European plaster is always a classic

A new and dear friend of mine, Judy, who is also a very talented designer wanted the foyer of her home to have a strong and welcoming presence about it, something with a history, something elegant but comfortable at the same time! The foyer walls turned out so well that we decided to use the same effect on the kitchen hood.

Here are some during and afters shots

Charles Faudree and Cashiers, NC Showhouse

A couple of summers ago we were fortunate enough to attend a Show house in Cashiers North Carolina. Many very talented designers participated in this show house which was originally constructed to be a hunting lodge/summer home. A most interesting fact to me was the architect was a woman somewhat unusual for 1928 I believe. Bunny Williams, Charles Faudree and Ainsworth-Noah played supporting roles . Being a true Faudree devotee I persuaded my DH to take me. Loved it. Took a whole bunch of photos. I have decided or should I say I have been prodded to share said photos. I have a Kodak easy share camera so bear with the photos as the quality of the camera and the skills of the said photographer are definitely amateur. It is a chance to see some of Charles work that you otherwise might never catch a glimpse of. One final word this event took place the summer prior to Charles new fabric line for Vervain and he has used these fabrics in the great room. Hope you enjoy.

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office makeover

We thought we would share a glimpse of Jeremy's office. He is of Scottish ancestry and loves the patina of objects with age. In a previous home we created a library/office with a leather loveseat, chair and faux leather walls. The purchaser fell in love with this space because it

was handsome and masculine. He owned a

company that does combat training for the

government.

We wanted to once again create a space with a

masculine atmosphere. We found the plaid

wallcovering a perfect fit for where we were

trying to go. Very Ralph Lauren we think.

There is still some tweaking to be done covering

the books and window treatments but so far he

is quite pleased with his office makeover.

Painting old picture frames to look like wood

Jeremy first painted the metallic frames a french red. I held a hair dry over it while he painted the second frame, when he was done I dried the next one while he gave the first one a second coat. When both frames are dry to the touch he scraped the glass clean with a razor then touched up and scratches and dried them again.

Now comes the fun part. We used a water based wiping stain to match. Wiping stain is a wood tone glaze, we used one that matched our preexisting wood frames.

First brush on the glaze, then dry brushing it off creating a wood grain effect. Go light with the first coat of glaze, letting it settle down in to the cracks and groves, blow dry, then apply the second coat even lighter or as needed. This technique will fool any art critic. Use a small brush to make any corrections to blend in with the parts that look good.

We found these signed prints by the artist Athos Menaboni (1895-1990) they were part of a collection owned by Cason Calloway of Calloway Gardens. Calloway Gardens is located below Atlanta and Mr. Menaboni lived in Atlanta. Calloway Gardens was the beneficiary of Mr. Menaboni's estate and several of his pieces are displayed there. He was born in Livorno, Italy but after the First World War came to America met the girl who came to be his wife and made Atlanta their home. Because I am a Georgia girl, an Atlantan to be exact, these have special meaning to me. I also love to find older pieces with a story. The well known Atlanta architect Phillip Shutze was familiar with Mr. Menaboni's work and commissioned several mural projects from him.

The backgrounds of these pictures had the same aged looked as the vintage florals below them but the picture frames were a silvertone much too cool to compliment the aged paper of the prints. To paint the set to match the preexisting wood frames took us about an hour that includes set up and dry time. The frames have glass over the pictures so we didn't have to remove them.