A Day of Rest

First, I must apologize for a lack of blog posts this week. My excuses: HUGE annual summer sale at the store, re-doing client's bookcases (not to mention going shopping for all the fillings), planning a 1 year birthday party for a client (did I mention that it was this weekend) and working on a client's dining room.

So today is a much needed day of rest for me and my little family. Parker is in one of his favorite spots this morning - behind the dining table. Have a great Sunday!

Can You Say Market Day in Mountain Brook Village?

One of the most anticipated events in Mountain Brook is upon us...the tents are UP! It's Market Day (or Bastille Day) - the European style village wide sale. Table Matters and Suite Dreams are moving a lot of beautiful merchandise....getting ready for new inventory and mixing things up a bit. Its a great time to stock up on basics at a discount, but also buy a really cool piece of furniture at 75%.

Today I found this Habidecor bathmat that I'd been eying over in the clearance corner at Suite Dreams. WAS $198...NOW $40.....what do you think? I love the lace-like feel of it - considering the rest of the bath is ummm stone, stripes and neutral.

And where do I begin about Table Matters...the 50% off linens and glassware. Check out these Kim Seybert wine glasses (champagne color) that are on the 50% off table.....

And the furniture...at both stores are really marked down...if you are looking for something..now is the time. Get in the car and drive yourself to the village...you might just want to go back everyday! You never know what is going to get marked down MORE!!!

Fabulous Finds Fridays....Market Finds!

 



Loving these graphic tile and chain link prints on rugs, throws, pillows and curtains!!!

Timeout for a long soak...

Why yes, I was on vacation all last week - but I'm off to Atlanta tomorrow afternoon for market and will be there until Sunday. Thinking of all the rushing around...I'm wanting to take a timeout for a long soak in a beautiful tub. Here are some inspirational tubs I've found.

via Decorpad

via Lonny mag

via Lonny mag

It was the 4th of July...

Happy late 4th of July!!! If I were a real professional blogger, I would have given you all these ideas last week, but seeing as I like to implement before I give advice - here it is now. These were the decorations that we I set up for my mother's birthday celebration.

Notice the paint chip bunting hanging on the cabinet. I strung it together in the car on the way down. For more information on the bunting...click here. I think it turned out great! And the chinese lanterns were very effective (and easy to pack). I probably would have done some vases with smaller necks, but thought these galvanized flower buckets would be easy to travel with. unbreakable. 

 The red raffia placemats I found on the 'fly' at Garden Ridge for $1...no I didn't leave out a 0...yes a dollar. And the Pomegranate seaspray chainstitch napkins, at Table Matters of course - my first stop for quality linens. 

 

And did I mention...I love the subtle red and seaspray combination!!!

Happy JULY!!!

Fabulous Finds Fridays...Oyster Art!

This past week I have been vacationing with my family in Grayton Beach, Fla. Most mornings, I've been taking long walks and on the way home stopping in some shops to look around. In this shopping development, I found a cute little art studio (not much of anything else in the shopping center). It's right off 283 before you get to 30-A...I think its called the Shops of Grayton Beach.

So in The Studio, I found these eclectic mixed media oyster paintings. I love them. And they were only $45. These were 6 x 6.

They are made by an artist, Jennifer Allen - and she is actually from South Mobile County. What's the chance that I love something by a Mobile artist. These were done on old tin ceiling tiles, but on her website she also has them on salvaged wood and on shutters! For my Mobile readers, her website indicates that you can buy her work at Ashland Gallery.

Right now, I don't have a beach house...but maybe one day. I thought how cute would it be to put a grouping of these in a bar area to create an "Oyster Bar." And if oysters aren't your thing, don't worry she has crabs, fish and crawfish.

The Alley's Alley Garden

So, apparently I'm back into gardening. I've created another new bed at the back of our house, where there is a sidewalk leading to our english ampitheatre patio. My neighbor artfully coined my new bed - The Alley's Alley. (I guess it is an alley of sorts.)

We started with foundation plantings of Kleim's Hardy Gardenia's - I wanted something evergreen, but also I wanted some flowers to see, smell and pick. (Klein's Hardy has a rounded form, growing to 4 feet. The flowers are single, ivory and very fragrant. The foliage is lustrous green. It also has good cold hardiness.)

Then I came back with some purple coneflower and russian sage And I found this great zinc piece in my shed during a spring cleaning exercise. And found those beautiful sunflowers to fill it! Happy Summer!

From Drab to FAB!

So I'm working with a  new client on her house. And our main goal has been short-term -- fluffing for a party. But eventually, there will be (colored) paint on the walls. And we'll do some reupholstering and some dressy-er pillows!

Here is the after (or the middle), you can see we got new lamps (from Antiquites in Mtn. Brook Village). The dark ones were a drab and weighing down the look the room (new ones also added height). We also got a new coffee table from L'Argent in Homewood. I love the mirrored piece with the brass frame - just gives a more formal look to the room. Its hard to see in the above pic - but the coffee table before was a heavy, scroll-y iron and had a pink marble top. It was also very short and the new provides some more length thus lengthing the room. Next, we'll be putting Banjamin Moore's Titanium on the walls...I can't wait!!! And reupholstering some chairs in new fabric!