A French Country inspired project and an old phone

I have been working on a beautiful newly renovated house ... French Country inspired.

My inspiration board showing the plan for the formal living room and entry

The clients recently completed the construction phase of their project and are ready for furnishings. We started in the entry and living room by placing a neutral settee against the staircase and selected pillow fabrics to bring in some color. This was our jumping off point.

My client found a lovely vintage chest at a consignment store last week that will serve as an entry piece.

And a large antiqued mirror will be placed across from it. 

Chloe Chair | Room and Board

Because we need to furnish the entire house, we are concentrating on the downstairs first, with a deadline of Christmas.

circa lighting

Once we get everything (sofa, chairs, tables, lighting, mirrors, artwork, accessories, rugs, window treatments) ordered for downstairs, I will move to the rooms upstairs. It is a large project and is a good part of what has been keeping me occupied lately.  

When I am working non-stop like I have been lately and juggling several different projects at once, I am tethered to my technology - my phone, my iPad and my computer. Sometimes I am am connected hours at a time and multitasking on more than one at a time. While visiting my mom the other day and I saw this phone sitting in a box on her floor (as if getting ready to go out the door). It had been in the garage - still hooked up and working - and was moved when we did the move-the-laundry-room-project last month. She spent hours cleaning it up and it looked almost new. 

It still has the same phone number that was ours growing up. It was our number from the day I was born (well, before even) and it stayed until my father passed away and my mom changed the number. I tried to call the number and I was glad to know it is not anyone else's number. The phone works as if it was new - something I cannot claim for my phone today (and even more so since I upgraded to the new iOS 7.0). It did not take much to convince my mom that the phone had my name written all over it. 

It reminds me of a lovely article I read in the January issue of Sunset Magazine while sitting in the hair salon, about turning off your technology. Some people were experimenting with turning it off altogether and others from Friday night to Monday morning, or even just one day a week. It is an intriguing thought, but not a practical one for me; I do a bulk of my work on the weekends. (Side note: I have experimented with leaving my iPhone at home sometimes either on purpose or on accident but it is not at all convenient and feels so weird, doesn't it?) But I have found that there is something so lovely about dialing a number on a rotary phone - no voice dialing, no speed dialing ... just the index finger and the dial ... and I am enjoying the feeling of being transported to a kinder and calmer time. 

And it is a good reminder for me to slow down once in a while. 

Happy Monday everyone!