Spring Dinner Party

Here is a party that I did in April - that included some guests from the music world. We wanted a kind of cool and hip vibe in this traditional home, so we did a fun grouping of different vessels on the table - brass cut out hurricanes, gold mercury votives, turquoise bottles and old pharmacy bottles. 

And for the tableware, it was in the dining room, but we used anything but china. We used Earthborn Pottery and wooden chargers paired with metallic grasscloth placemats and sage colored R.Woods salads plates and Alain St. Joanis's Boxwood handled flatware. For the stemware we used turquoise recycled Tom Collins glasses with William Yeoward's Annabelle.

We used a palatte of white and green for the flowers. It was a beautiful evening! 

Gazing over the infinity pool from the dining room table. 

Happy Entertaining!

New Projects Underway

Here is a quick photo recap of what is happening in my world:

New client's Living Room samples (that i haven't even presented to her - since I was supposed to last Tuesday!)

And next up a newlywed client that is newly nesting into her husband's house. Mission tone down the boy and bring in some girl - Bye Bye black and tan (and deer heads)!Still needs a paint job, but its come a long way.

 New Tile Backsplash

 Black stools painted Benjamin Moore's November Rain

Flushmounts replaced with Jute Pendants

And finally a newly renovated house that we are getting a game plan for - need fabric, furniture, accessories. On this project, my mom and I are working together!!! Togetherness = lots of phone calls and emails!

 Master Suite in the works

Guest Bedroom

Bathroom

And I also have three clients with new houses...They haven't closed so I haven't been to any of them yet...but I'm excited. One is in Redmont and the next in Cherokee Bend and the other is in the state of Virginia! See why I've been busy?!

We made a coffee table

Back in March, my husband I finally got around to making an outdoor coffee table. Ours was falling apart and I didn't want to buy another...not knowing how much longer we might stay in our current house and would we be able to use it in a new home?! I spotted a pin on pinterest.com  of wooden shipping pallets made into a coffee table and thought that was perfect. Totally functional, but not much money put into it. I found the said pallets back in November....so they've been in our carport for a while now.

The instructions on Pinterest were ok, but not terribly specific. First we went to pick out the stain, so we could stain the pallets and supports, before we put it together. We got our Pratt & Lambert stain at Little Hardware. The color is driftwood grey and the stain was semi-transparent. You will want 2 coats...so staining took one day for everything to dry. We also picked up the 4x4 there and conveniently went by Table Mattes to check on the construction and found Dennis using a radial arm saw. We had him cut our 4x4 in 6" sections. Perfect!!

 Staining

Then we went home and started staining. I didn't like Little Hardware's selection of casters and L brackets, so I went to Home Depot and got some sweet steel casters with locking brakes - key for a coffee table not to move around with a slight push. The L brackets were about 2". The casters were 3". It may depend on what size pallets that you get, but we ended up using 6 of the 4x4s for supports since ours was rectangular - but most pallets are square so you should only need 4. We got 4 casters and 20 L brackets (4 on each corner and 2 on center supports. This project does require a drill and a circular saw and requires 2 days for the staining! But we spent less than $100. The greatest expense was probably the gallon of stain for $45.

Attaching L brackets

 Attaching the top

Securing the top and we also added some extra slats so the gaps wouldn't be so big. 

Let me know if you have questions about the build.

Finished product on our patio!! Couldn't have done it with out my wonderful husband! 

Thanks Rogers! Love it!

Birmingham Home & Garden COVER Story

First, I must apologize for my lack of posting...a lot has been happening and I haven't had time to tell you all about all the busyness and excitement. We renovated Table Matters! If you haven't seen - please come by - you won't believe it! I've also gotten occupied with some new projects and clients that I'm really excited about. Last week I had my gall bladder taken out..so this week I should have some time to catch up on everything.

Last spring, I did the dining room in the Hollywood Homes Tour's Inspiration Home. It was a great project. You may remember my post with the before and after photos. Well I'm very excited to say that it landed on the cover of Birmingham Home and Garden last month. I hope you all saw it!!!

National Display Contest

Last month I found out that I WON Juliska's National Display contest from my display at Table Matter's event last fall. This was very exciting - seeing that I had only won Honorable Mention before and not 1st Place!!! And with that I won an exciting shopping spree of Juliska products.

Check out my displays:

So, now I'm sure you are asking....whatever did I get on my shopping spree?

AND....

If you can't tell Juliska glass is one of my favorite hand blown products!!!

Priceless gifts...Engraved Silver

The night of our most recent tornadoes I was having a hard time sleeping due to the pressure change that I was feeling in my bones. I left the bedroom and went online -- started searching for me and my husband's silver patterns. In Both patterns (majestic and tuscany )we are lacking a few pieces and since they are both old, my mother suggests that I find those pieces now while I can still find it. In the midst of my search, I found this fabulous web site that allows you to search by name or initials and even sort out baby items. I found some very special and exquisite pieces on here. I'll share a few finds from silvermonogramfinds.com.

A christening cup

A baby's porringer

And gorgeous napkin rings!

This site will definitely be one of my go to spots for those very special wedding and baby gifts.

First Market Week of 2012

Here is a quick look of some great products from the Atlanta Market this winter. Juliska came out with a great outdoor entertaining collection complete with stemless glasses and a beverage dispenser. Love the Acrylic glass from Italy - I looks so real and like crystal! Fun Glass bottles from Vietri. Beautiful colorful barware and linens. And by the way, I don't like sectionals - but I loved this one from Moss Studio! And those trashcans - can just see them in a teenagers room!

Juliska

Juliska

Juliska

Mario Luca Giusti - Italian Acrylic

Vietri

Moser

Sferra

John Robshaw

Moss Studio

Square Feathers

Sunday Flowers for the Bishop

The episcopal bishop of the US was visiting Birmingham to install the new bishop of the diocese. And was assigned to preach at our church the following day. My flower partner and were on the schedule for this Sunday. Whether by chance or choosing it was us. We try when possible to draw from the reading some inspiration and interpret it in our displays.

This weekend's reading was about Jesus's baptism in the woods. Tell me what you think?