still grateful & Jill Brinson

So Happy Thanksgiving!  This is me, thankful for a clean and quiet home.  There is really no other way to scrub and clean and organize for a shoot than kicking out my husband and the boys.  We are having Thanksgiving today at my in-law's place at Lake Lanier....so I just pleaded for them to head out early.  I was so happy to walk around in a clean and ready house that I had to pull out the camera at 9 pm.  It is like spotting the Lochness Monster.  When you have little boys, no one would ever believe your home was clean.  You try to catch a shot for proof.

Sherry came over and spent about all day with me.  I wish I had before pictures of my office.  (Just insert "Hoarders" here and you can imagine.  When they came to scout our home this was where I threw everything without a home.  You couldn't walk in it.)

She took everything out, organized and put it back in (beautiful) order.  I am so thankful for her help!

She really is like a mentor, too.  She's been designing for fifteen years, and been published often, so she has so much information to share and I am like a little sponge when I'm with her.  She gives me tips on what she does with clients, shows me hidden resources in Atlanta and spends hours with me in ADAC.  Why?  She is just that kind of a person.  While she was working I was trying to organize, but mostly I was pulling out old tear-sheets and saying, "Look, Sherry!  Couldn't you eat this room?"  She would oblige and then continue cleaning up my crap.

I am not a real fan of color-coded books in libraries, but LOVE them in an office!  So calming on the eye.

Why didn't I think of putting lamp shades with lamp shades?

And Elle Decor with Elle Decor and Country Home with Country Home?  This decorator is so happy.

She even pulled out a roll of burlap from her trunk and cut me a runner for my desk on the spot.  (I'll get a  pic next time.)

It is weird (and good) being in the house alone.  I won't lie.  

I pulled out my heavy, velvet blanket...

Found Julia on demand...(little tidbit here.  I used to teach at Campbell High School where she went.  I even taught English with her former teacher, Mrs. Romanchuk.  Some good stories there.)

Found another friend....

And one of my best friends.

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And about Jill Brinson--I am such a dork.  How did I not know that the photographer, Rob Brinson, is married to her and lives in this home?  I just didn't put two and two together.

Sherry told me this.  I hope I can act a little normal around him.  His wife has perfect taste--there are not many homes where I love everything about it.  

You know this home....forget football and pie, here is your after turkey snack:

Can you pick a favorite from this kitchen?  I think the lights and the windows.  And this table/island?!  What do you love?

(All from Housebeautiful.com)

And next time I'll be posting it will be from milkandhoneyhome.com (almost done)

Enjoy your families today...I'm off to the lake to kiss my boys.   

Julie

this home is sooo Athens

My daddy and all his kinfolk were born in Athens, Georgia.  Even though I didn't go to college at UGA, Chris did.  My soul bleeds red and black.  But it's not just football.  Athens is like a little Europe in the south.  The old homes, the quaint and quirky downtown with its ubiquitous "townies", the good food, the cheap beer.  I lived there briefly with a boyfriend I later married for 92 days.  (Yep, was married before.  I knew better...but didn't know better).

When I saw this home in October's Southern Living Magazine I said, "Yes.  Lindsay Bierman knows what he's doing."

This home has soul.  You can tell artists live here.  And that is soo Athens.

(Sorry no Darryl Carter post yet.  I had an "electric margarita" a la Urban Electric and then proceeded with two Liberty School chardonnays.  I am hurting too much to deal with downloads.  I know I can only have one glass.  I need to grow up.  I am a mom!  I can't do that.)

(Lucy, the homeowner who worked for Hable Construction, even looks like my friend from Athens, Rachel)

And the Athen's band:  (Do you have to ask?  If I were stranded on an island this would be the band I would take...and Murmur would be the album.)

And a quick update on a project:  We're almost done with her home!  Here Kate is finishing up the leopard stencil in champagne again.  (Can you tell I am loving stencils lately?)  Isn't that cool?  Happy Halloween Friends!!!   Julie

are we influenced by Europe?

well, the short answer is, "Of course we are."  Yet, sometimes, I peruse dreamy images from across the pond and it truly seems like another world.  

(Oh, I could design an entire home around the color of this door)

Is it just that their homes are older and can't help but have more character?  Just like how we love a rugged Paul Newman or Robert Redford as they seem to deepen with age, is this the lure of Europe's homes?

Or is it more; like the souls of those who have lived here before are added to the spaces' DNA?

One benefit to our country's economic strife is (in my opinion) I see Americans striving for more with less.  Better materials, fewer square feet.  Craftsman cottages beat out McMansions.  

This is what I think I see in these homes from Marie Claire Maison--emphasis on beauty, finishes, timelessness.  These homes do not shout "look at me"--"I am hip"  "I have money"  "I am somebody".  To me, these homes aren't shouting anything.

They whisper.

Even this loud wallpaper is soft.

Am I generalizing in saying that these homes are obviously European?

What is it about these spaces that is so hard to nail down?  Do you feel that people in the states tend to overdecorate?  What do you think about these homes vs. American homes?

sorry it's a little deep for a Tuesday.  I'm in a mood.

Y'all are the best, by the way------Julie

(Katherine--you had a no-reply name in your comment.  I did get those organizers at Target.  They are the Real Simple line they carry (they are at the end of the aisle where I go near the stationary).  Email me again if you wanna.  If mine has anymore I'll mail you some.

Also, that bar stool from yesterday is "Toledo" --1st Dibs.  Pretty pricey but I recall seeing them elsewhere.

I'll post Kate's fabric source tomorrow for her playroom built-ins.  I saved it on another computer.

How is the best way to answer questions?  How do y'all do it?  Just leave a comment on the post and y'all read the post again?

Okay, bye.  Really this time.

update on projects & winner of Ikat fabric!

Here are some fun pictures of a few updates on some projects.

I say fun...but I know that decorating online was more fun for me than for Katie and her husband in Mobile, Alabama.  They worked their tails off to make this space a comfortable, beautiful and practical room for their girls.

Here is what it looks like now....

And before the custom built-ins, the cushions (so easy to wipe clean!) and pillows

(the little sweeties were a little cramped)

Now they have a place to study, play and watch movies.

Katie already has some crazy good skills, though.  I was really only someone to bounce ideas off of and to help source furniture and fabric.  She knew what she was doing!  

She said the girls are loving their new space.

And we have had so many ideas that we have moved throughout the house...

to the breakfast nook...

(I have posted this before--the addition of the fabric to the back of this cabinet)

To the living room:

moving things around and Katie bought some fabulous new pillows...

To the entry...

instead of spending a fortune, we (I say "we" lightly) repurposed the bench she had (and disliked a lot) by giving it some sanding, priming, and high gloss white paint.

all new fabric, too...

Her chairs were given new life with some new chocolate linen...

(sconces will most likely adorn both sides of them)

And the dining room light got a face-lift...

(All Katie!)

Next we are working on some new bar stools for her kitchen...perhaps something natural, rustic and modern like these:

(her kitchen is almost all-white, so wood really adds some warmth)

Lighting adds warmth, too--and here is the new Arteriors pendant in my client's kitchen:

(yes, just phone pics)

The matchstick blinds replaced the wooden shutters, and new cotton panels add a little softness to the nook.

Okay, and since I'm on a project theme, I just have to share how much I think our basket light that Chris and I reworked looks like the one from Mrs. Miller's home from House Beautiful.

Don't you think it is close?

I also found it quite similar to this one from Candelabra

(but this one is close to $400)

You have been patient!  The winner of the three yards of fabric is:

#5--Abby & Her Boys!!!

Have a great Monday....Julie