Design is Hard

A Perfect Gray left the cutest comment the other day.  I asked y'all your opinion (that phrase is so southern) about whether or not I could cover the backs of the bookshelves.  She told me I would laugh about her response, which I did.  Her books have been covered, uncovered, and now flipped around....just showing their neutral goodness.

It seems Sibella Court has a penchant for white books, too.

I even did this while staging our previous home to sell:

I did have a lot more color in our other home...but choosing only (mostly) white books and turning some around help to neutralize the bookcase a little.

You know, her comment about what she did got me thinking about how far some of us will go for good design.  Just like Carrie with her Manolos...

Some of us are willing to endure pain for good design.

One of my favorite rooms of all time..an image of the Brown Camp Lofts from Country Home Magazine (R. I. P.)

Some things I (and my family) have gone through on my quest for beauty...

1.  Arguments with my honey, Chris

He's a cutey, isn't he  (You can tell he is in the film industry...who else could deal with all that hair!)

I think he has now learned that this is my art; a form of expression of my heart.  It has been a long journey, though, for him to understand.  I think it took me a while to learn how to properly communicate this to him, too.  Now, he is so on board that he bought me my own toolbox and filled it up with decorating goodies.  That shows his support more than anything he could say.

Time:

Some shot someone caught of me in college and then put on Facebook (this is exactly one of the reasons I'm not on there anymore)...But, I was about a size 4 then, and a comfy size 8 now.

I have chosen this.  Any of you with young kids know that you get little, if any, time to workout.  I do get some...I have a great husband and mother-in-law.  But I don't use this time at yoga.  I do walk from time to time, but mostly I spend this time at antique stores or looking at paint samples.   

I really don't think you can have time for it all.  Am I wrong?

My kids pay another price.  They have spent as much time in Anthropologie or reading design books as they have in storytime or reading Dr. Seuss.

Here is evidence of Liam not on-board with my staging...

and a few seconds later.

I used to feel so guilty about it, but now I really think I am a better mom when I have my own passions to occupy my mind.  I do my best to be present with them when I am with them, too.  I am not always successful at this, but I try to be!

Good design takes a lot of physicality, too!  Moving and hauling and nailing are fun, but tiring.

Do you think design is hard work, too?  What is that old saying, "Anything worth having is a lot of hard work." ?

Oh, and some more work I did yesterday...here is a pic of my friend & client's house:

we're making progress....

Have a good weekend.  Julie

Dipping in The Society Inc.

So have you seen this book while visiting Anthropologie? If so, you should get it. I am so glad I grabbed one around Christmastime, because they were gone so fast. It is Etc. by Sibella Court, a stylist/designer/shop owner in Australia. She is my top #2 on my all-time favorite list.

Like Atlanta Bartlett, I love that Sibella is original, fearless, eclectic, and more undecorated than decorated. She has a love of fabrics that came from her mother who worked with exotic fabrics and travelled the world to find them. Because Sibella is wordly, you can see her love of unique trinkets and treasures in her rooms. She displays everything with her soul and heart, not her mind. It appears a lot of her vignettes may have just been happy accidents....she lays an oyster shell on the mantle and just sees how it reflects the light if she hangs some

ribbon next to it. Maybe she'll throw up some old, industrial lantern next to it and see how it looks with a paint color that reminds her of the sea. Of course, she may be much more deliberate than this....but I like to think this is how Sibella creates.
One day I hope to make it to Australia and visit The Society Inc. I get email newsletters from her store, and each time it makes me long so to visit! Liam, my three-year-old, is buds in his preschool class with little Joshie from Australia. They are moving back soon and Josh's mom said we are welcome to visit! Oh, we have to go visit. I think this is part of my love of Sibella's style. I have always loved Australia and even went so far to get an application for grad school at The University in Queensland. Met a guy, though, so I stayed. But I digress....

I feel all of the earth's elements when I look at Sibella's room....all things beautif

ul and ugly. She makes the "ugly" and the everyday beautiful. I especially feel the ocean in her colors. She has also launched her own line of paint colors. Just fabulous. I wish I could find them here. Maybe I can bring my copy of Etc. to Wal-Mart and they can match it.