted them royal blue to all match.


The locker cabinet below came in beige from School Lockers
and we painted it with the royal blue paint also.
From the discounted School Lockers section, you can buy grey or beige lockers alot cheaper. The locker comes with 2 hanging rods and this is where Luke keeps his jerseys. School Lockers will also put your favorite player number on the metal tag at the top of the locker!

The espresso furniture is all from IKEA. The table above his bed is fun because it's on rollers.

Speaking of "barn".....be sure to check out the " jvw barn market"! Click on the right side bar of this blog for current goods listed.

Have a great weekend!

All the best,

Labor of Love

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.
~ Ovid

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend with those you love!

xoxox,

p.s. Hope you'll stop by the "jvw barn" market for some Labor Day shopping....see top of right column!




Images via:
www.frecklizetheworld.com; www.telegraph.co.uk; http://blackeiffel.blogspot.com