Golden

I saw these on Shelter design blog this morning and had to share in case you missed them. Wow. Stunning aren't they?

Shelter Design blog

Hope you are having fun coloring eggs today! 

The art of the chair

What a crazy week. I have so much to share but no time to write. One of the things I have been working on is my new logo. I have played around with many ideas and can't seem to settle on just one. The only thing I know for sure is that I want it to include a chair.

Anne Harwell

Do you know Anne Harwell? She is a very talented artist who paints a great chair ... don't you think?

The moment I saw them I knew I had to have one. The prints are only $30. You can see more on her Etsy shop. The chair to the far right is a painting of one of Anna Spiro's chairs.

This is the one that I chose. It is a glicee print of an original gouache/ink painting done for Courtney Barnes (Style Court). I loved it so much I even splurged for some postage stamps!

I have to run ... off to help my daughter with the baby for a few days. xo

I am a master designer

For years, even long before I became a professional interior designer, I struggled with the job. When I was in my 30's, my father who was an architect, asked me many times why I wasn't pursuing what was clearly my gift and I would respond that I didn't really think it was a worthy (i.e. change the world) profession. At the time I was a dental hygienist and had regretted not going to medical school and felt I wanted to help humanity in a different way then decorating the inside of houses. But why then did I have such a passion for design and the natural gift for it?

There was a period of time, after my first daughter was born that I actually longed to be a designer. It sounded glamorous to me and I remind myself of that with a smile when I am schlepping samples around or tied to my desk for hours on end researching furniture on the computer  ... but for many reasons I put that desire aside and raised my girls while working part-time as a dental hygienist. I knew I was on borrowed time and would not be able to continue cleaning teeth forever; it was brutal on my back and it was never a job I enjoyed working at full-time. For years I searched and prayed (and prayed and prayed) for an alternative way to make a living. And quite by accident, if you believe in accidents, I had a dream one night that prompted me to become an organizer. Really. I started that very day. I put all my energy into that business and yet it just never really took off. Instead, I was constantly asked to help people decorate their homes. It is a long story how I actually got started designing and how I knew when it was the right time to quit my 'day job' - a story that is amazing and God directed but way too long for this post so I will save it for another time.

My business grew and all was great but there has always been a nagging underlying problem for me - balancing the materialism and the sometimes waste and greed in this business with my beliefs. I would read passages in the Bible, like Matthew 6:19-21 ...

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth or rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

... and would feel awful about spending day after day doing nothing but shopping for more "things".  In the early years, I cried out to God many times asking for confirmation that this was really what I was supposed to be doing and every time got a huge and undeniable, "Yes!". But it is hard sometimes to stay balanced. I am exposed to so many beautiful things. New things. Tempting things. Not things I need but want nevertheless. And it has been a good challenge for me.

So when I saw Darlene's blog series this week about balance and being a master designer, it resonated with me so deeply that I had to be part of it. Darlene states it much more articulately than I, and I would encourage you to read her post. She is also an incredibly talented designer (all photos I have shared today are her design), and you will love her blog, Fieldstone Hill which you can read here. Here is her manifesto:

“I AM A MASTER DESIGNER.

I LOVE BEAUTY;
I SEE POTENTIAL AND I WANT TO FILL IT WITH BEAUTY.
I AIM TO CREATE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL THAT IS WORTHY OF JOY.
DESIGN IS A HIGH CALLING, ONE THAT CAN IMPROVE THE LIVES OF OTHERS, BE A MEANS TO FOSTER RELATIONSHIPS, AND ADD MUCH JOY TO MY FAMILY.
I APPRECIATE FINE AND LOVELY THINGS, BUT THEY ARE NOT MY TREASURES.
I KNOW WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT, AND
I DO NOT AIM TO “STORE UP MY TREASURES HERE ON EARTH.”*
I LIVE TO BRING GLORY TO GOD, THE ULTIMATE MASTER DESIGNER.
HE CREATED BEAUTY.
HE CREATED ALL BEAUTIFUL THINGS.
AND, HE CREATED MY PASSION FOR DESIGN, AND SET THAT JOY IN MY HEART.
EVERYTHING THAT I CREATE,
AND HAVE CREATED,
IS BECAUSE I MYSELF WAS CREATED BY A MASTER.
I AM A MASTER DESIGNER.”
*{VERSE REFERENCE, MATTHEW 6:19}

All images via Fieldstone Hill Design

Bugs

I have been AWOL all week. Caught a flu bug of some sort and lost a few days. Made a little progress with work projects. There are only two rolls of fabric left sitting in my office finally - a dozen more are out getting made into chairs and drapes and lots of fun pillows.  I had these chairs re-done and they were installed this week (they look a.m.a.z.i.n.g.) and finally got the wingback dining chair fabric in and the chairs ordered. Progress is being made slowly but surely - I'm hoping to share some good photos soon. This week was going to be filled with appointments, catching up in my office and some painting projects of my own but none of that happened.

We started out celebrating my oldest daughter's 28th birthday (it is just shocking to see that number).

My youngest daughter, the one who is away at school, went camping with her dad in the Grand Canyon for a little Spring Break adventure ...

And this little girl (and her mommy) ...

Got to stay the week with me for their own little Spring break.

 It was a week filled with bugs. I got the flu bug, a huge swarm of bees appeared (thank you bee-keeper for coming out so quickly), had a couple of power outages (didn't get the kitchen lights back on for days) and then that darn flu bug attacked my daughter too. But not all of it was bad ...

This little ladybug turned six months old!!!

Sometimes life just throws you the unexpected and you are given a break whether you planned it or not! 

Keep smiling! Have a great weekend everyone :D

Welcome home

Young House Love

I just finished selecting exterior paint colors for a house on the water in Naples. It is a lovely house but it lacks great architectural details. So I wanted to give it a little drama with the paint. We are painting the house in neutrals but I thought it would be fun to paint the front door bright yellow.

HGTV blog

House and Home

I am really enjoying bright yellow right now. Not a lot of it ... just a pop. In fact, I have a piece of furniture in my house I am pondering painting yellow this week. I would go up against a gray wall - one of my favorite color combinations - gray and yellow.  I just had some gray and yellow address labels printed up by Sara at Less Ordinary Designs. I love the way they came out (I removed my address for this post):

What about you? Do you like a little yellow or do you shy away from it?

Either way, I hope this brightens up your morning ... Happy Monday everyone!

images: dresser, outdoor dining, drapes, barn door, front door, armoire

How much is seventy-seven times?

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." - Ephesians 4:32

tumbler

I read this quote for the first time tonight and agree so much with the truth of it. Forgiveness feels so much better inside than holding onto anger. It is not just that forgiveness is the right thing to do. It also feels right. Because holding on to the anger just hurts yourself. Don't you think? And I love that Paul says in Ephesians, not to just forgive but to be kind and compassionate. I think that true forgiveness can only really happen when you are able to genuinely be kind and feel compassion for the one who has (or continues to) hurt you. When you are able to do that, it is so freeing. Even if you have to do it over and over again.

via

"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."

- Matthew 18:21-22

What do you do when a client cancels?

I had an unexpected unscheduled day today - a client had to cancel ... and instead of trying to fill in the day with other clients I decided to take a free day. I thought it was the first day of Spring (uh no, missed that - it was the day before) and thought I would get a jump start on Spring cleaning (ie. painting, planting new flowers in the courtyard, washing the windows...).

It was a perfect day. It started with this:

Don't let the crumbled box fool you ... because this is what was inside:

I have been dying to have one of Michelle Armas' paintings. I posted about them a while back and while I was putting up the post, the painting I wanted sold right out from under me. I contacted Michelle just in case the sale didn't go through (it did) and she assured me she would be painting more in the colorway I wanted (and in the size I could afford!).

So as she suggested I basically stocked her website (she said keep checking back). They sell out very fast. Did you know they are selling her paintings at Anthropologie now? Wow. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago there was the perfect painting for me!  It is called Truth. And even that appeals to me. Have you read the Hunger Game books? I just finished all three of them and one of the things that resonated with me was when Peeta SPOILER ALERT when Peeta had his memory taken away from him and he didn't know what was real or not real. I loved that he would question everything to see if it was true or not. Real or not real. I need to do that more. Sometimes I have things inside my head that feel like they are true but they really are not.

I love it! After I picked the package up from the post office, I ran by our local nursery to pick up some spring flowers ...

And went by the paint store. Remember my post on Monday, black or white? Well, black won.

My photos came out terrible (it was too late in the day) but I did get it all painted. It is dramatic and different. I had really struggled with painting over the quote my daughter had painted on the wall when she was in high school and the room was hers. (I posted about my dilemma with painting it a couple of years ago here). But then I realized today, she is turning 28 on Saturday - which means it has been up at least 12 years. And the lavender walls - they have probably been like that for 15 years or more. I decided it was time. Now I need to work on that bed!

 It was a very productive day (even managed to wash my car and clean the house and a few windows!). It is nice to take a day and do things around your own house - especially when you are always fixing up other people's!